[larryweikartsr]

I'm starting the process of restoring the water bay. I just removed all screws and rivets but the aluminum face plate is still secured tightly to the frame. Was this glued also? If so has anyone removed it and how. I don't want to mess up the framing behind the facia.

[bestgenman]

[attachment=1059]Larry, I'm about to work on the facing trim and was wondering if it is the same piece. See pic.

Gordon

[larryweikartsr]

no, Gordon, I'm working on the brushed aluminum covering inside the water bay where the dump valves and holding tanks are located, inside the large compartment located just in front of the drivers side rear wheel.

[larryweikartsr]

I guess none of you have tackled this problem. I'll contact Newell service and post their reply for future info.

[rheavn]

Larry,
I have had the small panel off where the water valves come through, but it was done by removing the water valve handles and the securing screws. Never tackled removing the entire facia, although on mine(No two Newells are the same) it looks like just a matter of disconnecting the water connections that go through it, removing the water valve handles and the securing screws. On a request like this a few good photos would be of tremendous help to see how yours is set up.

If you call Newell I would try to talk with Dwight as he is the one who works on plumbing the most. He had a water bay apart when I was there.

[larryweikartsr]

Thanks Steve: I have everything off of the facia, including the handles. I wanted to take pics but haven't been able to do so yet. I will do that this weekend. I'll give Dwight a call on Monday and see what he can offer. Thanks for the reply and have a nice weekend.

[dflanery]

looking for some help as to a diagram of pluming valves in my driver's side water bay?  some one I am assuming let things freeze up and copper pipe broke and it was patched with garden hose?  NOT good..

I contacted Newell on this and they told me to bring it down and they could take care of it for me.  but could not give e a diagram of what is what in the bay?  I find that hard to believe?

if any of you out there have a similar setup and share a picture or 2 as to how it is plumbed I would deeply appreciate it so I can get my plumbing straightened out.

[Richard]

Dennis,

Diagrams from 36 yrs ago may be hard to come by, and who knows what mods have been done to your coach. Once we know what you have, we can generate a diagram to plumb your coach by.

But, let’s help you figure this out with some basics.

Do you have one or two water pumps? Are they both 12V? Or is one of them 120V?

The manifold with all the 1/4 turn valves is a home made distribution block to allow you to turn off the water to different locations in the coach without turning off water to the entire coach.

The pictures are hard to interpret. Could you take a shot at drawing a simple sketch of what you currently have? If you will post that sketch, we can get started.

Do you plan on using copper? Pex? Hose?

[Guy]

Our Newell is very similar to your water bay. One  12 volt water pump, and no 120 volt water pumps. Newell used a water manifold before there were water manifolds, by using a hydraulic/ pnuematic manifold of the day .Time for the way back machine. I believe that your  manifold is factory, as it looks just like mine. It was a solid piece of solid  billet  aluminum, with two 2 3/4 npt holes going all the way through the billet,   four bolt holes through the billet but not the water jacket to mount to a floor or wall or bracket. It has  3/4 npt threads on either end to enable the manifold maker to machine the interior of the manifold. Included are a  handfull of 1/2 npt inlet/outlets. 1 outlet  is used to feed a large single step  water filter that in turn feeds cold water to the kitchen sink, bath valve, toilet, water heater, restroom sink.  A 2nd 1/2 npt goes to a two step filter which provides water to the ice maker, and a special tap on the sink for filtered drinking water. A 3rd 1/2 npt is used for hookup of city water. A 4th 1/2 npt  receives pressurized water from the water pump.These 4  1/2 npt inlet/outlets all have  ball valves at the manifold.

The final inlet outlet is 3/4 npt, although with our simple coaches 1/2 npt would be fine. This outlet has a 3 way ball valve and controls water going to the bottom of the water storage tank and the water pump. It allows the filling of the water storage tank, or sending water from the storage tank to the 12 volt water pump, for times when we are not hooked up to city water. This valve needs to have the city water valve open to fill the water storage tank , closed to provide water via the water pump.

We have an added valve to send water to  the black water tank for rinsing , along with an anti back flow valve.

It is very easy to leave the existing copper pipe in your coach, and use pex fittings to adapt to a new manifold. I could not find a simple manifold, and ordered a manifold from McMaster Car  like our 38 year old one, which fits on our existing verticle fiberglass mounting bracket . Pex is your friend. Good luck

[MrE]

Dennis, I have a similar age Newell, an 86. Mine isn't perfect by any means. I have two 12v pumps controlled by a panel in the galley, above the sink. From your pictures, you appear to have the wires to control two 12v pumps also. My system is also a combination of mixed materials. My plan is to re-plumb the entire coach with PEX A. Comes in three colors so I can color code my plumbing, blue - cold, red - hot, and white -filtered. I live in Idaho, so more concern with freezing than you would have in Missouri.

Here's a video, why I picked PEX A. https://youtu.be/cTN_OU3yufI

This is the Milwaukee tool the plumber doing our kitchen remodel used that convinced me to use PEX A. https://youtu.be/M9x_D_VxT_Q

I've done plumbing in my house using PEX B, but I always had great access for the crimping tool. My coach doesn't afford that, and I definitely don't want to sweat solder joints in tight spaces to use copper, plus copper splits where PEX doesn't when it freezes.

The Milwaukee tool is around $400, out of my budget to own for a single project unless I can't rent one, but there are numerous mechanical ones for under $100 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pex+expansion...c94bt2zh_e