Manifolds for the water system???????

[jackhartjr]

Hi folks, I see some conversions with water manifolds for the fresh water system, most don't seem to have them.
Con you fine folks give me the pros and cons about them? 
And if we decid to go that route, where do we find them?
Thanks in advance!
Jack

[Hartley]

Manifolds are nice and most look nice. ( Marine suppliers sell them..)

I don't use them due to the expense, it's something of personal preference about spending $300 on something just to run water lines to 4 places in the coach.

(OK 8 places if you add the HOT water lines.) Most of the termination points are probably going to be within 10 feet of a central point anyway. Extra work...

I made up a series of Brass PEX T-s and crimped brass pex valves in each of the
lines that I wanted to be able to shut off. Mine looks funky but the way I figure it, If I have a water problem, I would rather shut off ALL the water and go fix the problem, not have to be fooling with a maze of valves. This was the other reason that I used all PEX tubing. It simply doesn't have a tendancy of breaking or leaking. Manifolds also take up a lot of room and extra space for the pipes to make the extra turns to get into and out of them.

But, If you choose to go with Copper, PVC or CPVC then I would recommend using a manifold simply because hard tubing can break from vibration and probably will at some point a few years down the road or due to a human error...

One weakness I have found with a lot of the plastic manifolds is that the velve stems are weak and will break, jam and stick or strip just when you need to shut off something... The last one I bought was $365 and I threw it in the trash can after 10 minutes of trying to unstick one of the valves.

Keep things simple and the simpler to maintain and repair is best...

Dave.....

[Jerry Liebler]

I prefer a system without a manifold.  To me the extra pipe to make the 'home runs' to the manifold is a waste.  My fresh water distribution is from a 3/4" main line with 'tees' leading to ball valves for each fixture. At one end of the cold water mainline it runs into the water heater and a 3/4" hot water line runs back along the route of the cold main, it also has 'tees' and ball valves at each fixture.  At the far end of the hot water line is a 12 volt solenoid valve that dumps back into the tanks so I can 'preheat' almost all hot water lines without wasting water.  The solenoid valve also allows me to circulate water for freeze prevention.
Just my way.
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120 

[Hartley]

Jerry and I are on the same page...

I just went through a 10 degree night and aside from adding a little heat in the bay I opened the recirculate/fill valve and let my pump idle all night and didn't freeze...

I did have ice and frost inside the living area but not in the plumbing....

Simple works....

[TomC]

I made my own manifold system with 2" copper pipe using reducers to 3/4" for each facet.  I have one for cold and one for hot-and am glad to have them.  Recently had to work on the toilet-my wife didn't know the difference since I just turned off the toilet water and everything else continued to work normally.  I personally like the manifold system with ball valve for each water use.  Good Luck, TomC

[FloridaCliff]

Jack,

Wish I had shown you mine in Arcadia.

I like the manifolds for several reasons:

I made my own, was easy to do, $50-$60 max.

I used 1/4 turn brass ball valves with the long single handle.

If you have a problem with a fixture or supply line you can shut it down, and continue on until fixed. Happened to me before in my S+S.

If a fixture has a continues leak you could put it on when needed and fix when you get home.

Water Options, You can set it up like mine so you can use the water you carried with you for drinking or use the park water.
I have a valve in the manifold that lets me make this option.  The valve separates the shower and toilet from the on board water and puts them on the campground or ties all together.  One valve and a little layout planning=choices

I really like Jerry's idea on the looped water, of course he lives a little closer to the North pole than me, so I will borrow that idea, but not in a real rush to get it done.  80 degrees outside today....

Just MY way!

Cliff

[JackConrad]

   "Our Way" was to simply put shut offs at each appliance (kitchen sink, shower, toilet, bathroom sink). Although this would not help if a line failed, an appliance failure can be shut off right at the applaince without going outside to access the bay.  Like everything else, it is all trade-offs. Your choice, both work.  Jack

[gumpy]

I have 3 manifolds. Main, cold and hot water distribution.

My main distribution is the best thing I did in my water system. It will do anything I need it to do. Besides filling the tank through it, I can bypass the pump and/or tanks easily to run the house off shore water, or I can shut off the entire house system. I have a pressurized output that I can hook a garden hose onto for washing windows on the toad. cleaning dusg from the bus radiators or possibly fighting fires. I can suck up antifreeze with my pump and blow it into anywhere in the system, including the tank, or the pressurized hose bib. It took me three design attempts to get it right, but I sure like it. It's easy to use and gives me complete control of my house water system.

