placement of fresh water tanks

[Arvik]

any thoughts on whether 100 gallons of water is heavy enough to make me have to place the tanks in center of the bus as to keep it from being over weighted on one side. i would like to put them off to one side in the rear bedroom, just dont want to cause trouble if it will be to heavy to not be centered.

 

[Scooternj]

Tango brought it up in an earlier post- 100 gallons of water is around 850lbs. Definitely centerline it along with your grey tank. We RE owners have the advantage of empty space between the frame rails. My plan is fuel tank, fresh water then grey

 

[Arvik]

you going to run them between the frame inside the basement? that was my plan for black and grey, but i hadn't considered fresh there to. i am liking the placement so well where i have them in rear bedroom i debating if i could just block up rear of bus when we stationary to keep all right in the weight bearing world... gonna have to think on this before i get them solid down. that today's plan is rear bedroom framing so i will let ya know how it turns out. thanks for the intel as always scooter

 

[Docsgsxr]

Remember, the further under you place it, the harder your pump will have to work to get it up to your sinks and shower.

-Doc

 

[Skoolydoo]

Remember, the further under you place it, the harder your pump will have to work to get it up to your sinks and shower.

-Doc

I was wondering if you could use 2 pumps of the same size to get better pressure to the shower or sink.
One at the tank to get it started, then the other closer to where it will be used.

 

[Tango-SKO]

My only concern with placing the fresh supply under the belly is freezing. Unless the tank is extremely well insulated or has an electric heating option added, you are limited to staying in warmer climes. As long as that consideration is taken into account, it should be fine. Without it, you wind up with either no water or a busted tank.

Just something to keep in mind.

 

[Docsgsxr]

I was wondering if you could use 2 pumps of the same size to get better pressure to the shower or sink.
One at the tank to get it started, then the other closer to where it will be used.

2 pumps = overkill and excessive battery drain (if you use 12v pumps.)

An accumulator tank would be fine, the pump primes it and then it doesn't have to try to re-prime the line. However, if your tank is underneath, your pump will have to do 1 of 2 things, either pull the water from a further source, or if the pump is close to the tank it will have to push the water up. Either way it has more wear on the pump itself. If the water storage tank is in the same level as the pump and faucets/toilets, it doesn't need to work as hard and you wouldn't need an accumulator tank.

 

[Robin97396]

Doesn't anybody use hand pumps? I'm not talking about a cast iron pitcher pump stuck in a barrel. Years ago I met an old guy that used a hand powered bilge pump, ordered new of course so it's clean. It will draw from a maximum of 3 meters below the pump according to its specs.

 

[rjnye79]

Also, how much difference does its forward position make relative to the ride of the vehicle/stress on the chassis? Better to have rear or mid cabin? Just curious!

 

[Scooternj]

Here's how Vonslatt plumbed his bus. Which is how, for the most part, mine will be (when I get there)

Also, how much difference does its forward position make relative to the ride of the vehicle/stress on the chassis? Better to have rear or mid cabin? Just curious!

These are medium duty truck frames. It shouldn't stress out the chassis too much, and keeping it just aft of the fuel tank (at least on an RE IC Bus) shouldn't keep you from overloading the front wheels

 

[Docsgsxr]

Doesn't anybody use hand pumps? I'm not talking about a cast iron pitcher pump stuck in a barrel. Years ago I met an old guy that used a hand powered bilge pump, ordered new of course so it's clean. It will draw from a maximum of 3 meters below the pump according to its specs.

Hand pump?? If your going to make a toy hauler that you plan to do very little residing in maybe, but for full timers, why would you want a manual pump?? Do you have a manual pump in your house? That would really suck if you had to make sure your water heater was primed and full all the time.... or to have someone else pumping while you showered!!! (maybe im missing how this type of pump actually works?)

 

[Robin97396]

Nope, got a garden hose in the house.

A hand pump for drinking/cooking water instead of tipping jugs. I don't have plumbing, just a drum full of spring water and I take baths out of a bucket when I'm not close to 24 Hour Fitness. I know of a few other people that use Wallymart jugs for water. I'd be fancy with a hand pump from my 55 gallon drum.

Yeah, you definitely got room for a shower in your bus. My bus is smaller and I chose having a garage over having a shower/toilet. I'm still impressed with the bathroom in that '46 Chevy.

