I am about ready to sanitize the fresh water system on my coach and have a question.
From the picture below I hook my hose to the back side of this filter setup (I have a new one to install) then can I take the fitting with the green coupler on it off and pour my bleach solution in it and hook it back up and then fill the tank?
I will check the system with just plain water first as I have replaced the tank and all new filters and I am not sure about the one under the sink so a pan and slowly turn the water on fist and figure out the valve under the bathroom sink is the first order. (https://photos.smugmug.com/Foretravel/Forums-post-1/i-pQtspGB/0/2d710d2a/L/20180308_133807-L.jpg) :D
do you like the little red trim around the screw??? that is plastic that got installed because the holes are pulled so they have been packed with Marine-Tex "LOL"
Hard to get much bleach into a garden hose without spilling it...usually on your good work pants. I got one of the little inline filters linked below. Very handy - just screw it on the hose, fill the clear cup with bleach, turn on the water. EASY!
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Power-Care-Garden-Hose-Inlet-Filter-AP31076/202560210?keyword=ap31076&semanticToken=2003000+++%3E++++st%3A%7Bap31076%7D%3Ast++cn%3A%7B0%3A0%7D++cn%3A%7Bnull%7D++ap31076+%7Bproductkey%7D+qu%3A%7Bap31076%7D
Thanks for the link Chuck, I will check it you.
Or better yet. use a pool or spa chlorine treatment. It is granular and about a teaspoon will sanitize 100 gallons. Just fill your tank and turn on all the faucets.
That is a good idea, I will have to see if I can get some from my neighbors, I took my pool out about 12 years ago :D
Bleach in the filter housing works great. ^.^d
Oh that sounds very easy, just remove the filters and pour the bleach in?
Yes.
Just did it myself. Should have done the bleach in the filter housing, but instead poured it into a empty hose. Worked fine that way as well. After, fill your tank, then let it sit while you drive after you have run water through all your lines, so sink, toilet, shower, etc. Then drain and fill with fresh, then flush the lines again. Then install new filters. Make sure you remove the old filters first before you do this. They have carbon in them and will try to remove the chlorine. You should smell bleach when flushing the lines or you didn't put in enough.Wear eye protection and old clothing. Make sure you have new filters on hand before you do it. I used these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX3SYHQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and undersink (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000T6K41A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
Thanks Bob, I have new filters as the old ones froze when FT moved the coach outside last Feb. I called and asked them to make sure the furnace was on and they called back and said it was, well turns out the heat strips were on, not the furnace so the bays did not get any heat and the filters froze and split apart.
I am interested in the granular idea. Where would I get access to the tank on my coach? One teaspoon, fill tank and drive around??? Sounds good to me. Thanks
If you do not have a particulate filter, you should get one. They hook up to the water spigot and catch any chucky stuff, sand, rust, plastic and keep it out of your system. The bottom valve lets you flush it out. The filter screens conpme in different mesh sizes and the fpfilter bowl screw off, a perfect place to add bleach. This cleans your hoses and everything.
If you are sanitizing then bypass your carbon filter, is traps the bleach.
Water Pressure in Coach (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=25797.msg205193#msg205193)
Is this sanitizing something that needs to be done in all situations? I have never sanitized any of our motorhomes. We fill with Los Angeles city water after each trip as an earthquake stand-by. The water will kill your fish in a pond and checks higher than a swimming pool tester requires. I always figured that our use is keeping the chloramines high enough in the tank to take care of any bacteria etc. The water sits the longest between Nov. and May, our last and first trip each year. That will change at the end of Sept. this year with my retirement and probably 3 months max there after.
