Bob Jones

Thanks guys, I'll do exactly that.

Hi folks! I'm working on my parents new motorhome and fixing the factory screw-ups. On the furnace they knocked out the wrong plug and ideally the hose should be routed to a different hole. The question is, how do you block off the old hole when they knocked the plug out of it?

Yes, the washer and the toilet are fed straight off the tank before the thermostatic mixing valve on a dedicated line. This means, when the tank is at full temp, both see ~ 185F water. The reason for that is that the toilet is now largely self-cleaning. It's actually steam-cleaned each time you use it. Also, the white throat of the toilet going down into the black tank stays very clean too. I talked to the manufacturer about using hot water and they had no concerns, and for a few years now, it's been great. Mind you, I neglected to mention using 185F....The PEX line feeding both is very high quality, I'm not concerned about that. But you are right, in the end the toilet is the weak leak if there is any. This is why I place a proper brass ball valve right before the toilet. Same thing with the washer, although it's now less important as it was just replaced, and the new one has its own water heater. But the high temperature is very good for removing stains. Some of that benefit has been negated by the new washer though - it as native steam cleaning etc built in as well as sterilization. And they work. But if you're washing something really bad, like greasy shop rags, 185F will melt it all away. They don't see 185 all day long though. The hot water heater is run up to 185 in the morning before I get up. This is done on a timer or manually turned on with my phone. Then I hit the shower for an automatic temperature controlled shower from start to finish. No cold water needed as the mixing valve handles it. You just turn the hot on full, wait for the lines to purge, and jump in. When I get out, in the summer, the tank is usually down to ~145F. It's then shut off and not turned back on unless I'm doing dishes or something like that. Don't get me wrong, both devices do see 185F from time to time, but not all the time. I also have the ability to set the water tank temperature to anything as both gas and electric are digitally controlled. So I don't have to run it as a boiler. Temperature can be turned up or down by pressing a button. The reason I run the tank at 185F is that it basically triples the tank size. Instead of having 10 gallons it's more like a 30 gallon tank. You cannot physically stay in the shower long enough to exhaust it. At least, I can't. And like I said, the temperature is held the same the entire time. In a conventional system you would be adjusting the hot water continuously as the tank cools down due to cold water replenishing. If you look at the reviews on the Remco around the Internet you'll see a few Dynasty's that had their plumbing blown out by them. And no, they aren't BS. There is a reason Remco changed over to the PCB controlled pressure switch with the potentiometers I pictured earlier. Btw, I'm not sure people picked up on that, but now people can see that you can control the cut-in and cut-out pressures on the new Remco's with the 'computer' controlled pressure switch by adjusting the potentiometers, just like the factory does. Although they seem to have set the upper limit at 90 PSI. Here's a couple of pics of the hot water tank (now boiler) to make it easier to understand. In the first one are two Inkbird digital temperature controllers. I used two so I could set the cut-in/cut out of the gas and electric individually. So the tank temp and the offset (when they come back on) can be set to anything just by pressing some buttons. In the second you can see the thermostatic mixing valve which controls the maximum hot water temp to the rest of the unit (not washer or toilet those run at actual tank temp). The white box on the wall is a 25 AMP Wifi Switch that my phone runs. It tracks energy usage and also reports how many watts the heating element is drawing as well as amps and voltage. The digital Inkbird control units have their own built in relays but it is not wise to use them for switching such heavy loads so instead they switch a high-quality Siemens relay that actually shunts the current to the element in the tank. The native Atwood high temperature cut-out switches (snap disks) have been replaced on both the gas and electric side and now open at ~190F. Functionality of the wall switch on the vanity, as well as the gas switch on the KIB has not changed. So at any time you can still operate it as it came from the factory and shut it all down with the flick of a switch. The interior of the cabinet is lined with insulating foam. At 185F the interior gets toasty and this is done to mitigate heat loss. When the tank is at 185F and you open the door, you can watch/feel the heat leave on the digital controllers (they display actual tank temp at all times.) In my case, the water pump is like the last piece of the puzzle in my revamped water system design. Park water is ~42 which is sad. It needs to be augmented with the pump. I'd like to see the Remco address that, it certainly has the power to do so. We shall see. But it is noisy, and that's even with a large residential accumulator in the system.

