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Old 11-01-2018, 06:36 PM   #1
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Learning

Just purchased a 2004 Itasca,
38 footer. My wife and I are full timer's for a year or so.The unit is very nice and I think comfortable as we'll. Wife seems to have a problem with her clothes or something, there everywhere. That's alright though, It may take a few months for her to organize. Some questions:
1. The water pressure in the Shower is a little low. Any ideas on how to improve?

2. The hot water has a bad smell. I've experienced this before in a house as well. Can that be fixed. Maybe a new water heater?????

Thanks for any advice😂😂😂😂
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Old 11-01-2018, 09:40 PM   #2
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For the low shower water pressure, you might take a look at both ends of the shower hose to see if one of the connectors has a flow restrictor in it. Many residential faucet and shower fixtures have one to "save water", but a side effect is lower water pressure. Look for a brass or plastic disk with a small (1/8") hole in the middle - that's the restrictor and it can be easily removed. For the water heater, the previous owner may have left it filled during the off season and it got "funky". Depressurize the water system and drain the heater from the outside by removing the anode rod (if its pretty well corroded replace it). Its kind of tricky, but try to rinse the inside of the tank repeatedly. RV dealers sell a special rinser just for this purpose. Its a simple small diameter tube that can be attached to a garden hose and its hooked on the end to help with the flushing action. Calcium will be mostly what comes out but yours might have some mold or algee that at actually causing the odor. Re-install the anode rod. the next part actually is tricky, and that's sanitizing the tank. I'm thinking of a couple different ways of doing it but they may be considered questionable. The easiest way might be to sanitize both the water heater and main water tank at the same time by adding a bleach and water mix to the main tank and flush the entire system, ensuring the water heater valves are NOT in the bypass positions. More than one fill-and-flush may be necessary. I believe the bleach/water ratio is 1/3 bleach to 2/3s water. If this is wrong I'm sure someone here will correct me. Also, there may be other ways to work on the odor problem and again, someone here will inform us.
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Old 11-02-2018, 04:53 AM   #3
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Hello,

We had a lot to learn when we first bought our Itasca. You learn something different every time you go out.

We had the stinky water smell issue before we learned to empty the water heater when we stored the rig. It was nasty! We were at a CG (campground) and added Clorox to the fresh water tank. Ran our water through the pump until the tank was empty and all was good. Ratio sounds good to me.

I have read here to occasionally add a cap of Clorox to the fresh water tank but haven't done that. Supposedly keeps your water lines clean and clear. Personal choice I guess but probably wouldn't hurt once in a while. I would just not drink the water while doing that.

As far as clothes being strewn about. Tell your wife to get two totes. Put some of her clothes in each tote. Put the tote in a basement storage or under the bed. When she does laundry she can rotate these clothes out and put the freshly washed clothes into the tote. This way they are out of the way and she doesn't wear certain pieces to often.

You can also do this with warm weather clothes if in a colder clime or vise versa. Just keeps the closets and other areas clear.
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Old 11-18-2018, 07:03 PM   #4
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2005 Itasca Sunrise 38J

We've been full time now, starting our 5th year. Our first year on the road, we quickly found that the handling wasn't the best. In strong cross winds or when being passed by larger vehicles, it was a two fist battle to keep the unit on the straight and narrow. When we got to Palm Springs, had a truck shop look at it... weight it, and they figured that the suspension was way under what it should have been. The feeling was that the unit wasn't the best design. There should perhaps also have been a tag axle which would have reduced the rear overhang and the tillering that happened caused by wind and draft. After over $7K of upgraded suspension, we now have no problems with the driving.



As far as the water system, we are hooked up to the parks where ever we stay, but I always keep a 1/3 tank of fresh water just in case... I will once a year hook up a small pump and pump a chlorine bleach mix from a pail into the holding tank, (you could us a syphon fitting on the garden hose if you can find one) then fill the tank full, and run all the taps till I smelled the chlorine. Wait a few hours and then just dump the water tank... found an old pool hose to direct the flow away... rinse a few times and away you go.
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Old 11-22-2018, 10:41 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PolarMike View Post
As far as the water system, we are hooked up to the parks where ever we stay, but I always keep a 1/3 tank of fresh water just in case... I will once a year hook up a small pump and pump a chlorine bleach mix from a pail into the holding tank, (you could us a syphon fitting on the garden hose if you can find one) then fill the tank full, and run all the taps till I smelled the chlorine. Wait a few hours and then just dump the water tank... found an old pool hose to direct the flow away... rinse a few times and away you go.
Some questions:

> I will once a year hook up a small pump and pump a chlorine bleach mix from a pail into the holding tank

How strong a mixture in the pail? And how much of the mixture do you add to the holding tank? A quart? A gallon? Several gallons?

