7x7x16 V Nose Cargo Trailer Conversion, First Build

[Iconfabul8]

First off, great progress! I do see two things you might think about. It might be an illusion but it looks like you are connected to the output of the sump with your drain lines. Also, you could probably do away with p traps since you are using a sump.
Have fun, I am enjoying your build.

[jr9744]

@flboy I will add the vent to my p-trap so I don't get that 'gurgle'. I noticed that tonight. I am very tempted to chop out the pvc and get those flex hoses. Did you just buy yours at Home Depot? I actually finalized my drainage tonight, but I'm not happy with it. It's complex and one big mess in my opinion.

@flboy Where did you get your 2 and 3 inch grommets for your tanks? The one I ordered for my black tank is very different from yours and was a pain to get on ( I used it on the outlet). I'll do some research to find the grommets you used.

@Iconfabul8 The sump pump came with the output vent open. All others were input and closed and I had to chop the end off of it. I may keep the p-trap since it's already there, but why wouldn't I need it with a sump pump? Will the 'smell' stay away because of the sump pump?


So tonight was a bittersweet night. I got the shower head and handles hooked up, the drainage plumbing all glued together, and the whole system done. I started adding water to the tank, then stopped after about one minute to see if anything was leaking. Right off bat, I forgot to plug the drain outlet for the tank. So water was leaking out. Fixed this and moved on. After the tank had about half water, I plugged in the water pump to the switch and turned it on. It Felt like water was leaking everywhere. Two of the brass 1/2 adapters I bought had no gaskets on the inside. Got rid of those and put the plastic ones I had back on. Then the T that went out to the shower was leaking like crazy. I had to get rid of that cheap vinyl tube that came with my tank and puts something heavier on. The connection to the shower inlet's leaked for a bit, and the water heater connection leaked. Tighten and fixed all this, but the water pump would continually come on since tiny bits of water was leaking from the top of the shower connection. Another critical mistake I believe I made was not using the crimping system for the pex pipes. I just used clamps and they don't seem to completely clamp all the way if not put on just perfect. With this trailer bumping up and down the road, there is no way I can leave the pipes like this. So now I either have to buy and crimp them all correctly, or just use some thicker pvc flexible vinly type tubing and replace all the pex.

So yeah...i'll sleep on it and start over tomorrow.

Here is what the drainage ended up looking like. It was tough to glue everything together and I was getting super high from the fumes. At the end I was just trying to jam pieces together. I may very well get rid of all of this and use flexible hoses.


Shower hooked up.


Drain's coming out the bottom

[Iconfabul8]

@Iconfabul8 The sump pump came with the output vent open. All others were input and closed and I had to chop the end off of it. I may keep the p-trap since it's already there, but why wouldn't I need it with a sump pump? Will the 'smell' stay away because of the sump pump?

I also used the marine sump for my shower and had to cut the input port. It was kinda scary making sure I was cutting the right one. But, yes, I believe the sump has a check valve that won't let anything come back through. Also, If you keep the p-trap I would turn it around so that it lowers the water level in your drain and might even help with the gurgle.

[McDave]

Take another look at the Hepvo trap. It could help clean up some of that drain plumbing and eliminate the P-traps. Wont need air admittance valves and might be able to 86 the sump pump.
http://hepvo.com/installation-maintenance/
https://www.amazon.com/HEPVO-BV1BUB112- ... rless+trap
Here are the grommets I used.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007H ... UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007H ... UTF8&psc=1

McDave

[flboy]

Don't get discouraged. If this was easy, everybody would do it. You will get it. I have built and rebuilt things many times over the years. Those who haven't, probably are not telling the whole story.

I will get you the info on the grommets when I get home tonight.

I had a few leaks when I preasurized the first time as well. One was in a sealed wall that I should have tested before closing it up, but I was in a hurry and took the risk.. which I later regretted.

You will get there and be better for it!

