New Hawk owner

As any manufacturer will do, the tank you have is preassembled with a few fittings/hoses etc to make final assembly faster. The Tee was my clue for the drain, current production FWC include a valve or two to enable draining the water heater along with the water tank for winterization. Check out pages 8-12 in the owner's manual for details.

My tank has a different form factor from your new one, it's a few inches shorter in height, plenty of room above it. My "Settee" cabinet is also taller than norm from what I can tell. But, the fill/drain vent hoses emerge under the refrigerator cabinet, lots more room to bend as they make way up to the fill hatch on the front left corner. I happen to be in the middle of reassembling that section now, I'll get a few pics for you today.

edit: Changed fill/drain to fill/vent
 
Hello wuck
Looking at your picture, why is the drain on top. Does the tank mount like that or is your picture the side of the tank, not the to.
Thanks Russ
 
In my pic that Wuck commented on, the tank is just sitting on the floor of my garage, on end. So yes, it looks funny as is.
 
More water tank questions - I know that the water inlet of the tank is usually plumbed up fairly high on the side of the camper for filling from the outside, and I'm guessing that the drain has two lines going to it on my new tank (see pics above) because one is for the drain coming from the hot water heater and the other goes to the back/outside of the camper with a petcock for draining.

Where does the vent go to?
 
Long ago promised pics from my build - sorry about delay, I've actually been out camping in my camper rather than working on my camper! Yea!

Here are the connections coming up from the tank:
P1050494r.JPG

From left to right
1) Sensor wiring
2) Pump Suction
3) Vent
4) Fill

And the Fill/Vent hatch, from the inside:
P1050495r.JPG

1) Blue PEX is city water connection
2) Clear vinyl tube Vent
3) Large diameter fill tube

My fill hatch appears to be a Valterra A01-2004VP
 
Vic, you might find this install a bit more interesting. It's a '99 Hawk that is undergoing a major remodel including addition of a water heater and furnace. I'm just gathering the last few pieces before installing the water plumbing - gas lines are complete.
P1050744r.JPG

This is the left front corner, from top to bottom are the fill/vent (No city connection in this one), water heater, and the water tank. The fill/vent assembly appears to be a JR products JFE-12A, water heater is a late model Atwood, the tank was recently purchased from fwc (Didn't come with hoses like yours!)
 
I posted this elsewhere on this forum, but thought I would keep all my mods and questions in this thread too. I test fit the batteries next to the water tank.... as Wuck pointed out in the other thread, the tank can expand up to 3/4", so the super tight fitment option is out!


NICE big batteries!


Check it out... the batteries fit this way!


And this way!


That gap is 6"



But it is super tight on the other end. Is that enough room for the various hoses to attach?

 
I asked this over on my More Power Scotty thread too:

in taking the exiting camper wiring out, I found this wire coming into the camper, right next to where the truck to camper wiring enters. This wire goes into the front wall of the camper. Is this the factory pre-wiring for solar? Looks to be about 10g. This is looking up under my 2005 vintage Hawk.

 
So my new TF130 arrived today, and so I took the rest of the driver's side and rear of the camper paneling off to see what was in there for framing. Good news! It looks like my "shell" was pre-framed for the propane tank and for a fridge. No welding to do!

Couple of questions though:

1) If you look at this pic of the rear wall where the propane box is going to go, you will see that there is a double section of framing back there at the bottom. The box fits above that. Is it normal for the box to be sitting up above the floor by that amount? It would leave room for the water tank drain line to go underneath.

1a) That picture is upside down. How do I flip that around?

2) There was a purple wire taped up high on the rear wall. Flood light?

3) The green wire goes as far as the sheet metal siding, but not through. That could be flood light too.

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4) This pic is of where the fridge is going to go. Looks like it has a spot where the fan is supposed to mount. That won't work for my TF130. I'm just going to cut a 4" or so hole at the top right, where the hunk of white plywood sits. I will have to cut one of the aluminum supports there. Thoughts on that?