> rinse a few times

What do you mean by "rinse a few times"? Does that mean filling the water tank completely and then dumping it? Or just adding some water to it and dumping it? And how many times constitute "a few times"?

I am asking this because I have never figured out a really good way to clean the water tank after each year of use. I have dumped the entire tank and refilled it, and I have added 1/4 cup of chlorine to the tank, filled it and then dumped it and refilled it with fresh water and dumped it a couple of times, but never have had the feeling that I was cleaning the tank the best way.

We do not drink from the tank, but only use it for washing hands, dishes and other non internal water uses. We carry our drinking water with us and use that.
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Old 11-22-2018, 11:42 AM   #6
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No one addressed the low water pressure on the shower other than restrictions of those little washers in the line or shower head.

Additional don't use the inline water pressure regulator. All it does is reduce the pressure down to 40 psi or lower. Invest in a Watts water pressure valve. They are adjustable and I set mine at 60 psi. If the campground water pressure is lower than that, it is what you get, the lower.

The best thing I invested in for the shower is an Oxigenic Shower Head. You will immediately notice a difference. It is so much better than the standard shower heads that are installed in our RVs.
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Old 11-22-2018, 02:01 PM   #7
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How strong a mixture in the pail? And how much of the mixture do you add to the holding tank? A quart? A gallon? Several gallons?


use 1/4cup of bleach per 15gal of water... My tank is 60 gals so I put in a full cup of chlorine and then fill with water. The idea is to make enough to fill the tank so that you clean the whole tank. Then run your water pump to run the water through the water lines and you smell the chlorine at each of the taps. Make sure to bypass your hot water tank so you don't get any chlorine into it.



What do you mean by "rinse a few times"? Does that mean filling the water tank completely and then dumping it? Or just adding some water to it and dumping it? And how many times constitute "a few times"?


Yes, after you've let everything sit for a few hours then drain, fill with clean water, drain, and fill once more... or until you don't smell the chlorine from your taps.


Note: you need to use real chlorine, not the chlorine tablets, tabs don't sanitize (read the lablel).
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Old 11-22-2018, 06:09 PM   #8
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Our shower had low water pressure, then at a point quit coming out entirely. I took apart everything in the shower thinking there was sand or something restricting the water coming out. At the bottom of the shower wand there was a 1/4" "washer" with 3 pinholes in it. This was a water restrictor I believe. I started to unclog the holes which I did, but thought why not just leave it out. So I left it out and tested it. Holy cow, night and day with water pressure. Now, on the downside, you really have to watch the shower if your at a state park or not on full hook up because it fills up your gray tank pretty quick if you take a fairly long shower.

I have left it out, but I have to be more conscious of water usage if I'm not on full hookup.

I also thought about drilling out the holes so it does restrict but not as much. Haven't did that yet, but that might be the best of both worlds.
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Old 11-22-2018, 06:12 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PolarMike View Post
How strong a mixture in the pail? And how much of the mixture do you add to the holding tank? A quart? A gallon? Several gallons?


use 1/4cup of bleach per 15gal of water... My tank is 60 gals so I put in a full cup of chlorine and then fill with water. The idea is to make enough to fill the tank so that you clean the whole tank. Then run your water pump to run the water through the water lines and you smell the chlorine at each of the taps. Make sure to bypass your hot water tank so you don't get any chlorine into it.



What do you mean by "rinse a few times"? Does that mean filling the water tank completely and then dumping it? Or just adding some water to it and dumping it? And how many times constitute "a few times"?


Yes, after you've let everything sit for a few hours then drain, fill with clean water, drain, and fill once more... or until you don't smell the chlorine from your taps.


Note: you need to use real chlorine, not the chlorine tablets, tabs don't sanitize (read the lablel).
Just curious, why you wouldn't also fill in water heater as well? If you drain the water heater after you do this, I'm trying to figure out why you wouldn't want to do that? thx
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Old 11-22-2018, 07:57 PM   #10
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I wonder if the low shower water pressure might be related to the no cold shower water pressure issue BobC is having? Someone's suggestion of a possible kinked waterline could be the cause of both.
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