Still trying to identify all of the equipment on our Foretravel. Are these F.T. factory connectors and dump switches or another aftermarket item without any paper work. The sewer hose connection is not like any of my other motorhomes. If they are after market does anyone know where I could get replacement parts if needed? Would it be a good idea to change out the connectors to a generic one like Camping World sells if they are not identifiable and could not get parts on the road?
This is on a 1999 U320
Deleted by author
Definitely not OEM (which would have been a white Theftord).
The coach connection appear to be Drainmaster Sewer Hose Systems | Drain Master (http://drainmaster.com/site/products/mini-view3)
As do the electric dump valve switches Electric Waste Valves | Drain Master (http://drainmaster.com/site/products/mini-view2)
Thank you at least I know I can get parts if needed. One more item solved
I think Don (acousticart) has one of these hose connection systems.
Check out a bulk fuel truck or a honey wagon truck next time you see one. You may find that they have the same system. Heavy duty and reliable.
Great setup. I looked into that when we installed my third valve but went with the OEM parts due to cost. I really like that system, especially if you notice that the hose ribs are on the exterior of the hose. It's smooth inside.
Same hose I put on our coach. It works great. You will love it..
Mark
I like this set up as well and as I am also going to do a work over in the wet bay this summer at home I think I may just buy the valving etc and put in the electric gate valves too. Looks neat.
May put in remote switches too!! Just imagine if the exit pipe is plumbed right you can dump while going down the highway, no need to look for dump stations etc!!!!!
JohnH
The Drainmaster hoses and dump valves have become standard issue on all new FT coaches. I'm not sure what model year they became standard. Maybe around iH-45 first year?
I assume that FT parts has all of the associated new and spare parts. On line sources could be less expensive, but one never knows until one checks.
Neal
Probably will work great with a macerator in the rain.
The hose appears to be identical to the Polychute hose which I use. The only difference is the connection system. I've been very pleased with the Polychute hose. Polychute (http://www.polychute.com)
The system appears to be a Drain Master system. Sewer Hose Systems | Drain Master (http://drainmaster.com/site/products/mini-view3) FOT would probably have parts.
Matthews Band bus driver pleads guilty to dumping waste in river - Chicago... (http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-0503100266mar10-story.html)
The Wastemaster/Drainmaster with the camlock connection is a great setup. It looks like on your coach, that whoever installed the 3" camlock adapter on the end of your outlet left it the 3" pipe too long to be able to close the compartment door while the hose is attached. With your setup, it looks like you could get a new camlock fitting and cut the pipe shorter (measure very carefully!) and be able to close the compartment door with the hose attached.
Products | Drain Master (http://drainmaster.com/site/products/full-view/264)
You may be able to even add a third valve behind the compartment wall, but maybe not worth doing unless you need to open up that area to do other work.
Since I had to gut that whole compartment to do my basement rebuild/bulkhead repair, I reconfigured things a bit...
Don
Don- your configuration is better than any I've seen, bar none!
Ed
There is not enough room to shorten and do what you did without taking the panel off and redoing the system as you did. I just ordered the storage system and will install it between the wet bay door and the wheel well.
I was going to do that as well, but it wasn't possible on ours make the 90º bend with a enough radius to make the hose with its male camlock fitting go across in front of the dually. As it turned out, I leave the hose hooked up while traveling and it is very convenient to pull out and hook up when we are ready to dump.
Don
I am going to mount it on the outside of the bay The storage system comes with its own box and door and lock. The area will line up with the horizontal pipe, I will remove the 90
LOL. Could be a bit tough on the Toad though.
Ah, I see... You are going to mount the sewer hose storage door assembly on the outside of the coach, in the fender. I considered that too, but decided against cutting a hole in the fender. It will definitely be a convenient way to store it. I guess the slight inward angle of the fender won't be much of an issue. It will be interesting to see how it comes out...
Don
Ah shucks... Thanks Ed.
Don
The camlock system you have is way better to use than the typical RV connectors. Who ever came up with that idea is brilliant. They are much easier to use. They are used in construction on pumps and air lines. You can pick up parts at any industrial plumbing shop.
