Additional water tank - Page 4

pjpvi · 01-31-2008, 09:03 PM

Hey Chris -

I'm not sure if there is a West Marine near me. I'll have to check it out.

Have you found the right van yet?

Phil

Greggd · 01-31-2008, 09:12 PM

West Marine is a retailer and has very limited selection of the type of tank that you might need , in fact they at one time ordered their tank's from El Monte plastics who will have numerous tank configurations for the very application of which you described .
Greggde

P.S. they have the capability to place your needed Spin Welded Fitting's where you want them to !

pjpvi · 03-25-2008, 09:27 PM

Finally swapped the 9 gallon water tank out for a 15 gallon last weekend. A bit more of a job than I anticipated. I purchased tank model# B264 from Plastic-Mart (www.plastic-mart.com) and had the fittings located per my drawing to them. I also put 3/4" foam insulation under the tank to allow it to sit on top of some of the existing PEX tubing and to provide some thermal insulation.

The tank just fits front to rear without major modifications to anything. It just fits up against the cabinetry that houses the furnace and hot water heater to the rear and I had to move the pump assembly forward maybe a half inch or so.

I still need to clean up some of the PEX tubing even though it is all functional the way it is now (which probably means that how it will be in another year or two or three ....).

15 gallons will be much better sized for my needs than the 9 gallon.

Check another project off my list!

Phil

kzemach · 03-25-2008, 10:36 PM

Phil,

Looks great. I also like your use of a flexible hose from the tank outlet to the pump. I did mine in PEX and it was a pain in the a$$. That was a good idea.

pjpvi · 03-26-2008, 08:17 AM

Hey Ken -

If those hoses are good enough to fill my toilet, they are good enough for my SMB fresh water system!

I'll still be calling you one of these days to borrow that crimp tool.

Phil

kzemach · 03-26-2008, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pjpvi

Hey Ken -

If those hoses are good enough to fill my toilet, they are good enough for my SMB fresh water system!

I'll still be calling you one of these days to borrow that crimp tool.

Phil

Sure thing, let me know. How did you do it without?

OK, now on to real questions.... Did you set it up so that you could drop your old tank to the driver's side of the new tank and lock it in with, say, quick releases, and instantly add 8 or so gal to your tank volume for really long trips?

pjpvi · 03-26-2008, 10:29 AM

The important thing was providing good measurements for the positioning of the 1/2" fittings on the new tank. You can see from the picture that I relocated the breather vent position and the PEX tubing on top of the tank is a little tweaked. I'll fix that when I get the crimp tool. I'll also shorten up the vent loop on top of the tank as it now gets sandwiched rather tight between the tank and the bottom of the couch (the new tank sits higher than the old one). The flex hose took care of the inlet to the pump. The insulation under the tank allowed me to keep the stock routing of the PEX tubing to and from the water heater. Some may argue that the hot water line going under the rear of the tank will heat up my drinking water, but I don't run the hot water that much so I'm not concerned about that. The outlet, fill and drain lines more or less lined up (within acceptable tolerance).

I did have to do quite a bit of filing to clean up where SMB had cut the seat belt mounting brackets to allow the tank to slide (be forced) under the rear of the couch frame. I put some wide thin metal shims between the couch frame and the water tank to keep these areas from cutting into the tank over time. I also wedged some thin plywood on the sides of the tank to help prevent the bulging that happened to my old tank. The front of the tank remain unsupported, so there may be a little bulging over time. I may work on that later. I've certainly added more support than the original install (there was none) to help maintain the shape of the tank. This tank is also better secured from sliding around. The original tank must have been sliding around quite a bit as it wasn't secured at all except by the tubing.

I decided not to mess with temporary expansion capability. I was making due with the 9 gallon tank, so the 15 gallon should suit my needs fine. If / when I get to the stage in my life that I can take the time to go on extended remote trips, I'll figure out something then. I just happened to get my retirement vehicle a bit ahead of actually being retired (actually quite a bit ahead unless there's an unforeseen financial windfall lurking somewhere ahead of me).

Time to get back to that revenue generation thing!

Phil

Christopher Thwaites · 03-26-2008, 10:49 AM

Hey Phil. Very nice job. I think it's ok to remove the label from the flex line to the pump....unless it's like the label on my mattress!

pjpvi · 03-26-2008, 10:55 AM

I think the label keeps the hose from leaking!

Smart a$$ ....

I'm really anxious to go for a ride in your van when you get it to see what the ride is like. Probably not as anxious as you are though!

Phil

Christopher Thwaites · 03-26-2008, 11:30 AM

I'll be happy to take you for a ride......as they say!