Plumbing Diagram (Galleria 24FL)
How to connect to campground water faucet: Setting Up Camp – Water Hookup
Plumbing System
Galleria van plumbing uses PEX tubing and is color coded red and blue for hot and cold water. A water pump under the kitchen cabinet pressurizes the system when drawing from the fresh water tank. The pressure is set at approximately 55 PSI. The Truma can be damaged by high pressure and has a pressure reducer at the cold water inlet side. (SEE WARNING BELOW). A pressure reducer and water filter are recommended when connecting to campground water.
TIP#101: Truma Pressure Warning – Because the Truma Combi can be damaged by high pressure, Coachmen installs a pressure regulator in the cold water line going into the Truma. This is why the shower has very little hot water flow vs cold. This regulator appears to be installed in the wrong place! It should be installed to regulate ALL water pressure throughout the RV. When using the hand-held shower cutoff at the shower head, cold water high pressure can back-feed into the Truma, exceeding the safe pressure. This can also happen with the outside shower when you shut off the water at the hand sprayer.
TIP#135: If the water pump is running continuously, check to see that the shower miser is in the off position.
TIP#149: New Discovery: On our first official outing with our 2021 FL-Li3, we thought our water pump must be possessed by demons. It would run even when the firefly pump switch was turned off, city water was connected, and the water pump fuse was pulled!!! We discovered this coach had a physical water pump switch in the rear, driver side that appears to be wired directly to power somewhere and must bypass the fuses (a little scary) and firefly system. I flipped the switch to off and canceled the appointment with the exorcist. Sleeping better. (Someday I’d like to add a rear outdoor shower setup, so this switch could come in handy.)
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Cold weather camping
One option on vans is the polar package, which consists of heating pads on the externally mounted tanks and a heater pipe wrap on exposed plumbing. The control switches for the heaters are located in the electrical control cabinet. They are usually marked except for an unlabeled switch that is usually the pipe wrap. The pads are 12 VDC, and the current draw for the polar package varies with the ambient temperatures and my guess would be 4-5 amps.
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Tanks for the Memories
Freshwater Tank
A 27 gallon fresh water tank on some of the Galleria vans is mounted under the van on the driver’s side. A fill connector is located behind a door also on the driver’s side in the water box. To fill the tank or connect directly to city pressure, a drinking water quality hose is connected to the fill connection and the diverter valve is turned to either FILL or CITY.
– The CITY setting connects the water directly to the RV plumbing system with city pressure. See warning.
– FILL selection will divert the flow of water to the fresh water tank. On the top of the tank are two overflow pipes that also vent the tank as water is being emptied or filled. To use water from the tank, the water pump must be turned on at the Firefly control panel. The pump is an ON-DEMAND and should only run when a faucet is opened.
WARNING: A pressure reducer is highly recommended at the campground faucet so the RV plumbing won’t be damaged. Installing the pressure reducer at the campground water faucet will lower the pressure in the hose as well. An in-line water filter is also recommended.
Sterilizing The System:
The fresh water tank should be flushed and sterilized when preparing for camping after being in storage. Connect the fresh water hose to the city water and pour a 1/2 cup of unscented bleach into the hose. Connect it to the RV and run the bleach and water into the freshwater holding tank until full.
(A bucket of water and bleach can be pumped through the plumbing using the winterization suction hose).
Fill the tank with additional water and turn on each faucet until you smell the bleach to circulate the bleach solution through all the plumbing. Let it sit for 12 hours (overnight) before draining and refilling with fresh water.
WARNING: Water tank falling out – A number of Coachmen Galleria vans have experienced a problem with the undermounted fresh water tank falling out while driving. This is a serious problem and the response from Coachmen is: “None of our tanks are designed to travel with them full unless the fresh tank is mounted inside the unit like some of our other floor plans”.
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Gray Tank
A 22-gallon grey-water tank is mounted under the van, centered above the drive shaft. The kitchen sink and shower empty into the gray tank. A 1-1/2 diameter pipe and cable-operated grey dump valve connect the tank to the macerator or gravity dump connection. The tank is vented to the roof with the black tank. It also has a one-way intake vent located under the kitchen counter by the sink. If the vent ever needs replacing it should unscrew by hand, and new ones are available at home building supply stores or plumbing supplies.
NOTE: On most of the Galleria vans, the bathroom sink drain is connected to the black tank. That makes sense when you think about what you just did in the bathroom before washing your hands. ;-O
Question: Is there a difference between grey (spelled with an “e”) water and gray (… “a”) water and what is it?
Answer: They are both the same, and many use them interchangeably. Gray water contains things like food particles from washing dishes, toothpaste, soap, body oils, shaving cream, etc.
Question: Is it legal to dump gray water on the ground?
Answer: It is illegal to dump the contents of RV gray tanks on the grounds of developed recreation areas, wilderness areas, and conservation lands. Dumping grey water or wash water is allowed on some BLM public lands. So you need to learn and follow local laws, rules, and regulations wherever you do your dispersed camping.
TIP#168: Gray Tank Fumes – If the roof fan is operated on exhaust with all the windows closed, it is possible for it to draw fumes into the van through the sink traps especially if they are dry. The shower trap is different from a traditional P-trap.
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Black Tank
The black tank collects the waste water from the toilet and bathroom sink. On the Galleria FL models, a 27-gallon black tank is located inside the van under the toilet. The 24A has a 19-gallon tank, and the 24Q and 24T have 12-gallon tanks. The dump valve and pipe diameter are 3 inch and connect to the macerator or a gravity dump connection. A tank pressure vent goes up inside the wall and exits on the roof of the van. There is a black tank rinse connection inside the water box. Another rinse option is a hose wand inserted through the toilet valve.
