Looking for fresh water tank for under mount

dbhosttexas · 10-02-2023, 07:26 PM

My Sportsmobile had its plumbing ripped out by owner #1. I would prefer not to go back with a tiny 10 gallon tank that mounts IN the van, but instead I am interested in a 20 gallon tank I can mount under the body of the van...

The van is a 1993 Ford E250 sliding side door model, and I have Starcool on the drivers side... And I would rather not take up the spare tire well as I intend on building a battery box / battery bank in that space...

What 15 to 20 gallon tanks are out there that will fit in under the van?

boywonder · 10-02-2023, 07:45 PM

Ronco......you can easily customize by sending them a sketch of what fittings you want where...they spin-weld the fittings on.

https://ronco-plastics.com/product/rv-water-tanks/

REF · 10-02-2023, 07:51 PM

You’ll probably have to come up with some measurements that’ll fit your van. These guys also have a ton of tank sizes available, I’ve used Ronco in the past, I think they manufacture, so you might find they have better pricing than some of the other retailers on their own products.

https://www.tank-depot.com

https://m.plastic-mart.com/water_tanks.aspx

https://www.ntotank.com

https://www.watertanks.com

boywonder · 10-02-2023, 08:10 PM

Long ago I ordered my water tank from plastic-mart.....I asked where it was shipping from.....Tustin, CA. Since I'm local when it was ready I ended up picking it up in Tustin..at Ronco Plastics.

dbhosttexas · 10-03-2023, 12:39 PM

Ronco bookmarked. The van is in the shop getting some of the last 30 years undone. I told the mechanic to go over it with a fine tooth comb and let me know what it needed, or would likely need soon, and have him doing it all in one shot so I can get back to the coach work once it is back in my hands on Friday... I don't think this guy is used to someone rolling an old as sin van into his shop and just saying fix it without p*ssing and moaning about prices... He's got a good rep, and prices are very reasonable, and I have too many of my own projects to do...

dbhosttexas · 10-03-2023, 07:18 PM

Okay so temporary water tank situation, mostly because I want to get camping NOW because the weather in Texas is promising to be perfect for about the next month or so, I have a collection of Reliance 7 gallon Aqua Tainers, one of them I have put a 3/4" MPT x 3/8" barb fitting, a 3/8" ID hose and another brass 3/8" barb tee as a pickup and weight in the tank so that the hose settles as close to the bottom of the container as possible. And then a 3/4" MPT male x 3/4" GHT female fitting, with a male to male GHT to quick connect, grab a hose from my Joolca kit spares, yes I have spare hoses... and the first permanent, and for now likely ONLY permanent component. My Camplux 6LPM 12v pump (The Joolca is a 1.5GPM max heater so 6L is close enough for government work), wired to a fuse holder with a 5a fuse (Camplux spec) and a surplus lighted rocker switch / mount that is literally 20 year old salvage from my old Jeep years and years ago... Tested, still works, and can install temporarily to the bottom of the countertop I will be replacing, so no real harm done. Output to a Joolca faucet and just let it dump into a collapsible sink. Will handle draining / gray water manually. Snap in / out hose extensions if I want to connect the Joolca heater outside.

This will buy me time to take my measurements, study the plumbing diagram in the manual, order the tank the way I want it, as well as any and all other needed parts. Will get the final plumbing done sometime this late winter / early spring before it gets hot again.

Oh the joys of intentionally chosing a 30 year old camper van... I msut like a challenge!

dbhosttexas · 10-08-2023, 05:32 PM

Quick note, or actually multiple notes for anyone following or digging this up at a later point.

#1. The kitchen cabinet is NOT tall enough to house a Reliant Aquatainer with a garden hose quick coupler straight upright in it. Looking for some way to basically attach a threaded bung in the side / top right by the cap so I can attach the quick connect to the side instead of above the cap. The AquaTainer is taller than I recall, and I forgot about the drawer at the bottom of the cabinet. I could cut out the bottom of the cab floor but I am very much interested in keeping the cabinets intact enough to use as templates down the road...

#2. Just got out from under the van. I have 12.5" + a wee wiggle room between the frame rail, and the foot box for the sliding door underside. 34" from just in front of the body support behind the door to where the track for the sliding door slopes in, and if I match how far down the Starcool hangs, I have about 15.75" or around abouts depth to work with...

That looks like the largest tank I can fit off the shelf anyway from Ronco Plastics is the RV27W which is 19 gallons, and 32" x 12" x 12". I need to figure out the port / breather locations and order up, along with figure out mounting brackets... Those should be easy enough...

I know it HAD to have some sort of gray water drain, or capture but for the life of me I can not find a hole in the floor that would match any sort of drain line. If it had it, it captured inside the van and was manually dumped...

marret · 10-09-2023, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dbhosttexas

Quick note, or actually multiple notes for anyone following or digging this up at a later point.

#1. The kitchen cabinet is NOT tall enough to house a Reliant Aquatainer with a garden hose quick coupler straight upright in it. Looking for some way to basically attach a threaded bung in the side / top right by the cap so I can attach the quick connect to the side instead of above the cap. The AquaTainer is taller than I recall, and I forgot about the drawer at the bottom of the cabinet. I could cut out the bottom of the cab floor but I am very much interested in keeping the cabinets intact enough to use as templates down the road...

I know it HAD to have some sort of gray water drain, or capture but for the life of me I can not find a hole in the floor that would match any sort of drain line. If it had it, it captured inside the van and was manually dumped...

I use a 2.5 gallon Aquatainer under my sink. Anything bigger would not fit.

Steve Hunt · 10-09-2023, 11:25 AM

I just took delivery of 2 custom tanks from Tank Mart. Working on installing now. All went well, easy communication. I've bought from them before.