Foamie cap / camper build plumbing? Multi tank question.

[dbhosttexas]

So I am stilkl ironing out the materials and plans for my camper / cap build. The concept as I have stated before is the bed will be a folding unit, sideways across the bed of the truck over the bed rails, and will be when set up king sized. The cap will provide at least 6' 2" headroom so I don't have to stoop for my back, and there will be a section at the back that acts as a slide out when the tailgate is down that will house the door, have an AC mounted in the wall, and will have a 5 gallon port o potty slide into place for night time loo usage instead of traipsing outside of the camper...

For cost and simplicity sake, I want to use my existing 6 gallon Reliance AquaTainers for my fresh water supply. I have 4 of them, and am trying to figure out a way to use one common pickup and fill for the tanks, or would I simply be better off using one pickup and make sure it's easy to swap between tanks?

Filling in the truck isn't so much a concern. One of the reasons I want to be able to use these is the ability to take the tanks out of the truck to fill them individually. They will be retained in the truck FYI under the bed by the bed frame cross bars. There is more than enough room there for it all...

I want to provide in the camper water for cooking / wash up during foul weather, and outside hte camper water for cooking, cleaning and showering for fairer weather...

Anyway, any ideas, and preferably photos of effective multi aqua tainer or similar systems would be greatly appreciated, especially how you make the penetration through the cap and keep it sealed!

[dbhosttexas]

So I have it sort of figured out.

The thread through the caps is 1/2" npt, and there really is no stop, just threaded straight through, There are sources locally for continuously threaded pipe nipples (brass). So I run nipples through the caps fully with at least 2 to 3 threads exposed on each side, Install 1/2" NPT Female to 3/8" barb fittings on both sides. Add a silicone hose with a filtering pickup on the inside of each, that will reach all the way to the bottom, and 3/8" PEX on the top, with sharkbite tees where needed. Most likely some couplers so I can unscrew and rescrew the lids for filling. And then out to a pump. Vents should take 1/4" barbs and hose to a common high vent so that putting water in / out is no problem.

Of course every last bit of this is out the window if I can source up a properly sized single 30 gallon ish tank. Due to weight I don't want to go over 30 gallons in my poor half ton truck...

[RJ Howell]

Are you figuring all containers will draw equally or you putting a shut-off on each to only open one at a time? I carry 3 containers and run only one at a time.

[dbhosttexas]

Are you figuring all containers will draw equally or you putting a shut-off on each to only open one at a time? I carry 3 containers and run only one at a time.

In all honesty I am wondering if it is worth it to connect them all instead of just provide a hose to dip into a single tank at a time. That would discourage excessive water use. I am trying to get my wife onboard with not running water during dishwashing, taking navy showers etc... and making the water go further. It's a long row to hoe, but I am getting there...

I am wishing there was effectively a 12V powered version of the First Need Deluxe water filter system. The biggest for me is as so many this year have noted, park campground reservations lately is nothing short of blood sport. So I am trying to do more dispersed camping, but can only carry so much fresh water. For our durations, we have plenty of blackwater capacity.

Gray water is a bit tricker. I screen out food particles from the dish water. and our shower is in a privy tent. I have not found any requirement to caputre gray water from tenting rigs, only prohibitions from RVs direct dumping...

[RJ Howell]

[/quote]

In all honesty I am wondering if it is worth it to connect them all instead of just provide a hose to dip into a single tank at a time. That would discourage excessive water use. I am trying to get my wife onboard with not running water during dishwashing, taking navy showers etc... and making the water go further. It's a long row to hoe, but I am getting there...

I am wishing there was effectively a 12V powered version of the First Need Deluxe water filter system. The biggest for me is as so many this year have noted, park campground reservations lately is nothing short of blood sport. So I am trying to do more dispersed camping, but can only carry so much fresh water. For our durations, we have plenty of blackwater capacity.

Gray water is a bit tricker. I screen out food particles from the dish water. and our shower is in a privy tent. I have not found any requirement to caputre gray water from tenting rigs, only prohibitions from RVs direct dumping...[/quote]

I'm sticking with a container at a time. Switching has not been an issue and I can re-fill a single as it empties. Without shut-offs I suspect you'll be drawing from all at once. I have a 12v pump that I don't use due to how much it uses and 'as you say' it being left on! My plan is to pick up a foot pump (marine style) for interior pumping. All my water is still excessed from outside.

