Plumbing

I thought this part of the renovation would go quickly and easily; it took longer than expected.  The original plumbing consisted of a small PVC water tank, a 3/8" poly water line, a Coleman hand pump and a shallow avocado-green enamel sink.  The water inlet was a fairly large gravity port that functioned like a rectangular funnel, with a "lid" rather than a screw-cap.  The sink drain was a length of 1/2" garden hose popped through a hole in the floor of the cabinet.

The original gravity fill port.

The original sink.

The old leaky fresh water tank.

My new system starts with a new inlet -- almost identical to the kind I had on my Coleman tent trailer.  The water passes through a short length of 1 1/4" poly tube into a new 14 gallon (US) tank sitting underneath the right rear bench.  I have a drain valve below it, and then a new 3/8" poly line running to the back along the floor and then around to the driver's side bench.  Below that bench I have a new 12 volt water pump, and then a poly line up to the faucet.  I bought the only bar faucet that our local Home Despot carried -- an American Standard unit.  Then it's into a stainless steel sink I got at Ikea. The waste line is an ABS P-trap and then straight out the sidewall through an ABS 1 1/2" to hose thread/cap.

The new water inlet.

The new water tank.

The 12 volt pump, mounted beneath the left rear bench.

Ikea sink and American Standard bar faucet.

Waste water line.

Waste water outlet port.

The water tank story:  at first I thought the original fresh water tank would be fine.  I had tested it for leaks before installing it and found none, but when I hooked everything up I discovered that the seam between the two molded halves leaked.  I didn't think I could fix it, so I went looking for a new tank.  I ended up ordering a polyethylene tank through the "Coast Distributing" catalogue.  When it arrived I found that it had no bungs; it was just a completely sealed rectangular box.  I was in a hurry to get the trailer ready for use so I didn't bother with ordering in a special bung kit.  I just cut the two holes I needed and threaded my fittings into the plastic, and then applying sealant around the collars.  I tested it over a few days and had no leaks.
The Ikea sink story:  I chose the Ikea sink because it was about a hundred dollars less than the bar fridges sold at local hardware stores.  The problem with the sink was that the mounting clamps are crappy -- they're mostly plastic and they kept releasing while I was tightening them. It took about 2 hours to fasten the sink in place.  However, now that it's installed, it looks good.  It is a full-size kitchen sink, so filling up a big pasta pot, or doing the dishes, should be a little easier than with a bar sink.  The tall faucet spout will help, too.