Thursday, February 16, 2023

Running Water!

Odie has been doing a great job on Mile Markers while I have been recuperating. I appreciate her faithfulness the last two weeks and in the days to come. Thank you, Odie!

Running Water
In most households in the USA, we take running water for granted. To have running water in an RV at all times takes some planning and some work.
1995/96 Prevost XL Vantare' Conversion
The BoggsMobile turned 28 years old a few days ago. Like any old house, there are always things to be done, especially when the old house has bounced down the road for over 400,000 miles!😎

In December I mentioned to you that we were having trouble with the water pump that provides fresh water to the inside of the bus for drinking, bathing and flushing. When hooked up to a water spigot with a hose, there is no pump needed. But when we are using water from our fresh water tank, a 12 volt pump is needed.

The BoggsMobile was equipped with two pumps when we bought it. We never need two pumps, but evidently, the second one was a backup. They are both hidden behind the water manifold and the water lines and the pumps are difficult to work on or replace.

The #1 pump is circled in white below and the #2 pump is circled in blue.


During the first couple years of bus ownership, I messed with the cheap pumps that were there repeatedly. They never gave us trouble on beautiful days. It was always raining, snowing or 10 degrees or 95 degrees.

Several years ago I removed the manifold completely and replaced both pumps with Flojet 5 gallon per minute pumps. These pumps are variable speed and much quieter and better quality than the cheap pumps we had always used.

We would alternate usage of the two pumps and when the first one quit we used the other one. The one that quit was the more difficult to replace so we put it off until a better day.

Last May while we were in Vonore, Tennessee the second pump completely quit. I went to Camping World near Knoxville and purchased a pump. Unfortunately, to save over $100, I did not buy the good Flojet model. I bought the pump Camping World was actively pushing, a Remco 55AQUAJET-ARV.



Jeff Rowe installed it. He was able to install it in the lower position without moving all of the water lines.



The new pump worked fine from May until December. It still pumps water but the pressure switch has gone bad and it will not shut off when you close the faucet.

In December I began looking for a way to install a new pump in a better place. There were three water filters to the left of the pumps that we have never used. I figured out how to remove them and that freed up some space. You can see the filters in the picture below. They are outlined in red.


I removed the filters and while we were in Texas, I put some vinyl boards in place so I would have a secure place to fasten the new pump.


Here is the new Flojet pump mounted in place in Texas. 


For my own information, the model number has been revised on the new pump.


Incidentally, I found the Flojet on sale and saved the original $100. The Remco is under warranty so I will either get money or another pump when I take it back.

This week I had enough strength and a day of good weather. KJo and I wired it up, ran the plumbing and it is working fine.


We were able to remove both the old pumps and their plumbing. For now, we will go with only one pump. Since it is out in the open, replacement with the same pump will not be as difficult.

Owning any kind of RV is as fun as a barrel of monkeys. Owning a 28 year old bus is a completely higher level of fun.😍😂

Thank you for stopping by today.

Davy