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  1. #11
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    Tried trouble shooting the accumulator tank emptying. I cannot see any other way to hook it up that will keep it from happening. I tried hooking up the city water hose and turning water on first then opening valves. That does appear to keep the accumulator tank from draining. I guess my only concern is opening and closing valves with water pressure on them. It is either going to get pressure from the accumulator tank or from the city water supply.
    2013 Ram Cummins 3500
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  2. #12
    Long Hauler howson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justa5th View Post
    Tried trouble shooting the accumulator tank emptying. I cannot see any other way to hook it up that will keep it from happening. I tried hooking up the city water hose and turning water on first then opening valves. That does appear to keep the accumulator tank from draining. I guess my only concern is opening and closing valves with water pressure on them. It is either going to get pressure from the accumulator tank or from the city water supply.
    I added your accumulator to my previous drawing and I have an educated(?) guess about what's happening. Remember--I'm not an engineer or plumber. Should @Rob or another expert on the forum chime in with a different opinion I will defer to their knowledge.

    Download a copy of the diagram below and then read the text. (On a Windows PC you'll right-click the image and select "Save Image As...". For Mac and those on an Android...no idea. An alternative is to duplicate this tab in your browser so you can open the image in one instance and read the text in another.)

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Justa5th Accumulator Explanation.jpg 
Views:	43 
Size:	83.0 KB 
ID:	18229

    DRY CAMPING: With the Nautilus' panel levers in the DRY CAMPING configuration (first, or top, of the three drawings in the picture) the accumulator works as expected and water flows (blue for cold water, red for hot water) as expected.

    CITY WATER:With the Nautilus' panel levers in the CITY WATER configuration (middle drawing) the accumulator (if pressurized to a pressure higher than what the city provides) will augment the city water pressure. (I highlighted this with the purple lines.) This will only be for a short time if a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed as the accumulator will quickly equalize to the city water's pressure. If the accumulator is initially pressurized to a lower value than what the city provides the accumulator's pressure won't change when a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed.

    Now consider what happens if the city water is turned off and a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed. The accumulator will (for a short time) push water through the system. (Not sure if it will drain completely or if there's a vacuum created inside of the accumulator thus some water could still be in there.)

    PowerFILL: If you understand the text in the CITY WATER paragraphs above the diagram for the PowerFILL (bottom drawing) will immediately convey what's going on and why the accumulator is draining. Again, I highlighted with purple lines where the water flows.

    Regarding moving valves with pressure on them--I always depressurize my system by using the external water sprayer prior to changing anything on the Nautilus. The Nautilus User Manual doesn't mandate this practice. The only warning is to depressurize before depressing the check valve on the CITY WATER connection. (But I still depressurize anyway.)

    Hope this helps.

    -Howard
    2017 Ford F-350 DRW 6.7L Platinum
    2019 315RLTS (purchased 16 Jul 18 from Campers Inn RV in Byron, GA)

  3. #13
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by howson View Post
    I added your accumulator to my previous drawing and I have an educated(?) guess about what's happening. Remember--I'm not an engineer or plumber. Should @Rob or another expert on the forum chime in with a different opinion I will defer to their knowledge.

    Download a copy of the diagram below and then read the text. (On a Windows PC you'll right-click the image and select "Save Image As...". For Mac and those on an Android...no idea. An alternative is to duplicate this tab in your browser so you can open the image in one instance and read the text in another.)

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Justa5th Accumulator Explanation.jpg 
Views:	43 
Size:	83.0 KB 
ID:	18229

    DRY CAMPING: With the Nautilus' panel levers in the DRY CAMPING configuration (first, or top, of the three drawings in the picture) the accumulator works as expected and water flows (blue for cold water, red for hot water) as expected.

    CITY WATER:With the Nautilus' panel levers in the CITY WATER configuration (middle drawing) the accumulator (if pressurized to a pressure higher than what the city provides) will augment the city water pressure. (I highlighted this with the purple lines.) This will only be for a short time if a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed as the accumulator will quickly equalize to the city water's pressure. If the accumulator is initially pressurized to a lower value than what the city provides the accumulator's pressure won't change when a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed.

