hello everybody, 1972 nomad newbie questions

[Louis Soto]

hi everybody, new to the forum and also new to rv'ing. i am from riverside california. i am 38 yrs young, married and have 3 wonderfull girls (3, 9, and 13). i build choppers (motorcycles) for a living. i deliver these bike pretty much anywhere in southern california. i love to take my family with me on "working vacations" when i do (usually over weekends). we love spending time by the beaches. a few weeks ago i went to visit a friend with my wife and i saw this trailer with a for sale sign sitting in a neighbors driveway. i commented to my wife how i always wanted to buy one but i could never justify the cost of buying it considering the amount of use i would give it. anyhow i asked my friend if he knew how much they where asking and he didn't know. we decided to walk overthere and ask. the owner said he was asking $500 or best offer. needless to say, i offered him $450 and we struck the deal. i couldn't believe my luck!!! it is a 1972 nomad and it is in very decent condition. the owner just never used it so he decided it was time to sell it. i have zero experience with trailers so please be patient as i have many questions. my first question is about the bad odor in the trailer. it smells like it's been closed for many years or something(kinda like mildew i guess). i looked around but i could not see any rot or mold. there is one little corner of the ceiling that had water damage but it has been repaired  and everything is quite dry. i have been reading about how these trailers tend to sweat. is there anything i can do to get rid of the smell? we will be reupholstering all the seat cushions and putting down some new linoleum flooring. we are kinda hoping that will take some of the smell away but i doubt it. any input folks? 

ps: here are a couple pics of what i do and the only pic i currently have of the trailer. will take some later today:

 

 

 

[William Briggs]

I've sat here at the office and looked closely at that pic of the water heater. My money is on the fact that the switch near the water heater actually goes to the air pump, not the water heater. Can you trace that wire and confirm it actually goes to the water heater?

BY THE WAY, you got a deal on that rig. You were right to pick it up at that price. It looks GREAT both inside and outside.

[Louis Soto]

hey guys sorry i haven't posted in a few, been super busy in the shop. in the picture below you can see a green and a red wire going off into the right by the copper lines. that is the water heater and right behind it is the water tank. you can see the red wire is connected to a black wire(red wire nut) which is the little switch i was talking about. anyhow, the red and the green wire were just cut off and did not connect to anything. i am thinking it would maybe go connected to a pump but nothing there. i am wondering if maybe someone already installed in inline pump? the other red wire which is also connected to the little switch gets 12v power when i connect the battery outside. where would the original pump be located at? in the water line somewhere by the water tank or over by the water hose connection?

[Glen Olson]

The hot water heater probley has a hot rod in it, ie an electric element to use when hooked up to electricity

[William Briggs]

Lou, the pump--whether it is a compressed air pump or a modern in-line water pump--should be in the compartment under the sofa-bed, mounted most likely between the hot water tank and the galvanized freshwater holding tank. (I presume your freshwater tank is galvanized metal.) The pump will sit on rubber feet to minimize noise when running and will be attached to the flooring with four screws.

Here is a brief discussion on the compressed-air water delivery system:  LINK

Your freshwater system will work fine without any type of pump, AS LONG AS you are directly connected (via a garden hose) to the city's water supply. A good idea is to stop by your local Wal-Mart, and find the RV supply aisle (it's usually located in automotive department, but possibly the sporting goods department). For $8.00 they will have a brass pressure regulator which attaches on your water hose. That brass fitting will keep the city water pressure steady at about 40 lbs -- that seems like a cheap insurance policy to me.

I checked the climate for your city; it would appear that you will never need to winterize your RV, due to the warm climate. THEREFORE, I'd suggest you do this step--connect the rig to the water hose. Have someone standing near the water shut-off in case you discover leaks. Go ahead, turn on the water hose, and watch for leaks. That will determine if the copper lines are all intact.