Chemicals
There are many black tank chemical treatments, and the web is full of home concoctions that people swear by. Keep it simple.
No foreign objects into the black tank like paper towels, feminine products, wet-wipes, etc.
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Macerator
The Thetford macerator is similar to a kitchen sink garbage disposal. Its purpose is to grind up and force black and gray tank waste out a hose. The advantages are that it can pump up-hill and even through a long garden hose. While this is seldom necessary, it is an option. The main complaint against the macerator is that the hose is very short and some only extend about 3 feet from the van. There is a sequence to the operation as described on another page: How to Dump.
The macerator has two chambers, the black and gray pipes connect to the lower chamber. This is designed to allow any pebbles or misc. objects to collect in here to keep them from damaging the blades. As the chambers fill up, the blades in the upper chamber spin and force the effluent out the discharge hose. The tube housing our discharge has an upward slope so always holds some slop. The lower chamber, being lower than the discharge tube also holds about a gallon of slop.
Macerator Trouble Shooting:
There are several possible causes for the macerator to stop working.
1 – Macerator Relay – The exterior macerator switch activates a relay located in the wheel well box. (12 volt power is on: “USE” right?) An easy way to locate and verify if the relay is working, is to have an assistant press the switch on/off/on/off while you listen for the clicking and touching the relay to feel the clicking. When located, label it for future trouble shooting.
2 – Fuse – From the relay, power passes through the 12 volt blade fuse panel. The fuse is a 30 amp blade type. (Got a spare?)
3 – Switch – If there is no clicking, it could be a bad relay, faulty switch, or no 12 volts. You could pull the switch and try shorting it so see if the macerator runs.
4 – Broken Wires – It may be time to get out your piece of cardboard and have a look under the van for the macerator. Any broken wires hanging? When the switch is pressed do you hear any sound from the macerator motor? Could the blades be jammed with a foreign object? (Those grand kids!)
5 – I’m running out of ideas. It may be time to find someone that knows what they are doing. 🙁
Broken Cover – The most common problem with the macerator is broken view cover. On the bottom of the macerator is a clear plastic view port cover. I haven’t heard of anyone crawling under the van to look in the cover to watch their slop spin around. The cover has edges that can snag on speed bumps, or on a high curb.
TIP#131: It is recommended you carry a spare macerator cover since these are easily damaged on speed bumps etc. Thetford part number: 97517
TIP#210: As a backup option, we have added a standard gravity feed dump valve to a spare port of the macerator. If there was ever a malfunction with the macerator we can use the gravity dump and a ‘stinky slinky’ hose to empty the tanks.
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Sensors
The tank level sensors are known for being a bit finicky (or flat out inaccurate). The black tank sensors may be the most troublesome because of deposits of you-know-what on the sensors. :-O
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Shower Mizer
A valve in the shower called the Shower Miser can be configured to divert the cold water in the plumbing back into the fresh water tank instead of running down the shower drain. After about 30-45 seconds, the indicator disk will change color to indicate the hot water has reached the shower controls at which point the miser can be set to SHOWER. NOTE: The Truma takes approx. 25-30 minutes to heat the 2.64 gallons of water on propane. Several owners experienced issues with the Miser which were ultimately caused by incorrect labels being installed and the settings were reversed.
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Toilet, Seals, O-Ring, How to Operate
A china bowl Thetford toilet is operated with a two-position foot pedal. Pressing the pedal halfway down fills the bowl with water, and pressing all the way down opens the drain valve to the black tank. I would have preferred the pedal on the other side instead of jamming my giant foot in between the toilet and the wall, but that’s life. The toilet sits on a foam ring to seal it to the black tank. Sometimes these rings are damaged and allow tank fumes into the van.
RV stores sell special toilet paper for use in RV tanks. You want to look for a rapid-dissolving type of toilet paper. If it says safe for septic systems, it’s probably OK to use. Some big box stores like Walmart sell single-ply or even some double-ply TP that can work. To test it, put some in a jar of water and shake it a few times. If the paper breaks down into small pieces, you are good to go (no pun intended). If it clumps, don’t use it.
Black tank chemicals can be added to reduce odors and help break down waste. There are also O-Ring lubricants to extend the life of the toilet seal.
TIP#041: Toilet Tip – Someone mentioned this tip, and it deserves special mention. Without delving too deeply into the gory details: To eliminate “skid marks” in the toilet bowl, before sitting down to ‘do the doo’, take a couple strips of toilet paper and make an “X” in the bottom of the bowl. This acts like a liner and when you have finished “dropping the kids off at the pool” and “finished the paperwork”, add some water and then mash open the valve all the way and the poo-berg will slide easily into the black tank of oblivion and leave the bowl clean and free of those awful ‘skid marks’.
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Outside Shower
I’m rather tall, so using the indoor shower is a little difficult. My solution is the outdoor shower contained in the exterior water box. The vans are supplied with a slinky water hose with a garden sprayer on the end. The other end has a quick-connect fitting that connects to the shower control. The flow is very poor and the wait for hot water is long, but it all works out in the end. I usually wait until dark to keep from scaring the kids in the neighboring camp site. 😉
The external shower is perfect for a day at the dog park beach. Others will be envious when you shower off, rinse the dog, flush the sand from your flip-flops, and you’re ready to go in and make a light lunch. After all, that’s why we buy Class-Bs!
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Still to come:
Draining, Winterizing (drip to keep from freezing)
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15 – Electrical System
16 – Plumbing
17 – Propane