Unusual mobile home well/pressure tank setup
Sylvia
yet) and I'm working on the water system for it.
We have a well and pump in place, currently connected to an above-ground
pressure tank system with PVC pipe that we simply disconnect and drain
whenever a freeze threatens. That worked fine when we only went out
during the summer, but if we're actually going to LIVE there, it ain't
gonna work. <g> We are working on a true underground system, but it's
not ready yet and we don't want to continue living in our current MH in
a crummy trailer park until it is.
I can of course run something suitable (clear-core poly tubing, maybe?)
from the well head to the MH connection, then use heat tape and
insulation to keep it from freezing. (Can you run heat tape under that
wrap-around pipe foam insulation?) But the pressure tank is more of a
challenge.
One possibility that occurred to me is to place the pressure tank INSIDE
the home, connected to a cold-water pipe. In theory, as long as there
aren't any one-way valves in the system, the water should flow from the
pressure tank back through the cold water system to wherever the system
splits and then into the hot water system as well, supplying both cold
and hot water needs. Has anyone heard of such a system? The salesman
assured me the home, a 2001 Champion, has no one-way or anti-backflow
valves, but (1) salesmen will say anything and (2) he hasn't impressed
me as knowing lots about the actual home construction. The home comes
with a set of blueprints, how can I tell which one is water pipes and if
it shows any one-way or anti-backflow valves?
All comments welcome!
--
Sylvia Steiger RN, homeschooling mom since Nov 1995
http://www.SteigerFamily.com
Cheyenne WY, USDA zone 5a, Sunset zone 1a
Home of the Wyoming Wind Festival, January 1-December 31
Remove "removethis" from address to reply
Richard
> We have a new mobile home sitting on our land (not blocked or levelled
> yet) and I'm working on the water system for it.
> We have a well and pump in place, currently connected to an
> above-ground
> pressure tank system with PVC pipe that we simply disconnect and drain
> whenever a freeze threatens. That worked fine when we only went out
> during the summer, but if we're actually going to LIVE there, it ain't
> gonna work. <g> We are working on a true underground system, but
> it's
> not ready yet and we don't want to continue living in our current MH
> in
> a crummy trailer park until it is.
Yes, theoretically the pump can be placed about anywhere in the system as
long as the pump has sufficient draw power
I do not recommend the use of heating tape for inground use.
Unless you use a type which is designed to be buried in the ground.
I've seen it done in homes in canada.
There is a type of heating system which uses a heat rod element buried in
the ground and goes into the ground about 18 incehs or so.
IMHO, not all that efficient. In use in my former MHP and twice I had to
thaw it out with direct heat.
I'd go to the trouble of digging a 2 or 3 foot wide, 4 foot deep hole. Place
the feed pipe in the center of it, then insulating the remainder. A layer of
regular insulation around the pipe then the rest with sand. Or get a sheet
of insulation and cut it to fit.
Or you could even put like a 4inch pvc pipe around the feed pipe, then use
expanding foam inside the open area, sand the rest.
Practically anything to seperate the pipe from the main, cold, hard ground.
One website suggested using concrete as an insulator.
Sylvia
and will run from a pitless adapter (not installed yet) to a water
room/root cellar (dug but not enclosed yet) which should keep everything
from freezing to that point. I'm just trying to come up with a system
to get us through THIS winter without spending a fortune on supplies or
risking frozen pipes.
repairco
is one I used in Missouri about 25 years ago so I know it works.
Go ahead and use your present set-up but plumb from the pressure tank to the
home in galvanized pipe above ground. I suggest 3/4". Use a standard heat
tape in the standard way BUT double it up, that is, spiral wrap the tape
around the pipe but then spiral wrap another tape in the blank area. Make
sure that the tapes are in good contact with the pipe, not in contact with
each other, and won't shift--I wrapped the length of the pipe in duct tape.
If you go another route besides the duct tape, you might want to wrap over
the tapes with aluminum window screen to keep the insulation from intruding
under the tape and creating a hot spot. Wrap with insulation, another layer
of duct tape with a good overlap and then poly tape to make sure the inside
stays dry.
Use another two tapes to wrap the pressure tank, wrap this in the aluminum
window screening and put AT LEAST 2" of insulation over it and protect it
from the weather the best you can.
Wet fiberglass insulation can be summed up in one word---useless!
OK, but why two tapes you have been asking yourself---simple! On the
coldest sub-zero days, turn both on, or, if you DO have a freeze-up due to
the 'primary' tape failing you can use the 'secondary' tape to un-freeze it.
Personally, I had planned on only using this system for one winter so I kind
of scrimped on the quality of the wrapping insulation on the pipe and
pressure tank and used 5/8" copper tubing for the water. I only had one
freeze up due to a power failure in the 3 years I used it and that was when
the power was out for 3 days with an outside temp of about 15*F.
My permanent system was much better and was constructed much like has been
suggested by Richard in another post. I got some heavy schedule 80 1" PVC
pipe and buried it ~36" deep with a trencher. I then backfilled with coarse
river sand so the PVC ended up in a sand 'pipe' about 3" around with some
medium stone underneath it all to help drainage. I built thick foam
insulated boxes where the pipe went underground at both ends and used 3/4"
Galvanized pipe to get down to the PVC pipe level and heat tapes and
insulation on the metal pipe. I built a shed (actually was an afterthought)
to enclose the well head and pressure tank PLUS where the pipe went
underground. I left the heat tapes on the pressure tank but insulated the
shed walls anyway. Don't make the same mistake I did, though. If you build
an enclosing shed rig it so the roof and at least one wall is relatively
easy to remove in case you have to replace the deep-pump-----I felt SSSOOOOO
stupid!
Hope this helps if or gives you a better idea!
Good luck! I moved to Florida from Missouri about 12 years ago 'cause
staying cool is MUCH easier for me than staying warm!!!!
Dutch
"Sylvia" <Sylv...@canadaREMOVE-THIS.com> wrote in message
news:3F731C7...@canadaREMOVE-THIS.com...
Sylvia
near ready to use. This aboveground heat-taped system is just to get us
through this winter until I can get the underground system finished and
usable.
Sylvia
all that!