Seneca FS - Water Accumulator Tank

[javamon]

Looks like the 2017 FS won't be here until May (Jayco said March when I ordered it December 5). There are several mods I wanted to do before our first long trip (30 days in Jul), so since my mod window has been significantly shortened, I'm trying to do as much up-front homework as possible. One of my top three projects is installing a 2-3 gallon accumulator tank. The connection part seems simple enough, I'm just not sure on tank location. I'd appreciate any advise from who have tackled the accumulator tank project, especially on tank location in the Seneca.

Searched the Class C forum but could not find anything. Was certain Robbbyr had tackled this, but again could not find anything when searching his posts.

By the way, where is the water pump in the FS?

Just wanted to pass along that we would have never made the leap to buying our Seneca w/o the benefit of this forum. It has been a god-send! Thanks to all!

[rgolding]

The water pump is in the wet locker right behind the control panel. Best to remove the screws of the control panel to give yourself more room when working on or replacing a water pump. Yes, I carry a spare and I lowered the pump to make it more easy to replace.

Is the accumulator to keep water pressure up? Don't use it. Happy with the pump and live on it 100%.

To each his own.

[Robbbyr]

Your recollection is correct, I did indeed install an accumulator. I did it sometime shortly after I replaced my original water pump with a higher output model. The pump is indeed located in the wet bay, on my unit it was on the rear wall of that compartment mounted up high. Had to really twist around to see and work on it!

I installed a Remco Aquajet 5.5 GPM pump. Much less pulsation than the original pump but still some at very low flows, hence the addition of a 2-gallon accumulator tank. The tank allows water to flow for some time before the pump kicks in, and pulsations are eliminated. Since the new pump is significantly higher capacity than the original it has a corresponding higher current draw. To address this I installed a new dedicated 12-volt circuit from the power center and installed a relay at the pump. The original pump's wiring and (3) switches now just turn on the relay to energize the pump.

The accumulator was installed in the small compartment furthest to the rear on the passenger side. That compartment is actually a pass-thru blocked off by a cover. 4 screws and the cover comes right out. Then you can see all the way across to the rear of the water heater. Totally unused space perfect to install the accumulator. It has air circulation warmed by the furnace to keep the pipes in there thawed, so I felt it also suitable for the accumulator.

In the pass-thru area are the cold and hot water pipes leading to/from the water heater itself. That is where I cut the PEX cold water pipe and installed a tee piped to the accumulator. I build a wooden "cradle" to hold the accumulator laying on its side. The cradle is secured to the compartment floor and the accumulator is held in the cradle by several rubber padded large hose clamps. The end of the accumulator has the Schrader valve to adjust the bladder's air pressure. I installed the accumulator so the valve sticks through a 1" hole I drilled in the cover that blocks off the pass-thru. So to check or adjust the accumulator pressure I just open that rear compartment, remove the Schrader valve cover, and there it is. I run the accumulator at 50 psi now. Works great!

I can't seem to find my install pictures. Got a new laptop for Christmas and I must not have migrated everything!

[RyRoRyan]

I have yet to do this, but considering it. I have noticed that my Girard will not always fire when running the bathroom sink by itself when I am running on the pump for water pressure. By putting this in, that may solve the problem...get rid of the pulsations and keep constant flow and I should have enough to keep the girard happy.

[javamon]

Appreciate all the helpful comments/info. Carrying a spare pump is definitely a good idea which I plan to follow. Robbbyr's solution is very clever and I'm hoping the 2017 water heater is in the same location. If so, problem solved! The cost is really minimal compared to other upgrades. Seems like a good return-on-investment - the WaterWorker HT-2B is around $40 and figure another $30-40 for hardware. Not bad for a sub-$100 upgrade.

[rsday75]

I put an accumulator in my 5th as we boondock a lot.
Pump runs less and saves some battery, too. Smooths out the water delivery.
This one has legs built in that I screwed to the floor. No mount needed. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by RyRoRyan

I have yet to do this, but considering it. I have noticed that my Girard will not always fire when running the bathroom sink by itself when I am running on the pump for water pressure. By putting this in, that may solve the problem...get rid of the pulsations and keep constant flow and I should have enough to keep the Girard happy.

I cannot say whether an accumulator will make any difference with the Girard, I swapped my tankless for a 10-gallon Atwood XT tank model. But while the accumulator does smooth the flow, it doesn't increase the flow (gpm). When I did have the Girard I noticed the same as you, low flows wouldn't always fire the heater. If it did fire I would get the big temperature swings as it fired then cut off on it's high-temp cutout. But maybe the lack of pulsations would make a difference, and it certainly couldn't hurt!