The hot and cold water distribution manifolds are just that. I run separate lines to each fixture. I like it this way because I can isolate each fixture. In my case, some of the fixtures are not yet installed, but the valve is in place, so when I get the fixture in, I only have to run the lines from the valve. No changing any of the other plumbing that's already installed.

craig

[Sam 4106]

Hi Guys,
While using a manifold or not is a personal choice, I can't help wondering how often a good quality fresh water system would need a fixture isolated. In 18 years I have never had the need in our bus. However, if you use your bus before your interior is finished I can see the need so you can use the fixtures you do have. How many of you with manifolds have had to isolate a fixture after all your fixtures were in?
Thanks, Sam 4106

[Jerry Liebler]

Sam,
    Even without a manifold, provided there is a valve associated with each fixture, each fixture can be shut down for fixture repair or removal.  The better question is to those, such as myself, that did not use a manifold:  Have you ever had to shut down your entire water system to repair something that couldn't be isolated with the fixture valves?
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120

[gumpy]

On our trip to AK, we had a couple issues. In my Father-In-Law's trailer, some of the fittings he used began leaking. We didn't have what we needed, so we simply turned off the valve of the line that was leaking when it wasn't in use (shower). On my bus, I blew out a seam in my main fresh water tank. I had to do a bit of replumbing to salvage the capacity of the upper tank. The manifold helped with this. Also, as stated before, I don't have my bathroom sink installed yet, but the valves are there for it. When it goes in, it'll just be a matter of running a couple pex lines from the manifolds to the sink.

Yeah, this is a personal preference. You could certainly do it with daisy-chain runs, Tees, and separate shutoff valves and it would probably work just fine. It might keep the bays a bit less cluttered. There are tradeoffs in every part of the conversion.

I could have easily done mine without the separate cold and hot water manifolds, but I would not do another one without the master manifold I put in.

[rv_safetyman]

I am strongly in the "use a manifold" camp.  I used a Manabloc  (Vanguard Manabloc Manifold  3/8 inch PEX - Total Ports 14 - 6 hot and 8 cold - Model MXBD14-2).  You can get more information at: http://www.vanguard.ca/mbloc.html

Because of the possible vibration, I connected the water supply and hot water supply with large radiator hose clamped over the fittings.  I used the standard PEX compression fittings that come with the Manabloc for the runs to the various locations. 

I have a pretty good filter system for drinking water and the fridge, and can use the valve to easily shut off the water to change the filters.  I also ran a very small line to the washing machine drain tube to fill the trap if we have not used the washing machine in a while.  I also use one connection as a valve for an external connection to a hose that I use to wash the bus.  You can see a picture of the installation in the bus (not completely hooked up at the time I took the photo) at:  http://www.rvsafetysystems.com/busproject2.htm  (photos are thumbnail - click to enlarge)

When I bought the unit is was $99 and was much easier than making my own.  I looked today and it is $129 at various places (did find one that still sells it for $99).

Sure made the plumbing fairly straight forward.

Update:  I just looked at the photo of my installation, and I see that I had not used the hose connection when I took the photo.  The vertical lines (inlet at the bottom and to/from hot water heater at the top now have the clamped rubber hose connection.  If you do use their tapered connections, be very careful to use the correct fittings.  I had a leak and tried to tighten the connection.  That broke the fitting and ruined the whole unit.  Use hose, it works great.

Jim

[gr8njt]

I am with gumpy on this.
When I designed my water system, a main distribution manifold was in the plan
for several reasons:

First is the attention to detail and "neatness" factor.
Second is the easy install and "shut off" of individual circuits from a single vantage point.
Third is cost. The distribution manifold I used is $50 brand new from eBay. 
It's both a hot and cold manifold in one. Having individual lines going to 3 places
inside the bus only added appx $20 to the pipe cost. In the end, it actually did not cost that much
more than if I had only individual shut-off valves near the terminal useage areas.
(Although I still had shut-off valves under the sink..LOL).

And as always, it's what makes the converter satisfied and proud of their work
regardless of time, effort and cost.

[Len Silva]

These manifold systems are being installed in many new homes. Another advantage besides isolation is smaller tubing size (but more of it).

You won't have to worry about being "colded" if someone uses the kitchen sink while you are in the shower.

There is also the advantage of no fittings or junctions between the manifold and fixture.  Any time you add a tee or other fitting, it must remain accessible.  Not a concern with the manifold.

Len