factory water line question

[bearbait]

edited for content

[Old Goat]

Bearbait; The popups and TTs that I am familiar with,all use 3/8 tubing on their fresh water systems. More plastic is used than copper these days because it is easier to install and is not rigid and subject to vibration breaks like copper ....Fleetwood Coleman use 3/8 PEX tube in all their popups. It is probably the strongest plastic tube on the market. All PEX fittings are brass and the crimping sleves are copper. I took the shower out of my Niagara and removed the hot and cold lines to it and had no problems. I was able to borrow a crimper, so I did not have to buy one....All faucet fixtures are plastic these days, except on  high end TTs and motorhomes....I forgot to drain my system two years and it froze solid, causing the plastic galley fixture split wide open.  My Coleman dealer wanted $37.00 for a new plastic replacement,which I thought was abit to much..I looked around and found a used one in a junk shop for two bucks. It was from a bar sink and had a brass body with a long spout and is chrome plated.. It cleaned up like new and works much better than the original....The freezing did not crack any tubing or cause any leaks......I also disconnected the outside shower lines because we never it This was easy as all I had to do was disconnect the supply lines and cap them with 1/2 PVC caps....

[jonathan]

3/8" plastic tubing is used in our Flagstaff. I am getting ready to replace some, if not all, with 1/2". The reason is... first of the year, we discovered a broken faucet. The faucet was just plastic and still covered under warranty. I went ahead and replaced it with the intentions of installing a REAL faucet. After shopping Lowe's i could not find one that was small enough to fit when the galley was folded down. Finally, i found a small single faucet "bar style" at Home Depot for $11. The fitting on this faucet is 1/2" and i would like to upgrade most of the so called plumbing to 1/2" braided water lines. This would be a simple fix and should last forever. Does anyone see any problem with changing from 3/8" to 1/2"?

[Old Goat]

Jonathon, I do not see any problems with your idea of changing your water supply lines from 3/8 to 1/2 in.,other than alot of work and expense especially if you plan to use braided tubing... That stuff ain't cheap...... The 1/2 lines will definitely supply over three times more water volume, which you do not need by any means...Modern household  water supply lines are 1/2  and sometimes 3/4in. copper or PVC... Kitchen and bathroom faucets are 1/2 pipe.  The flexible supply lines used to connect the faucets to the house water supply are  3/8 tubing with conversion fittings to 1/2. The 3/8 tubing in your trailer is probably Pex or something similar and you should have no problems finding conversion fittings.As for a kitchen faucet that will fit in your galley ,you might try looking around in used building material places and junk shops,as I do.. You can often find what you are looking for at a very low price.... The plastic tubing in your trailer may look cheap, but it is tough stuff and you should not need to replace it, unless there is a  problem....The hot and cold Pex plastic water lines in my Niagara have frozen twice,once while we were camping, and freezing has never caused a leak.... If I can be of further help, please let me know.......

[SheBantam]

Gee Lee, had I known that you were REALLY a waterline expert, I would have taken you up on your offer to look at mine. Turned out to be a loose connection at the shower AND a blown line under the sink (that I knew about since my silverware tray and pans, well off the floor, were filled with water). They used air to check for leaks. Raymond was going to turn the water on and potentially do more damage to the trailer itself. See why I wanted someone who know what they were doing to check this out. Forgive me for doubting your knowledge...I thought you were just being chivilrous(sp???) and Dave told me he was watching me since I left Raymond and the Kid at home, do not want our cult leader to get a bad impression :Z  :yikes:

Let me know how you are going to add hot and cold lines to the outside. I do not have an outside shower to extend the lines from.  I do have the outside hot water taken care of...I keep a 32 cup coffee maker plugged up and full...great for those instant grits (you can tell I am a southern girl, but instant is ONLY for camping, the real stuff for home), and my stainless french press coffeemaker, as well as dishes.