My trailer Build

[Dirtytires]

I agree with you Mark. Most of our troop leaders are women.Nothing against women, but it is a organization deemed for boys not girls..I guess their husbands are to lazy to have any interest in their upbringing and socialization skills. Makes no sense to me. Well good luck with the Girls. Maybe we as men can invade their humble abode. I have found that most women don't have the respect for men as they once did. or people in general. Oh well off my soapbox.

 

[Dirtytires]

Back to a little work. I cut the hole in the trailer today for the install of the water fill. I t went pretty smooth. Lots of work to cut the hole..
Getting closer to completing the water.

 

[koolex11]

Looks good! Is that fill plug threaded for a hose connection?

 

[Dirtytires]

Yes Sir it is threaded on the inside for a hose.The cap unscrews and you just screw the hose on let her flow..
And let me tell you it is a pain in the bottom to get that hose slipped on there.
Here is a few more pics of the inside and attachments.

 

[UK4X4]

Ok whats with the funnies

water does not flow up hill

and vents are meant to be from the top of the tank not the bottom

The clear hose from the fill needs to go to the top of the tank- that white hose is not required

You could turn it over and it should work fine- but will back flow as soon as the water in the tank reaches the same level as the inlet


if you use a fixed hose connection it will fill correctly and vent

but you won't be filling from a bottle -gravity feed

 

[koolex11]

I was wondering about that, but then I just thought the tank was temporarily on its side. Still filling uphill, that's why I asked about the hose connection. Not a huge deal, if you do need to fill from a jerry can, just rig up a hose so you can hold the fill bottle high and it will go in. And if it doesn't work, you can always make that hole into the campsite electrical connection...

 

[Dirtytires]

Ok whats with the funnies

water does not flow up hill

and vents are meant to be from the top of the tank not the bottom

The clear hose from the fill needs to go to the top of the tank- that white hose is not required

You could turn it over and it should work fine- but will back flow as soon as the water in the tank reaches the same level as the inlet


if you use a fixed hose connection it will fill correctly and vent

but you won't be filling from a bottle -gravity feed

Ok.
To fill the tank with a hose you simply attach the hose to the outside of the trailer and fill. The water will go wherever it is directed with some pressure behind it. The air hose and the white house were reversed. The blue and white hose is for filling the tank with water. The clear tube on the front bottom is used for draining the tank. Then the white hose will be the hose to attach to the pump that will go to the sink.

Am I doing this wrong? I am not a plumber by any means. Thanks for the help.

 

[koolex11]

I think what UK was thinking about was the possible need to fill the tank with a jug, back country style, when a pressurized water supply isn't available.

I am not a plumber either, but I think your tank needs a vent in order to let the air escape when you fill it, and to let air back in when you pump. If your tank is completely sealed up, it wont work. Do you have another vent in the tank? If not, you can always just poke a hole in the top, but water will splash out when you're driving.

It's good to have a drain, but the water will only drain to the level of your outlet. From the picture, it looks like if you open up the drain, it will only empty out a little more than half.

I have done some amateur engineering with water flow. I set up a hydroponic garden in my greenhouse and made everything from scratch. A lot of trial and error. One thing I learned is what UK was trying to say. You can't fight gravity, everything must flow down, unless it is powered.

I think a good solution would be to keep the tank oriented as you have it now, but make the white tube the vent (hook it to your outlet) and make the clear tube the supply line to the sink. That way you can just pump it dry if you want to drain it. Leave clear tube long (extra 5 ft or so), so that if you want to drain it without a pump, you just hang the clear tube over the side of the trailer and let it siphon. As long as the outlet/drain hose end is below the tank water level, it will pull the water up and out of the trailer.

Good plan to use a hand pump for the sink, though. Hope this is helpful!

 

[koolex11]

Let me know if you want to put a rain barrel on top! I can show you how to make one of them for less than $40!

 

[Dirtytires]

A little confused here! My fill hose from the outside of the trailer is vented. The big white and blue line is the fill line that has a vent line running up with it. There is a vent in the city water side of the tank. The front lowest corner is a clear line that is connected to the on and off valve located outside of the trailer. This is the empty line. Then I have a pump line on the rear bottom corner. Then the top rear line will be to the sink,faucet,sprayer,or whatever. This is the same way a RV is setup. So why will it not work? I guess I should call Tracy ,she has a degree in Hydrology. Thanks for the insight and help.

 

[koolex11]

I didn't see a vent on you white and blue line, so if you have one you can disregard previous comments. Unless you close the vent when you aren't filling it. Because it will cause a vacuum when you try to pump!

I don't know how RV tanks are set up, so you may be right. Just looking at the pics and thinking about it, I might have been confused too.

So the white line (sink/faucet hand pump), does it go into the tank all the way to the bottom? Like a weed whacker? If yes then you're good there.

I also didn't realize you had a 4th pump line.

So I guess the only issue I see is the drain. Like I said, it probably won't drain completely out because the outlet point is too high.

Also like I said, trial and error. Some of the best inventions are developed by the guys who ignore all the nay-sayers!

 

[Dirtytires]

The drain I know would be a pain to get empty. Not really a big concern with being completely empty. My original intent was to put the drain in the floor in the front of the trailer. I don't know why I changed my mind. If needed I could really pick up the water tank and empty it manually, It will only weigh 183 lbs. full. I don't think it will need to be full on every trip.Or just simply cut a hole in the floor and move it. Then I would have to weld up the hole on the side wall, but no biggy. Trial and error is sometimes the best teacher.

 

[Dirtytires]

Back to the fun. I welded a trailer jack to the trailer. I was wanting to install an electric hoist, but a good one is a little more than I would want to spend. Today I installed some led lights. Mood lights... I bougth them for a project on a truck I never completed. I figured it would be nice to be able to see a little bit. I will await the dark to see if I should upgrade them or just hard wire them to the switch. I am waiting for the Sink and faucet. I am picking up the pump tomorrow. Then I think I will drill the holes in the floor for the drain. Playing around with cabinets and storage.. A few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Kreg

 

[Titanpat57]

Here is the Fill Port that i used. It cut into the side of the trailer and then I connected the large hose and a smaller vent hose. You can see in the picture where the vent is connected.

Here is the link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Grav..._Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a485c4af

The bottom 2 ports were used for the pump supply and the other for the tank drain out.

 

[Mark Harley]

Dirtytires, Your trailer looks great!
Are you going to keep the split rims of change them for civilian wheels?
what are the other items you are planning?
Mark