Gray is a touchy subject.. I found most (if not all) commercial CG's will not allow gray (even shower). Some (very few) allowed rinsing (no soap). Boondocking, I go with common sense rules. I do have a portable gray tank I use and typically have something in it just in case I'm approached and it is an issue. Mainly it gets used when we occasionally grab a commercial site.

[dbhosttexas]

I'm sticking with a container at a time. Switching has not been an issue and I can re-fill a single as it empties. Without shut-offs I suspect you'll be drawing from all at once. I have a 12v pump that I don't use due to how much it uses and 'as you say' it being left on! My plan is to pick up a foot pump (marine style) for interior pumping. All my water is still excessed from outside.

Gray is a touchy subject.. I found most (if not all) commercial CG's will not allow gray (even shower). Some (very few) allowed rinsing (no soap). Boondocking, I go with common sense rules. I do have a portable gray tank I use and typically have something in it just in case I'm approached and it is an issue. Mainly it gets used when we occasionally grab a commercial site.

So I do have a pump, of sorts. One of those battery operated camp showers, I have attached it to a quick disconnect so I can move it from shower, to sink. The power control is too danged short on this thing, but that can be fixed...

I am toying with the idea of some sort of 12v pump, hose / filter rig to provide clean water.

Yes gray can be a touchy subject. I must say though, I have NEVER encountered a campground that disallows shower tent discharge, or tent campers dishwater dumping. HOWEVER, a lot of the parks, state, county, and private, in my area at least, have a drain right at the water post. Privy tent gets set up close to the post for water supply, and honestly runoff goes straight to the drain. The only restrictions I Have run into for gray so far is to use biodegradeable soaps, and filter out food particles, which I am doing... I think a LOT of this varies by region, and in some cases by specific park. I honestly can't get a straight answer from Texas Parks and WIldlife when I asked them what their policy on gray water containment for tent and small bathroomless trailer campers is. Specifically inquiring about shower tents. Basically it is up to the individual park ranger to establish the policy. That leaves a lot of, sorry for the pum, but gray area to deal with...

SHOULD gray water capture be required, I can still handle that, but I would rather not as it is a hassle out of a tent. But I have a small doggie pool that fits inside the shower tent to capture the water, I can then pour that into a water carrier, and then dump where appropriate. I am honestly far more concerned about the gray water dishwater discharge than shower due to the issue of food particles attracting wildlife / pests.

[dbhosttexas]

So... the decision was made for me sort of. A friend is parting out an old rotted out class C that has a good 42 gallon fresh water tank, and I believe the 1.5GPM pump is still in good shape.

That basically means that I only have to deal with one tank. HOWEVER, I will hang on to the Aquatainers, at least 2 of them to carry water to the tank should I need to... Or to use as gray capture tanks...

[dbhosttexas]

So, I am thinking out loud here... But so far the plumbing as I see it will end up being...

Class C Pullout 42 gallon fresh water tank.
1.5GPM(?) 12v pump.
12V pump feeds to an on demand water heater. Joolca, Camplux or???

I want to set up one with 2 outputs, 1 for sink, 1 for shower.

Gray water will be handled simply by an output tube runing from the sink, down under the truck bed, and into a 22 gallon tote. The larger capacity is due to wanting to have the capacity for shower.

Should shower recovery be required, the foldable doggie pool to collect, and an output hose

[RJ Howell]

Have you been under your truck and plotter out where these tanks are going... I past on mounting tanks due to size and required location. Water @ 8.3lbs a gallon, it really needs to be where the gas tank already is. I see many of the commercial units have these tanks inside, which to me takes up far too much valuable space.. but.. it's the only way to get them far enough forward.

Seriously, I see you adding up a Buch of weight quickly here.

Side note: I have my foot pump installed now, so I added another 3gallons of water inside (6gallon jerry can, 1/2 full).

[dbhosttexas]

Have you been under your truck and plotter out where these tanks are going... I past on mounting tanks due to size and required location. Water @ 8.3lbs a gallon, it really needs to be where the gas tank already is. I see many of the commercial units have these tanks inside, which to me takes up far too much valuable space.. but.. it's the only way to get them far enough forward.

