Gray water tank installation

[bobmstein]

I am adding a 20 gallon grey water tank to my 71 caravel and could use ventalition advise. The tank is 5 inches high and maxes out the sub frame dimension. I was thinking of positioning the tank so that a hole thru the closet space next to the toilet would allow a pipe from the top of the tank to plum into the toilet vent. Is there a more practical way?

[Frank's Trailer Works]

That is what you need to do. You can also use the vent that goes through the wall at your sink. The vent in the top can also be the feed to the tank. Does that make sense?

[bobmstein]

I see what your saying, that is vent along the feed line to the tank - better still.
Any ideas as to the best way to valve the grey water tank ?I have seen a two in one valve that is 3" for the black water tank and 1.5" for the grey water but not sure if it is the way to go. What is the appropriate way?

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Yes, that is exactly what we do. You can run the 1.5" in the frame as low as possible. If you burn a hole through a cross member, be sure to reenforce it to compensate for the missing mass.

[HiHoAgRV]

How about a quick photo? The 90 degree elbow goes thru the floor, directly into the top of the tank. The upper line is the vent, goes thru the roof. The lower of the two pipes that dissappear under the tub goes to the tub P trap, the upper one goes to the sink.

All of the stuff you see is hidden in a closet

This is in my '63 overlander, I'm done a full shell-off and part of it included adding a gray tank

[Minno]

Here's another venting picture. The black ABS pipe on the wall is our vent line. On the left is where the vent goes inside the wall and exits through the roof. This was the original vent for the kitchen sink in or trailer. If you follow that towards the rear of the trailer, the first tee goes down to vent the two gray tanks we added. The vent line continues on the inner skin to the rear through the bathroom wall, and then drops to vent the black water tank. We're using the single roof opening to vent all 3 tanks. The other black pipe on the floor is the drain from the bathroom tub/shower and sink.

If you join the vent of the gray tank with the black tank, just be sure to join it high enough to help ensure that you don't end up with any black water overflow going into your gray tank. Our vent on the wall is above the level of the toilet bowl. So, if the black tank was full, we'd have it backed up into the toilet before it overflowed into the gray tank.

Chris

[2vets]

Great photos! Has anyone used flexible hosing for the venting pipes instead of pvc or black abs pipe? IF so, what did you use? I would imagine there would be some flexible bilge pump or vinyl tubing that would suffice.

[54breadloaf]

Originally Posted by Minno

Here's another venting picture. The black ABS pipe on the wall is our vent line. On the left is where the vent goes inside the wall and exits through the roof. This was the original vent for the kitchen sink in or trailer. If you follow that towards the rear of the trailer, the first tee goes down to vent the two gray tanks we added. The vent line continues on the inner skin to the rear through the bathroom wall, and then drops to vent the black water tank. We're using the single roof opening to vent all 3 tanks. The other black pipe on the floor is the drain from the bathroom tub/shower and sink.

If you join the vent of the gray tank with the black tank, just be sure to join it high enough to help ensure that you don't end up with any black water overflow going into your gray tank. Our vent on the wall is above the level of the toilet bowl. So, if the black tank was full, we'd have it backed up into the toilet before it overflowed into the gray tank.

Chris

As the vent enters the wall, what type of tube is it that can fit in the small space? Is it flexible or oval shaped? I'm trying to figure all this out now.
Thanks,

JT

[Minno]

2vets: We used black felxible pond pipe from the black tank vent to the solid ABS pipe vent that you can can in my picture above (post 6). It's 1 1/2", black, with the spiral ribs in it. Picked it up at Menards. We used that to go around the curve at the rear of the trailer. It's the bottom black pipe in this picture:




54breadloaf: The vent pipe that goes up inside the wall was the original one that was there. It's 1 1/2" black ABS that Airstream flattened and curved to fit inside the wall. Since it's a vent, you could go with a smaller diameter pipe, and even use a flexible pond pipe to make the bend easier. Here's a picture of it during re-installation of the inner skins.



Chris

[54breadloaf]

Excellent info. Thanks, that helps a lot .

[chromis]

Why do they plumb the drain on the grey water tank with 1.5" pipe rather than 3"?

[Minno]

Probably a combination of cost and weight and SOP. You shouldn't need anything larger than 1 1/2" on the gray because everything runs through a sink or tub/shower drain (no solids or TP like in the black tank).

[54breadloaf]

Does anybody have photos of mounting gray and black water tanks? That's next on my long list.

[Minno]

We have some in our thread: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f185...-50967-19.html

Post 255 shows the black tank being installed. Posts 262 and 264 show the two gray tanks. Be sure to read post 264 and not try to mount the gray tank like I did in post 262. The supports I tried in post 262 were not strong enough.

Chris

[purman]

Originally Posted by 54breadloaf

Does anybody have photos of mounting gray and black water tanks? That's next on my long list.