Thanks Roger, I will have to get that type of filter for larger stuff as a pre-filter, so from the bib first would be my pressure regulator then the large particulate filter then my 2 filter set?
here are the filters I got a while back, the right side is for small particulate stuff and the left is a carbon filter. I guess I need to figure out how to turn off the filter under the sink as it is a new carbon filter too, I just have not figured out the valves for it yet "LOL"
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Foretravel/Forums-post-1/i-tp34TsN/0/051bded3/L/20180822_103528-L.jpg)
Thanks, also to Roger. I wish I could park my coach next to you for a while and learn LOTS of stuff.We have the same coach, to boot.!! I am getting ready to order the filter and pressure regulator that you recommend. Before I do, I would like to clarify: You bought the FAMCP34, according to your post. It is the 155, not the 50. Is that adequate? Also, you mention an $8 40 psi regulator. I don't see it on the link you provided. You go through 2 pre filters. What did you buy, if you recall. What softener did you buy? How often do you have to recharge it? I assume that you also have an under sink filter, as I do. So.....I put bleach into the pre filter, by pass all other filters and run the water until you smell bleach. Let it sit. Flush. Correct?? Do you sanitize the fresh water tank also?? I know for a fact that the PO did NOT do any of this, and we spend 8 months in our coach. Getting it ready for our winter journey, as we speak. Thanks for you help. You are a wealth of information. And you do such pretty work too !!
With the granular spa chlorine. You just mix it in hot water in a 2-3 cup glass measuring cup. Then pour that (wearing gloves) into the hose or particulate filter canister you use to fill your fresh water tank. Since the spa chlorine is so concentrated you aren't likely to over flow the fill hose. Just pour slowly and have a helper as you don't want to lower the hose to make the final connection or the solution pours back out. Or do the filter thing as Roger said. Which is much, much easier and safer.
If you have the Everpure filter under the sink, it can be kinda tricky. Some models have a lever that when rotated to the "UP" (vertical) position, turns off the water going through the filter. On other models, the lever is not a valve, but is only a "lock" to hold the replaceable filter in position.
If your filter head does
not have a water shutoff valve, you can buy a "blank" plug that installs in place of a filter. This is usually used during the winterizing process, to avoid getting the pink stuff in the filter.
OR, you could install a shutoff valve on the supply line to the filter. This is a good idea if you live in (or visit) a place where below freezing winter temps are common, just in case one of the small plastic water lines (going to filter or ice maker) ever freezes and breaks.
I used to use the whole house adjustable water pressure regulators for sticks and bricks.
Now we use this one and prefer it: https://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/Fixed.htm
Thanks Chuck, I will get some pictures tomorrow.
Does the filter under the sink go to the ice maker too?
It does on our coach, and I assume that's the way it is on most Foretravel coaches...unless it was changed by a prior owner. Most ice makers need a filter of some sort in the water supply line. On our coach the filtered water also went to a "instant" hot water dispenser at the kitchen sink. Ours was broken, and we had no need for it, so I replaced it with a hand soap dispenser.
Thanks chuck, I have a water dispenser at the sink but I dont know if it is hot or just cold
If is an insta hot there should be a switch to turn it on. You can tell by looking under the sink if it is for hot water there will be the tank directly under the faucet.
On ours, standing in front of the sink, the cold (drinking water) dispenser is on the right side of the sink. The hot dispenser was on the left side of the sink, and there was (is) a switch on the panel below the sink that turned the little water heater on. Actually, the switch turns on a duplex 110V outlet under the sink. The hot water dispenser was plugged into that switched outlet.
Thanks Chuck and RT mine must have only the cold water one then.
Thanks Glenn for the nice comments. Everybody starts out trying to figure this stuff out. It can seem pretty daunting but like most things it is just a stepmby step process and mostly common sense.
The FAMCP34 particulate filter from Dripworks is a 155 mesh screen
The FAMCP34200 prticulate filter has a 200 mesh screen which is the finest they have. Either will work.
Amiad Tagline Filters - DripWorks.com (https://www.dripworks.com/amiad-tagline-filters)
For $20 they stop a lot of crud from getting into the system.
The pressure regulator from Dripworks had a couple drawbacks so I went to a Valterra 50 psi high flow brass regulator.
Amazon.com: Valterra (A01-1122VP Lead-Free Water Regulator: Automotive (https://amazon.com/Valterra-A01-1122VP-Lead-Free-Water-Regulator/dp/B003YJJHI0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534996108&sr=8-1&keywords=high+flow+rv+water+pressure+regulator)
The dual water filters are like Stave has above.
