I have been concerned about all the soft hose and ridiculous complexity in the Nautilus P1 system in my rig for some time. After fitting failed on the back of the panel, I finally decided to completely rebuild the water system based on the designs of others (here and at the other site). So this is my attempt to help others who may wish to take on a similar project. Thanks to all who contributed, including @Cate&Rob and howson.
Here is what I was dealing with:
The goal was to eliminate all of the soft hose and replace the valves with standard plumbing parts available anywhere. I had been worried about the soft hose for some time, but the tipping point for me to get rid of the Nautilus panel too (which sure looked good in the showroom) was when I found out how much the replacement valves cost. At $40-60 each, it would cost me around $100 in Canada with shipping for one valve. (If anyone is interested in buying a full set of Nautilus valves for spares, PM me).
And here are 2 more reasons to get rid of all that nasty soft hose. There was soft hose routed from the back of the panel and over the furnace to link up with the fixtures. When I removed those hoses, they had been rubbing on a sharp metal edge on the furnace and were showing visible wear. It was only a matter of time before they would have burst, flooding water over the furnace. And if you need another reason, I installed a pressure gauge and found that the water heater builds pressure on the hot side to around 90 PSI when its heating up! No wonder the hot soft hose seems to fail a lot.
Here is what I was dealing with:
The goal was to eliminate all of the soft hose and replace the valves with standard plumbing parts available anywhere. I had been worried about the soft hose for some time, but the tipping point for me to get rid of the Nautilus panel too (which sure looked good in the showroom) was when I found out how much the replacement valves cost. At $40-60 each, it would cost me around $100 in Canada with shipping for one valve. (If anyone is interested in buying a full set of Nautilus valves for spares, PM me).
And here are 2 more reasons to get rid of all that nasty soft hose. There was soft hose routed from the back of the panel and over the furnace to link up with the fixtures. When I removed those hoses, they had been rubbing on a sharp metal edge on the furnace and were showing visible wear. It was only a matter of time before they would have burst, flooding water over the furnace. And if you need another reason, I installed a pressure gauge and found that the water heater builds pressure on the hot side to around 90 PSI when its heating up! No wonder the hot soft hose seems to fail a lot.
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