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Old 09-14-2010, 04:59 PM   #1
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Using a fresh water tank as a grey tank?

Working on my 64' Safari and trying to figure out how to add a grey water tank. Having trouble finding one that will fit properly without spending a lot of money. I am going to replace my fresh water tank (it has a date of 1988) on it, and I think I can modify it to work as a grey water tank. The size works. Is this acceptable? Has anyone else done it?

I'm in the midst of a complete remodel by the way. Interior skin and belly pan have been removed.
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Old 09-14-2010, 05:19 PM   #2
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The only thing I can think of is that you would need a larger diameter drain outlet than is usually on a fresh water holding tank. Even though it is for grey water, you might still get food particles from dish washing, etc, and that would surely clog the 1/2 inch dia. outlet which is the drain for any fresh water tank I have seen. Also, the fresh water tanks take forever to drain.
Most grey water tanks have the large 4" (I think) dia. outlet with some having a hose connector for intermediate draining.
If you can get around this problem, you should be OK. The material itself, in the tank should be fine.
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Old 09-14-2010, 05:41 PM   #3
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Working on my 64' Safari and trying to figure out how to add a grey water tank. Having trouble finding one that will fit properly without spending a lot of money. I am going to replace my fresh water tank (it has a date of 1988) on it, and I think I can modify it to work as a grey water tank. The size works. Is this acceptable? Has anyone else done it?

I'm in the midst of a complete remodel by the way. Interior skin and belly pan have been removed.
The original water tank was 11" x 12" x 52".

Where do you plan on installing it for a gray tank?

Andy
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Old 09-14-2010, 05:44 PM   #4
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Sounds good.

I would use a larger diam. drain and try and install it on the bottom so it would drain better. I might be able to "hang it" at a slight angle. Still trying to figure that part out.
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Old 09-14-2010, 05:46 PM   #5
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I would use a larger diam. drain and try and install it on the bottom so it would drain better. I might be able to "hang it" at a slight angle. Still trying to figure that part out.
You would do much better and easier if you used a tank that's 6 or 7 inches thick.

Andy
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Old 09-14-2010, 05:59 PM   #6
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We've thought about using our fresh water tank as a grey, but our problem is that we would have to find a way to close off the openings we don't want and "spin weld" the new fittings on. We don't have the capability to spin weld. Chris is now looking at buying plastic locally and plastic welding kit from Harbor Freight and make our own grey tank. He thinks it would cost a total of $100 or so.

Kay
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Old 09-14-2010, 06:15 PM   #7
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Hmmm.

Never thought about making one. Very interesting.

Andy, The fresh water tank I have now is 24 1/2 x 14 x 10. I was thnking about installing it just infront of the black water tank between the support bars. This location keeps me from having to weld any more on the frame.

I figured there was some sort of glue that would work on the tank to install new fittings. Am I incorrect in this assumption?
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Old 09-14-2010, 06:25 PM   #8
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Never thought about making one. Very interesting.

Andy, The fresh water tank I have now is 24 1/2 x 14 x 10. I was thnking about installing it just infront of the black water tank between the support bars. This location keeps me from having to weld any more on the frame.

I figured there was some sort of glue that would work on the tank to install new fittings. Am I incorrect in this assumption?
Mike.

Unfortunately, life is not that simple.

First of all, that's not the tank Airstream installed, so I don't know what tank you really have.

You installation area choice is OK.

What is the dimensions of the space, as many generac tank sizes are available.

If you made a drawing of the exact design you wish to use, then you could have whoever you might buy a tank from, install the spin fittings.

Spin fittings, other than drilling the hole where the fitting will be mounted, takes about 5 seconds to do. Accordingly, they would not charge you very much for the fitting installations. Spin fittings can easily be installed with an electric drill. The tough part is having the correct size tool to hold the fitting while it's spinning.

You would need at least a 2 inch outlet and a 1 1/2 inch fitting for the vent pipe and inlet.

Andy
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Old 09-14-2010, 06:44 PM   #9
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I've got 17" W by 26" L to work with under the trailer.

So there is not glue that would work to install my own fittings?

Thanks for all your help!
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Old 09-14-2010, 06:53 PM   #10
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I've got 17" W by 26" L to work with under the trailer.

So there is not glue that would work to install my own fittings?

Thanks for all your help!
Mike.

Plastic welding is not that difficult.

Harbor Freight has a cheap plastic welding kit, that as I recall sells for about $20.00, but you must have a continuous flow of air to operate it, as the welding is actually done with hot air, whose rate of flow, dictates the temperature.

Unless maybe you know a bad politician.

And no, you cannot use a hair drier.

Gluing poly is not recommended as it's failure rate is very high.

Fusing the plastic parts together, with heat, is the only safe way to go.

Andy
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Old 09-14-2010, 07:13 PM   #11
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tank size

Mike.

A 24 1/2 x 14 x 10 inch tank, rounding the numbers off for wall thickness, means your water tank only holds 14 gallons.

Airstream installed a 30 gallon water tank.

The formula for tank capacity is length times width times depth, in inches. Divide the total by 231 and that gives you the gallon capacity.

I used 24 x 13 x 10 to calculate your tank size.

You should be able to use the entire inner width of the chassis, which for a 64 Airstream is 57 7/8 inches, or to make room for a pan, use 56 inches.

Therefore a 17 inch, lets try 16 inch times 56 inches times 6 inches thick, would give you a respectable 21 gallon gray tank.

Or even a 5 inch thick tank would still provide 17.5 gallons capacity.

Study the situation with a pad and pencil, and a cool one for a refreshment, and see what you can come up with.

Andy
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Old 09-14-2010, 08:18 PM   #12
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Very Helpful - THANKS!!
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Old 09-14-2010, 09:25 PM   #13
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Mike,
Please keep us informed on your project (photos and measurements would be great). I also have a '64 Safari and would like to install the same grey tank in front of black (uh, can I copy your homework...exactly?)

Are you doing this with body & floor on frame?

Andy, thanks for helping
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Old 09-15-2010, 07:50 PM   #14
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I did some research and I'm not willing to risk the time and money to try and build my own tank. I watched some videos on YouTube and spoke to some suppliers of Polyethylene. They recommended I NOT use a welded tank because it would not hold up over time - too much vibration. I was getting excited too. I didn't even know you could weld plastic and really wanted to try it. I started thinking about all the things I could build. Bummer.

My plans right now are to keep my current 15 gallon fresh water tank (not an original to the trailer) and clean it really well. Then I'm going to see if I can have fittings installed in a 25" x 16" x 8 1/2" fresh water tank, but use it for grey water. I'll rig my mount under the floor at a slight angle for the water to drain out. It sounds gheto but I'm not sure what else to do. I don't want to spend $450 on a grey water tank. Found one at Plastic-Mart for $90 and hopefully they can install larger fittings for me.

We bought this trailer in late January and I only planned on removing the insides and maybe do the floor. It's totally gutter.

Our blog: www.thehappykampers.wordpress.com I haven't updated it for months. will do so soon. Had to take the summer off - too hot and it's stored outside now. Put a new axel on a couple weeks ago and really getting motivated to work on it again. Our first child is due in March so I now have a very concrete deadline.
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Old 09-16-2010, 10:50 AM   #15
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I am going to use two or maybe three water tanks for gray water and manifold them together. I already have two. Each is 11 gals. as I have to allow some room underneath the floor for side bath plumbing. The tanks I ordered are only 4" deep and will fit between the frame rails. I ordered them from here. They will spin on fitting for an extra charge.

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