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[jr9744]

McDave Have any pics of your grommet installed on your tank? I actually already have the one you linked, but I didn't think it would work. Now I'm thinking that the top of the black tank will go between those two circles on the grommet. I didn't realize this before. I also may end up getting the hepvo.

flboy Thanks for the encouragement. Plumbing is not my cup of tea, and I will be happy once I can start sealing up the walls and be done with it. I'm going to take a trip to marine west and look for the 1 1/2 grommet for the black tank vent. I see they sell them there. I already have the grommet for the toilet, just wasn't sure how to use it.

So I'm still plugging away guys. Plumbing is really kicking my but to say mildly.

So I'm still working to finalize the kitchen/shower/toilet plumbing. I hope to get this done today. Since plumbing has really taken me for a ride, my inaugural run planned for this week is off. Instead I will use the week to go full force and see if I can get Kitchen, Bathroom, and Solar Panels installed for a first test run.

I ended up buying the right tools for the job. Made all the difference in the world. That orange pex cutter works really well (I passed it over the first time I saw it because of my skeptibility)


How under the sink looks now. I disconnected the hose inlet, but added the stub back in because I thought the 'air' may help the water pressure.


Behind shower with now all pex crimps.


Water heater with pex. Although I'm going to change the heater outlet to one of those 12 inch sink connections, since they say pex should not be that close to your heater.


Toilet hooked up. The extra cap for now for the wand to clean out the tank.


This is the water pressure I'm getting. Any ideas how to fix this? Vents? It seemed really good when I first started and had all the leaks. Not sure what has changed it so much.


I bought 3/4 pex to get rid of that mess I have for my drainage. Once I'm satisfied with all the connections for the inputs, then I will tackle this mess.

[m.colley]

Is that "pump pressure" or from "city water". Check the screen in the faucet head, its a real possibility there is trash in the screen.


Martin

[jr9744]

Is that "pump pressure" or from "city water". Check the screen in the faucet head, its a real possibility there is trash in the screen.


Martin

Bingo, these were the culprits:


Now the water pressure is almost better than my house. Nice!!


I am now completely satisfied with all the 'in' plumbing for the system. Everything is sealed and no water is leaking. I'll post pictures tomorrow of what the final system looks like. I hope to wake up tomorrow to a dry floor on the trailer. We shall see.

If no leaks are present tomorrow am, I will completely focus on getting my new drainage done. Then off to the gray tank.

[m.colley]

its nice when the solutions are that easy. Back in the day that was always my #1 thing to check.

BTW, if you happen to see a little flat washer in there with a very small "toothpick" sized hole thru the center, the washer is how they regulate the gpm flow to meet federal guildlines for low flow faucets.



Martin

[McDave]

Here are the black tank pics I took. Yes, the tank material goes between the two grommet flanges, so be sure the hole you cut is the right size. Bigger than the pipe I.D. but smaller than the grommet flanges. I'll see if I can find the size the hole should be. 1 1/2" and 3" pipe correct?





My tank is mounted underneath floor. The foam weatherstrip on tank is just to prevent the tank from rubbing against floor. Not sure it is necessary but I wouldn't want to rub a hole in the top of tank.

McDave

[jr9744]

So I realized I haven't posted for a while, so thought I would throw up some picks. Winter and snow has slowed me down a bit. I am planning on heading down to FL to finish the build.

@McDave Thanks for the pictures. I have all my grommets now and just need to cut some holes in the floor and tank to finish the toilet. On my list to get done very soon.

Plumbing has really taken me for a whirl. After I sealed up the shower and did some testing, I realized I had another leak (Dumb trap cleaner that I 'hand' tightened and pretty much ignored). It also made me realize that I had no way to really service underneath the shower if I needed to. So this took me down a long path. This is what under the shower ended up looking like:

Redid plumbing after yanking up the shower to find my leak.


Cut underneath the trailer to give me a 'inlet' to be able to hook up and later work on under the shower.


So after I hooked everything back up (need to take pictures), winter hit and I had to drain my system. I'll wait to test further when I get to FL.

In order to work solar, I had to invest in a scaffold. Luckily, I got about 40% off since the box was damaged at HD.


I got the solar panels up. Put wood studs underneath the panels and used the Renogy Z Brackets and self tapping screws with washers. I took a 2 hour trip in Amish country and they hold just fine. There not going anywhere.


