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InsideOut · 04-06-2011, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grand Master

but it will only hold 9 gals. of gray water, rather than the 16 gals. I have a '63 Trade Wind with the rear corner tub/shower.

I am wondering if the bottom of the tub is below the top of the gray tank thereby preventing it from completely filling. At 9 gals in the water starts backing up in the tub drain.

How would you re-engineermy set up to get a complete fill?

First off...is your new gray tank visible above the floor? I would think it would be installed below the floor in between the floor and belly pan within the frame area. Typically, the floor of the shower/tub rests on the floor - it doesn't drop below it. If the new tank is on top of the floor - I would think that the shower wouldn't drain into it at all since the drain & P-trap go below the floor. Since it does take 9 gallons or so...my guess is that there wasn't a vent installed for the gray tank. Without a air vent, the tank will not fill up all the way. There needs to be a way for the air to escape for it to fill all the way with water. Add a vent if there isn't one and your problem should be solved ~

Shari

ventport · 04-06-2011, 06:28 AM

Has anyone ever put a tank above the floor with a pump of some sort to pump the grey water up to the tank from the shower? Then getting the shower water to the tank, (which seems to be the biggest problem with adding a grey water tank) would be solved.

robwok · 04-06-2011, 07:38 AM

I talked with Steve about the new tanks. Depending on your frame depth (3 or 4"?) you don't want to push the tank up to the plywood floor if you have an inch or of extra depth. You want the tank to be flush with the belly pan for the maximum amount of fill. that means possibly you will want to put 3/4 or 1" polystyrene to the bottom of the floor of the trailer, then add the belly pan. That allows the pan to be lower than the shower - especially if your trailer isn't completely level. Additionally, you may have a situation where air trapped in the tanks is preventing them from filling completely. 1" of airspace over several square inches can amount to a lot of water. They're only a couple inches thick, but wide.

Brianv512 · 04-06-2011, 07:52 AM

Hey Collin,
With the set up you use is there any issue with draining the tanks fully? The way the two tanks are attached it would seem as though water my remain in the first tank unless you raise the front of the trailer. Do you have any pictures of how you plumbed the drains for these tanks? Does this trailer have a black tank also and where was that installed. Thanks.

brattwurzt · 08-18-2011, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin H

I worked with Steve on the development of these tanks & have installed many of them since they went into production. I feel the best approach is to install two of them so you'll end up with a 32 gallon capacity. As I have "spin welding" capability, I install the coupling fitting, entrances & vent fittings myself, however if you make a sketch for Steve, he'll install them to your spec before shipping. I've included a few photos of a recent installation while the chassis was on my rotisserie.
Colin

How do these tanks drain? I can't see any drain line. It would be great if you could post some photos showing how they are plumbed.

Colin H · 08-18-2011, 05:23 PM

When you install these in tandem, you'll need to get Steve to install another fitting on the front face of the rear tank. This allows the water to flow from the front tank to the rear tank & then drain. You'll also need to have vent fittings installed in the top of each tank to make sure you don't end up with diminished capacity due to an air lock. As the drain fittings are installed on the vertical faces, you'll need to request that they are installed as low as possible to insure that the tanks drain completely. As I have "spin welding" capability, I install fittings to suit each individual application. If these fittings are installed correctly & the vents are connected & the trailer is level, you won't have any issues with draining.
Thanks,
Colin

brattwurzt · 08-18-2011, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Colin H

When you install these in tandem, you'll need to get Steve to install another fitting on the front face of the rear tank. This allows the water to flow from the front tank to the rear tank & then drain. You'll also need to have vent fittings installed in the top of each tank to make sure you don't end up with diminished capacity due to an air lock. As the drain fittings are installed on the vertical faces, you'll need to request that they are installed as low as possible to insure that the tanks drain completely. As I have "spin welding" capability, I install fittings to suit each individual application. If these fittings are installed correctly & the vents are connected & the trailer is level, you won't have any issues with draining.
Thanks,
Colin

Thanks for the reply. I do have one more question. How do you monitor these tanks? The seelevel monitoring system sensors cannot be cut down less than 4.5" and these tanks are not quite 4". Any ideas?

Chuck · 06-19-2012, 06:42 AM

bumping...

hey, Colin: can you provide more detail on how the tanks are actually held in place? looks like straps, but kind of thin....and I can see one end of a mounting bolt sticking out, but it doesn't look like there's any access to the other end--how can you remove the tank if it ever needs repair, etc?
all the weight being supported by the sheer-strength of the bolts?

good question on the tank monitoring, too.