Remind me not to drive behind JohH
;)
Well today I started to take all the wet Bay apart and found firstly that 2 of the bolts holding one of the valves together were loose and it had dripped a bit as the fibreglass floor was wet and with the colour of the whole bay it had obviously been doing it for a long time. Good news is that the base is well sealed so I guess it just dried up between flushes!!
I yanked it all out and now am drawing up a new set of panels and will set them back just like Don did (thanks Buddy for ideas)
I am as stated a month ago going to go with the electric valves by Drainmaster and was wondering if anyone had found better prices than from Maker in Calif'. They want $139 each and the hose $160. I know it is not that expensive really but with the Cndn exchange that goes up almost 40% then Border Duties etc, so trying to save a few bucks if I can. One of the online RV stores are a few $ cheaper but a 4 week wait is not on the cards for me.
Thanks
JohnH
Well the valves arrived a week or so earlier than mentioned and now I am putting together the valves on the plumbing that I had to rework due to leaks etc. A tad tough getting the bolts thru valve connections on pipes as FT did not make it too easy in their placement of the 3" lines and elbows. I have them on and poured about 15 galls of water in each tank to leave it overnight just to make sure there are NO leaks now. I have been installing some new French Doors in bedroom of home so jumping from one job to another . Back to coach in am and hope there are no leaks.
More later and some pictures .
JohnH
Well lots has happenednsince my last post. I had not tried the valves as suggested by Drainmaster untill they are installed so after finally getting some time to get back to this job I tried the switches and guess what!. One valve opened but would not close and fuse blew and the other did nothing except blowing the fuse. Hmmm (scratching my head)
I decided to call the maker but Friday afternoon was a bad time as the Tech's have gone home. So not wanting to wait till tommorrow I decided to take it all apart and try to figure out the problem. Once the valves were off the pipes they worked fine ( with new fuses).
I checked the alignment of the 3" flanges for valves and they are slightly out from each other and thereby putting a slight twist on the flanges of valves and this caused the gate valve to slightly jamb and blow the fuse.
I decided to cut the pipe that joins the 2 elbows and take a piece about 2" out of it and install one of the rubber connectors with clamps (see picture) This allows the valve to sit correctly and now works fine. I filled the tanks agian for a leak test and that was fine. Finally I could install the panels of Aluminum and these can be removed (should I ever need to get to plumbing ) very quickly and also gives me more storage thatn before.
The wet bay is now totally sealed form water ( there better had not be any leaks now) and looks pretty close to what I was trying to achieve, although not as shiny as Dons SSteel job. I still have to get a holder for the spray head and mount that on the sidewall.
John H
Nice looking job John! What is the round black thing in the upper right hand area, a vent?
Looks like a heat outlet - you can see the tube that hooks up to it in the first photo.
John,
What did you wind up using to frame your small sewer door opening?
Thanks,
Trent
Looking good John! ^.^d I may have to raise the bar... let's see, maybe I will have to add a sink and a wet bar to my set up! Oh yea, and an ice maker of course... ;) Just kidding, looks fabulous and I am sure every time you have to do the necessary business there you will get a kick out of seeing it.
Don
Trent, that opening has a 1/8" x 1 1/2" wide alum'n U shaped strip that is a real neat fit and is bedded with a roofing silicone type sealant behind then a few scews tapped into the box frame of opening. I also drilled a couple of holes in the box section and pumped POR15 into them then left it for a while then blew compressed air into it so the inside would get sprayed hopefully with it. I did fill the holes after a few days so no water from road would get in. The bottom section of base and walls is a formed 1/8" alum'n welded "box" like unit that is totally water sealed so no leaking into sub frame etc. The top piece has 2 side strips coming down to a lip that are formed to cover the bottom section. There is a one piece section that fits into that openinmg and forms the "storage" section that sits over top of the plumbing. By removing 6 screws this will come out and give you full access to all the sewer system in case of problems or regular checking to make sure nothing is leaking etc.
The vent in the top right is also on your coach and gives warm air from rear furnace. The third valve is still manual and safety back up I guess.
The one thing I wanted to do (along with having the electric valves) was to make it possible for fast removal but go back and look like it had not come out. I did not like the M Mouse way FT did it before and this was always on my hit list to change. Seeing Don's made me do it once we got back from our trip.
