Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Ok guys I am now in the tank phase of my trailer conversion. I have a few questions:

Fresh:

I have a fill port with the gravity feed and the water hook up to fill the tanks. Do you make 2 different ports in the fresh water tank or you do "Y" these 2 together and run into one port on the fresh tank?

I will be using this as my fresh tank



Gray:

1) Can I use this for my gray tank? It is the perfect size and its ABS. I like ABS as I can use solvents on it to weld the fixtures



2) Where do you guys have your shower and sink draining into the gray water tank? Do you go into the top or into the side. I do not want to go into the top as I will have to drop the tank more.

Black:

Do you guys run your pipe under the frame or do you drill through the frame and run the pipe through the frame?

thank you for your time and insight

Chris

I forgot to ask about black water plumbing:

is it ok to have a 90 degree elbow coming immediately off of the black water tank outlet spout? Are there any rules about adding 90 degree elbows in the system. I ask as I do not want the solid waste to get stuck and I didn't know if having a 90 degree right off of the tank drain would cause this?

Sevo wrote:
I have a fill port with the gravity feed and the water hook up to fill the tanks. Do you make 2 different ports in the fresh water tank or you do "Y" these 2 together and run into one port on the fresh tank?

You should only have one fill port for the tank. Now on a camper you do have two water inputs. One city and one gravity fill.. The gravity fill port goes to the freshwater tank. The city hook up is where you connect a water hose if you have water at the site. The city hookup does not go to the fresh water tank.. Infact it bypasses it all together. You tie the line from this connection into the plumbing of the camper past the water pump. The water pump acts like a check valve and keeps your freshwater tank from filling when the hose it connected. The city hook up also has a check valve in it so when your running off your fresh water tank and the pump is running water does not come out of the city hook up.

Sevo wrote: 1) Can I use this for my gray tank? It is the perfect size and its ABS. I like ABS as I can use solvents on it to weld the fixtures

Not sure what tank that is, but if it holds water it will work.

Sevo wrote:2) Where do you guys have your shower and sink draining into the gray water tank? Do you go into the top or into the side. I do not want to go into the top as I will have to drop the tank more.

You can do either. You can go through the top or through the side.. If going through the side go as high as you can.

Sevo wrote:Black:
Do you guys run your pipe under the frame or do you drill through the frame and run the pipe through the frame?

You can't really run your black pipe.. I mean you can I guess, But the toilet should be right above the tank so no running lines. The drain for the black water tank works best if it just runs straight out of the tank to a dump valve.. You dont' want to mount the tank then run 10' of pipe to the back of the trailer to a dump valve.. 3" line like you use for black water plumbing is also to big to run through the framing of most trailers. So if you did want to run the line you would probably have to go below the frame.. The other problem is the line would need fall. So the line would have to slope not just be tucked up tight to the frame the whole way. Its much easier and works much better to just have the dump valve right at the outlet of the black water tank. Then just run a line from the output of the greywater tank to the same dump valve.. That line is smaller and just carries liquid so a little bit of plumbing and a turn or two is NP..

Awesome reply!!! thanks 8ball! That is exactly what i needed.

I have been looking at the frame of my trailer. To make the toilet work I will have to take out a few ribs to get the black water tank under the toilet, plus the black tank will not be close to the left side of that trailer so I will have to run a few feet of pipe to my dump valve.... I really did not want to alter the frame that much and though about using one of those marine macerator toilets (http://www.amazon.com/Jabsco-37010-0090 ... 182&sr=8-3)

This way I can move the black tank down the frame further and I will not have to remove any ribs. Plus it will get the black tank right next to the dump valve. what are your thoughts on this?

thanks again for all of the help

Sorry I don't have any experience with those kind of toilets. I'd imagine it uses much more water per flush. It also is rated for 16 amps so it needs a decent amount of power to run. Probably my biggest concern with that would be clogs. With an RV toilet you have water in a bowl. When you flush the bottom just opens and the contents drop in to the black water tank. So it takes little water and pretty much can't clog.

As for the tank and the dump valve. There is nothing wrong with running a 3" pipe from the tank to the valve. You just don't want the run to be very long and you also don't want a bunch of turns in it. A few feet of pipe and a single 90 is not an issue. If you look below you can see I have a single 90 on each line

Thanks again for the help man, I really appreciate it. I just ordered the exact dump valve in your picture

I just ordered all of my tanks. I also ordered this for my tank levels. Its called the SeeLevel II 709 (http://www.dyersonline.com/garnet-seele ... googlebase) The monitoring strips are more accurate than the regular sensors that are in the tanks I ordered. I will let you know how it works out. The reviews are great on it.

I am sure I will have more questions once I get started plumbing her up.

Sevo wrote:Thanks again for the help man, I really appreciate it. I just ordered the exact dump valve in your picture

I just ordered all of my tanks. I also ordered this for my tank levels. Its called the SeeLevel II 709 (http://www.dyersonline.com/garnet-seele ... googlebase) The monitoring strips are more accurate than the regular sensors that are in the tanks I ordered. I will let you know how it works out. The reviews are great on it.

