Water System Questions

You all convinced me to get into this game... (class b sprinter) so now you will pay the price as I ask too many questions.

Just understand I am a newbie and dont know squat about this stuff but want to learn it.
2007 Sprinter, 2008 Pleasure Way Ascent TS Model

Water system questions....

1. If you hook the hose to the water intake on the side of the bus (my new name for my Sprinter) with a pressure adapter on it, does that fill the clean water tank as well as provide water for use or do I have to fill the clean water only from the intake on the back of the sink module?

2. What is the best way to handle travel in cold temperatures so the water does not freeze in the bus? The Sprinter is our travel bus, but we dont live in it at night most of the time, we do time-shares and other hotel stuff so we dont run the heater or anything at night when it is cold. What is the best way to prevent freezing in the water systems (fresh, grey, black)?

3. What is the best place to find listings for RV dump stations? I have not dumped mine yet and want to find someplace close to home, but also want to be able to find stations on the road as needed. I live in Orange, CA.

thank you for all your help... oh, dont be surprised if I am back for other things soon!

Don't know #1, not that I would know anything.

#2 http://www.ehow.com/how_2097799_cold-weather-camp-rv.html

In addition to what they're saying about keeping your grey and black tanks full before a dump, you should dump some water softener into the tanks before a drive. The sloshing effect during a drive with the water softener should coat the tank walls and prevent the waste from sticking to the sides.

#3 http://www.rvdumps.com/dumpstations/california

I have a sewer pipe on the side of my house that I'm planning to use. Luckily my driveway runs the entire length of my house.

I don't have an RV yet, but am looking for a 16ft towable. Hopefully in this economy we'll be able to pick up something new for a steal.

LivingtheDream said:

1. If you hook the hose to the water intake on the side of the bus (my new name for my Sprinter) with a pressure adapter on it, does that fill the clean water tank as well as provide water for use or do I have to fill the clean water only from the intake on the back of the sink module?

2. What is the best way to handle travel in cold temperatures so the water does not freeze in the bus? The Sprinter is our travel bus, but we dont live in it at night most of the time, we do time-shares and other hotel stuff so we dont run the heater or anything at night when it is cold. What is the best way to prevent freezing in the water systems (fresh, grey, black)?

3. What is the best place to find listings for RV dump stations? I have not dumped mine yet and want to find someplace close to home, but also want to be able to find stations on the road as needed. I live in Orange, CA.

thank you for all your help... oh, dont be surprised if I am back for other things soon!

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1. Unlikely, there should be another location on the opposite behind a locked door that says fresh water.

2. You need to learn about winterization. In mild sub-freezing temps keeping the inside warm with your furnace or an auxillary electric heater can help. Some "Bs" have heaters for the black water tank, mine does but you need to be plugged in. You can also put RV antifreeze in your black and grey tanks. If it is going to be below freezing and you don't want to keep it warm you need to drain the fresh water system including the water heater and dump the black and grey tanks. Open all the sink and drain valves and blow the system out with compressed air. Then put some RV antifreeze in the sink and shower traps. There really should be an explanation in your owner's manual. If there isn't go back to the dealer and have them explain this to you. Living in Orange, CA and if the van never leaves SoCal you may have nothing to concern yourself with.

3. It looks like many of the CA Rest Stops along I-5 have free dump stations. Flying J's have them and so will most State Parks with camping.

Or how about this?

I'm guessing your RV was used and did not come with the RV owners' manual? If that is the case, contact Pleasure Way for a copy. There's a lot of information about the installed appliances and so forth.

Thanks to all for your inputs... though we live in SoCal...weather is always pretty nice, never freezes... we dont stay here when we drive. NorCal is a favorite destination...around Mt. Lassen, Susanville and Reno all north of Lake Tahoe.

My Sprinter was new and I got gobbs of manuals for each sub-unit, but not so many of them deal with the potential of freezing. There is not one overall manual just stacks of the individual units (wish there was one overall that said how things work together and not just installation and maintenance manuals which most are).

I am now working on getting snow chains for the rear wheels on the Sprinter as the California Highway Patrol is nuts about chains.... most snow roads require chains...unlike Colorado and other places where they are not as required.

I like the antifreeze idea... looks like running dry is the best bet, though that defeats my purpose which was to have a restroom ..... as I live on a liquid diet.

Thanks again... more questions to come....

LivingtheDream

The info on this link

http://www.ehow.com/how_2097799_cold-weather-camp-rv.html

seems to be more geared toward RV's that are parked on a site.

One thing to remember about using antifreeze for your traveling RV. It's not like your engine antifreeze where you really work to maintain a 50% or other specific mixture. Mixture ratio for your tanks and traps will not be so critical. Your goal is to keep things from freezing solid. Even at a lower mix ratio the water in traps may get slushy, but will not freeze solid.

In all your water equipment multiple freeze/thaw cycles which result in extra expansion are important to avoid. The reason for this is that when the water first freezes it expands a bit. If it partially thaws, the liquid fills the gaps, then re-freezes which adds more expansion. The more this happens the more expansion and stress is put on the fittings. Hope this helps.

