The subject of water tanks came up on the MAK board. I know that some of you do not use that board, so I am pasting my reply here (also, since it relates so directly to our wonderful Eagles).
>>>>>MAK board post>>>>>
Regarding the tanks. Several folks have made their own. Some use stainless steel, some fiberglass/wood and some welded polypropylene.
When you make your own tanks you can get exactly what you want in terms of fit.
Craig Shepard has a great discussion/how-to about fabricated tanks at: http://www.gumpydog.com/bus/MC9_WIP/Plu ... cation.htm
No matter what type of tank you choose, I think the most important point is to support them properly. That is especially true of large vertical surfaces. Tanks in buses tend to be tall and the pressure can cause bulging and lead to a fatigue type failure.
I bought rotomolded polyethylene tanks. I got them from: http://www.ardemco.com. I just went to their website, and was very disappointed. I thought they would list the hundreds of sizes available, but they don't seem to have that information. They advertise in BC magazine and I would recommend you support them if they have what you want.
Ardemco has two levels of the tanks. I chose the thick wall. They will put fittings anywhere you would like them (I had extras installed and was glad that I did).
For my Eagle, I got the following tanks (they fit very nicely and give me a very good balance of weight vs length of boondocking):
Fresh water: B300, 135 gallon, 76 X 28 X 16
Gray water: B204, 95 gallon, 76 X 27 X 11.5
Black water: B299, 85 gallon, 76 X 28 X 10
These tanks cost a bit over $1000 about 8 years ago. A bit costly, but they fit so nicely and I got product that was designed for the application (and proven in thousands of applications). You can see a few more details on one of my project pages: http://www.rvsafetysystems.com/busproject2.htm Please note that all of the photos on my project pages are thumbnail and you can get enlarged versions by clicking on the thumbnail.
We can go for well over a week with these tanks while using normal RV usage.
Jim
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As of 12/1/2021, a major update of the forum software was accomplished
Update: 3/7/2024: The Eagles email account at GoDaddy no longer works. I have set up a gmail account as a workaround: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com
Registration is open to the public (*) and free from any cost or obligation. Please allow up to 36 hours for your application to be processed. If you have problems registering, please email me at: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com
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Water Tanks (fresh, gray, black)
- beltguy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2667
- Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:39 am
- FMCA #: F246286
- Bus Model: 1985 Eagle 10 with Series 60 and Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission (SOLD)
- Location: Evergreen, CO
- Contact:
Water Tanks (fresh, gray, black)
Jim Shepherd
Evergreen, CO
'85 Eagle 10 with Series 60 & Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission SOLD
2005 Dodge 2500 with 5.9 Cummins and 6 speed manual 2022 Sunset 28 foot trailer
Bus Project pages: http://beltguy.com/Bus_Project/busproject.htm
Blog: https://beltguy.com/Travelogue/
Email: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com NOTE this email box is only for general correspondence related to the forum and not technical advice. Technical questions will not receive a response.
Evergreen, CO
'85 Eagle 10 with Series 60 & Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission SOLD
2005 Dodge 2500 with 5.9 Cummins and 6 speed manual 2022 Sunset 28 foot trailer
Bus Project pages: http://beltguy.com/Bus_Project/busproject.htm
Blog: https://beltguy.com/Travelogue/
Email: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com NOTE this email box is only for general correspondence related to the forum and not technical advice. Technical questions will not receive a response.
- luvrbus
- Club Member
- Posts: 2981
- Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 12:50 pm
- FMCA #: F262917
- Bus Model: 05
Re: Water Tanks (fresh, gray, black)
Jim, I like the idea of your tanks holding more waste than fresh water mine were sized to hold the same amount and sometimes that is a problem when you are out of fresh water with no place to dump.As far as Ardemco you can buy the tanks direct from their supplier and save about 15% to 20% I am all for support but not when it cost you more cash (I am cheap) good luck
Clifford
Clifford
- beltguy
- Site Admin
- Posts: 2667
- Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2008 4:39 am
- FMCA #: F246286
- Bus Model: 1985 Eagle 10 with Series 60 and Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission (SOLD)
- Location: Evergreen, CO
- Contact:
Re: Water Tanks (fresh, gray, black)
Clifford, I really like my set-up. When I took MAK's conversion class many years ago the teacher was Tom Winterhaulter. What a great class it was!
One of the things that Tom suggested was to plumb the gray and black tank so that you could dump the black then open a valve to make the gray flow THROUGH the black tank. I have a valve an plumbing on the passenger side of the tanks that I open up after I dump the black and that forces the gray water to flow completely through the black tank as it head towards the dump valve. Just make sense and works great.
My experience is that the black never goes over 1/4 in a week. However, if we do a bit of washing, the gray gets a little high. I just open the valve between the gray and black and let some gray flow into the black and then I have more capacity in the gray tank.
If you know how to contact the supplier of the Ardemco tanks, we should probably know that information. Having said that, the Ardemco folks were great to work with and I would probably go back with them if the premium was not too much.
Jim
One of the things that Tom suggested was to plumb the gray and black tank so that you could dump the black then open a valve to make the gray flow THROUGH the black tank. I have a valve an plumbing on the passenger side of the tanks that I open up after I dump the black and that forces the gray water to flow completely through the black tank as it head towards the dump valve. Just make sense and works great.
My experience is that the black never goes over 1/4 in a week. However, if we do a bit of washing, the gray gets a little high. I just open the valve between the gray and black and let some gray flow into the black and then I have more capacity in the gray tank.
If you know how to contact the supplier of the Ardemco tanks, we should probably know that information. Having said that, the Ardemco folks were great to work with and I would probably go back with them if the premium was not too much.
Jim
Jim Shepherd
Evergreen, CO
'85 Eagle 10 with Series 60 & Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission SOLD
2005 Dodge 2500 with 5.9 Cummins and 6 speed manual 2022 Sunset 28 foot trailer
Bus Project pages: http://beltguy.com/Bus_Project/busproject.htm
Blog: https://beltguy.com/Travelogue/
Email: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com NOTE this email box is only for general correspondence related to the forum and not technical advice. Technical questions will not receive a response.
Evergreen, CO
'85 Eagle 10 with Series 60 & Eaton AutoShift 10 speed transmission SOLD
2005 Dodge 2500 with 5.9 Cummins and 6 speed manual 2022 Sunset 28 foot trailer
Bus Project pages: http://beltguy.com/Bus_Project/busproject.htm
Blog: https://beltguy.com/Travelogue/
Email: eaglesinternational.email at gmail.com NOTE this email box is only for general correspondence related to the forum and not technical advice. Technical questions will not receive a response.