Inlet for the Solar


I have the Renogy inverter hooked up and the 4 6V batteries in parallel/series to the controller. All is going well so far. I'll put pictures of this tomorrow. Although, the Renogy Controller is not as sturdy as it looks. The panel is very sensitive to pressure and I broke the screen on one of the controllers. Still works, but no lcd. Speaking of lcd, the Renogy LCD leaves much to be desired anyhow. No backlight and it is sometimes hard to read.

I decided to get what I want for the flooring and the sides of the trailer. I bought 1 x 12 x 12 planks of pine for the floor. I plan to stain it with a stain I saw on houzz, the floor looked gorgeous. I also bought 6 inch pine boards for the sides. I will paint these white.


12 Inch Boards


Up next is getting that toilet done, getting the floor in place, and then heading to FL!!!

[flboy]

I thought about the same thing if I ever had a shower drain issue.I put an access point in the front of the shower pedestal via a screwed on an air vent. I can take the vent off with four screws to get my hands up in there to service the drain if needed. It is also a good inspection point to check for leaks and etc..


Your solar panels look great. Are you connecting them all together up top and just sending down 2 wires .

Safe Travels to Fl..


Pic of my shower drain access... see vent on lower right...

[McDave]

Access panels make life a lot easier. That looks like a great solar set up. 500wt? And the 6v batts. 235ah each? Sorry to hear about the controller quality, I thought Renology was supposed to be pretty good stuff. Backlighting is a must for me these days, I'm getting old. Let us know how the system performs in use, I'm going to try get a system installed in the spring but will likely purchase this winter. Might save some dollars off season.
You are moving right along there. Can't wait to see pics of that flooring. Have your neighbors asked to borrow that scaffold yet? They will...

McDave

[jr9744]

@flboy Yeah, I'm using 4 sets of Y connectors to wire them in parallel and then giving me one positive and negative to go in. So far they've withstood two snow storms of 2 inches or more uncovered with no issues( I do plan to protect them though). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWO3RAE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I read later that if you have 4 or more panels, they recommend you use a bus to capture all the energy. Future project. The one thing I'm unsure of is adding my magnum inverter into my system. I'm gonna put together a diagram and post and see if you can help with any feedback.

It also looks like your using a bilge pump in your sink. I tried using that for my shower to my sump pump and it didn't work. I got leaks where the shower connected.

@McDave 500 Watts and I don't remember the total AH. I would have expected the renogy controller tell me my AH capacity, but it does not. It tells me the AH it puts into the battery, but not the current capacity. I'll probably buy an third party monitor anyways. So far I have the solar panels to the controller, and to the batteries with no load for about a week now. Those batteries stay 100% charged and at about 13.4 Volts. This is winter in Maryland too. The controller functions great, I just think they skimped on the lcd.

Some random pics:

I'll have to buy some minwax stain that the 'pro' mentioned on Houzz, but this is what I hope my floors to look like


Set of batteries



Renogy 40 Amp MPPT Controller. I built a box for it.

.

This is my second Renogy Controller that broke (long story, but if you read the post you'll see why I have two) Still functional, just no lcd. I plan to keep it as a backup or possibly pay it forward to someone.

[flboy]

@flboy Yeah, I'm using 4 sets of Y connectors to wire them in parallel and then giving me one positive and negative to go in. So far they've withstood two snow storms of 2 inches or more uncovered with no issues( I do plan to protect them though). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWO3RAE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I read later that if you have 4 or more panels, they recommend you use a bus to capture all the energy. Future project. The one thing I'm unsure of is adding my magnum inverter into my system. I'm gonna put together a diagram and post and see if you can help with any feedback.

I'll be glad to help with any feedback. It is a good idea to use a buss with a larger gauge wire to concentrate the panels. What ends up if you parallel them with the Y connectors is that you end up with a lot of (all of) current in the last set of wires which may drop some voltage due to the higher current. I made a box with a bus bar and brought all 5 panels into the box, joined them on the bus bar, and then fed one set of heavy gauge wires down to the controller. I had some issues with corrosion in the box I built, but that is another story.

To give you an idea: