Quote:
Originally Posted by MayaW1010
My dad keeps saying I should replace all the tanks because they're 40 years old. He says the plastic is no doubt going and eventually they'll just die and I'll regret not replacing them when I've got everything dismantled.
|
If you replace them, you'll never know if the old ones would have failed. And that's okay. If you have the slightest doubt as to whether the existing tanks are structurally sound— and likely to
remain structurally sound for the foreseeable future— then the time to replace them is now when everything is already taken apart. Unless you really
want the extra work later…
Quote:
|
I'm really not sure what to do here. I've done some searching and I think I can find the black and grey tanks if I want to replace them
|
If you don't want to replace the gray tank with a larger one, perhaps you could buy replacement tanks, then use the larger of the two as your new gray tank, and the smaller as the black tank— assuming that you can switch them around so the smaller tank is right under the toilet.
But if you go with a larger-than-stock gray tank, allow me to offer a suggestion. Try to make the gray tank the same size as the fresh tank, if you can. That's the way my Interstate is set up, a 26-gallon fresh tank, 26-gallon gray tank, and 17-gallon black tank. Having the gray tank the same size as the fresh tank means, if I start with a full fresh tank and empty waste tanks, then by the time the fresh tank is empty, neither the black not gray tanks has overflowed, and I can go dump the waste tanks before filling the fresh tank again, and never have to worry about tank gauges.
Quote:
|
but the freshwater tank eludes me. It's not the same as the one Vintage Trailer supply sells for my year trailer. It's has a square hole in the middle. Therefore, I'm not even sure if I can replace it, plus I don't really want to spend any money if I don't have to.
|
What is the square hole in the fresh tank for? If it doesn't serve a useful purpose, you don't need the hole. If you
do need the square hole, you can always cut a matching hole in whatever tank you buy.
As for whether to spend the money on new tanks, that's a choice only you can make. But consider that plastics technology has improved greatly over the last 40 years. In addition, the concept of food-grade plastics— meaning plastics that do not impart tastes or odors
to the contents, and don't absorb tastes, odors, or stains
from the contents— didn't even exist back when your present tanks were built. By the way, food-grade plastic is BPA-free by default, if that makes any difference to you. Black and gray tanks don't have to be food grade, but should be, so they don't permanently absorb unpleasant odors from the wastewater. And your fresh tank definitely should be food-grade so that you know you aren't drinking chemicals leached from the plastic.
Replace or Keep Tanks?
What I was planning to do to my '76 Argosy was to put 2 gray tanks plumbed together so I didn't have to make them hang down below the original belly pan. It might end up being slow to drain but shouldn't be terrible. I was OK with the black tank on that trailer, which was significantly bigger than my '75 24' Argosy. It was always the gray that filled first.
Linear Mode
