Softener or pressure tank for TT - Montana Owners Club

John Young · 03-29-2006, 01:49 PM

Has anyone added these to your units??

If so, how large of a pressure tank did you use?

CountryGuy · 03-30-2006, 01:34 PM

If you mean a water softener, yes. Search the archives and such here, and also go to HOME and look around, Glenn has a link to at least one kind of water softerner. We added one this year and LOVE it. It is not a permanent install, sits outside in line with the hoses. Has made a world of difference.

Accumulator, going in later this spring when we get back from the RGV, had one in prior TT and LOVED it as well. I think Al has a 2 gallon one lined up for Montana.

On edit, nope, Home is not the right place now, look up Glenn and Lorraine and look at his last post, believe he has links on his sig line.

CountryGuy · 03-30-2006, 01:37 PM

OK, here is the page you need, sorry, not 100% tonight, fumbling around, but here is a fab page, to get you started!

http://www.montanaowners.com/RVRelatedLinks.html

dsprik · 03-30-2006, 04:15 PM

Just heard about the water softener a week ago. The accumulator/pressure tank I have been doing a little research on. Someone - think it was a MOCer - said I didn't need a accumulater with these new water pumps... That sound right? I am interested in both of these also, so I will watch this thread for the experts to come along. (not that you're not an expert, Carol... you know what I meant)

H. John Kohl · 03-30-2006, 09:52 PM

I put this Shurflo Accumulator Tank in my TT however if I did not go to the new expensive pump that "does not need it" I would use the 2 gal tank. These tanks are not hard to install. Just make sure you have the correct fittings before you start. They do help prevent the pump surgging when small amounts of water are pulled at the faucet. I pulled from the Camping World pages because they were available.
Good luck and Tow Safe.

CountryGuy · 03-31-2006, 01:56 AM

OK, Al is here now, so, the water softener we got is called ON THE GO

Web site: portablewatersoftener.com

Let me tell you, we could not be happier. We even used it to wash ole Montana this week, no water spots!! WAHOOOOOOO!!!!

We will be using the water softener at home when we wash Montana as we are on a well with VERY hard water!!

We are not replacing the water pump. Al purchased the accumulator tank for about $35.00 and some additional cost for fittings, etc. We will be OK with that, we only use the pump at the Michigan State Parks (and others like it, electric on the sites, no water). We have camped with noisy water pumps for so many years that we don't want to "lose" the experience, part of camping in the state parks! (HAHA, sorta like camping in the rain, you get to love that sound on the roof.)

Dave, no expert here, x stands for the unknown, pert is a drip, so, expert = unknown drip. OHhhh, that would be me! HA HA HA HA

Seriously, did they upgrade the water pumps in Montanas??? The one we have is pretty noisy. Al wrapped a number of the water pipes in that foam stuff for insulating pipes, even had to get one in the washer/dryer closet that was bangin on the walls. Part of his accumulator install will be to put the flex hoses in at the pump.

Gonna be at least May before he gets around to it, but we are confident that it will be much quieter and that is a good thing.

dsprik · 03-31-2006, 05:47 AM

I'm not sure, now that you mention it, Carol. I thought I had heard that they had imporved their pumps, but now I thingking that I don't remember anything specific on that... I did research and look into these pumps that John mentioned above. Can't remember the cost, but Camping World had them.

I am definitely interested in the water softener, and I do believe you are being modest, Carol. You are very valuable asset to us MOCers.

CountryGuy · 03-31-2006, 06:38 AM

Dave, we might, and that would be a big MIGHT replace the pump, if we did more "electric only" camping, but, lets face it, with this big rig and 4 dogs to bathe, and getting older and wanting more softness and pampering in my life, we try to get full hookups when we can. Cept for those ole Michigan state parks! So, we really don't use the pump all that much, and don't want to spend the coin to replace a pump that works, even if it is a tad noisy. The foam pipe stuff is cheap and so your investment is mostly time for that upgrade. OHHHH, he also did put some additional padding UNDER the pump, and that helped some as well.

If one was gonna do a lot of state park type camping or boon docking, then an investment in a better pump might be a really good way to go.

Comes down to preferences and life style, just like so many choices we make with our units.

Thanks for the kind words, nice to think someone feels that way, but, I am no more valuable than many others here who make really great posts and contributions.

GordonR · 03-31-2006, 06:41 AM

Dave - I did a pump upgrade last year to a 5.7 gpm Shureflo. I wanted both the extra flow and a quieter pump. I got the extra flow, but the quiet part still eludes me. I'm slowly coming around to Carol's way of thinking and calling the pump noise part of the camping "ambience".
Carol - Did Al find the flexible hoses to connect with the pump yet? I tried to find some softer hoses that would help absorb the vibration, but didn't have much luck. I couldn't find anything that was soft and rated to handle the pressure. I ended up staying with the Pex tubing. I think more flexible tubing may be one of the better ways to quiet the pump down. The accumulator is on my list for this year. Hopefully, the 2 gallon version will handle the quick flush in the middle of the night!
Gordon

CountryGuy · 03-31-2006, 07:07 AM

Gordon,

CW sells kits with the flex hose stuff in them, that is what Al purchased, we cannot remember the price right off hand, he called it a "silencer" kit. They were selling like hot cakes down here in the Valley, we had to go over there a couple of times before we found em on the shelf, and then there were only 2. He grabbed his, and then there was only ONE!

Kit was made by Shureflo.

Countryfolks · 03-31-2006, 10:51 AM

I bought high pressure flex hose at the hardware store. It's the clear stuff with a reinforcement webbing you can see. Looks like a plastisized chinese finger trap. They also had most of the fittings, which may not be needed. The tubing fit over the existing fitting and is clamped with a hose clamp, see the way the factory did the winterizing tube.

Skip

dsprik · 03-31-2006, 01:05 PM

Thanks, Carol! I may adopt your way of looking at the ambience. Now that you mention it, I remember a while back having a conversation with someone about this, and I now recall thinking that Cheryl and I also will not be wanting to be camping where we would have to run the pump much...

CountryGuy · 03-31-2006, 01:33 PM

OH, Gordon, another reason we do not really want more flo, is that when we go into a park for 15 days with 60 gallons of water, I really don't want it gushing out at me, the current pump puts out plenty in that situation.

VanMan · 04-01-2006, 09:44 AM

Someone on here said a computer mouse pad under the pump and the gray pipe insulation foam on the lines will help the noise.

bob n pam · 04-01-2006, 01:13 PM

Carol, glad to see you got a softener since Dave kept shushing me at the potlock about ours!!

Pam

CountryGuy · 04-01-2006, 01:33 PM

Pam, Al finally relented, and then promtly and I mean PROMPTLY agreed it was wonderful! He took his first shower, I half expected him to come out and tell me, don't know what all the fuss was about, I could not tell any difference. WELLLLLLLL, imagine my surprise when he came out and told me he could feel the difference even BEFORE he washed his hair!

And, as nice as it is for the hair, what I really love is how the crusty stuff on the sinks and showers and stuff is disappearing, even the toilet is looking better, no crust there either. This HAS to be good for ALL the plumbing in the unit! Our stick built home has hard water, and even WITH a water softener we can see damage that is attributed to the water, no doubt about it. Hate to have that same kind of damage in Montana!

Oh, why DID we wait so long??

(Side note, aren't you waiting for new grandbaby(ies)??? Any news??)

Cheers, Carol

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