    Now consider what happens if the city water is turned off and a faucet is opened or toilet is flushed. The accumulator will (for a short time) push water through the system. (Not sure if it will drain completely or if there's a vacuum created inside of the accumulator thus some water could still be in there.)

    PowerFILL: If you understand the text in the CITY WATER paragraphs above the diagram for the PowerFILL (bottom drawing) will immediately convey what's going on and why the accumulator is draining. Again, I highlighted with purple lines where the water flows.

    Regarding moving valves with pressure on them--I always depressurize my system by using the external water sprayer prior to changing anything on the Nautilus. The Nautilus User Manual doesn't mandate this practice. The only warning is to depressurize before depressing the check valve on the CITY WATER connection. (But I still depressurize anyway.)

    Hope this helps.

    -Howard
    As always a thorough answer thank you. I can definitely see what’s going on in the diagram which reflects the testing I did on the panel. My user manual says move valves, water on, water off move valves. That was the main reason I figured they wanted no pressure on the system. I am still stumped (maybe missing something) as to where I could move the accumulator tank as for this to not happen.
    2013 Ram Cummins 3500
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  4. #14
    Long Hauler howson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justa5th View Post
    As always a thorough answer thank you. I can definitely see what’s going on in the diagram which reflects the testing I did on the panel. My user manual says move valves, water on, water off move valves. That was the main reason I figured they wanted no pressure on the system. I am still stumped (maybe missing something) as to where I could move the accumulator tank as for this to not happen.
    I don't know the physical location, but in the diagram if the accumulator was on the water line left of the two yellow arrows (after the water passes through either the green or blue levers) the only time the accumulator would depressurize is when a faucet is opened (or toilet flushed, etc). The other benefit is the accumulator would work with city water, too.
    2017 Ford F-350 DRW 6.7L Platinum
    2019 315RLTS (purchased 16 Jul 18 from Campers Inn RV in Byron, GA)

  5. #15
    Seasoned Camper
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    Quote Originally Posted by howson View Post
    I don't know the physical location, but in the diagram if the accumulator was on the water line left of the two yellow arrows (after the water passes through either the green or blue levers) the only time the accumulator would depressurize is when a faucet is opened (or toilet flushed, etc). The other benefit is the accumulator would work with city water, too.

    Thank you again. I will use the diagram while actually looking at the trailer. It should definitely help get me going in the right direction.
    2013 Ram Cummins 3500
    2019 GD 303RLS-SOLD

  6. #16
    Long Hauler howson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Justa5th View Post
    As always a thorough answer thank you. I can definitely see what’s going on in the diagram which reflects the testing I did on the panel. My user manual says move valves, water on, water off move valves. That was the main reason I figured they wanted no pressure on the system. I am still stumped (maybe missing something) as to where I could move the accumulator tank as for this to not happen.
    Another thought: if my drawing is accurate, when power filling the fresh water tank leave the green lever pointed up. Shouldn't make any difference to the fill action but your accumulator won't drain.

    Please be very cautious if you try this--I don't know if it will work or not--if you do I suggest very low city water pressure.
    2017 Ford F-350 DRW 6.7L Platinum
    2019 315RLTS (purchased 16 Jul 18 from Campers Inn RV in Byron, GA)

  7. #17
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    Well a little bit of a victory. I switched things around and was able to get the accumulator tank to stop emptying out. Valves are still under pressure from accumulator tank when I switch them but as long as move it to the next position quickly enough I loose very little water from the accumulator tank. I’ll try again another day as I would really like the system to not be under pressure when switching valves.
    2013 Ram Cummins 3500
    2019 GD 303RLS-SOLD

  8. #18
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    An accumulator tank can be T'd into the pressure side of the cold water system at any location. The only way to drain it should be to open any faucet with the city water disconnected and the pump turned off. See the attached for the basic parameters of how this tank works.

    Rob
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails IMG_0451.jpg  
    Cate & Rob
    2015 Reflection 303RLS

  9. #19
    Setting Up Camp
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    When the valves are in the "halfway / 45 degree" position, water will flow two directions at once on a Nautilus system. One of the winterize steps has the Blue, Green and White valves set that way intentionally to flow antifreeze into pipes that would not get the antifreeze any other way.

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