Good bye Nautilus system

[FT4NOW]

The blue valve on my Nautilus system crapped out on me. It had some good resistance when operating the valve, and no I never operated it under pressure. One day it operates easy which i found weird and the next day it was essentially free spinning. The position it failed was basically mid position, it allowed me to use city water and would fill the fresh water tank at the same time. I could still use the pump and the water in the tank, so it could have been worse. A month or so before this happened I noticed excessive cycling of my water pump without any evidence of leaks anywhere. I figured it was a valve leaking by.

Replacing the blue valve was not an option, I didnt like the convoluted mess of flexible hose used and if another valve failed, getting parts is not convenient.

I ended up making my own system based off a version someone else had posted. It allows me to perform all the same functions with parts easily found at a hardware store.

I was going to use all bronze parts, but my local stores didnt have all the fittings I needed in a load free version, so pex it was.

I have a quick disconnect for my pressure reducer so I can easily remove it to swap out the water filter or leave it off during winter.

I also put short hoses on the city and tank flush water connections with a quick disconnect on the end to make it easier to flush the black tank or fill city water. I went with a black hose on the flush to avoid confusion.

At some point I will label the valves and make diagrams of the different functions (my wife's request) .

The water pump no longer cycles and everything worked great for the winterizing procedure.

On a side note, when I took the blue valve out, it looked like something black was wedged in the ball between the two positions. Maybe a bad o-ring? The fresh water tank is white, so its prob not construction debris.

Here are before photos, I'll add some after photos as well.

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[FT4NOW]

After photos:


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[FT4NOW]

Here are backside after photos. I added a proper heater bypass and ditched all the flexible hose.

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[Aridon]

I ripped mine out when I went to Pex after my leaks. The Nautaulis is plastic garbage, overly complicated plastic garbage. We got a nice PSI boost and everything is super simple, as it should be. I shouldn't have to adjust 3 different valves several times each to fill a water tank.

[Houndbb]

After photos:


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Congratulations, and wonderful job. Looks like a solid, professional installation, as opposed to the OEM “doll-house” toys assembled in the first picture. Nice work.
N

[JohnJCES]

That is a work of art! Very nice!!

[Canyonlight]

Well done ! Not many reported problems with the Nautilus system. This gave you an opportunity to improve several related areas.

Dan

[Larrygdbhs]

Hundreds of dollars in parts?

[FT4NOW]

Hundreds of dollars in parts?

All together it was probably around 350 including the pressure reducer rig. I already had the pressure reducer rig, I made it shortly after I bought the Momentum and that was around 100. The recent replacement of everything else was around 250. Not bad if you consider one valve on the Nautilus is about 100 and special ordered from an RV dealer. Not to mention, good luck finding one on the road if you have a problem on a trip.

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[Wuzupwidat]

I'm looking to replace the valves on my Nautilus space shuttle garbage plastic valve panel. Tired of disassembling the stupid thing in the dark, eaten alive by mosquitos. The valves are absolute junk.