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I am looking at a lithium battery install and am looking to tidy things up behind the cargo area (under the bathroom). It is quite a mess, and I see much opportunity to create space for batteries and components. I will be tacking up all kinds of wires and maybe rerouting some plumbing. A couple things I noticed is that the gate valve cables are much longer than necessary and are rather intrusive into this space. I would like to shorten them and remove some of the bend (which is sharper than 24 inch radius), but apparently that can only be accomplished where they interface to the gate valves. Dropping the underbelly looks like a pain, so I'm considering cutting an area open around where the sewage outlet comes through and try to access the valves that way. Then, I may add another larger piece of coroplast over the whole and seal it back up. I welcome anybody's opinion on this, because I don't know what I don't know. I'm guessing that the gate valves are just upstream of where the sewage valve comes through the underbelly.
Also, I noticed that the black hose from the black tank flush goes up into the ceiling and comes back down. Any idea why that would be?
I saw some discussion up thread about replacing braided hose with pex, what would be the benefit there?
It would be a lot easier to work back there if I added some elbows to some of the hoses and routed them back further away from the cargo area. Any disadvantages there I should be aware of? There isn't much water pressure as it is, and I'm not sure how much that would affect the pressure.
The largest useful space is right next to the furnace, and the furnace specs indicate that only 1" clearance is required for any flammable material, despite the fact that it appears to have venting on the side. Seems a bit counterintuitive to place something that close to the furnace.4 PhotosJohn & Karen, RV Newbies
2020 Relection 150, 260RD
GMC Sierra Denali 2500
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Originally posted by JohnD View PostI am looking at a lithium battery install and am looking to tidy things up behind the cargo area (under the bathroom). It is quite a mess, and I see much opportunity to create space for batteries and components. I will be tacking up all kinds of wires and maybe rerouting some plumbing. A couple things I noticed is that the gate valve cables are much longer than necessary and are rather intrusive into this space. I would like to shorten them and remove some of the bend (which is sharper than 24 inch radius), but apparently that can only be accomplished where they interface to the gate valves. Dropping the underbelly looks like a pain, so I'm considering cutting an area open around where the sewage outlet comes through and try to access the valves that way. Then, I may add another larger piece of coroplast over the whole and seal it back up. I welcome anybody's opinion on this, because I don't know what I don't know. I'm guessing that the gate valves are just upstream of where the sewage valve comes through the underbelly.
Also, I noticed that the black hose from the black tank flush goes up into the ceiling and comes back down. Any idea why that would be?
I saw some discussion up thread about replacing braided hose with pex, what would be the benefit there?
It would be a lot easier to work back there if I added some elbows to some of the hoses and routed them back further away from the cargo area. Any disadvantages there I should be aware of? There isn't much water pressure as it is, and I'm not sure how much that would affect the pressure.
The largest useful space is right next to the furnace, and the furnace specs indicate that only 1" clearance is required for any flammable material, despite the fact that it appears to have venting on the side. Seems a bit counterintuitive to place something that close to the furnace.
First the reason most of us changed out the flex hose to PEX is because the factory used PEX clamps on the flex hose. This will eventually cause leaks, and better to deal with it before rather than during or after.
The black hose goes up to a vacuum breaker (usually behind the shower) because it needs to be higher than the tank to function properly.
I shortened my cables on the dump valves as well when I had to replace one. I dropped my coroplast. It’s not that bad if you take it down from the front and roll it back. Another option is to cut it and seal it back up. @cate&rob put his back together with a set of “bomb bay” doors to be Abe to access it again.
Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
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JohnD
You have touched on a number of projects discussed at length in other threads on this forum. Try searching on key words using the tool in the upper right corner.
The gate valve cables are designed to work by way of long gentle bends. I actually lengthened one of mine to get it to operate smoothly. I would advise against shortening cables unless the connection is direct and aligned. The gate valves often open from the opposite side to the cable pull direction.
Cutting a hole in the coroplast to access one gate valve seldom works. To remove a gate valve, the manifold has to be pulled back from the valve. This means that the other two gate valves have to be accessed and loosened.
ncitro Neil is correct on the rationale for replacing soft hose and the location of the black tank flush vacuum break.
