Basic plumbing questions

Trying to understand the plumbing system before we venture out for the first time.
A few questions:

1.When you fill your TM up with water through the garden hose inlet, does it go all the way through to fill up the hot water heater as well?

2.Does it work the same way if you were to try and fill it through the Lo Pressure Bucket Fill on the outside. Would it be able to push water through into water heater that way as well or does the pump have to be turned on once the 20 gal. water tank is full in order to pull it through into the water heater.

3.When do you know it is full? Does it just spill back out the inlet hole once it is full?

4. At what point do you turn on your faucets when you are filling your TM with water to releave air. Is it only when you turn the pump on. Not getting the sequence here.

5. When you dump your grey water, that does not drain the hot water heater does it?

5. Since you can burn the element up if you don’t have water in the hot water heater, and it is advisable to keep TM plugged in while being stored (not used) so you don’t run the battery down, I assume it is OK to leave water in hot water heater. I live in southern Florida, so I don’t have winterizing concerns.

6. Where is the valve to drain the hot water heater located and what does it look like.

7.Where is the hot water heater located on the TM2619 (Yr 2007) I have a tank under the sink that have pipes labled hot and cold, and something under the dinette seat. I assume that’s the hot water heater under the sink? Where is the pump located? I got a schematic on the Plumbing system, but nothing I can find any drawings showing where everything is located.


8. FUSES: I was hoping to find somewhere in the literature something that listed all the different types of fuses to buy, but no such luck. I only saw one drawing that indicated an actual fuse type. I want to buy spare fuses and bulbs to carry with me. What do I have to do-pull out every fuse in the TM to find out what it takes? Has anyone made up any lists of recommended fuses to buy. I don’t know how many different fuses there are, so going into the automotive store and asking for an assortment – I don’t know how realistic this is.

9. Where is the electrical box located? I understand there is a 30 amp fuse in that which I know I need to have a spare of. I need to locate that. Can anyone lead me on the right track as to know what types of fuses to buy?

. Needless to say, I am totally inept in these matters, but trying hard to learn. I am a single female who always took my car in to have it serviced, and called the repair man when something in the house needed fixing. Now I’m trying to learn how to do preventative maintenance and small repairs for the first time, and it’s a little challenging. I apologize for these elementary questions.

1. Water is available from either hose or water tank, but you must manually fill the heater tank by running a hot water tap until it stops sputtering. Failure to do this will burn out your electric heating element instantly should you choose to use it.
2. You need water pressure to do this...either connected via a hose or using the water pump.
3. Depending on the model TM, you can either see the tank filling or wait for the inlet to overflow.
4. Doesn't matter, see #2.
5. Nope, completely different systems.
6. Underneath TM, there are 4 drain valves that drain different parts of the TM. Exact location depends on model, but probably just in front and just in back of wheels.
7. Hot water heater is rather large and is accessed from behind a grill outside the TM. Don't know where the pump is on that model, ours (2720) is under the sink. It is cylindrical in shape, perhape 5" in diameter and 8" long.
8/9. The electrical panel is probably located on a lower wall somewhere. It is dark in color, and easily opens. Most all fuses and circuit breakers are inside. Don't recall where fuse info is written, but there are not that many of them if you have to remove to get ratings. The 30 amp fuse is usually attached to your battery...it is probably a glass type. Very easy and useful to get a new bladed fuse holder from an auto parts store and change it. The glass fuses blow often, the bladed ones not so much.

We were all inept at the beginning. Soon your learning curve will level out and you will be giving advice...in the meantime, enjoy!

[MudDog]

Welcome to the forum - we were all new to the TM at some point, so don't be afraid to ask questions...we're a helpful bunch

I'll take a stab...I'm sure others will also jump in: (edit - Scott already did while I was typing... )




1) When you're connected to 'city water', the pipes fill up with water, however there is likely air in the hot water heater tank, so it can't fill with water until you open one of the hot water faucets so the air has a place to escape. After hooking up, but before turning on the hot water heater, we'll normally run the hot water faucet until water flows smoothly without the burps and gasps you get when there is still air in the system.