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5) These pics are of the "wiring channel" near the front, driver's side of the camper. The orange wire went to a 12v power socket, the red and black with the yellow connectors on them were just sitting here. Looks like they MIGHT be the end of the solar panel wiring. Ideas on that?


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Vic Harder said:
I asked this over on my More Power Scotty thread too:

in taking the exiting camper wiring out, I found this wire coming into the camper, right next to where the truck to camper wiring enters. This wire goes into the front wall of the camper. Is this the factory pre-wiring for solar? Looks to be about 10g. This is looking up under my 2005 vintage Hawk.

Vic, that just looks like the original truck connection on my camper. Gray jacketed White/Black, 10g wires. What did your truck connection use? Maybe previous owner changes?
 
OK Vic, I'll take a shot at these . . .

Vic Harder said:
1) If you look at this pic of the rear wall where the propane box is going to go, you will see that there is a double section of framing back there at the bottom. The box fits above that. Is it normal for the box to be sitting up above the floor by that amount? It would leave room for the water tank drain line to go underneath.
My hawk has the water heater located there, and it is double framed although the heater doesn't go down that low. I don't have a photo of the framing, just some photo evidence of double tubes. The drain is centered two inches up the wall, and runs through the center of a 1" tube. Someone still managed to poke a hole in the drain when attaching the floor pack, kinda doubt it was the factory though.
P1050868r.JPGP1010797r.JPG


Here's a '99, no factory furnace or water heater, propane locker is up high on drivers side. There is an external storage locker in place on the rear wall, double framed on bottom.
P1050867r.JPGP1050865r.JPG


1a) That picture is upside down. How do I flip that around?


It's an iphone thing, this might help.


2) There was a purple wire taped up high on the rear wall. Flood light?
3) The green wire goes as far as the sheet metal siding, but not through. That could be flood light too.


The floodlight wiring is green, and goes to both sides of the back wall. The porch light wiring is red, and goes to one or two walls. There is also a black wire for ground, mine was simply connected to the rear wall framing. I think red is used a few places, but the other primary red/black pair would be to the roof for the fan and interior lighting. That wire runs up the front behind the lift panels, pic in question #5.

4) This pic is of where the fridge is going to go. Looks like it has a spot where the fan is supposed to mount. That won't work for my TF130. I'm just going to cut a 4" or so hole at the top right, where the hunk of white plywood sits. I will have to cut one of the aluminum supports there. Thoughts on that?

To my eyes, that looks to framed for a furnace, the black plastic inserts form the vent hole. I believe in a shell you could order a furnace, but no fridge.

The white ply is an insert into the structural C-channel around the top (Remember my "Sideboards" as I referred to them in my build). It looks like a wall frame member already interrupts the channel, but I would think a bit before cutting into it.


5) These pics are of the "wiring channel" near the front, driver's side of the camper. The orange wire went to a 12v power socket, the red and black with the yellow connectors on them were just sitting here. Looks like they MIGHT be the end of the solar panel wiring. Ideas on that?


I think these are roof fan/light wiring. I don't know that solar pre-wiring existed in 2005, but not sure. The solar install on my '04 had blue/black wire pairs, I'm pretty sure FWC installed them., but it may have been a post-delivery retrofit.

Here's the mess that someone created in mine (Don't show this crap to anyone! Promise?)
P1010742r.JPG


Did I win the big stuffed animal? ;)
 
Almost right on that power wire Wuck. It spotted the other end of that wire coming out on the driver's side, in the wiring channel I referenced above.

So this appears to be the DC feed from the batteries. I think I will take this piece of wire out and reroute power from the anderson power pole connector in the truck bed to the driver's side instead, keeping the wires shorter all around.
 
wuck said:
OK Vic, I'll take a shot at these . . .

Did I win the big stuffed animal? ;)
For sure, just because you have been so amazingly helpful! Much appreciated.

OK, so I got the propane box mounted. It became self explanatory when I started looking at where the box would have to sit, and that the drain line would have to go under the propane box and through one of those double framed tubes.

I measured everything multiple times. Making a 14" square hole in my camper was not something I wanted to make a mistake on!

