ibbuckshot wrote:Hi again,
Here I go trying to pick your brains again. While putting together plans for my caned ham, I plan on installing a small (24X32) shower stall which will also house the porta potty.
Has anyone ever used a 48 long X 10 high gas tank from on old van for a gray waster tank ? ? ? I am wondering if the fittings are available to install the dump valve in the
bottom of the tank as well as the connectors for plumbing from a small sink ? Again any help on this would ease my troubled mind. My wife thinks I am going nuts with
taking on the idea of this build.
Have fun,
buckshot
I don't think I'd want to use a GAS tank for water. Rust would be a major issue unless you coated the inside with something waterproof. Remember, gas tanks are full of gas, so in normal use the bare steel isn't going to rust, but also means it can't be painted because the gas would soften the paint and it would clog your fuel lines. Plastic is the way to go for water--- it's waterproof and non-reactive. You need a 16 gallon tank? That's going to weigh 200 pounds when full, and slosh around. I don't think I'd want that on the back of my trailer.
First, your tank will have to be below the drain in order to work, so where do you plan on installing it? I could see something like...
this. I'd have a hose that runs from the drain to this, and set it on the ground under/next to the trailer. If you need more storage capacity, get a simple T-connector to have two of them next to each other (and a shutoff valve on one end of the connector in case you're only using one. This would be highly beneficial because 5 gallons weighs 40 lbs, so you can move them around without a forklift, store them back on the trailer (use tie down straps), etc... And, if your tank gets a crack, it's easy to find a replacement that won't set you back money on a custom tank setup. It would also allow you to change your storage capacity on the fly.
It's definitely highly desirable to have the tank resting on the ground when in use, with a non watertight fitting running into it, so if it overflows, your drain doesn't back up, you just dump water on the ground.