I'd have to agree with that. When you look at a variable swashplate AC compressor on a car, it actually changes the output of the compressor even at a fixed rotational speed. On my Mercedes Roadster you cannot even turn the AC off as the compressor does not have a clutch. It's always 'on'. When you turn the AC off it just shuts off the blower etc and the compressor swashplate is moved to an 'idle' position, so to speak. For me, right now, the jury is still out on whether I'll be keeping the Remco or not. It's noisy. It's got a whine. In a perfect world I would suspend the discharge hoses in the air because they pulsate so much. But it does have a great motor. And it does have an electronic pressure switch. But my shower this morning was not that spectacular, at least compared to my old Max-Flow Flow Max DS-01230-D2 12V 3.3 GPM Water Pump set to 70 (!!) PSI. But...I knew from the start I would have to work to make it work. I now have an ample power feed, a no-restriction one-way check valve, an excessively long loop of hose on the discharge side, custom set points on the cut-in and cut-out, and a rubber insulated mounting pad that's probably going to get a mouse pad under that! Look at it this way, my other pump was effectively silent without all of that. If I swap back to that pump, it will be silent. 100% Before I do that though, I would like to take a look at the pump head on the Remco and see exactly how it works. There may be some tweaks there. Here's the thing, for me, I know the power is there with the Remco. After all, this is the pump, in earlier incarnations, that actually burst pipes on some installs. I think that's why they went to the electronic pressure switch. So the power is there. It's just a matter of tailoring it. If it can't be done, it's probably going to go back. I personally think the variable speed pump designs (ALL of them) are for suckers. Without something like an adjustable swash plate design, it can't address the function it was designed to. I'd love to design a proper RV pump. A good motor, using standard replaceable bearings and brushes, a good pump head using replaceable parts. A good pressure switch that is easily adjusted. You know what I mean. Something where the performance can be readily adjusted for each situation and field serviceable like a starter.

I think these pumps are very sensitive when it comes to air. They make more noise and don't function right. I know Remco says not to use an accumulator but I find that I hate the variable speed function. Opening a tap just a crack and my pump makes a LOT more noise and then you get a pulsing stream of water. I prefer the pump to run at full speed for the shortest time possible and this makes the accumulator a bit of a requirement for me. When you install the new one be sure to open a tap in the kitchen, full cold and hot, before you turn the pump on. I bet you'll find it behaves a lot more normally. My take on this pump is that it's very different. That's not a bad thing, just a different thing 🙂 But I observed all sorts of weird behavior at the start before things settled down. But man, what a racket. I'm going back out there today to do a little more on the noise front.

That's understandable. Back in the day, it would have been so far beyond every other pump. Today, I'd say, it's still the top performer, it's a great pump, but it requires a bit of work to install properly. It's not as simple as your average pump. It needs a good power feed, it needs flexible hoses, with extra length to absorb the pulsations on the outlet side, and you may well need to relocate it. And the company standing behind it, well, let's face it, they are not very good and there are NO replacement parts for it. Period. When it breaks, it's done. Having said that, I just had a shower, and it was great. Almost like city pressure. The volume was much greater and the pressure was higher. My hair was soaked much faster. So it does what it says it does. But here's the rub, my all-time favorite pump is this one; Max-Flow Flow Max DS-01230-D2 12V 3.3 GPM Water Pump, Yellow and Black, 689052 For how much? That's right, $71.95 USD or $99 CAD. If that pump is properly powered (10 amp feed with no significant voltage drop) I can get it to run to 70 PSI, just by turning a screw, and....it's virtually silent. On top of that, my old one lasted 4 years, everyday use, and it's STILL good. I sold my new cold spare to my neighbor, and she loves it. 70 PSI vs 90 / 3 gallons per minute vs 5. If you want the most pressure and volume you can get, the Aquajet is it and it is a nice pump. But it's not easy. Not to make it perfect. On the other hand, $71.95 and plug 'N play. At that price you can have 3 or 4 (!!!) pumps total for the price of the Aquajet. On top of that, Lippert actually honors their warranty, from my experience. But at $71.95.... The Aquajet took a month to arrive, Remco will NEVER warranty it because it came through Amazon, the Lippert usually arrives next day, carries a real warranty, and...even if they stick it to you, it's $70...and....it's effectively SILENT. 50 PSI out of the box and 70 if you turn the screw. Plug 'N Play installation. Put it this way, I paid $15 extra for 3rd party warranty on the Aquajet. Just in case because I know Remco will never look after the brand new pump if they can help it. Here's a pic of the wet bay prior to next day clean up. That's a 3/4" one-way check valve on the outlet with a low cracking pressure. It does not restrict the flow. The Aquajet has been mounted to the stock aluminum plate that used to be on the wall. I relocated it to the floor so that it's easy to replace. The plate is drilled for both the Aquajet and the Lippert for easy change outs. Note the extra long line coming from the pump discharge? That's because the Aquajet pulsates the outlet so much you can get white finger from touching it 🙂 On the left wall is the 40 amp relay with a 10 AWG power feed to it. That results in a .4v voltage drop at the pump under full load. I'll clean up the lines later. For now I just want to get to know the power of the pump.

