Exterior Draining potable water tanks

poor but proud

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Is there anyone else out there who is getting past sliding under the van to drain the water from your fresh water tanks, any hacks to make the task a little easier? Probably not so much of an issue for off road van , but on a normal road van the drain bungs require you to crawl under the van ,any out of the box ideas ?
 

Drover

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Any pics ?? I can't remember what they looked like honestly..........
On Big Mal it has a drum type bung which I have thought of seeing if a garden irrigation threaded barb fitting would fit with a bit of tubing and a garden irrigation tap on the end, so cost would be about $10 for 2 tanks......but since I drain the tanks as last part of the underneath inspection after/before trips Ive not bothered.
Otherwise a "T" fitting in the main line from tank one end to pump and the other to a irrigation tap...... thats if it draws from bottom of tank.

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poor but proud

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It would be easy if the pump outlet was at the bottom of the tank but the draw point is above the drain bung,suspect this is to allow gunge to settle below the pump take off. So far have been playing with 15mm rigid sprinkler risers which work fine but is a bit fugley, now that I know the van fittings are standard 15mm irrigation I am going to check out 12volt irrigation control valves which are not expensive and would drain the tanks with the flick of a switch
 
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mikerezny

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Hi,

my main concern would be that in the effort to make the tanks easy to drain, that it is made so easy that they are inadvertently drained whilst traveling.
It wouldn't be much fun to head off on a off road camping trip with full tanks only to find something along the way smashed the tap, extended hose, etc, and arriving with empty water tanks.
Ever since we had a newby moment where we thought we had no water, we always carry a 10l container of water for emergency use.
The problem was that we had a vacuum in the tank caused by water in the breather hose.

take care
Mike
 

poor but proud

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that is also my worry with plan A as the tube is not well protected,but in fact there are lower items ahead of those tubes such as the spare tyre carrier and the A frame bars, i cant fully protect as the water must drain down hill and flexible lines would have to raise above the bottom of the tank not allowing them to drain any more than 2/3 of the tank ,i am now leaning towards plan B, the 12v solinoid to dump the water. being easy is one thing but not being capable in a few years because of Arty Ritus having come to stay
 
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Drover

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Okay, how about fitting a tap direct to tank drain, drill a hole in the handle section and using a modified sky hook you just lean down, hook the handle and open or close it, fitting shield in front to save accidental hit plus have it laying on its side bit would help also.......if they were in that much danger you would have lost the other connections by now anyway.......... I think I would prefer the brass, its not the one I had in mind but closest to the style an air line ball valve would do the same job................. Just an idea to throw out there....

The solenoid valve is good, just need a dead mans switch so it doesn't have a mind of its own, certainly my choice actually as once fitted its all Kiss.............12v normally closed solenoid cheap enough too....... https://core-electronics.com.au/plastic-water-solenoid-valve-12v-1-2-nominal.html



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poor but proud

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I have had a brass tap up there but I still had to lay on the ground to get to them , more so the back one as it actually up and behind the rear wheel, those solenoids you can order how you want them to act at rest , no power open or no power closed, so no power closed is pretty safe. The big RV s have been using this system for a long time even having a Blackwater dump to use on the highway, we saw one that had a button next to the driver which was branded “ highway dump” when I was silly enough to say something I was curtly told cattle trucks dump it on the road ,so what’s the issue? Hope I never get behind them early
In the day
 
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Drover

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You could now tell that fella that for years a stock crate has to have a holding tank and if it sloshes onto the carriageway, big fines, washing out the crate in the wrong spot also makes folk nasty, especially farmers with the spread of bugs.............. but then he wouldn't care either, might have been the same fella I saw doing the washing and it was just draining straight down so his rig had a lake under it, he didn't care, the lake with suds was still there when he left the next morning.......

I really do like the simple solenoid set up, fit and forget, it would need a deadman switch otherwise I would forget to turn it off then wonder where all this damn water is coming from when I refill the tank, I'm deaf so a buzzer wouldn't be any good, probably have to be at least 20mm or it would take a month of sundays to drain.....
 

jazzeddie1234

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The solenoid valve is good, just need a dead mans switch so it doesn't have a mind of its own, certainly my choice actually as once fitted its all Kiss
Ive been toying with the idea of fitting a solenoid in the cold line so I can fill the tanks without needing a hose. Possibly by bypassing the pump like what happens when the nrv fails. With my memory it would need to be operated by a momentary switch
 
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Drover

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Ive been toying with the idea of fitting a solenoid in the cold line so I can fill the tanks without needing a hose. Possibly by bypassing the pump like what happens when the nrv fails. With my memory it would need to be operated by a momentary switch

I did think of a T piece in the pump line from each tank, fit a NRV on the each pump line and one on each line to 2 tap fittings on side of van, then I could just plug a hose on from tap or tanks in tug................ I would think the breathers might have to enlarged to get the flow right and since I have to drop my tanks to get to breathers I shelved the idea.................
 
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poor but proud

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I did think of a T piece in the pump line from each tank, fit a NRV on the each pump line and one on each line to 2 tap fittings on side of van, then I could just plug a hose on from tap or tanks in tug................ I would think the breathers might have to enlarged to get the flow right and since I have to drop my tanks to get to breathers I shelved the idea.................
Next they will be putting toilet float valves into our water tanks to auto fill, now there’s an out of the box idear
 

Drover

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Next they will be putting toilet float valves into our water tanks to auto fill, now there’s an out of the box idear

I would not like that idea one little bit, when camped by the Gwydir River if it auto filled the tank there goes my best excuse for stopping at the Bingara Bakery as I go for a water resupply, RSL in arvo for toilet dump.................. some people and their inappropriate ideas........;);)
 
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poor but proud

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I would not like that idea one little bit, when camped by the Gwydir River if it auto filled the tank there goes my best excuse for stopping at the Bingara Bakery as I go for a water resupply, RSL in arvo for toilet dump.................. some people and their inappropriate ideas........;);)
Now I will have to add a solenoid to isolate the supply so you can still get your vanilla slice and beer
 
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poor but proud

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Caravan show 6-8 March at Metricon stadium, Gold Coast. You could check them all out there.
that could be dangerous, HE goes to look at a tap, SHE goes to look at a new van, then SHE tells HE we need a new tug to tow the bigger better van ,then all new stuff because the old stuff looks tatty in the new van,all because of a 60cent bung i have trouble reaching:amen::angel-87:
 

mikerezny

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that could be dangerous, HE goes to look at a tap, SHE goes to look at a new van, then SHE tells HE we need a new tug to tow the bigger better van ,then all new stuff because the old stuff looks tatty in the new van,all because of a 60cent bung i have trouble reaching:amen::angel-87:
Hi,
best get going on that exercise bike or events are going to overtake you.

take care
Mike
 

Drover

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that could be dangerous, HE goes to look at a tap, SHE goes to look at a new van, then SHE tells HE we need a new tug to tow the bigger better van ,then all new stuff because the old stuff looks tatty in the new van,all because of a 60cent bung i have trouble reaching:amen::angel-87:

Sounds like a Jeep Thing for sure...

..I have re analysed the need for remote drains and decided that since I roll under on my trolley doing checks and draining is just one of them, would be better making a pit .
Then again just leave hose in and it will self flush.....
 
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