I am sure I will have more questions once I get started plumbing her up.

I've seen that system before. It is more accurate and you don't have to drill holes in the tank. I almost went with it for my trailer, But I was able to get my monitor off of ebay for 9.99 then I paid around 15 bucks for enough SS probes to monitor my tanks. The Garnet system was more like 200 when I was looking. 200 vs 30 I just went with the old tried and true.

Trick with the probe style setups is if the probes do get dirty and start giving false readings. Fill the tank up about half way with water and pour a large bag or two of ice down the toilet.. Then just drive the trailer around. The ice will clean the probes with out you having to do anything..

8ball_99 wrote:

Sevo wrote:Thanks again for the help man, I really appreciate it. I just ordered the exact dump valve in your picture

I just ordered all of my tanks. I also ordered this for my tank levels. Its called the SeeLevel II 709 (http://www.dyersonline.com/garnet-seele ... googlebase) The monitoring strips are more accurate than the regular sensors that are in the tanks I ordered. I will let you know how it works out. The reviews are great on it.

I am sure I will have more questions once I get started plumbing her up.

I've seen that system before. It is more accurate and you don't have to drill holes in the tank. I almost went with it for my trailer, But I was able to get my monitor off of ebay for 9.99 then I paid around 15 bucks for enough SS probes to monitor my tanks. The Garnet system was more like 200 when I was looking. 200 vs 30 I just went with the old tried and true.

Trick with the probe style setups is if the probes do get dirty and start giving false readings. Fill the tank up about half way with water and pour a large bag or two of ice down the toilet.. Then just drive the trailer around. The ice will clean the probes with out you having to do anything..

Yeah I am with you on the price... I have spent a pile of money already. I almost didn't buy it, I was sold on that I didn't have to drill any holes in the tanks.

I do have a question about your gravity fill line, what kind of hose are you using. Is it anything I can get at HD?

Are you using PEX from your holding tank to your 12V water pump? What about after the pump, PEX?

Sorry didn't see this post till just now. The gravity fill line on RV tanks is a weird size. I want to say its something like 1 3/8" Lowes and home depot do not carry it. They have 1" , 1 1/4" and 1 1/2". The line is flexible hose.. I cheated a little. The RV dealer only had a couple of feet and they wanted a pretty penny per foot or they sold it in 10' foot sections.. I ended up buying a hose made for swimming pools at home depot. It fit on both the tank and the RV fill fitting like a glove. It was cheaper and came in longer sections. I figured if it was able to handle the suction of a pool vac and withstand all the chemicals that go into a pool. Then it should hold up Np to a hose pipe filling the tank.

I used pex on all the plumbing from the tank to all the fixtures. Its pretty much the standard in plumbing for RVs.. Some trailers use braided vinyl hose between the pump and the tank. I'd rather just have Pex on everything. Vinyl hose will need replaced sooner or later pex on the other hand should outlive the trailer..

8ball_99 wrote:Sorry didn't see this post till just now. The gravity fill line on RV tanks is a weird size. I want to say its something like 1 3/8" Lowes and home depot do not carry it. They have 1" , 1 1/4" and 1 1/2". The line is flexible hose.. I cheated a little. The RV dealer only had a couple of feet and they wanted a pretty penny per foot or they sold it in 10' foot sections.. I ended up buying a hose made for swimming pools at home depot. It fit on both the tank and the RV fill fitting like a glove. It was cheaper and came in longer sections. I figured if it was able to handle the suction of a pool vac and withstand all the chemicals that go into a pool. Then it should hold up Np to a hose pipe filling the tank.

I used pex on all the plumbing from the tank to all the fixtures. Its pretty much the standard in plumbing for RVs.. Some trailers use braided vinyl hose between the pump and the tank. I'd rather just have Pex on everything. Vinyl hose will need replaced sooner or later pex on the other hand should outlive the trailer..

thank you for the reply! Yeah I am having a hard time with finding hose locally as well. Same with ABS!!!! I do not have a lowes in town, I am going to have to do a lot of trial by error and order

A few more questions if you don't mind??

1: I too am using all Pex. The problem is they only have brass male to barbed connectors, they do not have any plastic ended male. Is it ok to use brass on plastic ABS fittings? The outlets on the fresh water tanks are ABS threaded female. I didn't know if road travel would eventually eat up the threads if the male connector was brass?

2: From your shower drain to your gray water did you use flexible hose or did you use solid ABS as well. I thought about using flexible hose as it would be easier to run with less chances of breaks from weak welds?

3: Vent holes for fresh water, they need to be in the highest point correct ( sorry if stupid question)

4: Vent holes for gray and black water, What size do you make yours and did you run ABS, PVC to the roof?

5: Did you mount your PEX lines under the carriage or through the Frame?

6: Do you run your gray water tine from your shower drain through the frame or under the frame? I think I will do under as this will be easier.

Sorry for all the questions, I have mounted my tanks and I am ready to get moving on this thing

I appreciate all of your help

Chris