Amazon.com: Watts POE12DSA1KDF Dual Exterior Water Filter Kit: Automotive (https://amazon.com/Watts-POE12DSA1KDF-Exterior-Water-Filter/dp/B005F2Z52Q/ref=pd_sbs_263_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B005F2Z52Q&pd_rd_r=c6a0e8d0-a687-11e8-81f4-6951fe5af5cc&pd_rd_w=1z91X&pd_rd_wg=6eJBI&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=0bb14103-7f67-4c21-9b0b-31f42dc047e7&pf_rd_r=JB1T22CJGBF4EXPTFRJ7&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=JB1T22CJGBF4EXPTFRJ7)
The filters are sometimes not available so I keep as spare set ready to use. And then start looking for more. These get changed once a year or more depending one how much we travel. For FT probably twice a year.
Water softener is a Watts
Amazon.com: Watts Water Quality/Condition M7002 Flow-Pur RV-Pro 10,000 Water... (https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0050EITTK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
It uses ordinary table salt to recharge, takes about 20 minutes. It has test strips to tell when to recharge, it seems like it is good for about 800 gallons
The drinking water filter gets changed every six months, may be a bit longer.. For us it gets removed when we winterize and a new one goes in after dewinterizing.
When we put the coach in the barn the fresh water tank gets filled with maybe a tablespoon of bleach. If it sits more than a few weeks before we leave again that water gets emptied into the garden and the fresh tank refilled when we leave.
If your tank is clean one or two tablespoons of bleach is plenty for 100 gallons. If you smell,the bleach us a little less next time. If it is getting filled with cpgood city water you really don't need any.
After a winterizing the fresh tank may have sat empty for three months or so before we leave. We flush all the lines out and add fresh water to the tank with 3-4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) of bleach in the particulate filter. This gets the hose and everything. Youncan run it through the filter cases with no cartridges in them and the waster softener as well. Pump it through all of the lines and faucets. Let it sit for an hour or so and then drain everything out. And the repeat with little or no bleach, drain it out. Then put in new filters and run water through them before hooking it up to fill the tank. Sometimes you will get some black water coming out of the carbon filter and then it will,clear up. Hook the filters up to fill the tanks and fill the tank and run water theough all of the lines. Put a new drinking water filter in and run water through that.
It seems fussy but it is just one step at a time and it is done. It is not hard to keep your water system clean and healthy. Just stay with it.
Thanks, Roger
That is what I will do. Just one more thing.....if I wanted to run vinegar into the system, and let it sit for a while, any suggestions of how to get enough into the lines?
If you just want to pump vinegar through the lines and faucet heads you can do that just like you would for winterizing except with vinegar. You need a hose hitting on the end of a 3 ft or so tube. You can get the fitting at the hardware store along with some plastic 1/2 plastic tube. It makes it easier to remove the shelf above the pump. I put mine back in place with velcro instead of screws to make getting it out every year easier.
Close the valve from the tank to the water pump, remove the pipe coming into the pump. You should be able to turn the plastic fitting by hand. It connects to a filter screen. This is a good time to take that apart and clean it. Connect your fitting and tube to the pump. Pour a gallon of vinegar into a clean five gallon bucket of water and add fresh water to fill it up. Put the tube in a gallon jug and turn on the pump. It will suck the mix into the water system lines. Turn on each faucet, cold then hold, one at a time until you smell vinegar. Don't forget the shower and the toilet and there are hot and cold line drain valves near the water pump and over on the driver's side in the battery bay. You may need to add another gallon of water. It takes about 6 gallons to fill all the lines. Remove you short hose and reconnect the water line fron the tank. Let that sit for a hour or more and then hook up fresh water to the hose, turn it on and flush out all the lines until no more vinegar smell.
If you want to get a vinegar solution into the fresh tank you probably have to figure out a way to pump it in to the tank. Pretty hard to get enough in just pouring it into the end of the hose. There are inexpensive drill powered pumps (less the $10) that will work.
I added a direct fill port in my fresh tank. A short hose connected to that with a funnel would work.
Search for Vinegar Flush. Lots of ideas there.
Brett suggests a day. I think that is OK. A stronger bleach water mix in the system, just an hour or so. Bleach can react with some seals and parts. Better to not let it sit too long.
I use a hand pump kit sold for winterizing and pump straight vinegar until I get smell everywhere, then leave it for 24 hours, not one hour. Works for me. Essentially all the deposits come from the hot side.