I'm watching your grey tank model closely as I am about to undergo a similar installation.
I still think that the installation is pretty good, if I had not overtorqued the mounting nuts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Safari Tim
I've been thinking to allow my tank to sort of float in the cavity and use rubber couplers on the inlets and outlets to allow the tank and fittings a little give. Just running it through my far too tired brain! :-)
My tank has very little room to wiggle, but does have rubber grommets for the vent and water inlets.
I have a question - on the plywood panel that holds the tank up, is there a lip that protects it from water getting up there, or do the tank holders do that for you?
I'm sure the plastic welding will turn out great! You have karma in your favor, it's a good thing it wasn't your black tank that split!
Take care!
Marc
Let us know how it all works out in the end. I'd like a lesson in plastic welding. I paid the local RV dealer $90 to repair my fresh water tank.
Jim
Jim,
A big part of succesful plastic welding is identifying the material.
In my case it is polyethylene. The manufacturer has graciously mailed me some of the correct welding rods. I bought a plastic welding iron. Plus my friend has a professional plastic production welding outfit which is portable enough to drag around should my small tool not suffice.
I will let you all know how it turns out.
I have a question - on the plywood panel that holds the tank up, is there a lip that protects it from water getting up there, or do the tank holders do that for you?
Marc
There is a steel angle frame that cradles the plywood from all sides, plus the frame extension that accepts the frame.Water can only get up there in extreme situations, as in fording a stream ( not!) OR IF THE DARN GREY TANK CRACKS!
Attached are 3 photos, one of the plywood, one of the frame that eventually surrounds the plywood, and one of the trailer's modified frame to acept the frame/plywood/tank combo.
These are anciant photos....makes me chuckle.
If you have the room, can you add some wood spacers slightly larger than the tank depth? The spacers would bottom out before the tank and keep the pressure off of it.
I might still have some angle steel left over from the fabrication process. I could cut 4 pieces slightly taller than the tank and use them as spacers.
Seems the welding process is quite simple. I used to $ 30.00 Harbor Freight plastic welding tool, adjusted and connected as per instructions, and welt to town with the polyethylene.
First order was cleaning the cracks, then cutting a v-groove where teh cracks were running. Then, heat the material a bit and lay a nice bead of weld in the crack. Then, using the heat, leveling the weld to completely fill the crack.
I did this twice over all the cracks, and then filed the welds flat. Put a gal of water in teh tank, to check for leaks. Seems water tight.
Tank is already back in the trailer, and hooked up. Piece of cake....
The entire repair, including r&r tank, took about 4 hours.
Ready to leave for the NorCal Rally tomorrow!
Wow, I'm impressed! But I expected nothing less from the legendary Uwe ;-)
I hope you took some pictures of the process.
Have fun at the rally and don't forget to do some on site interviews for theVAP!
Tim,
Depending on the cell phone service, you might get a few calls on the VAP line.
I did not take any pictures of the plastic welding process, I totally forgot in the heat of the moment...literally.
I just looked up the device you used on Harbor Freight, looks interesting.
I'm glad it worked. It's good to know these things are field repairable.
Go have fun now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by uwe
Tim,
Depending on the cell phone service, you might get a few calls on the VAP line.
I did not take any pictures of the plastic welding process, I totally forgot in the heat of the moment...literally.
so what did you do to prevent recurrance of the problem? seems that it was getting "squeezed" in its compartment, right? how'd you fix that?
I just realized that there was an open question here, still back from October.
I used some angle iron spacers on the corners of the tank to prevent it from getting squeezed again. The spacers are sections of the angle iron, about 1/8in taller than the tank.
Just did a New Years Eve campout at Huntington Beach, and filled the tank to 80% over 3 days with cooking/dishes/washing/showering etc. It held just fine.
A milestone: All the windows are now resealed with new inner bulb gaskets and glazing bead on the glass panes. This was a tedious job, glad it's over.
The windows now look clean and fresh with the new glazing bead, and after polishing.
The picture shows one my secret weapons to get the glazing bead and bulb seal in place. It is a small bent pick out of a snap on 4-piece set. Silicon spray makes this easier. I sprayed small sections, and them installed them immediately, since the material dries quickly.
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