As we do a lot of off the grid camping I soon got tired of the noise of the water pump in the middle of the night if some one tried to get a drink or flush the toilet. I decided to add a storage tank to my Sunny. First problem was to find a home for the tank.
01
On my Sunny T2363 I found a panel located on the left hand side by the outside door for access under bed . Upon removing the panel I found enough space for the tank but there were waterlines, a power cord and heating ducts in the way.
02
To Mount the tank in the space I needed some sort of riser to straddle the lines and duct work. I raided my scrap lumber box and found what was needed. A board large enough for the tank, four 2by 2by 2 ½ for legs and two ½ by 1¾ for rails to cradle the tank.
03
At first I thought that I would have to play games with the placement of the feet but it worked out just fine with them located in the four corners,. I used some plumbers strap to hold the tank to the board. I also had to notch the rails for the ridge around the tank..
04
Tested the set up before final placement. It didn’t leak, wow! I was going to put a bungee as a hold down but didn’t get it done before we took off for a trip down the mother road on RT66.
05
The tank didn’t move at all on that trip 4000 miles +. Nor has it moved in the 3 years it’s been in place.
The plumbing fittings from home stock and the water line from Home D. I added a pipe T at the output of the water pump to the tank. The tank is a 2 gallon expansion tank. I get almost a gallon of water before the pump kicks on. If we make sure the pump cycles before we go to bed you can get several flushes before it runs out. We can turn the pump off at night and still get enough water for night time needs. Another benefit is a better regulation of the water temperature while taking a shower and less cycling of the pump.
When winterizing the water lines I had to make a slight change in my procedure. I usually use just about a gallon and1/2 of antifreeze to charge the lines and flood the P traps. When I first got the trailer I had added T valve in the input line from the tank to the pump that allows me to pump the antifreeze from a jug to charge the lines. What I do now is use a 2 gallon container to pump from to charge the expansion tank and lines. I do let off most of the pressure at one faucet into a container. I use that to charge the P traps and toilet bowl and have ½ a gallon of antifreeze left for the next time.
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