Pressurised Water Plumbing - Florida

Almost all the bits have come from ebay.  I needed to remove the wardrobe, the ceiling in the kitchen and the rear bench seat to make access easier.

Firstly I started with a permanent flush loo, I removed the hand basin (it seemed pointless) and was able to get in a Thetford loo and leave plenty of room to shower.  The toilet cartridge is changed from outside behind the nearside back door which means no messyness inside.  The trick is to get the cartridge to fit between the metal webs on the inside of the back door. The cartridge has only a mm of clearance top and bottom and literally touches the inside of the outer skin of the back door.  It could not be closer.

Once the Porta-loo had been dumped I fitted a pump to pressurise the water system. I used the space where the Porta-loo is usually stored in the shower cubicle.  I checked the spec of the water heater in roof and I reckoned it would take the 30psi version of the pump.  The pump only comes on when the pressure drops below ~15psi and then switches off at 30psi.  To help the pump I fitted an expansion tank (3 or 5 litre I think) mounting it with a couple of soil pipe clips from my local builders merchant. The expansion tank means the pump is quieter and it comes on infrequently to top-up the expansion tank. The water flow is much better and steady. I fitted an on/off switch to enable the pump to be isolated.

 

As I mentioned above I had to remove the wardrobe and kitchen ceiling and though its a fiddle at times the original excellent coachmanship becomes apparant and things do go back together ok. Nothing needs to be silicone rubbered!!

My biggest fiddle was getting power to the flush loo.  I wanted to use the (now) redundant hot water pipe that went from the water heater to the shower cubicle handbasin and in the end I was able to thread a cable through it. The handbasin cold water pipe is used for the toilet.

The water heater has a limited supply of hot water and to get a decent shower I wanted to run the heater at maximum temperature and then blend it down to a comfortable shower temperature. This works well, I fitted a good quality low pressure thermostatt valve (ebay).  It pretty well means that you turn on one tap wait a moment for the cold water to pass and it is ready with the desired preset temperature. I made my own shower rose to avoid a limp shower and my experience is that a normal household domestic thermostat valve does not work.

Lastly I hunted high and low for a decent quality but inexpensive (ceramic valve) kitchen mixer tap that would not look too out of place in a Florida.

Precaution, because it is a pressurised system it is worth remembering that if the plumbing springs a leak the pump will insist on emptying the contents of the water tank just where the leak is!!  Partly as a precaution I have put the pump and expansion tank in the shower cubicle and fitted an on/off switch.  I tend to disable the leisure batteries when I leave the van for any length of time.  I have not (touch wood) had any problems with leaks (that I'm aware of).

I did this work last summer and though I sourced almost everything off ebay I no longer have the supplier details. If you get stuck do say I'll try to help.