Possibly an odd question

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Isaac-1 said:
On a related side story, we are 3 days into a 10 day RV trip, currently at a commercial rv park in Arkansas and last night while my wife was in the shower washing her hair we lost water pressure, I went outside to check to make sure someone had not turned off the faucet, ... and found we only had a trickle of water coming out of the hose,  thankfully we had 20 or so gallons of water in our fresh water tank, and all I had to do was turn on the water pump so could finish washing her hair.  By morning water pressure was back up to normal, still no idea what the issue was.
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  One of many good reasons to ?keep? water in the ?fresh? water tank....many people don?t!
 
The previous owner of my trailer installed one of these and I replaced it with a conventional tank type water heater.  They tend to be temperamental, and to me it was more trouble than it was worth. 

Water has to flow through the heater before the burner ignites, this plus the distance between the water heater and the shower means you have to let the water run for a bit before it gets hot.

When the hot water arrives at the shower, you have to carefully and slowly adjust the hot and cold water mix.  The hot water will get even hotter as the flow through the water heater slows as you mix in the cold water, so you have to adjust the mix several times before the temperature stabilizes.  But if you mix in too much cold water,  the flow through the heater will fall below it's minimum flow rate, shutting down the burner and giving you a blast of cold water until you repeat the startup process.

Then you have to let the water continue running until you're through - if you're boondocking you can't conserve water by turning off the flow while you soap up because you'll use more water restarting the heater than you would by leaving the water running.

 
And, think of your grey water tank capabilities/capacities if you are required to use more than the normal amount due to the excessive use described above for that particular supply system.
 
Alfa38User said:
And, think of your grey water tank capabilities/capacities if you are required to use more than the normal amount due to the excessive use described above for that particular supply system.
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I hadn't thought of that.  :/  See, this is why I am loving this forum; you guys are so kind, helpful and willing to share knowledge/experience.  Thank you.  :)
 
Lou Schneider said:
The previous owner of my trailer installed one of these and I replaced it with a conventional tank type water heater.  They tend to be temperamental, and to me it was more trouble than it was worth. 

Water has to flow through the heater before the burner ignites, this plus the distance between the water heater and the shower means you have to let the water run for a bit before it gets hot.

When the hot water arrives at the shower, you have to carefully and slowly adjust the hot and cold water mix.  The hot water will get even hotter as the flow through the water heater slows as you mix in the cold water, so you have to adjust the mix several times before the temperature stabilizes.  But if you mix in too much cold water,  the flow through the heater will fall below it's minimum flow rate, shutting down the burner and giving you a blast of cold water until you repeat the startup process.

Then you have to let the water continue running until you're through - if you're boondocking you can't conserve water by turning off the flow while you soap up because you'll use more water restarting the heater than you would by leaving the water running.
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Yeesh, well this is discouraging.  :/  -- Good to know, certainly, but discouraging.  Helpful information to keep in mind when we finally get to actual RV shopping. 

Forewarned and all... and better to learn this now than when we're "in it."  Thank you.  :)
 
Chameleonxanth said:
Yeesh, well this is discouraging.  :/  -- Good to know, certainly, but discouraging.  Helpful information to keep in mind when we finally get to actual RV shopping. 

Forewarned and all... and better to learn this now than when we're "in it."  Thank you.  :)
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Living in an RV is radically different than living in a stick and brick. There is quite a learning curve. The biggest difference is in utilities. In a S/B you have essentially unlimited water, power, gas and sewage removal. In an RV you carry it all with you and use it all very sparingly. For example. I have read countless posts from people who bought their first RV and went camping the first weekend and then could not figure out why they could not take long showers without running out of water. To take a shower in an RV you need to do a Navy shower. Hop in the shower, turn on the water and wet yourself. Turn off the water, get the bar of soap and lather your self. Turn the water back on and rinse off. The water should be running less than a minute. The ability to live in a RV depends on how well you adapt to all the utility savings you must employ. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but it is the reality. And the reality also is that RVing is a lot of fun and well worth the effort.
 
SeilerBird said:
Living in an RV is radically different than living in a stick and brick. There is quite a learning curve. The biggest difference is in utilities. In a S/B you have essentially unlimited water, power, gas and sewage removal. In an RV you carry it all with you and use it all very sparingly. For example. I have read countless posts from people who bought their first RV and went camping the first weekend and then could not figure out why they could not take long showers without running out of water. To take a shower in an RV you need to do a Navy shower. Hop in the shower, turn on the water and wet yourself. Turn off the water, get the bar of soap and lather your self. Turn the water back on and rinse off. The water should be running less than a minute. The ability to live in a RV depends on how well you adapt to all the utility savings you must employ. I know this sounds a bit harsh, but it is the reality. And the reality also is that RVing is a lot of fun and well worth the effort.
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It doesn't sound harsh at all, but realistic and useful.  I have been compiling, over the last few months, a pro/con list as they have occurred to me and this, the water/resources issue is on it.  (Actually, I'm planning on posting that list in a day or so in the hope some of you will help me bust out of the seemingly unshakable enchanted, Pollyanna view I have of the RV life.  ;)

I think, with a little adjustment, I will be okay with the shower as I am already in the habit of turning the water off for shaving, waiting for conditioning rinse, etc., simply because I don't like the waste, and have similar habits when washing pots/pans, etc.

Not that I mean to imply I won't endure a "culture shock" and need to adjust when we finally transition, but I am trying to get ready in little ways.

