Water Tank Drain Extension

[howson]

Cate&Rob ,
Any updates to this installation or something you'd do different with the benefit of hindsight? It's been ~ 3 years since the below was posted "elsewhere". Installing an extension is on my "To Do" list.

[Cate&Rob]

howson
Hi Howard,

The fresh water tank drain continues to work well . . . the pull handle, not so much.

I cobbled together the pull cable from parts-on-hand (and spent way too much time fabricating the attachment to the existing pull handle) I found that it would always pull open the valve, but I would have to crawl under there anyway to push the valve handle the last 1/4" to completely closed. I was going to up-grade the pull cable using one of my removed gate valve cables, but realized that when I want to drain this tank, the slide is usually out and I have to crawl under there anyway. With the draining water directed away, under the trailer stays dry and reaching the pull handle or reaching the valve is about the same. So, I have removed the pull cable contraption.

I most often use the adapter to a garden hose and drain away from the trailer that way. Either to the street if I am sanitizing or to the lawn if it is just water. I have used the adapter to a sewer hose once or twice . . . at a campsite, if the sewer hose happens to be out already. I am usually draining this tank at home. To do this again. I would probably go with a permanently installed garden hose connection.

If it works on your trailer, to get the drain hose connection to a location not under a slide, it might be worth reconsidering the remote pull handle idea, using a proper gate valve pull cable. Fabrication of attachment to the handle and bracketry to secure the cable jacket would still be required. Another idea that I have considered is an electric gate valve.

Rob

[OffToHavasu]

Rob, I STILL think you need to add some food coloring to your water tank and when you're at a campground, pull the handle and start screaming, "Oh God no!"

[Cate&Rob]

Rob, I STILL think you need to add some food coloring to your water tank and when you're at a campground, pull the handle and start screaming, "Oh God no!"

And Curtis . . .as I recall, this is not the first time that you have come up with "idea" .

Rob

[OffToHavasu]

Nope...I'm going to keep pushing it until it gets implemented..With Cate taking video of course.

[Country Campers]

Instead of having the pull cable could you just add a gate valve at the outlet?

Brian

[Cate&Rob]

Instead of having the pull cable could you just add a gate valve at the outlet?

Brian

Hmmm . . . I never though of that! Good idea.

And, now that you have me thinking about other possibilities . . . an elbow to a (removable) short vertical pipe could be used to gravity fill the water tank without needing to use the onboard pump.

Rob

[Country Campers]

Hmmm . . . I never though of that! Good idea.

And, now that you have me thinking about other possibilities . . . an elbow to a (removable) short vertical pipe could be used to gravity fill the water tank without needing to use the onboard pump.

Rob

See a squirrel finds a nut once and a while

Brian

[howson]

Instead of having the pull cable could you just add a gate valve at the outlet?

Brian

To my great surprise the gate valve on my water tank is screwed on! It came off very easily.

I didn't get to the extension part of the project today (will post shortly in my thread what I got done) but I've discounted the idea of moving the gate valve downstream due to potential cold weather issues. There's a heat vent that blows directly on the water tank to keep it from freezing up, By moving the gate valve, there will be water in (relatively) small pipes susceptible to freezing.

At least that's the conclusion I came to today while lying on my back staring at this setup and playing with the valve. (It's FANTASTIC that the valve unscrews from the water tank. It will be super easy to replace if necessary.)

Howard

[howson]

I think this is better place to document how I extended the water tank valve handle than my other thread. (I'll reference this post in my thread.)

What I did was unscrew the handle from the valve shaft, install a nut coupler, a threaded rod, and then the handle again. The threaded rod is protected by a piece of 3/8" pex. The assembly is supported by eye bolts which are supported by a 11.5" piece of aluminum screwed into the gap between the frame and skirt.





The pex slides forward and rearward through the eye bolts when the handle is pushed or pulled. I adjusted the eye bolts until there was very little resistance. In fact, to get this what I did was leave the threaded rod-to-nut coupler junction disconnected and adjusted the eye bolts until the thread lined up perfectly with the nut coupler. Then with a dab of blue lock tight on the threads, I screwed it together. Works perfectly--no crawling under the trailer to pull the handle.



I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Cate&Rob will note the handle is under the bedroom slide, and of course he's right. I considered his input and looked at multiple options, but in the end I decided on keeping it relatively simple.

The dump extension and overflow valve are still a work in progress.

[Cate&Rob]

If you decide to glue an extension to this gate valve, you need to have the right glue. ABS is black and PVC is white. In “the north” drain parts are commonly available in ABS but not PVC. There is glue to bond ABS to PVC. In Florida, you can probably find the fittings you need in PVC. ABS is not allowed in potable water supply, so would have to be “outside” the gate valve.

Rob

[howson]

If you decide to glue an extension to this gate valve, you need to have the right glue. ABS is black and PVC is white. In “the north” drain parts are commonly available in ABS but not PVC. There is glue to bond ABS to PVC. In Florida, you can probably find the fittings you need in PVC. ABS is not allowed in potable water supply, so would have to be “outside” the gate valve.

Rob

This is what I was going to use--it looks OK? Only issue is this glue bonds PVC together almost instantly. When the pipes stop moving together--that's it. They won't move again. If the position is not right the only option is cutting it out.

[Country Campers]

Howard

Could you please add some info on the "gate valve is screwed to the tank"?.

I had noticed once that mine turned when I pulled the valve open and was not sure why and did not check any further.

Brian

[howson]

Howard

Could you please add some info on the "gate valve is screwed to the tank"?.

I had noticed once that mine turned when I pulled the valve open and was not sure why and did not check any further.

Brian

Where the arrow is pointing is a threaded connection. The tank has female threads. There's a male threaded adapter glued to the valve. Grab the valve body and unscrew it from the tank--it comes off with little effort. (I was contemplating how to run the dump line for the tank and it dawned on me to try and move the valve. That's when I discovered it removes easily, but as previously mentioned I've discounted the idea of moving the valve.)

[Cate&Rob]

howson

PVC and it’s glue are OK for potable water. Since you are not moving the gate valve, you could go to ABS like the rest of the drain systems, but you need a special glue for the transition from PVC to ABS. For some reason, Florida has drain fittings in PVC whereas in northern states (and Canada) these fittings are available in ABS.

Rob