I tried adjusting the set screws for the pump cut out and bypass (which were covered up with black goop) and got nothing. Nothing at all...... This led me to wonder just how Remco was adjusting these pumps at the factory....... So...a little more investigation revealed two adjustable pots under the plate on a circuit board..... The lower one, closest to the wires, appears to adjust the cut out pressure. When maxed out it seems to do 90 PSI. Turn CLOCKWISE for best performance The second one (furthest from the wires) appears to control CUT IN pressure. Turn COUNTER CLOCKWISE for best performance. After adjustment I get a resting pressure (cut out) of 90 PSI and a turn on pressure of about 39 PSI As for why it was hitting 100 PSI when I first installed it, and was not shutting off, I cannot say. Air in the lines? Now back to the set screws in the pump and the bypass....

This is important information, I think. I just put the pump back on the accumulator to see if that makes a difference. In order to do that I had to increase the length of the output hose. It's now way too long, but it's for testing purposes. Wow, that made a huge difference. The pump is now quiet. And, oddly enough, once back on the accumulator it now shuts off at 70 PSI. Reliably. Grabbing the extra long outlet hose while it's running results in a bad case of white finger. The oscillations in that line are unbelievable. This lends a lot of credit to what you were saying about having the lines so long they are in a loop....... With the pump shutting off at 70 I now find the pressure too low. It seems I'm addicted to the 100 PSI. Which brings me back to your point about being able to adjust it. Do you know where that PDF is from Dav Pratt by any chance? I'm going back out to the bay to do some more battling.

Link with video should be fixed now.

Mine was double-boxed but.....they didn't other to wrap the pump box in bubble wrap to keep it from flying around inside the new box. It did survive. Here's a video of the pump in action (if you can see it)

That's a good point since I'm running 185F on the hot water lines to my toilet and washer/dryer. I think at that temp the PEX is rated to 100 PSI so it's a very real danger point. More testing is showing that it's flaring up to 90 PSI now and properly cutting out. This seems to be in keeping with what a lot of reviewers mentioned. Mine is making a truly horrible racket. It's rattling every pipe in the joint. I have long flexible lines going to and from it and even holding the pump in my hand while it operates doesn't make it quiet down. I've got the feeling that if I want to run this pump - I'm going to have to WORK for it !!

It's quite possible. There were quite a lot of reviews on Amazon about the pump's going into the stratosphere with respect to pressure. It could well be a case of the pump's pressure is incorrectly set so high it's causing the pump head to separate a bit. I'll know more shortly.

Yes. There have been several reports of the Remco running well past 100 to the point where it burst pipes in some Monaco's and blew out 'manablocs?'. In my specific case, I'm pretty fluent in the plumbing of my unit so that's less of a concern than the benefits of high water pressure (basically, I'm willing to work for it). But the pump itself appears to have an issue but it's not conclusive yet. For anyone else, I would not chance it. I'm fortunate to have a gage so I can see exactly how high the pump is pressurizing the unit.

As the pump gets up to 100 PSI it has not cut out yet. I believe it's close to the cut out pressure. But...as the pressure increases the sound of air escaping from the pump head increases. This appears to be causing the pump to fail to cut out as it never reaches cut out pressure. I will take a much closer look at it shortly and re-do the hose connections to eliminate them from the equation.

Mine came in. First glances, it puts out LOTS of volume and pressure. It pumps up to 100 PSI and then vents air from the head of the pump. I took the accumulator out of play thinking it may be interfering with the pump shut off. It still goes up to 100 PSI and the head still has the sound of air escaping from it. (No difference) Next step is to redo the hose fittings to ensure they are not allowing air in somehow. We'll see after that. For noise, it's pretty darn loud and that's with long flex hoses going to it. Really loud as compared to the old one. It's early still but it's not looking too good at this point.....but...I wouldn't read too much into it yet.

Muwahahahaha! Just in time for my morning shower....

