# Gave The Bunkroom A Thorough Cleaning Today



## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

It's amazing how much and how forceful the water shoots out of the accumulator tank when a line lets go. Cleaned the whole bunkhouse.









Finished installing the accumulator today. Of course Lowes and Home Depot didn't have a 90 degree 5/8 to 3/4 Pex fitting so I had to loop the line. It let go at the end of the tank the first time I filled it. I don't think I had the line seated correctly. It's working great now. It will definately last through the night-time bathroom trips and the coffee pot in the morning. My oldest won't be awakened by the pump any more.










The straps are screwed through the stand (which is bolted to the bottom of the tank) and I put a couple of extras in so there's no chance of it sliding forward while braking.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Looks nice, Moose.









And shiny clean too!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Ghosty (Jan 17, 2005)

Moosegut...

I am goiing to do the same thing in preparation for the Texas Rally this weekend...

Can you send me a complete list of all the things I need to get from Lowes or HD to do the job... both Lowes and HD are less then a mile from my house...

thx

Ghosty


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## Rubrhammer (Nov 27, 2006)

Nice job MG. I have that on my want to do list. 
Ghosty I'd be flat broke if I lived that close to those stores.
Bob


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Rubrhammer said:


> Nice job MG. I have that on my want to do list.
> Ghosty I'd be flat broke if I lived that close to those stores.
> Bob


I HAVE to go in them 3-4 times a week...work related.

I still have MOST of my money.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Looks Great. What did you use to stop the tank from rolling. It looks like from your pic it is a black wedge of some sort?

Thor


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Thor said:


> Looks Great. What did you use to stop the tank from rolling. It looks like from your pic it is a black wedge of some sort?
> 
> Thor


I bought a 7 gallon horizontal tank and it came with cradles that bolted to the bottom of the tank.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Thanks

I will have to look for these cradles at my local hardware store

Thor


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

Looks great. I've been thinking about installing an accumulator. But I'm not sure how I'd deal with it come time to winterize the water system. Can one of you "enlightened" Outbackers tell me whether this is a concern, and explain how you deal with this issue?

Thanks (and sorry about hijacking this thread).

Mike


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## Eagleeyes (Aug 1, 2007)

Scoutr2 said:


> Looks great. I've been thinking about installing an accumulator. But I'm not sure how I'd deal with it come time to winterize the water system. Can one of you "enlightened" Outbackers tell me whether this is a concern, and explain how you deal with this issue?
> 
> Thanks (and sorry about hijacking this thread).
> 
> Mike


And. for those of us that are REALLY slow...what does the accumulator tank do??
Bob


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Looks great! My 2 gallon is usually ok for the night, but 7 would be great!








Of course my 2 gallon also didn't wash the entire bunk house when I broke one of those cheap plastic fittings...









For those with questions on winterizing, when the pressure is released on the system, the bladder pushes the water out of the tank. I have a shutoff valve on mine, so I can winterize the system with it removed. Of course this is all theoretical since the first winterizing hasn't happened yet.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Scoutr2 said:


> Looks great. I've been thinking about installing an accumulator. But I'm not sure how I'd deal with it come time to winterize the water system. Can one of you "enlightened" Outbackers tell me whether this is a concern, and explain how you deal with this issue?
> 
> Thanks (and sorry about hijacking this thread).
> 
> Mike


(oops, Nathan got in here while I was responding) It's my understanding that turning off the pump switch and opening a faucet or the low points will allow the diaphragm to push all the water out of the tank. When I took the protective cap off the end of the tank to install it, I could see the diaphragm pushed up against the fitting, so I'm sure it will push it out.

Eagle,

the accumulator is an air pressurized tank that has a rubber diaphragm across the middle of it (inside). When installed somewhere in your water line, the water pump will pump water into the water lines and the tank, thereby pushing back the diaphragm which has air pressure behind it. The water pump will switch off automatically as it normally does and then when you flush the toilet or open a faucet, the diaphragm will push the water out of the tank until it empties. Once the tank empties, the pump will come on again and fill it.

In theory, a 7 gallon tank, set up properly, will hold 3.5 gallons of water on one side of the diaphragm. So, that's three and a half gallons of water running through the faucet before the pump comes on. It will allow flushing of the toilet while everyone is asleep and filling of the coffee pot in the morning without waking everyone up. That pump is awfully loud under that bunk and in that bunkroom.


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## Eagleeyes (Aug 1, 2007)

Moosegut said:


> Looks great. I've been thinking about installing an accumulator. But I'm not sure how I'd deal with it come time to winterize the water system. Can one of you "enlightened" Outbackers tell me whether this is a concern, and explain how you deal with this issue?
> 
> Thanks (and sorry about hijacking this thread).
> 
> Mike


(oops, Nathan got in here while I was responding) It's my understanding that turning off the pump switch and opening a faucet or the low points will allow the diaphragm to push all the water out of the tank. When I took the protective cap off the end of the tank to install it, I could see the diaphragm pushed up against the fitting, so I'm sure it will push it out.

Eagle,

the accumulator is an air pressurized tank that has a rubber diaphragm across the middle of it (inside). When installed somewhere in your water line, the water pump will pump water into the water lines and the tank, thereby pushing back the diaphragm which has air pressure behind it. The water pump will switch off automatically as it normally does and then when you flush the toilet or open a faucet, the diaphragm will push the water out of the tank until it empties. Once the tank empties, the pump will come on again and fill it.