 

 

 

[William Briggs]

Lou, either system works okay, but the new-style system is better for several reasons. HOWEVER, remember a pump to pressurize the system is ONLY NECESSARY if you are dry-camping (not attached to a city water supply). This is the reason for the switch on the water pump. Most of the time, you will leave the switch in the OFF position, and simply use the pressure of the city water supply to push water through your pipes.

The old-style systems have a few drawbacks:

1. The air pump is much noisier than the new-style water pump.
2. If there is a slight air leak (say, at the gasket on the freshwater inlet), the air pump will cycle needlessly to maintain pressure.
3. As the water level decreases in the freshwater holding tank, there is more air in the tank. So, when the air pump cycles, it runs for a very long time, in order to bring the pressure in the tank back to 40 psi.
4. The water, being under constant air pressure, gets an odd texture. It has small bubbles in it, similar to soda water.

Should you need to replace with a new-style water pump, the water output should be between 2 and 3 gallons per minute. Most RV's use water pumps in the range of 2.8 - 3.0 gallons per minute, but I successfully used a water pump with a flow of 2 gallons per minute. (The shower in your house uses a flow of between 2.5 and 4.0 gallons per minute.) The one in my rig is 2.8 gallons per minute, and I always have ample water.

You can buy the standard RV water pumps (the most popular brand is ShurFlo), starting at $100 or so, but if you go to your local Farm-Supply store, you'll find an aisle of small 12-volt water pumps used on weed-sprayers. Those weed-sprayer pumps work identical to the ShurFlo pumps used in most RV's, but the weed-sprayer pumps are only about $45.00.

[Louis Soto]

hey guys finally got a minute to look around some more. i just can't find a pump anywhere. i decided to try out the water system in the trailer. first i started with the blackwater system. i filled the tank with water to see if the tank had any leaks. when i got to the top where the tank flange meets the toilet flange, it did started leaking. i can't guarantee that that is where it was coming from but it looked like it was coming from there. when i go on a trip am i suppose to fill the tank with alittle water before use? next i took the garden hose which came with the trailer and i connected the trailer to the water spicket. i turned the hose on as well as a faucet in the trailer to let the pressure out. once the system finished filling i turned the hose off and found that the system had build up enough pressure to keep the water running. i went outside and looked at the fresh water tank cap and saw that it has a valve to put air into the system(like a tire)? here is a pic of it below as well as a pic of the drain for the tank. is that how i pressurize the system? how much pressure? that brings up another question for me. when i got the trailer, the fresh water tank was full. am i supposed to keep it filled with water when not in use? i believe i will be adding a water pump to the system incase i go someplace where there is no water connection available. anyhow those are my adventures for today thanks guys, Louu

 

 

[William Briggs]

Lou, sorry, I've been away on a road trip. How's the work on the cute little Nomad coming?

[Keith Gigabyte]

Hello Lou, everyone. new to this site but it seems like what i am looking for.  Lou as u can see in my profile i have a nomad too.  Mine is a 1976 though.  I've done a few things to it.  You might want to check your vents on the top of the camper; mine had this recessed cap that had gotten brittle and broke; allowing water to go right in the roof.  I simply removed those and installed a short section of PVC and roof boot on outside; a little RTV, sheet metal screws and no more leak.

Mine has a grey and Black tank.  the fresh water had a pump rather than the air pressure.  When I purchased the camper fro $1,500 seller told me pump was only thing wrong with whole camper.  It has been a nice camper previous owner just had reupolstered and vynil floor.  roof leak came 1 yr later so i really cant blame him..lol 

Any how if you want to install pump; try Tweetys rvs...its online and best prices around.  I have bought 5 or 6 things from them.  I'm cheap (haha) so I make or repair anything I can; also having acess to fab shop and machineshop is cool too.  Many camper parts made at "lunch" time.  Although some of these "free" parts cost me a little of my electrical knowledge.  any questins I can help with let me know.