The space around the furnace is the return air path from floor level openings in the living area. Be cautious in blocking or restricting this.
RobCate & Rob
(with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
2015 Reflection 303RLS
2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
Bayham, Ontario, Canada
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Originally posted by JohnD View PostI am looking at a lithium battery install and am looking to tidy things up behind the cargo area (under the bathroom). It is quite a mess, and I see much opportunity to create space for batteries and components. I will be tacking up all kinds of wires and maybe rerouting some plumbing. A couple things I noticed is that the gate valve cables are much longer than necessary and are rather intrusive into this space. I would like to shorten them and remove some of the bend (which is sharper than 24 inch radius), but apparently that can only be accomplished where they interface to the gate valves. Dropping the underbelly looks like a pain, so I'm considering cutting an area open around where the sewage outlet comes through and try to access the valves that way. Then, I may add another larger piece of coroplast over the whole and seal it back up. I welcome anybody's opinion on this, because I don't know what I don't know. I'm guessing that the gate valves are just upstream of where the sewage valve comes through the underbelly.
Also, I noticed that the black hose from the black tank flush goes up into the ceiling and comes back down. Any idea why that would be?
I saw some discussion up thread about replacing braided hose with pex, what would be the benefit there?
It would be a lot easier to work back there if I added some elbows to some of the hoses and routed them back further away from the cargo area. Any disadvantages there I should be aware of? There isn't much water pressure as it is, and I'm not sure how much that would affect the pressure.
The largest useful space is right next to the furnace, and the furnace specs indicate that only 1" clearance is required for any flammable material, despite the fact that it appears to have venting on the side. Seems a bit counterintuitive to place something that close to the furnace.
While not comprehensive (yet), I think you'll find the threads in the Reference Material (RM) sections (a sub-channel of each technical channel) very informative. There's one specifically covering the Black Tank Flush in Plumbing's RM.
HowardForum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
2017 Ford F-350 DRW, '19 315RLTSPlus
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Originally posted by ncitro View Post
I’m sure others will be along to help but a few thoughts.
First the reason most of us changed out the flex hose to PEX is because the factory used PEX clamps on the flex hose. This will eventually cause leaks, and better to deal with it before rather than during or after.
The black hose goes up to a vacuum breaker (usually behind the shower) because it needs to be higher than the tank to function properly.
I shortened my cables on the dump valves as well when I had to replace one. I dropped my coroplast. It’s not that bad if you take it down from the front and roll it back. Another option is to cut it and seal it back up. @cate&rob put his back together with a set of “bomb bay” doors to be Abe to access it again.
I'll look at the coroplast from the perspective of dropping from the front. However, I suspect the gate valves are going to be right around the exit point of the sewage pipe, and the coroplast will still be supported in that area unless I cut it. The bomb bay doors may be an option.John & Karen, RV Newbies
2020 Relection 150, 260RD
GMC Sierra Denali 2500
Comment
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Originally posted by Cate&Rob View PostYou have touched on a number of projects discussed at length in other threads on this forum. Try searching on key words using the tool in the upper right corner.
Originally posted by Cate&Rob View PostThe gate valve cables are designed to work by way of long gentle bends. I actually lengthened one of mine to get it to operate smoothly. I would advise against shortening cables unless the connection is direct and aligned. The gate valves often open from the opposite side to the cable pull direction.
Originally posted by Cate&Rob View PostCutting a hole in the coroplast to access one gate valve seldom works. To remove a gate valve, the manifold has to be pulled back from the valve. This means that the other two gate valves have to be accessed and loosened.
Originally posted by Cate&Rob View PostThe space around the furnace is the return air path from floor level openings in the living area. Be cautious in blocking or restricting this.
John & Karen, RV Newbies
2020 Relection 150, 260RD
GMC Sierra Denali 2500
Comment
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Originally posted by howson View Post
John,
While not comprehensive (yet), I think you'll find the threads in the Reference Material (RM) sections (a sub-channel of each technical channel) very informative. There's one specifically covering the Black Tank Flush in Plumbing's RM.
