Move Water Filter Inside for Cold Camping

[Steven@147]

I did a little searching through some threads but honestly I didn't go beyond the 4th page. But anyhow with our S Class there isn't an on board water filter system, I just use the external filter, no big deal for the summer months. But now we'll be going up into cold country through December and i want to prevent freezing so I want to move the water filter inside the heated storage compartment. You can see my set up now, and that is ok for warm temps. I don't normally use two regulators but the RV Park has extremely high water pressure and if I do not put one at the faucet eventually orings start leaking at the nautilus panel before the regulator there. The faucet is barely turned on.

Anyway we will be using a heated water hose in the winter but I am not sure the residual heat effect of the water will back up far enough into the filter to keep it from freezing. The hose is supposed to turn on at 40*. I thought about just using a bucket upside down as some of you have to cover the filter and stand pipe. Then I was looking at a more permanent solution for inside water fliting and thought about getting the Camo EVO big blue single canister filter and the mounting bracket and mount the sucker to the opposite side of the nautilus panel. Got to get back behind the panel and see what is in the way of inserting screws through the panel. I think that is where you guys with the onboard filtering system gets mounted.

Anybody done this? We only really need the single filtering system.

[boyscout]

I want to move the water filter inside the heated storage compartment. Anybody done this? We only really need the single filtering system.

A lot of the Solitudes are factory-prepped that way. The image below is one of the first that came up in a search; you can likely find better ones.

To the left of the photo you can see the filter canister for a single filter. From it water lines (soft hose, though I'd use PEX if adding this myself) travel through the back wall of the Nautilus to/from the plumbing behind it. I suspect that they're plumbed-in soon after the city water inlet (the white hose in the photo) and that all incoming water flows through the filter.




Here's a link to the part as sold by Grand Design. I'll bet you can buy this stuff without long dealer-order delays and for less at money most water filtration stores.

https://www.granddesignrv.com/owner-...ts/detail/3458

Good luck.

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I suspect that they're plumbed-in soon after the city water inlet (the white hose in the photo) and that all incoming water flows through the filter.

On our 2016 Momentum, the water filter is on the COLD side to the faucets in the trailer. It does not filter everything, only the cold water from the pump or street to the faucets - presumably for drinking purposes. I believe they still do this. We installed a second filter in the bay that we plug the hose into, then it's plumbed to the water inlet on the trailer to filter everything.

Check out the entry for 17-June-2017 at http://rvhome.school/Our-RV.html

[Txfivver]

Steven here are a couple of pics of mine before it was converted over to pex hose, same routing though. You can see how its plumbed into the Nautilus panel if you can zoom in a little on the second pic. Hope this helps some.

[Txfivver]

I think your idea about putting a filter in that cabinet is a good idea for cold weather camping. You can see the upper furnace duct in the 2nd picture that goes into the front bay, both it and the Nautilus cabinet are very toasty when the furnace is running. I've had mine in below freezing weather for 6 nights in row last year and no freezing issues at all. I realize that's nothing for a lot of you but to us Texans that's an ice age. Lol

[CoChris]

Got to get back behind the panel and see what is in the way of inserting screws through the panel. I think that is where you guys with the onboard filtering system gets mounted.

Anybody done this? We only really need the single filtering system.

On our 2018 Solitude, the factory mounts the filter right in front of the Nautilus panel in a semi-heated area. The city water inlet is routed directly to the filter and then back to the panel for distribution. You can see the two dark blue (soft) hoses in the lower right corner of the second picture. The filter is only in effect when water is drawn in from the city input.



Chris

[Steven@147]

I think your idea about putting a filter in that cabinet is a good idea for cold weather camping. You can see the upper furnace duct in the 2nd picture that goes into the front bay, both it and the Nautilus cabinet are very toasty when the furnace is running. I've had mine in below freezing weather for 6 nights in row last year and no freezing issues at all. I realize that's nothing for a lot of you but to us Texans that's an ice age. Lol

Thanks Guys. One thing I remember from being born up in northern Indiana is you never know what kind of winter you may have. I remember ice skating on the local reservoir at xmas.
I don't think I want to disturb the nautilus panel hose routing, better to let sleeping dogs lie as it were.

I could solve the problem by using no filter at all, but that just isn't a good idea.
I was thinking about just mounting the Camco EVO filter on the side panel and using a 90* elbow on the input. Then just bring the hose up through the hole, then connect to the 90. The filter comes with a short section of hose that I can connect to the filter output, then run right into the regulator and nautilus panel fresh water connector. Kind of keep it simple. That way all city water coming in is filtered, even going to the hot water heater, and I can set the nautilus panel switches and load filtered water directly to the tank. The water pump has its own little filter.

I want to keep all the water connections over the nautilus panel insert in case of leaks at the connections so it could run out the bottom hole. I do have a water leak alarm sensor mounted right behind the nautilus panel in case internal hoses and connections start to leak. I only allow 40 psi water pressure to enter the nautilus panel to keep the possibility of leaks at a minimum. We have found 40 psi is adequate for us.
The Camco EVO single filter and bracket with wrench is about $65 on amazon. pretty simple economical solution to keep it out of the cold weather. No way can I get that external skinny filter mounted inside the storage compartment.

[ggrant119]

This post is super helpful, you guys rock !Problem I am having is finding the 1/2 Pex to 3/4 (Garden hose) fittings. The white (plastic fittings) you have in the photos look to be 1/2 pex to 3/4 NPT .... they won't work on my filter housing because it is meant to have a garden hose in and garden hose out. I can take a few pictures and post them.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[FT4NOW]

If you dont want to plumb a new filter in the water bay, you could purchase heat tape from a hardware store and wrap the water filter. Heat tape easily installs with zip ties and maintains 40°F. We've used it in the past at temps down to low teens without freezing, that and a heated hose of course. Although our Momentum has a water filter in the water bay, we also use a blue camco filter at the spigot.

Alternatively, you could fill the fresh water tank during the day when its warmer and run the pump at night and then disconnect your filter and hose during the night.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Steven@147]

This post is super helpful, you guys rock !Problem I am having is finding the 1/2 Pex to 3/4 (Garden hose) fittings. The white (plastic fittings) you have in the photos look to be 1/2 pex to 3/4 NPT .... they won't work on my filter housing because it is meant to have a garden hose in and garden hose out. I can take a few pictures and post them.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

When I was searching for filters I think there was one that used pex connections but cant remember the brand, maybe culligan? Thats a problem, if I don't bookmark it, I cant find it again.
The camco one uses garden hose type fittings.