I welded some angle iron to the frame and then ran some across the bottom as support. I also ended up running some under the tank which isn't in the pictures. You can see what I did here.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f174...8-a-90934.html

My tanks come bellow the belly pan. Fresh water by 2" and the grey tanks by 5" I doubt I will ever have a problem...

[fdole]

Hi Bob,

I just purchased a 68 17' Caravel and would like add a grey water tank, (as you are doing with your 18'. Any help or advise you can offer would really be appreciated. I'm not sure how to begin.

Incidentally, the aluminum belly sheet has been cut away from the area under the show, and once, a tank was installed. The previous owner took it off because it hung quite low - well below the axle. Somehow I will have to manufacture a repair of the pan to protect and seal everything. I'm not sure at all how to engineer all this - but I'm not rushing either!

Thank you!

fred
Clarkston, WA

[fdole]

These photos and information are really great and I'm learning a lot. I plan to install a Vintage Trailer Parts grey water tank on my '68 Caravel. The photo shows (kind of) the trailer as I bought it. Someone has installed quite a large trap and some strange, large piping. All of this will have to be removed to accomodate the new tank, and I'm not sure how things should be replaced. Is a trap even necessary?

In the photo you can see that the black water tank valve is quite a bit above the level that the outer skin would be (if the skin were still there.) Does anyone know what this should look like?

Has anyone done this work on a Caravel?

Thank you very much!

fred

[Belegedhel]

It seems that every trailer is a custom job, so don't get too worried about doing yours just like someone else with a Caravel.

Your biggest challenge will be to get a tank that fits inside the frame rails and mounting it. As you mention, VTS makes such a tank, but you will need to plan out carefullly how you will plumb it so that you can tell them where to install the spun-in fittings when you order the tank. When I did mine, I actually built a model of the tank out of a sheet of styrofoam insulating sheet so that I could see exactly how it would fit, what it would interfere with, and where I needed my fittings. I would recommend this to anyone--saved me making mistakes.

The VTS tanks look an awful lot like the old Inca plastics tanks. Inca recommended that the tanks be fully supported from underneath. I have seen some threads where people install the VTS tanks just using s few metal straps going underneath the tanks, but I went with full suppport for mine. This required welding in some angle iron underneath so that I could slide in a wood panel that supports the tank.

You will need to remove, and reorganize some of the PVC/ABS piping you have under your trailer, but that is really the easy part. You will need to have a trap for your shower so that you don't smell the grey water funk in your tank (yes, it gets pretty funky). The one in your picutre looks really big, though. You can get low profile traps that will at least hang below your belly skin less. You will also need to have a vent for the tank. There may be an existing vent line from the previous owner's installation, or you may need to rig something up that ties into an existing vent.

good luck!

[54breadloaf]

Here are some photos of my recent installation in my 54 flying cloud. I used expanded metal mesh for the bottom to support my tanks. I will be able to remove my tanks if necessary from underneath by removing the nuts on the threaded rods.



I will be able to snug the tanks up against the floor after I secure the floor to the frame.

[Bigventure]

Originally Posted by fdole

These photos and information are really great and I'm learning a lot. I plan to install a Vintage Trailer Parts grey water tank on my '68 Caravel. The photo shows (kind of) the trailer as I bought it. Someone has installed quite a large trap and some strange, large piping. All of this will have to be removed to accomodate the new tank, and I'm not sure how things should be replaced. Is a trap even necessary?

In the photo you can see that the black water tank valve is quite a bit above the level that the outer skin would be (if the skin were still there.) Does anyone know what this should look like?

Has anyone done this work on a Caravel?

The black tank on your Caravel is above the floor below the toilet. The waste value is at floor level. The handles is in the bumper. The trap is for the shower floor pan. A gray tank would have to ride below the shower pan. You can see that there is a skid to the left to protect the waste connection. Your really limited by the ground clearance in the rear section. But, up between the frame in front of the shower pan would be possible.

You could with alot of work put one behind the axle in front of the trap. Your only picking up water from the two sink drains and the shower base. A twenty gallon tank would be enough. Cut out all that crap out and get back to the 1 1/2 line that comes though the floor. Get a new 1 1/2 trap and a 1 1/2 santary tee and a 90 or two. Pipe the shower trap to the right (curb side) and pick up the 1 1/2 vanity. Get the 1 1/2 into a tank on the curb side. The tank would then drain to the street side and you would bring it around and tie it in to the four inch with some new fittings and a new 1 1/2 valve. When your there get rid of the old Thetford connection and get a modern one.

Your 1 1/2 runs from the kitchen sink to the rear it picks up the vanity and drops down to the shower base. You can see it under your vanity. The system needs gavity to work so you have to pitch the pipe down a little. This is were the problem is, you want the 1 1/2 in the top portion of the tank. The tank outlet would be at the lower end. It might work, but it would be very close.

Originally The 1 1/2 tied in below the sewer connection (Were the white cap is.) and went staight out to the ground.