Water Tank - internal or external?

[KR.]

As long as you're happy you can fill and clean it easily then it's down to choice. I had concerns about the water freezing, cleaning a tank I couldn't see into and also with the robustness of an underslung water tank so have gone for a removable water container inside the van, easily filled and cleaned, less liable to freeze.
It works for me but I've no doubt underslung is the correct choice for others.

 

[robmug]

Have spent a couple of hours fiddling with my CAD drawings and I think have found that I don't want / need to sling it underneath. It saves holes through the floor, freezing and road damage.

I can get a Reimo 49 litre tank (same as I have in my T5.1) in next to the wheel arch which means that I can simply pull it out 200mm to fill it, lift it 25mm to see how full it is and only have a single 15mm hose into it for pick up which keeps everything nice a simple. And when need be I can pull it out for cleaning.

I can't find any dimensions for this tank. Do you have rear cupboards fitted? Assuming so..does it fine between the wheel arch and the front of the cupboard?
Got any photos of it in position?
Thank you

 

[bobbybasic]

Cheers.
The digital SPE monitor - which is great looking and has 5% increments but the fact that you can’t cut the gauges down to length is a pain (as the Reimo wants a 500mm gauge and the Amber wants a 140mm gauge ideally, but as neither length are available, I’ve had to go for the next size down).

Head-up for anyone looking into these Reimo & CAK tanks, CBE now make gauges you can cut down to size:

4 ROD CBE LEVEL PROBE TANKS UP TO 400mm

CBE SP5 SENSORS 400mm 4 Rod tank sensor. Longest rod needs to be at least 40mm from base of tank to let reserve indicator work. Can be further away

leisurelines.net

5 ROD CBE LEVEL PROBE TANKS UP TO 500mm

CBE SP5 SENSORS 500mm 4 Rod tank sensor Longest rod needs to be at least 40mm from base of tank to let reserve indicator work Can be further away to

leisurelines.net

5 ROD CBE LEVEL PROBE TANKS UP TO 700mm

CBE SP5 SENSORS 700mm 4 Rod tank sensor. Longest rod needs to be at least 40mm from base of tank to let reserve indicator work. Can be further away

leisurelines.net

 

[bobbybasic]

Those Reimo tanks are sold out all over Europe until late June/July.

 

[Epic-Rob]

Has anyone fitted these tanks? just came across them, i have the 2 skirt tanks and one that fits just forward of rear wheels. + a custom one giving about 50l of fresh and waste
The one bellow is 60l and goes in front (and around) spare wheel.


there is also this on that fits down the centre line which is 27L. so this with the rear skirt tank will allow the deisel heater to fit in the skirt under the drive.


sold here VW Transporter campervan custom 60ltr water tank external fresh / waste VW T5 T6 | eBay

 

[Ads_Essex]

Has anyone fitted these tanks? ...

there is also this on that fits down the centre line which is 27L.
View attachment 110534

I have fitted one of the central-chassis tanks. Was east enough to fit.

Mine’s a Euro 5 and I think something on the exhaust of the Euro 6 models might prevent this fitting, so if you fall in to that category, make sure you check first.

 

[bobbybasic]

Cheers mate.
I ended up using the Reimo for waste as I thought, if we camp somewhere below freezing, that I’d rather have the ability to store waste water than to store fresh water; with this I can use water from bottles for fresh, and still have full use of the sink.

I nicked @Fish’s method of fitting the CBE gauge. Good shout, that man.
I fitted the tank so that it sits flat on the floor.

So, going clockwise around the photo above, the waste tank has the sink waste hose,
the smaller breather hose,
a redundant moulding that fits in to a small hole in the floor that keeps it in place,
and the waste outlet through the floor.


View attachment 43548

Hole 1 is for the waste pipe to exit (made wider so the Jubilee clip would fit)
Hole 2 is for the redundant moulding to fit in to
Hole 3 is for the breather pipe to go through
Hole 4 (black pipe) is where my fresh water feed from my underslung tank will feed in to the van.

View attachment 43547

Hey Ads, I'm under the van now looking at fitting this Reimo tank as a waste. Looking at your Hole 1 for the waste outlet, how did you go about navigating your way through the various skins of the van and out through the sill? Did you drill down from the top (through hole 1) or up from the bottom? Do you have any pics of where the pipe comes out from the bottom?

