Automatic Water Shutoff Valve

[robertglines1]

Like the other Bob said keep it simple stock tank float valve under your tank lid. We use it on storage tank on steam engines all time.  Have about a 18 inch piece of garden hose attached to it permanent. then hook hose from shore supply up to it to fill up tank. Shuts off when full! we can disconnect at our pleasure... Kiss Principle=   keep it simple stupid. ( Just a principle) works for us old guys---  Bob

[Scott & Heather]

Ok. My blood pressure has dropped enough for me to think. I'm going to try and retrofit a stock tank float like you guys suggested and see if it works for me. Thank you so much for your guidance. In case you guys think I'm overreacting, I flooded the bay enough this time I soaked 3000 of my CDs in boxes. $45,000 worth of product. They are plastic wrapped, but I freaked. I have no other place to put them. Need to make some changes to my luggage bay setup.


Sent from iPhone via Tapatalk

[robertglines1]

Ok: Scott; We run the hose attached to storage tank on steam engine tank open top opening aprox 12 inches. Float anchored to opening. Water hose (short 18 inch) attached to it-- so we can detach and move engine to another location and reconnect without removing tank float valve.  We are sometimes hooked up to 90lb water pressure when running saw mill which takes allot of water to make steam and it keeps tank level full so we can draw from it as needed--without running over.  Your wanting to shut the water off when full then go out at your leasure and turn connection off.  This will not relieve you of that responsibility in cold weather!  If you need to talk in person to make this easier pm me your  cell and we will talk it thru. Or just go look at what we are talking about. It hooks to the end of a garden hose.Or you can hard plumb one in.   Bob

[Scott & Heather]

PM Sent Bob. Talk to you soon.  Our water line is freeze proof and wrapped in heat tape and insulation. The reason we have to turn the connection off is because the pump/plumbing in the house is susceptible to freezing since the house is under renovations and has zero heat running in it. So just in case something freezes and busts, I have to keep the pump turned off until I'm ready to fill the tank. Long story short, another month and a half of this and we're done with the cold weather. But I need to fix this now. I'm not procrastinating anymore. I have a luggage bay electric heater down there that got soaked too. Dangerous as all get out. 

[TomC]

All this discussion when all you need is a puck light above the tank and watch it fill. No more simple than that. Good Luck, TomC

[luvrbus]

A simple overflow hose same size as the supply hose now that is simple

[robertglines1]

Sometimes standing outside in single digits 20mph winds.  Also overflow on ground that creates sheets of ice that last weeks . Mud that doesn't go away till April.  We all have brain lapse. This takes it one step past simple. Here our over flow in summer often creates soft unstable ground.  With frost in ground a few weeks ago a 2 inch rain made the Ohio river jump from 16ft pool to 37ft in 5 days. The rain couldn't soak in.  The odd thing we are considered in a drought.  We all live in a unique part of the world.   Our frost can reach 20 inches here. Not this year. Usually gone 1st of April. Scott is 300 miles north of us.  Fwiw     Bob

[Scott & Heather]

I missed your call last night Bob. At the moment you called my wife and I were helping a friend with an oil leak on her Toyota Camry. I don't want to miss it a second time. Will connect with you today. As Bon said, it's cold here in Michigan. We've already had days with wind chills below zero. Overflow leads to lots of ice and yes soft ground. Coach is on levelers and those are on 1/4 inch steel plates and she still sunk a couple
inches. Frost heave is crazy around here. It takes 20-30 minutes to fill from empty. I've been dressing warm and standing out there watching it. The timer  idea can work, but I never fill the tank with the same level of water left in it so some days it's a 30 minute fill job. Some days only 15. Water pressure varies a lot depending on where we are so there's no true accurate way to measure the time it takes to fill. Unless you have had to fill your tank every couple of days in 20 mph winds with temps in the teens or single digits and snow smacking your face, you have no idea how much of a blessing a float valve shutoff will be.


Sent from iPhone via Tapatalk

[chessie4905]

You don't have to run the overflow line out on the ground if your sewer line is handy.
How about installing a whistle on the overflow line; the whistle stops when it is full and starts running out the overflow.  Or hook up a permanent water line, to bus water line inlet after water pump with a heat tape on line to keep from freezing. They have this on house trailers/ mobile homes all the time.

[Seangie]

Scott,

For a cheap quick fix, how about a water detection alarm?  You can put the alarm in the coach, run the cable to the tank and set it at the desired level in the tank and when it gets wet the alarm goes off....you run outside and turn off the water.  Not the same as a valve but at least you won't forget about it and you can sit inside while it fills.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Honeywell-WaterDefense-Water-Leak-Detection-Alarm/202491357/

-Sean

www.herdofturtles.org
1984 Eagle Model 10S

[Scott & Heather]

Much thanks gents for your always great ideas. Even though i didn't respond to every one of them, I considered every one of them...I even considered starting this beast up and moving down South.....forever.    In the end, I had a nice chat with Bob (Robert Glines) and he helped me sort out how to get a stock tank float to do what I wanted it to do. My fingers are numb, but I think we have a winner. I can't tell you how thankful I am for this. It's the little things. Bought this float at a Tractor Supply Equivalent (Quality Farm and Home). Here are some pics of my particular setup:

[luvrbus]

80 degrees here in Scottsdale today and my fingers are not numb or is there any ice except in what the ice machine makes lol you do know the stock tank floats will freeze

[Scott & Heather]

80 degrees here in Scottsdale today and my fingers are not numb or is there any ice except in what the ice machine makes lol you do know the stock tank floats will freeze

Must be nice. I grew up in Tucson and then in Phoenix. Went to ASU and lived in Maricopa. Wish I were there right now. In any case, our luggage bay is heated Cliff. We're good there. If that float freezes, we have much bigger things to worry about at that point 

[Seangie]

Scott,

Great job.  I wish I had as large an opening as you do on your tank.  If I ever order tanks again I'll have large openings with covers that can be drilled out and replaced as the needs change.  Let us know how it works out!

-Sean

www.herdofturtles.org
1984 Eagle Model 10S

[bobofthenorth]

That's exactly the style of float I am familiar with.  I can't tell how you are keeping it oriented inside the tank.  Are you just letting it float up against the lid?  Perhaps that will work but I wouldn't have thought of it.