2) When using the fresh water tank, the pump needs to be on for water to flow thru the sustem (including to the hot water heater). Same idea as #1, but just turn the pump on instead of connecting to city water supply. Once the system stops burping, it's ok to turn on hot water heater without fear of burning the element.

3) Yes, there is an overflow built into the inlet. If filling to fast and not allowing enough room around the fill hose for the air to leave the tank, it may burp water out because the tank still has air. So, I'll usually pull the fill hose out for a moment, then stick it back in to make sure air isn't forcing the water out rather than the tank being full of water.

4) I don't do it when filling - I'll wait until when I arrive and am setup at the CG, just before turning the hot water heater on.

5) No - grey water and fresh water are seperate.

6) You need to turn off the hot water heater while in storage. Using the electric side of the TM it is easy to forget. For me, I prefer to always use propane for the hot water heater, that way I don't forget to turn it off when stored.

7) There are low point drains (newer models have 4) that I believe should drain the entire plumbing system (living in SoCal and camping throughout the year, I have not used them, as I do not have to worry about freeze either). The drains are just small plastic valves connected to flexible tubing. On my TM there are two on the front street side of the TM and two towards the back.

8) You should be able to get an assortment from an auto-parts store. The fuse panel is behind the plastic access door on the lower bathroom wall. You can record the different fuse amperages and make sure the kit you get includes all that you need. There is also a fuse near the batteries...TM ships with a glass fuse in a plastic housing that is prone to overheat and fail. Many of us have replaced with a blade fuse.


9) see #8


Hope this helps!

--jim

[commodor47]

6. Where is the valve to drain the hot water heater located and what does it look like.

The drain valve is located in front of the street side tire (see thumbnail).

9. Where is the electrical box located?

Located along the outside bathroom wall, close to the floor (see thumbnail). Open the upper drop down door to access the circuit breakers and fuses. Our unit has all 15 amp blade-type fuses.

There are two additional round glass type fuses (one 3 amp and one 20 amp) located in the lower refrigerator access area (see thumbnails). The Therford recirculating toilet has a round glass type fuse located in the housing containing the flush button. Just remove the two screws to access the fuse. I don't remember the amperage of that particular round glass type fuse - 5 amp? or 7.5 amp? Anyone?

Funny how everyone has the same problems. I just replaced my 30 main glass fuse last weekend because the fuse failed. It did not blow but the end must have became disconnected internally. Change it out to a blade. Lucky I had a random fuse holder in the tool box...

[Bill]

The Thetford comes with a 5-amp glass fuse, but reportedly some units blow this fuse quite often. Thetford suggests that if it pops, you replace it with an 7.5 amp or 8-amp glass fuse.

Bill

Thank you all so very much for your answers to me. I have printed it all out and I am going to be doing a test run today as well as locating all those fuses so I can go to Pep Boys today and try and get some fuses. Don't know what I would have done without this board and all the helpful people.

So I don't look like a complete fool when I go to the auto parts store, what is a "blade" fuse? I have replaced the glass fuse near my battery once, but would like to know the difference to facilitate a replacement. Thanks.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by moaboy

So I don't look like a complete fool when I go to the auto parts store, what is a "blade" fuse? I have replaced the glass fuse near my battery once, but would like to know the difference to facilitate a replacement. Thanks.

Technically, it's called an ATC fuse but you will need to to install an ATC fuse holder. Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/30A-p...Q5fAccessories

[B_and_D]

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103778

Ours (glass fuse, and holder) finally went out (after 7 years) in August when we took a trip to Oregon, the above is more like what we used to replace ours. I didn't realize that it had failed until we got home and I was trying to charge up the T-105's with our auxiliary Schumacher (not on the TM) battery charger. The charger kept flashing on and off, and doing weird things that I haven't seen before, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I checked out the fuse. It had finally melted down, as many others on the board have reported. The scary thing is, that I don't know when it went out. The fuse filament was intact, but the rest of the holder was totally melted down.

Now I wish that I had replaced it a long time ago. We may have travelled many miles without break-away brake function.