Voila, Propane door mounted
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Box as it sits inside the camper
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There is a 2.5" gap under the propane box. I can see keeping a dustpan and small broom under there. And a 1" gap between the box and the grey plywood of the camper.

Question, which surface of the propane box does the pass-through fitting from the regulator go through? I'm thinking the bottom. The propane hard line would then go under and up via the gap between the propane box and the grey plywood.

About the picture being upside down, I know iPhones are weird that way. What I was asking is, when you are putting the pics into your media gallery here on the forum, you can rotate them. But once they are uploaded and published, it seems you can't. Is that true, or am I missing something?

That's the furnace mounting framing? Interesting. Yes, that makes sense to me now. I will look closer at the frame members I have to cut to see if there will be any structural weakness induced. Don't want that! I have looked into welding/brazing aluminum tubing. It would be nice not to have to do that, but I can.

Floodlight = green. That sounds right from how that wire is positioned.

I'll have to check on the other wires to confirm. More paneling to remove. It has to come off anyway, as I am replacing it all with baltic birch.
 
I keep a dustpan and broom under there, along with a small folding shovel :) All fits perfectly.

In the two campers I've looked at the propane hose exits the locker on a side near the top. Neither of these have a "drain" on the bottom, but current FWC production includes a screened drain/vent to release any leaked propane outside the camper. Maybe a DOT requirement?
 
On the side? OK, I will do that too then. As for the vent, the access door is vented. Is that not enough outside venting?
 
wuck said:
I keep a dustpan and broom under there, along with a small folding shovel :) All fits perfectly.

In the two campers I've looked at the propane hose exits the locker on a side near the top. Neither of these have a "drain" on the bottom, but current FWC production includes a screened drain/vent to release any leaked propane outside the camper. Maybe a DOT requirement?
I like to keep a foxtail brush in the cab to clean dust off the back door prior to opening it. Probably futile, but it's habit.
 
wuck said:
Ahh, my build thread, about 6 months behind the times. Lots done since then . . .

My battery is surplus from a large server/data center, it is an AGM sealed type. No battery box, it just looks that way.

One thing to think about as you ponder furnace/water heater locations is the framing involved. FWC has offered in the past a "Full Build Out" option for shell orders (or something sounding similar) where the walls are framed as though the camper is to be fully loaded w/options. A call to FWC with your serial number would verify whether or not that is the case for yours. It may save you some time/headaches to stay close to standard, unless of course you like to weld aluminum :)

Rather than try to type a crummy description of your tank, I labeled it for you with my best educated guess. Fill/vent point up :)

attachicon.gif
FWC_WaterTank.jpg
Wuck, Looking at this picture again, and there is ONE more connection that you have not labeled. The one that goes to the drain is Tee'd. Where does that T go to?
 
I assume the Tee is for the drain - One hose to the drain petcock on the rear wall, the other up to the "Low Point Valve" to enable draining the water system. The valve is normally closed, and tee's into the pressure side of the pump. When the pump is off and this valve is open the water system (including the water heater) can drain back into the main tank.

Directions are in the FWC Owners Manual starting on page 10.

I lifted these pictures from the manual:WaterValves.jpgLowPointValve.jpg

But, this is an educated guess, I don't own a newer camper with this feature! Maybe someone that does can back up my story :)
 
wuck said:
I assume the Tee is for the drain - One hose to the drain petcock on the rear wall, the other up to the "Low Point Valve" to enable draining the water system. The valve is normally closed, and tee's into the pressure side of the pump. When the pump is off and this valve is open the water system (including the water heater) can drain back into the main tank.

Directions are in the FWC Owners Manual starting on page 10.

I lifted these pictures from the manual:
attachicon.gif
WaterValves.jpg
attachicon.gif
LowPointValve.jpg

But, this is an educated guess, I don't own a newer camper with this feature! Maybe someone that does can back up my story :)
Very helpful, thanks.

Now, any idea what size those water lines are? I bought 1" and 1/2" tubing and the 1/2" seems to big, the 1" too small. And when I see how FWC shipped me the parts, they REALLY stretched the small line over the quick connects. I am guessing they used 3/8" line and heated it up to get it to fit?
 

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