Thank you for the helpful tips.  :)  Really.  I'd rather get hit with reality now before we begin our journey.

 
Lou Schneider said:
The previous owner of my trailer installed one of these and I replaced it with a conventional tank type water heater.  They tend to be temperamental, and to me it was more trouble than it was worth. 

Water has to flow through the heater before the burner ignites, this plus the distance between the water heater and the shower means you have to let the water run for a bit before it gets hot.

When the hot water arrives at the shower, you have to carefully and slowly adjust the hot and cold water mix.  The hot water will get even hotter as the flow through the water heater slows as you mix in the cold water, so you have to adjust the mix several times before the temperature stabilizes.  But if you mix in too much cold water,  the flow through the heater will fall below it's minimum flow rate, shutting down the burner and giving you a blast of cold water until you repeat the startup process.

Then you have to let the water continue running until you're through - if you're boondocking you can't conserve water by turning off the flow while you soap up because you'll use more water restarting the heater than you would by leaving the water running.
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A couple of points
1. you don't adjust with hot and cold only hot the temperature is inversely proportional to flow, more flow cooler water.
2. It's not for boon docking I stay at FHU sites so i have no problems.
3. The latest generation has a digital thermostat to set the outlet temp which negates #1.

Even with a 6 gallon tank i could get 12-14 minutes of flow I haven't taken a navy shower since my discharge in 1988
 
glen54737 said:
A couple of points
1. you don't adjust with hot and cold only hot the temperature is inversely proportional to flow, more flow cooler water.
2. It's not for boon docking I stay at FHU sites so i have no problems.
3. The latest generation has a digital thermostat to set the outlet temp which negates #1.

Even with a 6 gallon tank i could get 12-14 minutes of flow I haven't taken a navy shower since my discharge in 1988
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Thank you so much for this!  I've been thinking about this a lot the last couple of days and really appreciate the information. 

What does FHU stand for?

I like your camping buddy.  :)
 
Keep in mind that a lot depends on how you use your RV.  We are about to spend our second night in a commercial RV park in Missouri, and have not yet hooked up our sewage discharge hose, only the electric, water and cable tv as the sewer connection is poorly located at this site.  after being here for a day and a half, with my wife and I having both taken a shower last night and tonight, our 40 gallon gray tank is still only 1/3 full, and our black tank is under 1/5th full.  I have a shower timer that beeps when time is up, and aim for under 3 minutes in the shower, my wife does not use the timer, though she says she tries to conserve water.
 
Isaac-1 said:
Keep in mind that a lot depends on how you use your RV.  We are about to spend our second night in a commercial RV park in Missouri, and have not yet hooked up our sewage discharge hose, only the electric, water and cable tv as the sewer connection is poorly located at this site.  after being here for a day and a half, with my wife and I having both taken a shower last night and tonight, our 40 gallon gray tank is still only 1/3 full, and our black tank is under 1/5th full.  I have a shower timer that beeps when time is up, and aim for under 3 minutes in the shower, my wife does not use the timer, though she says she tries to conserve water.
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So, can you hook up to the facilities, sewer included, so that everything drains directly into the site's tanks?

The tanks then, are a lot bigger than I was imagining, which is comforting.

I think I will be much like your wife in that I will earnestly try to be quick in the shower.  :)

Thank you for the information.  For reals; it's really helpful and you know, actually, I think I'm going to start a notebook and copy/paste info like this. :)
 
Chameleonxanth said:
So, can you hook up to the facilities, sewer included, so that everything drains directly into the site's tanks?
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Most commercial RV parks offer full hookup sites, where you can connect to water, electricity and a sewer drain.  The sewer tank isn't on the site, the sewer pipe goes to the park's central sewer treatment facility.

But many of the more scenic and rustic campgrounds, like you'll find in state and national parks, don't offer full hookup sites.  There may be a dump station nearby where you can dump your holding tanks and fill with freshwater but that means moving your RV there when your tanks run out or fill up.

The more you can conserve, the longer you can stay before you have to move and dump your tanks.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Most commercial RV parks offer full hookup sites, where you can connect to water, electricity and a sewer drain.  The sewer tank isn't on the site, the sewer pipe goes to the park's central sewer treatment facility.

But many of the more scenic and rustic campgrounds, like you'll find in state and national parks, don't offer full hookup sites.  There may be a dump station nearby where you can dump your holding tanks and fill with freshwater but that means moving your RV there when your tanks run out or fill up.

The more you can conserve, the longer you can stay before you have to move and dump your tanks.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize there was such a thing as "full hookups" and thought, until now, that all sites offered only dump stations, necessitating the moving of the RV every however often.  This is wonderful, blissful news!  :) 

There will be times, I'm sure, that we will be at sites without full hookups or boondocking, but to know that such a thing is even available is very welcome news.  :)
 
The most important thing to know about hooking up is that once you are connected to the sewer you open the grey tank valve so it always drains allowing you to take long showers. However, the black tank valve must remain closed until the holding tank is at least 3/4 full and then you go outside and pull the handle and drain it all out and then close the handle. Failure to do this will result in the famous poop pyramid. What happens is the poop lands in the tank and stays there. Not enough liquid to flush the solid stuff down to the sewer. After a few years an RV will develop a poop pyramid and it will be as hard as a rock and a real bitch to eliminate. Every few months someone shows up here wondering why they are having so much of a problem draining their black tank. If you wish do a forum search on poop pyramid and read some of the stories.
 
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