Silverflames · 07-10-2012, 06:17 AM

""Thanks for the reply. I do have one more question. How do you monitor these tanks? The seelevel monitoring system sensors cannot be cut down less than 4.5" and these tanks are not quite 4". Any ideas? ""

Could you place the sensors at a 45 degree angle? \ I would check the direction for it, if it does not call for it to be straight up and down, then possily sloping down.

purman · 07-10-2012, 08:39 AM

Couple of thoughts? It's nice to have your tanks flush with the floor but it really limits your amount to under 20 gals if your lucky. Thats only a few days of use with no shower.

I decided it didn't mater if it came below the belly pan. The axels already hand about 4" below the pan, so why not a tank.

my first 35 gallon grey tank was behind the axels and hung 5 " below the belly pan. I have never had a problem in over 5000 miles. I am in the process of putting in another 30 gal one between the axels. It will also hang down 5" below the belly pan. Im not worried about weight as I will not be driving with full grey tanks.

I am also putting in another fresh tank in front of the axels that is 26 gallons. It will hang down 2" bellow the pan. This will be my main water tank while traveling as my other 40 gal fresh tank is right up front under the couch. I don't like the extra weight up front. This one I will fill when I get to camp.

I ordered the tanks online and spun the fittings in myself where I needed them. You can see how I did it here. The very bottom pictures are some patches I had to do

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f174...a-90934-6.html
So don't feel limited to having small tanks. If you want more capacity it's ok to let them hang down.

Silverflames · 07-10-2012, 09:22 AM

Purman, can you provide a photo of how they look? Did you still cover them with a belly pan? I have been thinking about going larger as well.

purman · 07-10-2012, 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithgrowe

Purman, can you provide a photo of how they look? Did you still cover them with a belly pan? I have been thinking about going larger as well.

I don't have them in permanently right now as Im in the middle of getting it all back together. here is the middle grey tank. It is just in place so I know where the fitting comes through the floor. It also needs to go up about another inch or so.

You can see at the beginning of my thread where I welded some angle iron down the sides to hold them in. I will be running a piece of angle iron along the front and back sides of the tanks to hold them in. If they do hit something this will take the brunt of the impact. I will also run some flashing up the sides of them but I don't know if I will cover the bottoms of the tanks yet. Maybe this fall I will build some covers for them, but the flashing up the sides will do for now.

When I get them in this weekend permanently I will post some more pics.

purman · 07-10-2012, 09:45 AM

Oh yeah, My two grey tanks are 10" deep and the fresh tank is 7" deep. My frame is 5" deep. I thought about taking out the ducting and running it differently. If I would have done that you can get longer tanks that aren't as deep. But I felt these would be fine and the ducting stayed in place. If I had taken the ducting out I thing I could have got another 12 inches or so length wise, which can push you up into the 40 gal range.

We spend a lot of time at camps sites with no dumps or water hook ups but do have electric. So less runs to the dump station is nice. and with 4 kids (3 of them girls) water is an issue.

Chuck · 07-11-2012, 06:17 AM

what tanks did you use? I don't think I've ever seen anything that large that would still fit between the <2-foot wide frame bays.
Not being able to weld, myself, I was thinking that the vts tanks would simplify things...won't have to come up w/ some way to box them in.

purman · 07-11-2012, 08:13 AM

My local rv guy got my fresh tank, which was 23"x36"x7" I think. but this site has all kinds.
Page 3 - RV Water Tanks

This is what I used for my grey tank.
Ronco 30 Gallon RV Water Tank (R-RV24W)

Also this site will convert numbers to gallons and can help when calculating volume.
Greer Tank Volume Calculator

purman · 07-11-2012, 08:18 AM

The first time around I just got some straps and wrapped them around the holes in the cross frame members and bolted them in place though the holes in the straps. Didn't look the greatest, but if you cover it no one know and it worked great. there are a couple of pictures here of my first grey tank installation.
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f174...r-44644-7.html

nickclifford · 10-01-2014, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucymcdog

Actually, we ended up getting a tank from TankDepot.com that fit in our closet and just behind the wheel well. It is a nice size and works just fine. We ran the existing air vent into the closet to vent it and made a separate drain that attaches to a hose so we can drain it where it is allowed. Otherwise we empty it when we empty the black tank. If anybody wants pictures, I can take some and post them.

great idea!! i'm new to air-streaming and have always camped off the grid in my pop-up. my '72 land yacht doesn't have a grey water tank but not sure if i really need one ? we normally camp at campsites with restrooms, so could always use them for #2 and keep the black-water tank just for "grey water".

TouringDan · 10-02-2014, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickclifford

great idea!! i'm new to air-streaming and have always camped off the grid in my pop-up. my '72 land yacht doesn't have a grey water tank but not sure if i really need one ? we normally camp at campsites with restrooms, so could always use them for #2 and keep the black-water tank just for "grey water".

Nick

We replaced the toilet with a "Curve" porta potty and only pea in it. The black tank is now our grey tank. It works well for us. We can go about 5 days.

Dan