In theory, a 7 gallon tank, set up properly, will hold 3.5 gallons of water on one side of the diaphragm. So, that's three and a half gallons of water running through the faucet before the pump comes on. It will allow flushing of the toilet while everyone is asleep and filling of the coffee pot in the morning without waking everyone up. That pump is awfully loud under that bunk and in that bunkroom.
[/quote]

Thanks. So the good thing is that it reduces the amount of pump use when dry camping, right? Does it have any advantages when hooked to city water? Also, I'll assume the pressure is set so that it isn't hurtful to the TT water lines....

Bob


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

Eagleeyes said:


> Thanks. So the good thing is that it reduces the amount of pump use when dry camping, right? Does it have any advantages when hooked to city water? Also, I'll assume the pressure is set so that it isn't hurtful to the TT water lines....
> 
> Bob


Well - sort of. The pump will run just as much. However, it will run longer each time (to fill the accumulator) but less frequently (only when the accumulator is discharged).

Think of it this way - to empty your fresh water tank, the pump will still have to pump out all 50 gallons of water. But it will only run as long as it takes to fill the accumulator and build the required system pressure (until the pump's pressure switch shuts off the pump). The accumulator will then maintain the system pressure and provide water flow, once it is filled. When the accumulator has discharged all of its water, the pump's pressure switch will sense the drop in system pressure and the pump will kick in again to fill the tank and bring the system back up to pressure.

Most accumulators are "dumb," in that they don't care what pressure they are sensing or supplying. The accumulator can only supply as much pressure as the pump supplies when filling it. If the pump is set to supply 40 psi, then the accumulator will fill until system pressure reaches the pump's pressure switch setting. Then the accumulator will supply the water flow at a pressure of 40 psi. The pump will kick back in as soon as the pressure drops below the setting of the pump's pressure switch (40 psi).

Did I explain that so it's clear as mud?

Also, the accumulator only comes into play when the pump is turned on. So if you are hooked up to city water, the accumulator just sits there, doing nothing. (Unless for some strange reason you decide to turn the pump on when hooked up to city water - which my DW did one time. Good thing we had a bit of water in the tank!)

Mike


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Even a small accumulator is really nice. For one thing, when you turn on your faucet, you get an immediate, even, quiet flow of water. Eventually the pump will kick on, but it is great to get that glass of water or flush of the toilet without the pump. We turn off the pump when the kids go to sleep. That way we can still flush the toilet without waking them up (DS sleeps on top of the pump







). I may be crazy, but I also use my 2 gallon accumulator (~1 gal of water) to watch water usage. For navy type showers, I find I can wet down in the time it takes for the pump to come on. I turn off the water flow and suds up while the pump runs. It is off before I am ready to rinse off, and then I turn on the water again. If I move fast, I am finished rinsing when the pump comes on again. 3-4 cycles and I am done (includes getting the hot water into the system). Now I know that I used under 5 gallons of water to shower.









Don't bother telling me I am crazy, my wife already does that very often!


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Its about time you cleaned the camper







....see ya soon









John


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## sandstone (Jan 11, 2007)

Nice work!

Does it matter where in the water line you put the accumulator? The 26RS has the pump under the referigerator and there is really no room to put one in there, but there is lots of room beside the hot water heater futher forward under the bunks. I would think you would want it as close to the pump as possible so it would provide pressure to both the hot and cold water lines.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

sandstone said:


> Nice work!
> 
> Does it matter where in the water line you put the accumulator? The 26RS has the pump under the referigerator and there is really no room to put one in there, but there is lots of room beside the hot water heater futher forward under the bunks. I would think you would want it as close to the pump as possible so it would provide pressure to both the hot and cold water lines.


It does not matter where, as long as it's a cold water line anywhere after the pump. The pump charges the cold water line with about 40 PSI of pressure and that 40 PSI is evident everywhere on the cold water line. The accumulator tank will get charged no matter where it is and it will discharge no matter where too.
Scott


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Scott

I can relate....I took my bathroom faucet apart and forgot about the accumalator. Man does the water ever come out.

Thor


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## sandstone (Jan 11, 2007)

Thanks Scott. 
Appreciate the feedback. Also found some very helpful information at: http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/plumbing/plumb.htm which gave this and more information on RV plumbing.

Now to go and get an accumulator and get it installed. Should be fun...


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Looks great MG. Glad you didn't need a BUCKET to clean up the mess


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

California Jim said:


> Looks great MG. Glad you didn't need a BUCKET to clean up the mess


Oooooh, man, could you imagine that?







It's a good thing that's not pressurized.


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Nice clean install!!








I dont use our tank very often but when we do this would be nice to have. are these tanks expensive?


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

Moosegut said:


> Finished installing the accumulator today.


I have also been thinking of doing this project. What size tank did you go with? Did you purchase the tank local or off the net? Can you give a rough estimate on the price of the project with the tank and plumbing supplies?


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Pictures....come on guys. when you make a great mistake like this think about us and take a picture....


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

I got my tank at Lowes. I didn't see them at Home Depot but maybe I was in the wrong area. They are pretty cheap, but I don't remember the cost.


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## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Pictures....come on guys. when you make a great mistake like this think about us and take a picture....


I always run for the camera when I see something like this happen to DW or someone else, but . . . when I'm the one standing there drenched, my first thought is usually not about getting the camera.


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

We put in a 2 gallon tank. Also put in a valve to shut off the water flow to the tank for winterizing. Don't have to take anything out in the fall, just turn the valve.

Not having to run the pump at night is sooo very nice.


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