Changed the mess of hoses and re-did the UDC (lots of pictures)

This is my latest, and hopefully last, modification to the UDC.

My goal for this change is two-fold:
1. to eliminate most of the vinyl hose and all the plastic PEX fittings,
2. to customize the UDC to our style of full time camping.

I was inspired by Chris and his upgrade that can be found here, //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/15249-Universal-Docking-Center-Plumbing-Upgrades?

I want to clean up and improve upon what I did about a year ago. //heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/8744-A-Better-Easier-to-Use-UDC

Some of the special parts I have bought for this version are;

1- B&B molders city/gravity fill with brass hose hook-up.

1- JR products Connect-it-tight.

1- B&B molders 3-way-valve (just like the bypass and winterizing valves)

2- Camco brass check valve/ back-flow preventers

2- 1-4 PEX copper manifolds

1- 1 1/2 pipe "tee" and adapters from 3/4 NPT to 1 1/2 NPT


The tools:

I used the same style of stainless steel "cinch rings" that were used by Heartland. To remove old rings I used a pair of 10" concrete Nippers. Here is a video of the process.
To install new rings I bought an Apollo cinch ring tool, and to cut the PEX I used a hose cutter. The Apollo tool is easy to use, as it automatically releases once the clamp is tight, and will not release until it is tight.


The Process
The first part of the modification was to map out where all the current hoses and tubes went.
Once that was done, I began clearing out the “junk” including the vinyl hoses, plastic PEX fittings and the daisy chain of “Tees” that will be replaced by the two manifolds.
With things freed up a bit, I relocated some of the existing PEX up and out of the way.
Next, I found a reasonable place for the manifolds and began working from the manifolds back to the sources.
Finally, I Installed PEX to recreate the by-pass and winterizing systems.

The second part of the modification was to change the black tank flusher system from a separate hose hook-up, to a UDC mounted valve.

Before anyone says ANYTHING about plumbing the black tank flusher into the rest of the plumbing system, this concern was already discussed, and Mark Comer said it best here. To sum it up, unless the campground has a separate source of water for the flusher, then one way or another it is all plumbed together anyway.

I removed the flange mounted hose hook-up and installed the 3-way-valve just below the existing hole in the UDC, and the plastic flange covers the unused holes.
I then added a “tee” to the cold water supply to out-side shower. From that the new line went to a brass check valve and then into one side of the new 3-way-valve.
The old line for the flusher is connected to the port of the three way valve that is open for either position, and a “drain” line is connected to the third port.
The purpose of the drain line is to give the water, which would otherwise be trapped between the vacuum breaker and the valve, a place to go.
I plumbed the new drain line into the drain pipe running into the Grey #1 tank, using the 1 ½” “tee” and the PVC fittings.

Here are the before and after shots of the project.

The back side of the UDC

The before, during, and after of the back side of the "wall".

The user side of the UDC, notice the new valve handle.


Here is a shot of some of the mess that was cleared out


ON EDIT: I also used the new Apollo tool to re-cinch some of the Factory joints and to my surprise, some were not to spec. I had to click the tool down a few notches to get them fully tightened. The tool does require some calibration, so the one on the line the day mine was built most have been set a bit wide.

And I thought I was busy in there! Nice job, Alan.

I was digging around again looking at PEX tools, and found this. Could be the answer to muscling off the cinch rings with nippers.

http://www.pexsupply.com/HydroPEX-HYDCLRM-Clamp-Removal-Tool-4185000-p

I have seen that tool before and I think the torque would break some of the plastic fitting while twisting the clamp off.

You're quite possibly right, but if the intent is to replace them with brass fittings, then it's not a problem. Could still use the nippers to wrestle off a clamp on a plastic fitting if it HAD to remain in place. Kinda where I was fixing my little leak.

Not having much experience with PEX, I've posted a question on the woodworking forum (we discuss more than just wood stuff) I haunt concerning the difference between the copper clamp rings and the stainless steel cinch bands. Is one better to use than the other or is it dealer's choice? I'll post that info when I get it.

WOW Allen,

Great Job !! how long did it take you ??, and more importantly did you have any leaks ?? I know I would of, if I tackled all that !!

I spent about 3-4 hours in the basement. I had to make a trip back to home depot and lowes for more PEX line and more clamps, 40 was not nearly enough.

The only leak I found today was at the pump suction line, that I had not even touched. I used the Apollo tool on it and it stopped weeping.

Looks great. You need to go to HL and be a consultant for the mods.

Very nice job Alan! Thanks for the effort and time you took to post the pictures and video. Now if I can only find one of those round "tuit" things, I could get busy and redo mine, similar to yours. I also have the "external" system similar to your original mod. It's been working fine so I haven't fixed it yet.

Great job Alan.

We should start the "I modded my UDC" club.

Have you gone on a search and destroy for those black plastic elbow/tee fittings yet? I figure I have a half-dozen or so left to go, and I'll be 100% brass.

So what's next on your mod list?

Cheers,
Chris

Nice job Alan! Lots of good info there! Tnx for posting!!

When we moved between rallies last week, it was my turn to have the plastic check valve break on the water heater and of course ended up with water in the basement.I had put off cleaning up the plumbing for over a year - guess I waited too long.
Here are the before pics when we got the trailer a year ago.

Before:





After a couple hours here is the result. Not house perfect but a little better than what was there.
I used two 8-port water manifolds. All homeruns to the hot side with 2 blanks.
The cold side still has 5 ports blank but I have plans for two of them in the future.
After:

Larry, that looks purty cotton picking good.

Larry,

Sorry the check valve failure happened. I passed this thread along to the plant with commentary. We will check the line to make sure we are no longer placing that vertical drain/vent pipe so closely inline with the W/H output.

While we have improved our wiring/plumbing process in the utility area, we do not use plumbing manifolds. Your area looks great! Nice work.

Jim

Larry,

I received this back from the plant today:

"The line off the check valve is now a flexible hose connected at 90 degree to reduce stress on fitting"
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Click to expand...

Jim, that will definately help. If you look close, you will see I still have to install a new check valve.
I guess the other thing that can be done is avoid the "humps" in the road. I bet anything that hump I hit by Bodie Lighthouse let the vent pipe move enough to break the check valve.
Wish your video was running then.

jbeletti said:

While we have improved our wiring/plumbing process in the utility area, we do not use plumbing manifolds. Your area looks great! Nice work.

Click to expand...

Jim,

I'd love to see what the plumbing behind the UDC looks like on the new models rolling off the line. Any chance you can have anyone from the factory post a picture?

Cheers,
Chris

I may be in Elkhart for a couple days next week. I'll try to get some pics. Bear in mind they will not look like Larry's or Alan's. But they will look better than a year ago.

I was at my dealer a few weeks ago. I looked at the new ones on the lot. On one of them, I was able to look behind the UDC. It was much better then the old way. Are the manifolds very expensive?

The manifolds are not expensive.
$20 for 8 port through Ferguson. I dont know what retail is though.

These do not have the mini ball valves built in though. They were $49.00 each. I just didnt see the need for that.