Just an update to this thread in case anyone (in the future) comes across this post and wants to know the ins & outs of the water pump/plumbing. I removed the valterra check valve on the outlet of the pump because it was a considerable restriction...and...the cracking pressure was too high. What I've noticed is that as the pump comes up to the pressure cut off it tends to act a bit erratic. I suspect this is due to the cracking pressure of the check valve. I want to keep a check-valve permanently on the outlet side of the pump so that in the future if the internal check valves in the pump(s) fail it will not result in the fresh water tank self-filling. So what I've done is order up a 3/4" brass WOG check valve with a very low cracking pressure, 1.35 PSI. I will reduce the 3/4 ends down to the 1/2 hose and that way I should end up with the least restriction and the lowest possible cracking pressure. The one I am using is an American Valve G31SL 3/4 Lead-Free Brass Spring Loaded in-Line Check Valve with Fip Threaded Ends, 3/4-Inch and it looks like this; except in a 3/4 version. I'm using one of these already in the feed to the City/Water switch and it works very well.

Not at all, I get it. I used to work in the computer industry as well as the automotive industry. I've watched otherwise good companies screw the pooch 😞 It's something to keep in mind. At least with Amazon, returning it would be easy if it turned out to be unsuitable. Now if only I knew where my Remco was in the delivery chain! 🙂

Hi Paul - companies, like Remco, are still stuck in the past with respect to the design of their sales & service. Not many companies today require you to send the product back to the specific vendor you bought it from and require them to check the install and create the warranty claim on your behalf. This illustrates 30 year old thinking, and indicates that Remco does not understand their target market, the RV industry, and that their customers are mobile....meaning they usually can't return it to point of sale. Or, if you're cynical, do they? 🙂 One of the most common phrases Remco seems to use is 'replace the pump' Nice way to increase sales and decrease warranty claims..... It's an ancient process, one that has been relegated to the dustbin of history for most modern companies. It originated from the idea of protecting the profits for their distributors/sellers by using rigid rules and processes they call the 'channel'. Companies that adhere to this process then take on a near religious fervor of 'protecting the channel' The distributor selling to Amazon is short-cutting that process and basically wholesaling to the public, which is now the norm. It's a commodity item - it should be treated as such. The problem for companies adhering to such antiquated strategies is that when a competitor comes along with a similar performing pump, that bypasses the channel, and offers a real warranty, sales at Remco drop because another company offers the same product at a lower price without forcing the customer into a straight-jacket. Usually at that point the antiquated company is near bankruptcy because of their practices and then HAS to change or die. Maybe there's someone at Remco taking a Charleton Heston-like stand. You can take my channel strategy from me when you pry it from my cold, dead hands! 🙂 It would be better for them to take a mantra from the marines, either adapt, improvise or die on that hill ! 🙂 I'm thinking of cancelling the Remco and replacing it with a Seaflo 12V DC 5.5GPM 60PSI 55 Series which will at least arrive quickly, be trackable, and probably packaged correctly. And the chances of the warranty process actually working, should something arise, is quite good. Oh, and it's less money too and has 5,583 positive ratings..... My kingdom for a quality pump that you can get parts for and repair yourself !!! I'd love to hear how the replacement works out. My experience has been when I get to the point of cancelling an order in favor of another, the original order usually shows up the next day! Of course, all that could be addressed if I could only track the @#$% package in the first place!

This one below is well liked by a lot of people. I have used several of it's little brothers, the $98 Max-Flow Flow Max DS-01230-D2 and it's excellent. The 55 series is apparently their high end version. SEAFLO 12V Water Pressure Diaphragm Pump 5.5 GPM (20.8 LPM) 60 PSI The 55-Series is our all new heavy duty water pressure pump with the most heavy duty pressure switch on the market. It provides high volume water flow with reduced pump cycling and smooth flow thanks to the large five-chamber diaphragm. It provides up to 5.5 gallons per minute. The 55-Series pumps are self-priming, can run dry without damage, and are performance reliable. This automatic demand water system pump has a built-in pressure switch which automatically starts and stops the pump when the faucet is opened and closed. Easy to install service and winterize. This pump works best when paired with a SEAFLO Accumulator Tank. Technical Specifications Voltage: 12 VDC Dimensions: 8.25" X 5.30" X 6.0" Inlet / Outlet: 1/2″-14 MNPT Flow Rate: 5.5GPM Amps: 8.0 (17.0 Max. Amps) Shut-off Pressure: 60 PSI Weight: 6.1 lbs