You've got to remember as a group on this site we aren't all young and some of us are broken. My progress is painfully slow on this bus which is really embarrassing. Still it's something to do with my time, and it travels. Would have been easier with a motor home, but it wouldn't have been mine. For now a hand pump will work better than a jug until I get my gravity flow system set up. Maybe there is plumbing in my future?

Most of what I like to do does not depend on electricity and other things that break down. I admire anyone that has energy independent of plugging in, but things break down eventually. It's that old KISS theory. The hippies used gravity flow because they didn't have to buy a pump or use power.

So you don't like my pump. That's ok. Living in a bus aint for everybody either. I'm not making this into a motor home, but I am living in it. I like having a 360 degree view out all these windows when I'm out in the boonies.

 

[Docsgsxr]

Didn't mean to offend, I was just thinking of a crank on a barrel attached to a hose in an old fashioned fire truck. Your point is valid, if you are just taking your rally car or your motocross bikes across the state and stay in a hotel then I get it.

I just prefer the easier route when it comes to time sensitivity. (when I am in an outage, I work 72-84 hours a week. No time to go somewhere else to shower.)

 

[Robin97396]

I think a shower would be great, with plumbing. Not just a can with holes in the bottom.
Fantasy wise a walk in tub would be sweet, but I'd need plumbing and the water heater for that. At some point we might as well move back into a house. I do live in my bus, full time, and it's morphing into something better slowly. I've certainly seen the wisdom of over insulating or driving south for the winter, but this was my first winter full time. It's still camping for me. I don't want to make this into a condo.
It's all a matter of perspective. My kids are gone and I don't need anything fancy. So yes, basically I live in the front of the garage. Over time I certainly do hope this improves. Meanwhile it's a man cave with lots of windows, and a garage.

 

[Arvik]

got tanks secured, here's the great part. the holes the the seat belt bolts were ran through on the far back bench are going to be perfect to use for my fill and air vent / overflow. i will enlarge 2 of them and then it enables me to have my fill for the fresh h2o tanks in the engine compartment all hidden. i was quite impressed. more i thought about the tanks not being perfectly centered i figured if 4 200 lb people sat in the back 3 rows of seats on that side it would equal the weight of 96 gallons of water. i dont think 4 people would cause the bus to sag one way or other. we shall see.

 

[dgorila1-SKO]

Pressurized water system?

There was a discussion on water pumps(1 vs. 2 vs. hand pump)and I'm wondering if this idea would work: install an air tank, pressure regulator and small compressor (12V or 110V) and tie it in to the water system. Determine the air pressure needed to maintain adequate water pressure. Built in pressure switch would kick the compressor on/off as the faucets were used and the pressure drops.
Has anyone done this? Would it be any better/worse than a water pump?

 

[Robin97396]

Well, you could use the traditional co2 system home brewers use. You might get fizzy water eventually, depending on how fast you use your tank of water, but 4 to 7 lbs should push it through a system nicely.

 

[Robin97396]

dgorila1, Some of the trailers I've had in decades past had air pumps that pressurized the water tanks. It flipped on when the pressure got low and used the tank to hold pressure. You could run water for less than a minute before the air pump would kick on.

jester, Congratulations on getting your tank secured.

I like your hot tub style calculations on the 4 people.

I like the amount of water you're planning to carry too. I'm only carrying half that much.

 

[Arvik]

thanks, if you guys n gals want to see pics all i do is just update my album under photos. http://www.skoolie.net/forums/members/8307-albums833.html

 

[Docsgsxr]

There was a discussion on water pumps(1 vs. 2 vs. hand pump)and I'm wondering if this idea would work: install an air tank, pressure regulator and small compressor (12V or 110V) and tie it in to the water system. Determine the air pressure needed to maintain adequate water pressure. Built in pressure switch would kick the compressor on/off as the faucets were used and the pressure drops.
Has anyone done this? Would it be any better/worse than a water pump?

It would work unless you had a compressor or regulator issue. If you had it pressurized, went to the store and it leaked, it could flood your rig.

The 12v pump is more of an "on demand" style. It turns on when it senses a drop in pressure. Other than that specific time, it doesn't run.

Just a thought.......