Hot Water At The Bathroom Faucet

[Minnesota Oli]

It always bothered me especially when getting ready to use the shower the amount of cold water coming out of the faucet and heading to the grey water tank. So when Overland put up a post back on January 3 titled Truma Comfort Plus via Modification, it got me thinking. I went out to the Oliver and tested actually how long and how much water was being used before getting hot water to the faucet. My results were 14 seconds and a volume of one quart and I thought that's not that bad. But then why does it bother me when I'm standing there waiting and then I think about how I'm just transferring my fresh water to the grey water tank and how many gallons go this way during a camping trip.

 So for the next week the subject was percolating in my mind and I came up with some ideas and settled on what I thought would be feasible solution. I installed a normally closed solenoid operated stainless steel water valve. I made a bracket out of stainless steel that I attached to the valve and then utilized the four bolts that were protruding through the front of the camper that help secure the cover for the propane tanks.

 

I installed a tee in the hot water supply line just in front of the faucet and run 1/2" pex between it and the valve. Next I ran 1/2" line following the black tank drain pipe towards the back of the trailer and crossing over to the curb side and then teeing in to the line that fills the fresh water tank.

 

Next I planed on putting a switch to operate the valve next to the switch that is mounted on the vanity towel rack that operates the water pump. I wanted to avoid standing there and holding the switch so I found a programmable multi function time delay relay module UCTRONICS model U6030 to allow me to accomplish this.

 

This module is inexpensive about $12.99 but is very flexible ,it has 18 programmable delay modes with two settable timers. The static current is just 5.5 mA. I wanted this module to only be powered up when the water pump was turn on so I brought power from the water pump relay, this way both switches activated the module.

 

 

This module also needs to have a 12 volt power supply to operate the water valve, so I ran a wire from a unused slot in the fuse box under the dinette, the valve draws 1 1/2 amps.

I was a little worried about getting the module programmed for my needs, we all know how Chinese instructions are poor due to the language translations, but it went really well.

I mounted the module in a 4"x4" waterproof box and put that under the front dinette seat,that way I had access to it in case I need to change programming.

  

 

The last picture is of the vanity and the switches for the water pump and the water diverter valve. I used a waterproof switch I had and I plan on replacing it with a smaller easier to push model.

I'm happy with the way it works, flip the water pump on then push the other switch and release, you hear the water pump start and run for 15 seconds, it will shut off and you have hot water at the faucet.

 

[Frank C]

Very nice modification! 👍🏻

[Mike and Carol]

Nice mod!  It always bothers me when I turn on the hot water either at the kitchen or bathroom sink and see all that fresh water go down the drain while waiting for hot water.  Mike

[John E Davies]

Very cool! An alternative timer that could be used is this non-programmable ten second one from Santa Cruz, it is around $15. It has no parasitic draw at all.

Santa Cruz RC-15-GUN-AL Timer Installation.pdf

That was a whole lot of work for what in reality is a minimal benefit, since you can just use that wasted water to fill a drinking water filter, which is what I do, but OTH many of my mods could be described that way. It is a lot of fun, and when it works out, you feel good about it.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[SeaDawg]

1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

That was a whole lot of work for what in reality is a minimal benefit, since you can just use that wasted water to fill a drinking water filter, which is what I do, but OTH many of my mods could be described that way. It is a lot of fun, and when it works out, you feel good about it.

Quite true, and could be said of some of our mods, too.

Pretty slick though, for those of us (like me) who don't like to drink tank water,even filtered. @John E DaviesI  like your suggestion on the alternative switch, though. I collect cold water in a kettle,  and use it for dishwashing, but it's a pain. 

Love your mod,  @Minnesota Oli. Please let us know how it works for you through the next year. My guess, you'll be loving it.

[Stranded]

Fantastic mod! I was actually planning on doing the exact same thing to avoid losing water when boondocking. 

 

I also wanted to add another two valves, the hot water into the cold line, and then the cold line into the tank, in order to circulate hot water through all the pipes to prevent freezing pipes when camping in freezing weather. Preferably with a temperature sensor to activate the circulation valves opening when the street side pipes shows a 36 degrees temperature reading. 

[topgun2]

Interesting.

I wonder just how cold it would have to get before needing to open that temperature sensor.  On the other hand - if the Oliver was in temporary storage or some other reason where you wouldn't want to run the furnace this could take the place of trying to heat the entire camper.