LTD, You could possibly put food grade anti-freeze in your fresh water tank when full of water. I would think that would give you the ability to continue using the toilet.
I wouldn't drink the water though if you go that course. And it shouldn't be an issue when you get to warmer weather as it is food grade stuff. I'd run through a few tankfuls to rinse it out and then use what ever cleaner is recommended for it.

You can usually find this at a plumbing supply house or maybe at an RV place.

Have you checked RV site to see what those guys do with their water systems in the colder weather?

Along those same lines you could keep a container of pre-mixed antifreeze flush water and just dump what's needed into the toilet after use. The container will need a fairly large opening to dump water fast enough to start the flush. This way you would not need to fill the pressure lines at all. Any water that you dumped into the holding tank would have enough antifreeze in it. Gel wipes could be used for hand cleaning.

Might be re-inventing the wheel here. Nate's suggestion to check RV specific sites is a good one. Hope this helps.

Again, thanks for all the inputs. My work has just landed a contract in the Pocono Mtns of PA. I will be spending a great deal of time there for the next 6 months so I want to take the 'magic bus' ...

Of course, for the next three months (or maybe 4) it will be COLD there. I am going to work on draining the system and using the antifreeze/water mix for the toilet. Other than that I have little need for water in the bus.

I am looking forward to this adventure with the Pleasure Way / Sprinter... on a liquid diet...and getting old enough to enjoy naps.... the Bus is the way to go to work!

thanks again to everyone!

LivingtheDream.

I am also a newby who didn't receive an Owner's Manual for the Ascent TS Coach -- got the Sprinter Chassis book and every one of the many appliances, but not the Real Deal. Emailed Pleasure Way and they promised to send me one.

I've been studying the coach, and finally located the generator, but can't figure out how to service it (i.e. oil, plug, air filter), much less where it starting batteries are located -- ditto the coach battery; water heater drain; fresh water drain.

I hope all this will become obvious when I receive the Owner's Manual (the dealer said they would send it to me until I informed them PW was going to do that).

Meantime, I am up for any hints on how to prepare this little gem for a trip, use of generator, shore power, when/how the auxiliary battery gets charged, etc.

It could be that the PleasureWay owners' manual will not have details about maintenance and servicing of the generator, the a/c, the refrigerator, etc.

You probably have an Onan propane generator and you can get servicing information on the Onan site. Same with the other appliances: go to the manufacturer's website.

Our Leisure Travel owners' manual tells how to drain the tanks, how to fill, what the monitor (the thing that says how full things are) tells, how to turn on the furnace.... stuff like that. We received owners' manuals for all the appliances that were added.

It's just puzzling how folks can own these things and not pass the owners' manuals on to the person they sell their RV to.

Thanks for the info. Actually, I bought the unit new, so more the surprise there was no Owner's Manual in the bag with all the other stuff.

But PW came thru! Got the owner's manual today and devoured it. Learned all kinds of stuff, and it answered all my questions, if you can believe that. I'll probably get more questions as I begin using it.

I learned, for example, that I will have to service the generator from beneath the chassis -- maybe I'll leave that to someone with a pit.

Viking

Viking said:

I learned, for example, that I will have to service the generator from beneath the chassis -- maybe I'll leave that to someone with a pit.

Viking

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It's a tight squeeze, but even if you had a pit, which I don't have, the space available to tip up an oil bottle to refill the oil is not. not. Best thing to have would be a pump to put the oil in.

Yo! That's good to know. I think there are small pumps that can be used for oil. Hmmm. I see a real need for an access hatch in the coach floor -- future issues, perhaps.
Viking

3. What is the best place to find listings for RV dump stations? I have not dumped mine yet and want to find someplace close to home, but also want to be able to find stations on the road as needed. I live in Orange, CA.

Buy a California State Beach Pass ($120). You visit the beach in Huntington Beach and dump your tank. It is a good deal.

bigwaverider said:

What is the best place to find listings for RV dump stations? I have not dumped mine yet and want to find someplace close to home, but also want to be able to find stations on the road as needed. I live in Orange, CA.

Click to expand...

Check out the following post (and for additional info that might be of interest, thread): https://sprinter-source.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42&page=2

Check out www.rv-clubs.us for a host of valuable info under the tag rv parks & campgrounds. Gives you info on places in each state, so you can plan according to your needs. You can also find info on public parks in the various states at www.rvparkhunter.com. Lots of opportunities in CA, my native state (escaped in 2005).

RV Dumpstations...

http://www.rvdumps.com/dumpstations/

HI,


I just bought a plateau-ts 2004. I didnt get any manual with it. I need to know how many manuals are there and where can I get them? I just downloaded the onan lp generator manual.

The dealer had misplaced the owner's manual for my 2008 Ascent TS, but I e-mialed a request to Pleasure-Way and they sent me one.

As for all the equipment, all that was provided. If you don't have anything for your TV, DVD player/amplifier, AC, TV antenna, hot water heater, furnace, Thetford toilet, fridge, microwave, chassis air pumps, and the Sprinter chassis, you should contact the manufacturers. Many of them have manuals on-line where you can download them, usually as a .pdf document. If you contact the original manufacturers directly they may be able to send you a manual.

Finally, it is possible that Pleasure-Way might have spare copies of manuals for the equipment the install into their units, or perhaps know a way you could get one.

Good luck!