So far I have drilled hole 1 and hole 2. Any help much appreciated

 

[Jollyvan]

@bobbybasic you need to add the @ to get some ones attention @Ads_Essex

 

[rod_vw]

@bobbybasic If you are referring to the tanks that Epic-Rob quotes above they are Autosleepers tanks (I believe made by Amber Plastics) available from Autocraft Motorcaravans at Staveley but as noted above the central tank is not suitable for Euro 6 engined T6s.

 

[Ads_Essex]

Hey Ads, I'm under the van now looking at fitting this Reimo tank as a waste. Looking at your Hole 1 for the waste outlet, how did you go about navigating your way through the various skins of the van and out through the sill? Did you drill down from the top (through hole 1) or up from the bottom? Do you have any pics of where the pipe comes out from the bottom?

So far I have drilled hole 1 and hole 2. Any help much appreciated

@bobbybasic i used one of those snake cameras to see where within the skins I could go with the hose. That and grease. It’s a 90° angle you need to navigate according to my photos (this is the only one I’m afraid - but it’s worth checking the other threads tagged Reimo B-C pillar tank as I may have uploaded some there)

I haven’t got a photo of the outlet - the underbody plastics were refitted

 

[bobbybasic]

@bobbybasic i used one of those snake cameras to see where within the skins I could go with the hose. That and grease. It’s a 90° angle you need to navigate according to my photos (this is the only one I’m afraid - but it’s worth checking the other threads tagged Reimo B-C pillar tank as I may have uploaded some there)
View attachment 130118
I haven’t got a photo of the outlet - the underbody plastics were refitted

Amazing @Ads_Essex, great idea to use a camera! I used a bit of cable and paid for it in cuts, bruises and blood while poking around between the panels, I eventually found a way through. It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be, but got there in the end. I found the tank just about sits lower than my sink so the water was able to drain away, it was close though, thought it wasn't going to be enough of a downslope, did you have a problem with this?

 

[Ads_Essex]

I found the tank just about sits lower than my sink so the water was able to drain away, it was close though, thought it wasn't going to be enough of a downslope, did you have a problem with this?

Yes I did - but that’s due to my kitchen layout; my sink sits beneath a lidded worktop, so when it’s not in use it’s covered - which sunk it further in to the furniture. The sink waste then say pretty much level with the top of the tank, meaning the waste would have needed to travel up to empty or I’d have been left with pooling in the sink.
I ended up making a new hole in the side of the tank and going mad with the Sika sealant.

 

[bobbybasic]

Yes I did - but that’s due to my kitchen layout; my sink sits beneath a lidded worktop, so when it’s not in use it’s covered - which sunk it further in to the furniture. The sink waste then say pretty much level with the top of the tank, meaning the waste would have needed to travel up to empty or I’d have been left with pooling in the sink.
I ended up making a new hole in the side of the tank and going mad with the Sika sealant.

haha good plan. I half expected to do the same thing, and may well end up doing that because I can’t guarantee level ground each time I park up (it’s that close).

Did you just chop the old one off and reposition it?

 

[Ads_Essex]

haha good plan. I half expected to do the same thing, and may well end up doing that because I can’t guarantee level ground each time I park up (it’s that close).

Did you just chop the old one off and reposition it?

No - made the hole, pushed hose through and sealed around it.
I’m certainly not saying copy me, in this instance, but it seems to work!
Good luck

 

[paddy26]

No - made the hole, pushed hose through and sealed around it.
I’m certainly not saying copy me, in this instance, but it seems to work!
Good luck

and sand/key the area around the hole to help the sealer grip.

 

[DXX]

and sand/key the area around the hole to help the sealer grip.

You can buy bulkhead fittings specifically for this purpose.

 

[bobbybasic]

Found this video of somebody installing the Reimo internal waste tank.

It's in German, but the pictures might be helpful if you can't understand the words

 

[Rob656]

OK absolutelynew to all this. I have seen vans with the water filler by electric plug in, either wast water container under sink. The van I an getting has electric hook under back bumper, but I cannot see where the fresh water refill is. Garage is shut today and tomorrow, so thought I would check with you guys if there other types of fillers. Or do I replace container under sink with fresh water?

 

[Stay Frosty]

Sounds like the container under the sink is your water supply.
Underslung 70 litre tank here but realistically we only fill it up 15 litres at a time as it's just dead weight the rest of the time.

 

[Rob656]

Thanks for the info. Where will the waste water go?

Thanks