Seriously, I see you adding up a Buch of weight quickly here.

Side note: I have my foot pump installed now, so I added another 3gallons of water inside (6gallon jerry can, 1/2 full).

Weight was one of the main reasons I was happy to stay with the AquaTainers.

Something to consider. The gas tank occupies one side of the frame, there is a big empty space on the other side that a water tank can go. I believe it was an option, but my truck is fitted with the 27 gallon factory tank.

The problem I see with that is the exhaust routing...

Assuming I have to go with the wide camper shell to be able to fit a king bed to make the wife happy, or go with a normal width Hi Top and fit a queen mattress and make it easy, I was planning on using the OE board pockets pressed into the truck box itself, and use them to restrain the tank at the very front of the truck bed under the actual bed. This area, even with hte bed folded into a sofa, won't ever be usable floor space.

We keep going back to the simplest arrangement is to be the AquaTainers x4, and simply move the pickup hose from container to container. Assuming we are going somewhere that I can pick up fresh water to bathe with, I can whittle down the actual carried water by half for a week. It's just my wife is hard to get on board with the Navy shower idea. I guess if I made her schlep the water she might change her tune...

Honestly, my ideal would be an aluminum hi roof contractors cap with double doors and enough support built into the secondary door to support a 5K BTU window AC unit... I don't see my wife going for that as she is pretty insistent on a king bed...

[dbhosttexas]

So some changes to my gear set are incoming, and my design has to change. This is semi intenional. I am steering into the skid of propane as it were. I went ahead and grabbed a Camplux 5L. This leaves me with even more ponderings about plumbing.

I totally agree on the weight issue which oddly enough was part of why I decided to spin over to propane. Appliance weights are considerably higher with white gas / gasoline, and aside from the space issue, fuel tends to weigh more for gasoline than propane for the same amount of energy.

I don't see a problem considering I am going with an east / west configuration of the bed, folding up where the couch is over the front of the truck bed, a 30 gallon low profile tank could easily work at the front of the truck bed without interfering with the actual available floor space.

[dbhosttexas]

So I dropped the AquaTainer in the truck bed. Looks like a close fit for the braces using the bed indents. I may be able to make this work.

1/2" I think NPT to 3/8" barb fittings, double sided on the lid. Swap one between the tanks. Use just a piece of hose,a nd maybe a stainless cable clamp as a weight to keep the pickup in the bottom of the tank.

Sorry for rambling around out loud. I am considering advantage / disadvantage of both. A single cross bed tank would allow me I believe to use a much lower bed platform, and thus, I could be VERY happy with just a hi top leer without having to custom build too much, just some sort of topper extender to accomodate a door and the AC unit

This puts the big issue of getting water, and air into and out of the single fresh water tank.

WIth the Aquatainers, that is already handled, but the bed must be higher, of course it must be higher if I am to do a king bed anyway...

Ugh... So many ideas, so many options, so many advantages and disadvantages.

What I want doesn't exist, and likely will require ssme sacrifices to get built.

Maybe I should start looking at building a trailer that I can drag off road instead. I wouldn't face quite so many constraints.

[dbhosttexas]

Okay so here we go. Staying with the AquaTainers. Modding one of the lids with 3/4 MPT x 3/8 barb plastic on both sides. 3/8" pickup hose with a weight on the end to keep it on the bottom of the tank, most likely a stainless teel cable clamp or something similar. 3/8 barb x barb ball valve after a Y fitting to control flow to heater, and unheated.

Probably run 3/8" copper along the inside of the wall of the topper, ported out with a quick connect to hook up the heater, and outbound cold line. to get the water OUT of the camper and into the kitchen area.

[dbhosttexas]

Update, the barb to hose directly on top makes unscrewing the cap difficult if not impossible...

Solution?

3/4 MPT x 3/4 FPT street elbow, a 3/4 M to 3/8" M reducer and then to my now pull out 3/8 quick connect fitting.

Pop the quick connect apart, unscrew cap and pickup assembly from empty tank, unscrew cap on full tank, swap, reconnect quick connect.

The street elbow will be easy, but I suspect I will need a trip to Grainger to find the funky 3/4 by 3/8 fitting...