Texman 182g Mods

where did you splice the tstat relay ? 1 or 2? i am at 2

i finally had a few hours to work and do some testing on the recirc water project.  Between weather and work, my time has been limited for that last several weeks.  In order to test you have to fill up fresh water and de-winterize. which means when you are done that you have to winterize if freezing temps are coming or just let the system run. 

My plan was to reattach the sensor wires for the fresh water tank.  I discovered a very important reassembly step that i missed.  The red wire that indicates full tank has to be attached before the tank is in place.  you cant get to it once tank is installed.  not a huge deal since getting a full tank reading is short lived, but aggravating to me.  i cant just skip it and move on. 

I also encountered some unexpected problems with the thermostat that controls the hot water heater.  the stat seems to reset(temp reading goes blank on sensor side) i used voltmeter and voltage stays 13.17volts when it trips, so it isnt that. does the water draw a current greater than the stat can handle at ignition?  and results in the water heater staying in DSI fault.  I think i have alleviated the problem by getting power for the stat from the water pump instead of using the power of the heater to run the stat.  I need to test that more, but still has a few tries and resets some times.  if i bypass the stat, the heater works perfect. i even switched the two stats to see if i had a faulty one but both were the same. 

After draining the water tank several times from testing i decided to add a 3 way valve at the supply fitting so i can actually drain all the water from the tank.  i could not source a poly 3 way valve and used brass, which is fine but very easy to cross thread that brass into the poly tank.  i fought a leak at the tank for a while but i think i have it.  my plan is to cover the valve with a faucet protector type covering that will attach to the valve like the faucet protectors do. 

AT this point since i am not happy with my board insulation and cant add the red wire, i think i am going to remove the tank again and start the insulation process over.  the tank insulation and the stat are the only questions at this point. holler if anyone has thoughts on the stat (OG) i will either spray foam the tank or just maybe try all this without tank insulation for a while to measure fuel usage. 

The good news is it all works and the theory is sound, i think.  it was very nice to see the water return through the clear tubing as it returns to the fresh tank and be able to visibly control the flow with the manual valve.  pic is of the 3 way valve that is part of a kit for winterizing by camco.

this would all be much easier if the weather would be easier to deal with.  But the figuring this out will make the weather not such a big deal.  Almost there.

Good question. It looks like the work time for PE flame treatment is measured in weeks, or at least days. Shorter is better of course if nothing else to reduce surface contaminate buildup. Of course let it cool down first. 

Here's an instruction guide from a sign company for how to set up the flame. Don't melt the surface, that would bring plasticisers and other chemicals in the tank to the surface, which is bad. It says bond within an hour which is really conservative. It also says to wipe with isopropyl alcohol but I'm not sure that's necessary either. 

does flame treatment to polys have a working time limit?  Would the foam need to be applied immediately after flame treatment to achieve correct bonding?