John & Karen, RV Newbies
2020 Relection 150, 260RD
GMC Sierra Denali 2500
Comment
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JohnD
I have recently dropped the front of my coroplast. To get around the sewage exit pipe I just made a strait cut from the pipe out to the frame. This made it easy to remove and , when I get done , reinstall. I will just tape this cut with some black Gorilla tape. My pull cables are a little long and I have mine looped up and tied to the ceiling in the pass thru storage. After dropping the coroplast I notice that the black tank pull cable had a rather sharp bend at the valve. This has not cause me any problems and the cable has always been ok to pull but I may look into rerouting this cable to get rid of that sharper bend. What was not mentioned above , and you may have already read the threads about the pex and soft tubing , the soft tubing is used with the pex clamps and with the pex fittings. The pex fitting is too small for the flex hose.
Looking at your pics you should be able to gain some room around the furnace as well as maybe moving the convert/charge. I will agree to not get too close to the furnace to allow air circulation for the furnace.
BrianBrian & Michelle
2018 Reflection 29RS
2022 Chevy 3500HD
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JohnD
You can make an adapter, I did this in a couple spots that were hard to get access to replace the line. The proper clamp for the flex is a hose clamp and the proper fitting is a barb fitting. Grand Design uses PEX fittings and clamps with the flex hose, so you’d need to change both.Forum moderators are not GD employees--we are volunteers and owners presumably just like yourself. Unless specifically mentioned otherwise, we have nothing to gain should you choose to purchase a product or engage a service we discuss on this forum.
Neil Citro
2018 Reflection 28BH Pepwave
2019 F350 6.7L Long Bed Crew Cab
Comment
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Originally posted by Country Campers View PostJohnD
I have recently dropped the front of my coroplast. To get around the sewage exit pipe I just made a strait cut from the pipe out to the frame. This made it easy to remove and , when I get done , reinstall. I will just tape this cut with some black Gorilla tape. My pull cables are a little long and I have mine looped up and tied to the ceiling in the pass thru storage. After dropping the coroplast I notice that the black tank pull cable had a rather sharp bend at the valve. This has not cause me any problems and the cable has always been ok to pull but I may look into rerouting this cable to get rid of that sharper bend. What was not mentioned above , and you may have already read the threads about the pex and soft tubing , the soft tubing is used with the pex clamps and with the pex fittings. The pex fitting is too small for the flex hose.
Looking at your pics you should be able to gain some room around the furnace as well as maybe moving the convert/charge. I will agree to not get too close to the furnace to allow air circulation for the furnace.
Brian
I did find that the black tank cable had a sharp bend at the gate vavle, as it had to bend back on itself because of the gate valve orientation (as Cate&Rob suggested might be the case). I ended up rerouting two of the cables and drilled a new hole for the black tank cable such that it passed through beyond the gate valve and achieved a softer bend. Not quite as soft a bend as I had hoped, but much better than before. The valve is much easier to actuate now.3 PhotosJohn & Karen, RV Newbies
2020 Relection 150, 260RD
GMC Sierra Denali 2500
Comment
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Originally posted by JohnD View Post
You were right, the coroplast was quite easy to drop and reinstall. I discovered that the underbelly is aptly named, because when opened, the innards just seem to fall out. The distribution of wires and hoses just seemed so random.
I did find that the black tank cable had a sharp bend at the gate vavle, as it had to bend back on itself because of the gate valve orientation (as Cate&Rob suggested might be the case). I ended up rerouting two of the cables and drilled a new hole for the black tank cable such that it passed through beyond the gate valve and achieved a softer bend. Not quite as soft a bend as I had hoped, but much better than before. The valve is much easier to actuate now.
BrianBrian & Michelle
2018 Reflection 29RS
2022 Chevy 3500HD
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Gate valve cable routing is very specifically defined by the gate valve manufacturers . . . but seldom followed by the RV manufacturer. If you route the cables properly, they work much better. See https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...-cable-routing
RobCate & Rob
(with Border Collies Molly & Angel + Kitties Hazel & Elsie)
2015 Reflection 303RLS
2022 F350 Diesel CC SB SRW Lariat
Bayham, Ontario, Canada
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