Bill

[ShallowGal]

Or, if you have a dog - or dogs - you can clean & refill their water bowl while waiting on hot water to reach the faucet. 

[SeaDawg]

Omg, @ShallowGal. Those two cute travelers can drink a lot (and obviously,  wear a lot) of water.

Our dogs sure bring a lot of joy to the journey,  don't they?

Sherry 

[bhncb]

3 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

Our dogs sure bring a lot of joy to the journey,  don't they?

 

Meow, meow. Meow meow meow. Purrrrrrr. 😽

[mossemi]

23 hours ago, Minnesota Oli said:

So when Overland put up a post back on January 3 titled Truma Comfort Plus via Modification,

Overland and I had a discussion about using the SHOWERMI$ER that Steph and Dud B posted a link to on January 1st, to create a Truma AquaGo Comfort Plus.  I reached out to him because he is the only person I now of the has the Comfort Plus.  He then posted about adding the tee inside of the Truma to recirculate the cold water back to the water heater, where the SHOWERMI$ER routed it back to the tank.  Either method required a return pipe to work and I was still leaning towards Overland’s idea of just using a manual shower diverter which would definitely be better looking than the SHOWERMI$ER.  And "BOOM", you jumped in with a different and excellent twist.  
One thought that I had was to connect the return to the fresh water fill line near the check valve on the street side if I couldn’t route it back on the curb side to the fill line.  Did you give any consideration to connecting to the fill line on the street side instead of the curb side?  And could you share a picture of your connection to the fill line?

Mossey

 

 

 

[Minnesota Oli]

1 hour ago, mossemi said:

One thought that I had was to connect the return to the fresh water fill line near the check valve on the street side if I couldn’t route it back on the curb side to the fill line.  Did you give any consideration to connecting to the fill line on the street side instead of the curb side?  And could you share a picture of your connection to the fill line?

Mossey

 

Hey Mossey

I originally tried to run the line up the curb side but ran in to a obstruction about by the door, figured it had to be some kind of support for the floor. I tried going from both ways but had to abandon it. Starting from the bathroom and running it down along side the drain pipe for the black tank work out really well and once clearing the end of the grey tank it is wide open to cross over to the curb side. The plumbing part of the job went really fast compared to the wiring side of the job. To be honest I never checked out going back to where the fresh water line comes into the trailer.

Here are some pictures of where I tee into the fresh water fill line a short distance before the tank.

 

[mossemi]

I think Overland mentioned an obstruction in that area in one of his postings.  He cut a hole below his sink or maybe the refrigerator, I dont remember exactly.  I think he may have been reworking his ductwork.

Thank you for the pictures, they will be helpful.

Mossey

[John E Davies]

The obstruction under the fridge is a gas barrier. That entire compartment is supposed to be completely blocked from the rest of the cabin, in case there is a propane leak. OTH there is no reason you can’t cut an access hole in the panel.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Steph and Dud B]

I love these mods. For now, I just use some of the initial cold water coming from the hot water line to brush my teeth and rinse out my shaver. Our last fifth wheel had the water heater located right next to the bathroom. A very smart design, now that I think about it.

[SeaDawg]

I fill the trailer kettle with initial cold water, and heat it on the cooktopfor dishwashing.

[MAX Burner]

On 3/26/2023 at 6:53 AM, Steph and Dud B said:

Our last fifth wheel had the water heater located right next to the bathroom.

We're wondering if there's there a 12VDC recirculating pump available to install at the water heater output?  One could switch on the recirc pump for a dozen or so seconds before turning on the hot water valve in the head... just a thought.

[Geronimo John]

Thank you for the testing and determination that it wastes a quart of water.  I thought it was much more.  So good news.

However, with very few exceptions (i.e. going Lithium), just about every mod adds weight and complexity. 

I'm with the "Keep it Simple" group when considering mods.  In this case the creative solution is really fun to see.  But sadly we flush the toilet several times a day.  So using a one quart plastic large mouth container to catch the cold hot water works great for the next flush. 

However this solution also adds weight (1 oz) and requires maintenance as well (cleaning).  😗

[Hokieman]

On 2/6/2022 at 8:11 PM, ShallowGal said:

Or, if you have a dog - or dogs - you can clean & refill their water bowl while waiting on hot water to reach the faucet. 

This is our method also.  The dog water bowl stays in the shower pan because our two full grown labs are sloppy drinkers.   We clean it and set it outside on the floor before showers.