So my trailers water tanks are fixed (for now) and all turned out well I think. Here is the link to the last of the pictures. I added the new ones to the old photos.
http://helibuf.com/pictures/water tanks fixed/
The first few from #277 on show the boards installed with the cutouts for the new water lines.
#281 shows the new cross over line from the forward tank zip tied to the existing water pump line heading towards the front of the tank.
#282 shows the rear tank platform. The cutout closest to the camera is the new rear tanks cross over line that connects to the front tank. The farthest tube is the new water pumps line. There is a barb connector at that beam that connects a new piece of water line to the existing line.
The capped off line is going to the old water pump outlet fitting. For now I've capped this until I can come up with a new drain fitting. This will give me 2 fresh water dump lines.
You can also see how the boards fit into the beams and how my doubling boards just protrude a little bit below the beams.
In photo #284 you see a lot of blue marks. The water is at the level that just turns on the 2/3 full light. As you can tell its below 1/2 full. The line that has the "OE' on it is the "old empty" level prior to doing this project. The "NE" is the "new Empty" line. At this level the 1/3 full light will be off, but not by much.
In photos #286 you can see the old water pump fitting. I've rotated it down and added a small segment of water line for a second freshwater drain.
#288 shows the forward tank. You can see the water again at the 2/3's full line. Again the "OE" is the old empty line.
Just for reference in photo #290, this double beam is where I cut the under belly cover. At the end of the project, I've added new self taping screws and large washers that I have screwed into this beam on the left side of the 2 beams. This gave me a solid mount for the under cover and allowed me to tape the rear section to the front section to re insulate.
Photo #292, I had a left over sensor pad from when I installed "rvgauges" panel in my old trailer. This is there "short" version of the sensor. As you can see it is a bit too small for these tanks. If I can figure out how to run any wires needed into the coach from here, my future plans are to use these and install there gauge. I liked having them on my last trailer and having 6% increments in levels. These should work well on these tanks since they are so square. But that will be a future project.
#293, #294 shows the under cover closed up. I used "gorilla" tape from home depot to cover the slit I cut up. While this looks "bumpy" it isn't so bad. The front section was screwed to that cross beam and the back sections then bows as it was prior to this. HL did have other tubes running on the bottom side of some of the cross braces so my boards and hoses really didn't interfere with any thing else there or make the cover do any thing really wierd.
#296 shows the new vent line I addeded (left) and the new freshwater drain (right) protruding through the under cover.
Now for my findings.
To start with I put 10 gals of water into the tanks. I then used the outside showers "cold" only to pump out the water. I was able to get ~6 to 7 gals of water back out of the tanks. At the 10 gal level, the 1/3 light was on. It went off after I had removed ~5 gals of water. So for me when the 1/3 full light goes off, I'm considering the tanks empty. 5 gals's won't go very far.
Then I put in ~35 gals of water. That made the 2/3 full light come on. I then removed ~ 25 gals of water from the outside shower but used both the hot and cold valves this time. I could hear and feel air bubbles purging from the system during draining. At the 25 gals of water removed, the outside shower started getting air bubbles in it to the point I'd consider the tanks empty. After that it would have been possible to get enough water to flush the tolet if needed and wash hands but defently no shower.
So what happened to the other 10 gals of water? I looked at the tanks again and the water level was back down to my new "NE" water line. If there had been an extra 10 gals in the tanks I would expected to see the water level higher then that line. The only thing I can come up with is the 10 gals water filled the water lines as well as the hot water heater. I did originally drain the water from the red and blue lines from the other side of the trailer when I started this.
Then I opened up the freshwater drain line and I was able to get ~3 to 4 gals of water out of it. It was still dripping when I quit but I'm sure there wasn't much more left. I looked at the tanks and really couldn't see much water in the bottom of the tanks. This leads me to believe that with the tanks flater and the lines on the bottom of the tanks I can get pretty much most of the water of of them.
Now a something that really baffled me. At the 2/3 full line, I measured a 1/4" less water in the front tank then I did in the rear tank. I leveled the trailer right on the main from between the 2 tanks and on that cross beam. I also checked level inside the coach and it was defently in the realm of "camping level". When I emptied the tanks, the front tank emptied first, down to the point I couldn't see any water in it and the rear tank still had water in it. I'm not complaining because this is the perfect situation. All the water ends up in the back tank with the water pump fitting in it. This also ment my new cross over tube works as well.
So its not perfect but is better then the way it was when I started. at least now if the 1/3 light goes off it will tell me its time for water. I will still be using a flow meter to add water. For the wife and I we can get by on 30 to 40 gals of water for a 3 day camping trip.
Doug
