Venting Water Tanks
Submitted: Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 at 00:52
ThreadID:
125855
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Noosa Fox
Bushtracker have recently changed the way that they vent the water tanks, by running the vent hose to the front of the van and then having it rise up behind the spare wheel so that you don't loose lots of water out of the old overflow system that was ending under the van.
This is similar to what we have been doing for a couple of years now, BUT the BTi method is to link all the non potable tanks into one overflow pipe, which looks a lot nicer than our system but it it has a down side in that the top of the water in all the non potable tanks moves to the tank that you are using at the time as the level decreases, hence your first tank will last a long time but the other tanks that you though you had 80 litres in only has a lot less, and you cannot adjust which tank the water is in like the old system as it will flow from via the overflow pipe to ther other tanks.
New and would be owners would be wise to discuss this problem with BTi and ask for individual overflow pipes from each non potable tank.
The van that we were travelling with that had this system fitted was still having lots of water overflow each time that stopped.
Brian
Reply By: Oldfella - Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 at 02:23
Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 at 02:23
Hello Brian
I solved this problem just after we got our van by giving each tank its own seperate overflow & havn't had any problems since.When I filled the tanks before my mod they would overflow into the next empty tank untill all tanks were full then finally out the overflow, now I can choose which tank too fill instead of filling all 4 when I only need 2 filled.
Graham
AnswerID:
578279
Reply By: The Hob - Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 at 23:08
Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 at 23:08
I have the " new" venting system and have observed what Brian has stated. Our number 4 tank seemed to last a long time and when we switched it over to other tanks found there was no water in them. I was home by then so to find out what was happening I drained each tank and found that 2 &3 were bone dry.
They filled up ok but appear to have drained collectively. I agree that separate vents are needed to stop this problem. I do not understand how the syphon effect can work through the common vent pipe but it seems to. I would have thought once the water level dropped below the vent level the syphon would be broken. I have talked to BTI but I will follow up again.
I also have put a non-return valve in the shower drain line to porevent water welling up into the shower when a drain hose is connected and water in the hose causes a backup of pressure.
Are there others out there with the New tanks and new vents that are having similar problems?
Alan
AnswerID:
578280
Reply By: Oznative - Monday, Jul 13, 2009 at 08:14
Monday, Jul 13, 2009 at 08:14
Greetings all,
We have a six month old BT with the new water tank system and have the problem as described. We have found we use water from tank four which lasts a long time and then switch to 3 and find little if any water in 3 or 2. I rang BTI to advise that we appeared to have water syphoning into one tank and they told me that they had discussed the matter around the office and they couldn't understand how it could happen and inferred I wasn't using the tanks properly. We have of course found it has continued to happen, and as recently as last night we found we were out of water at a bush camp not far from Borroloola in the NT.I will of course be talking to BTI again and I am hopeful they will be more accommodating.
Cheers
Ross and Pam
AnswerID:
578281
Follow Up By: Noosa Fox - Friday, Jul 17, 2009 at 17:40
Friday, Jul 17, 2009 at 17:40
Ross & Pam,
The solution is very easy. The overflow pipes just have to run seperately to the front of the van and terminate up behind the wheel about 30 to 40 cm up.
We have an old 2001 van with the older tanks and that is how I redid our overflow pipes a couple of years ago and it works perfectly. BTi will probably insist that the pipe has to go down at the end to prevent dust but I have found that this is not required. By putting the end of the vent down low again it could in some instances cause a syphon of some of the tank water.
If you go to a hardware you should be able to get some irrigation pipe and run the overflow seperately then cable tie them to the original overflow from the front tank. This should fix it until you get back to BTi and they can do the job properly for you.
Brian
FollowupID:
851485
Reply By: Lost and Frowned - Sunday, Jul 26, 2009 at 18:40
Sunday, Jul 26, 2009 at 18:40
Just to confirm that no one is imaging things like BTi might suggest. We have the same problem.
Also filling the tanks is not so simple as air locks form in the common overflow/breather pipe and unless you keep filling until the gurgling completely stops and the water is pouring continuously onto the ground you can not be sure that your tanks are full.
This is really friendly for the locals who have kindly agreed to spare you some of their precious water or it's pouring all over someones driveway or better still when there are people waiting in the queue to buy their share of water like at Coober Pedy where you have to keep feeding the water pump with 20 cent coins for each few litres of the stuff.
It's a bit rich to have to modify the system at your own cost/convenience when the BT is less than 12 months old. I'll be talking to BT about such a basic design fault.
Cheers,, Nigel. ( Lost & Frowned ).
AnswerID:
578282
Follow Up By: Noosa Fox - Sunday, Jul 26, 2009 at 18:53
Sunday, Jul 26, 2009 at 18:53
Nigel,
Although we have the old style tanks and fill from the side by gravity rather than pressure, we can fill individual tanks or all at the same time depending on how the taps are turned. After I ran the overflow pipes to the front and behind spare wheel with 12mm garden hose, I can now fill all the tanks and spill no more than a couple of litres of water.
It is hard to convince some people that they have made a mistake and that there is a better way to do it.
Brian
FollowupID:
851486
Reply By: Noosa Fox - Friday, Aug 07, 2009 at 06:13
Friday, Aug 07, 2009 at 06:13
This is how our old style water tanks are vented, and they work fine for us.
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How the vent hoses run under the van.
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The vent hoses run to behind Right Hand spare wheel with dust cover over ends. Because it is higher than water tank NO water can syphon out of tanks.
Brian
AnswerID:
578283