I bought the same pump from the same people on June 09 and it's still not here.....because of all the poor reviews I opted for the $15 two-year additional 3rd party warranty that Amazon offers. Also, because the Internet is FULL of posts from people that Remco denied warranty to regardless of where they bought it from. It seems that Remco's warranty is dependent, first, on returning it to the place you bought it, and then second, on their approval. So if you bought it from an RV store in Florida, and are in Washington state, they want you to return it to the store in Florida.....no kidding. Of the people that jumped through those hoops, it looks like about 50% of the claims were denied by Remco anyway......just an FYI. You're lucky to get one so quick from Amazon. Like I said, mine is taking the better part of a month to arrive and the tracking is really screwed up so I can't even see where it actually is. This causes me to wonder if I'll be like everyone else and get a very beat up box with shipping damage. Apparently, if you're insistent, Remco runs the serial numbers on the pump, knows it was sold on Amazon, and who sold it, and then outright denies the claim. I hope mine shows up soon but I suspect this gong show may just be starting given the time it's taken and all the other people's experiences. You might want to consider leaving the appropriate feedback on Amazon about your experience and add it to the pile?

It is a 3-way L-port ball valve. If it is leaking at the handle it is likely it has an adjustable packing. This means you can re-pack the valve without removing it........or replacing it. The check valve (backflow preventer) is there to prevent your water pump from pushing water out the feed line. You can test this with the water hose removed and water in the tank. Turn the pump on and let the system come up to pressure and see if any appreciable water comes out the fill port (where the hose goes). If so, the check valve / backflow preventer is not sealing 100%. The water flow is written on the handle by means of an arrow. I suggest checking to see if the valve has an adjustable packing and re-packing the valve as opposed to replacing it. The functionality of the valve is that it chooses EITHER to fill the fresh water tank OR providing direct water pressure to the unit from the garden hose feed port. It directs the incoming water to the left (feeds the unit) or to the right (feeds the fresh water tank).

Well...I just got back from installing a 30 amp relay fed by a very high quality 25' 10 AWG cable direct off the battery. The difference in pump operation is unbelievable. Prior to this I had set to the pump to 45 PSI because it labored so much trying to get to the stock 50 PSI cut out. It also would get very hot as it labored along. Voltage drop with the stock Monaco wiring (power fed to the pump through the rocker switch in the vanity down through the rocker switch in the wet bay and then to the pump) was 3v at the 50 PSI cut out. With the new 10 AWG feed and the 30A relay the voltage drop at 50 PSI was .4v (!!!!). As you can imagine, the pump flies up to the cutout without any laboring. The difference is incredible. On top of that, when the pump was active with the stock wiring the lights in the bathroom used to flicker. They don't anymore. Also, if the pump was on and you used the vanity KIB to show the battery voltage the KIB lights would flicker and it would show the massive voltage drop. Not anymore.... In addition, the tone of the pump has changed dramatically. It is no longer unpleasant. The bathroom fan, along with other 12v items, used to noticeably slow down when the pump was active and then speed up after the pump shut off. That too has been fixed. This is on the existing pump, not the Remco that's coming. I will post up a video of the pump laboring up to 50 PSI with the stock wiring and a video of it zipping up to 50 PSI with the new wiring. It's something to see. So if you have an older Monaco, or any unit where they ran the pump power feed through two rocker switches without a relay, you definitely want to do this mod.... Now off to a shower with the new wiring. Maybe I'll see a difference, other than the former epileptic seizure inducing light show when the pump was active!

OK, here's the next morning update. After sitting all night it was still up a little bit (about 1.5"). I'm thinking I'm going to have find the sweet spot in the valve position to cut it off completely but it's close. But, here's the thing, it's much, much less. A 90% reduction from the amount it was leaking before. In the past letting it sit for two hours was enough for it to overfill with half-full tank.... Because I use the pump to make up for the low pressure in the park I'm going to call it a victory because, as it sits right now, it's replenishing what I use. If I need to dial it in more or less I can easily do that. Now on to the 10 gage power feed from the batteries to the pump....

Hi Tim; I looked into replacing mine at one point for my 2000 Diplomat and a company in Canada, I believe, made them. They had every sort of skylight you can think of. How about that, after all these years I even found the link. I would talk to these people; EZ Tops World Wide Inc Pretty sure you can get them there as they make them.... According to their site, free shipping to mainland USA?? And their prices are in CAD so you can benefit from that as well...