I am getting thru my "to do" list well but house reno's keep getting in the way!!!
JohnH
Way to go John! I lurk here mostly but you and Don (acousticart) are my heros! I'm probably older than you guys but I want to be just like you when I grow up...
John,
Are you saying you have recessed that center section to provide storage? (If not, why not? :) ) I had considered replacing the top two pieces with one piece, but I like the way you extended the top section to provide more stability.
I have some thin stainless steel that I thought I might try gluing to the fiberglass panels; any thoughts on that procedure?
Keep up the good work!
Trent
Like Don I used stainless steel. I used three sections to make access easier. If I had to do it over I would use aluminum. It is cheaper and much easier to work with. My original rubber was in great shape so I put it back in. The space is configured differently in 2001 with a slide so these all turn out to be a bit unique to fit the space. I like John's recess for mugs. 😷
I have a bore scope that shows the image on my iPhone or iPad. I should have left a small opening for that to go through so I could do remote inspections. Next time I take the top section off it will get added.
Trent, I did something similar to what you are asking. I used 22 Gauge SS sheet. Very difficult to cut clean and not easy to drill a 4" or so hole even with a new hole saw. Thinner is of course easier to cut, but still not easy. I would suggest that you clamp it to some scrap plywood when drilling to get the best results. Here is a link to a thread I posted about my utility bay....
Putting the Utility compartment back together... (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=18328.0;all)
This type of fabrication requires some creative problem solving and some tools, but you knew that already... ^.^d
Don
Trent, the answer is yes, I did put a storage compartment in centre location as my last photo shows part of it.
Roger, you did a neat job too and my rubber base was in good condition too but I wanted absolutely no way that any water could get to frame below it and that rubber was not the way to go in my mind. The bottom section and up the walls 6" is a one piece welded unit (except of course were the 3rd valve pipe comes thru the back panel) but there would have to be a good pool of water to get into back space thru there. This also is the reason I put the strip of alumin around the opening as well, tight join and sealed before install. I also have 2 small deflectors ( one either side of the drop down hatch cover) so that road dirt and water can not get forced in past cover ( which I also extended) and put a strong foam seal around to make it even more tight.
JohnH
For those having to drill in Stainless steel I learned a little secret from a man that was making SS guards for a machine I designed while working at Fiskars--the scissors people.
Pulsate your drill speed while maintaining feed pressure. In other words, high RPM, then slow RPM, then keep repeating.
This will help keep the SS from workhardening ahead of the drill point.
Also, use what is called a centering drill for small holes. Quicker penetration, smaller chisel point so the drill doesn't walk as easily, and less burring. Centering drills have a small dia to start then goes to a larger dia. Usually double ended so you get twice the drill life for the price.
I used this technique, but I didn't know why it worked... just that it seemed to help.
Don
I wondered about using a step drill in the stainless. Anyone try one of these? Using a holesaw was a challenge. Went through quite a few saber saw blades as well. Next time aluminum for me. For this purpose it is just much easier.
A sheet metal shop nearby will make anything I need pretty inexpensively. Great to have nearby.
I've used those a lot, VERY NICE!
I used these a lot, both for enlarging holes and deburring the stainless ⅛" flat stock that I used as reinforcement for the through bolts I used to attach the basement framing to the coach. I couldn't bring myself to reuse the 5/16" roloks except for the pony walls that separate the fuel tank from the propane tank and house batteries and between the FW tank and waste tanks. Those partitions were framed with ¾" thick by 1 ½" wide rectangular tubing. I still used nuts (square nuts which I had to grind a bit off of two sides so I could slide them in the tube) on the inside of the tube. Anyway, I used the original holes which I used a step drill to accommodate the larger ⅜" through bolts and since I had drilled the stainless flat stock with a 5/16" drill bit before I decided to use the larger ⅜" ARP 300 series stainless bolts, I had to enlarge about 40 holes in the stainless flat stock. I went through a couple of step bits because I wore out the ⅜" step on them, even using cutting oil. Works much, much better by the way, when you use some cutting oil.
Don