Lou or william, or anyone else; my shower/tub is leaking I believe it is from the seal at the drain. Can I remove the chrome drain to put in new plumbers putty or do I have to remove entire tub.  Im not sure if there is P trap or the tub goes directly to tank?  This has ruined the floor in the bathroom so i will be ripping that out; hope to cut old osb and just put new down on metal frame. 

Thanks guys and im open to all ideas.

Keith

[William Briggs]

Keith, I don't remember how that Nomad shower drain is done, but I am sure it will have a P-trap somewhere downstream. In my old motorhome, my shower sits about 6" above floor-level, and I have an access door, which makes things easy.

On my family's old Nomad (when I was a kid), the shower didn't have separate freshwater plumbing ... the hand-held showerhead was connected to the bathroom sink. You had to turn on the sink to run the shower!

Best regards,

Billy

[Louis Soto]

hey guys, i have to apologize it's been a good bit since i replied. i have been very busy in the shop with several chopper projects in the works. i am getting ready to deliver one in the next week or so then i will be pulling some cash from that project to fund the nomad project. i will be starting by replacing the vinyl floor and then reupholster all the cushions. they are not tore up or anything, i just want some 21 century colors! ha ha ha. other than that i will be doing some mechanical work to the trailer such as installing the water pump, figuring out the battery/lighting system which is not currently working and finally seeing what i can do about the grey water. maybe buy/install a tank? or buy a bigger tank for both the black and grey water? anyhow, i'll be back soon folks! Lou

[Louis Soto]

hey guys, finally able to get back to this project!!! today i got to look at all the little details i had in mind about this rig. i started with addressing the battery operated lights. i hadn't been able to get them to work by connecting the battery to the wiring harness that was on the outside of the trailer by the hitch. after sorting the wires out, i identified the taillight wires that go to the tow plug. there where 2 thick gauge wires (maybe 10 or 12 gauge) that where cut off and went into the compartment where the fresh watertank is and connected to the "mystery switch". my guess is that this was where an original water pressure pump might have been? there where 2 black wires that go to the electric brakes and i tried them out, they are working! then the very last wire outside the rig was a red wire which had been cut off and was just hanging there. i connected a battery to ground and the red wire to positive.....low and behold we now have battery operated lights thoughout the rig!!! i will be doing the wiring new from where it comes out of the rig installing a 6 or 7 pin connector to be able to run the trailer brake controller as well as the battery operated lights off my tow vehicle? i am considering buying a separate battery for the battery operated lights, what is your opinion on that one folks? next i wanted to try out the propane system so i connected a tank of propane to the rig and then checked all the connections with soap and water to see if there were any leaks. i wasn't able to find any so i went ahead and tried lighting the stove. after about a minute of leaving the knob on it finally came to life. all the burners work. i didn't try lighting the oven but i am pretty sure it will be fine. i am still debating on taking out the furnace. i don't know why i just feel unsafe using it although i could see how convenient it could be when there is no power. i tried to fire up the water heater but i wasn't able to get any gas flowing through the valve. i prolly held the pilot button down about five minutes and nothin happened, no gas flow. could the valve maybe have gotton stuck shut or something? anyhow, the last thing for the day was to measure the blackwater tank and assessing what i will be doing with the grey water. i calculated that  the blackwater tank is roughly 33 gallons. most of my camping trips will be in the 2 to 3 day range but i think i would like to figure on 4 to 5 just to be safe? how big of a grey water tank should i look at buying? any input is appreciated. i will be posting some pics in the next day or so. thanks guys!

[Keith Gigabyte]

Ok..I have a few ideas for your furnace and grey.  As far as the furnace; have you checked the propane lines of spider nests? 

Onto the grey.  Im not sure how big my grey is but its about 2 times as big as teh black. There are 4 of us camping Me Wife and 2 kids ages 9 and 7.  for a 2 nite trip there is enough room for all of us to shower and do a few dishes.  3 nites and I have to jockey wastewater with a wheeled tank to the dump station.  Would u mind taking some photos of the bathtub drain as u remove it if you are removing; as i have to do some drain work on my tub this spring

thanks

Keith