Tanks you can Trust

[Seangie]

Hey All,

We have just started the process of updating an already converted bus (I should be posting pictures soon).  We are converting the bus from 2 big people to 2 big people and 4 little people.  Because of this we are foreseeing the need to change from 40 gallon fresh and 40 gallon gray to 100+ gallon fresh and 100+ gallon gray.  Because we are on a budget, I am having a hard time with $500.00 tanks from Ronco but at the same time I want to make sure I only have to do this swap once.  If anyone has some good resources to find some solid tanks, I'm all ears.  Space I am working with is 24"x24"x50" for fresh and 14"x24"x48" for gray.  We have a budget of around 400-500 for both tanks but less would be great.

Thanks to all!

-Sean

[artvonne]

  The absolute best option is to make your own custom tanks from polyethylene sheet using plastic welding. Gumpy has a website showing how he made his own plastic welded tanks, and IMHO that is the best way by far. You may end up slightly over your $500 budget, but if you think it out well in advance, you'll end up with exactly what you want.

[PCC]

I used the AQUATANK II which is "like" a waterbed mattress.

Mine fits in my 8" tall bay, is 3' X 6', and holds up to 150 gallons.

Bob and Matt were great to make sure it worked perfectly.

The aquatank (not II) will not handle the movement, but the model II is the one we installed.

I am sure it comes in other sizes.

[Seangie]

Art - I have read Gumpy's site and contemplated that.  I am not sure we have the space or time in our current situation.  It is a thought I will hold onto though.

PCC - Nice.  Not sure about that.  Maybe if we added a second tank for drinking water only and I could install it under the bed.  But for our main tank I am going to need something solid.  I guarantee you that my 4 year old boy would somehow find that yellow bag full of water and slay it like it was a dragon.

I have seen this tank a few times online - (ebay, RVSurplus)
http://www.rvsurplus.net/catalog/display.php?product_id=2810

Anyone have this in their bus?

-Sean

[Len Silva]

I built fiberglass and plywood tanks about twenty years ago and the last time I talked to the new owner, they were still holding up fine.  This was for waste only, not drinking water.

The advantage is that you can build them exactly the size you want to take the best advantage of the available space.  When I did mine, I built one large tank with a divider in it for black/gray about 40/60 but now it think 30/70 would be better.  The advantage is a bit less material.

[artvonne]

  The nice thing about the plastic welding, is you can so easily contour the tanks shape to perfectly fit a unique space, taking full advantage of the areas capacity, and utilizing available space much more efficiently.

  The additional advantage of it, is that I think it would be the fastest way to get the tanks you want. I would bet that given the materials on hand, the proper tools, and having your design layed out ahead of you, you could weld up the tanks in less than a day. Once you had the welding going it will likely go pretty fast.

  I plan to have the floor plan and bay layout down rock solid, as well as vent locations, long before I begin tank construction. Ive grown quite tired of the cut twice after measuring once method, and relocating holes. Its really hard to cut short boards longer. 

[bottomacher]

The way I figure it, you have only enough space for about 70 gallons for the gray tank. I've been wrong before...

[Jeremy]

Can you contour the shape of a plastic welded tank? I suppose you could if you had some way of softening and bending the plastic, but all the ones I've seen have been fabricated out of flat sheet. Blow-moulded or injection-moulded plastic tanks can be a contoured shape, but they're a different animal and not something you can make yourself.

I'm beginning to think about the tanks for my bus; I originally assumed that I would be making my own fibreglass tanks as I've plenty of experience of working with fibreglass. I'm not so sure now though - to do it properly would take quite a bit of work and consume lots of fibreglass, so although you can create exactly what you want I don't really think it's the 'cheap' option that it first appears to be.

But on the other hand I'm not sure I'd want to have a go at fabricating my own welded plastic tank. I can imagine getting it installed in the bowels of the bus (my tanks aren't simply going in the bays), then having a disaster as the weight of 100 gallons of water split open one of the welded seams.

So at the moment I figure I'll be getting tanks professionally fabricated to my design - not the cheapest option but not prohibitively expensive either, and the peace-of-mind is probably worth it

Jeremy

[Oonrahnjay]

(snip)  the peace-of-mind is probably worth it 

     Yeah.

[chev49]

My brother also made wood/fiberglass tanks which worked fine for years, so that is always a cheap option instead of making plastic ones.

As far as black/grey ratios, etc. i have a 30 gal black; 108 grey tanks; 135+ 25 fresh; 20 generator; 30 propane; extra 5 gal gas n 7 gal propane tanks.
These are about right for us two we can go for a long time with careful water use.

[Scott & Heather]

http://www.plastic-mart.com/item.aspx?id=1462

$167 for one 100 gallon tank. They were an easy company to work with. Took the tank to a local plastic parts manufacturer and had them spin-weld fittings into the plastic. Have full-timed with these tanks for nearly a year now with heavy use (lots of people coming and staying with us for a week at a time) and have not had a single issue.

[Melbo]

I had tanks custom welded out of HDPE -- a little pricey I thought but I am only going to do this once (I thought).

Had a few issues with some seams so I pulled the tank and found the leak and called the company that made them for me and it was out of business.

Found another company to repair the tank -- once again kind of pricey but I wanted it done right.

Now these tanks were not free floating but secured in a metal cage for support to prevent pressure on the seams.

Well long story short I have new galvanized steel tanks with removable tops and I use a separate source for any consumable water.

Make your own if you want but my recommendation is if you want custom sized tanks go to a tank company and have them made if you can work with a tank that comes premade that would be the cheapest and easiest.

I wanted to fill the bay with the tanks --- 165 fresh 135 grey and 30 black --- we take long hot showers even when on the road.

YMMV

HTH

Melbo

[DMoedave]

I got a couple of tanks from www.tankdepot.com. They have lots of selection and you can browse thru and pick the ones that suit your space the closest. I think it was 30. extra to install the 3 fittings i needed. I got a 3", 2" and 1 1/2" for my waste tank. Be aware when you pick one that they have several points of origin and the shipping. I think mine ended up coming from Michigan. One thing you might want to do is build a mock up out of cardboard and mark your fitting locations so you can actually see where everything works out. In trying to get the most tank in my very short bays, i almost dident have enough room at the top for one of my fittings. The prices can vary so search away.

[belfert]

I have seen this tank a few times online - (ebay, RVSurplus)
http://www.rvsurplus.net/catalog/display.php?product_id=2810

Anyone have this in their bus?

I have two of those exact tanks in my bus.  One is the fresh water tank with molded-in fittings and the other is the waste tank.  The waste tank came as a sealed tank with no holes or fittings.  I had to add some rubber fittings to attach my waste lines.  The way I did the outlet is not ideal, but it hasn't leaked yet.  I think RV Surplus might be able to have fittings added to a custom tank as the manufacturer is close to Elkhart.

I picked up my tanks off the shelf at RV Surplus in Elkhart.  My trip home with my bus took me right through Elkhart.

[Dave5Cs]

These guys you can order any size.
Dave


http://www.tank-depot.com/