150 Gallon Water Tank Bulge Issues....fixed

[FatDog]

sure hate to carry heavy water that can't be used
and it seems that almost every time we go to Glamis we bring back at least a little water


but,...
in 'The Case of the Flexing Tank' i think the "unusable" water will soon become "usable" because as the heavy water leaves the tank, its weight that is pushing down on the bottom of the tank is now gone and the tank starts pushing back up. I'll bet that if the tank isn't ever stretched beyond the point of flexing back into original shape, that ALL the water will eventually find its way into use.

The tank will eventually flex back up and allow the remaining agua to find the dishcharge hole.

And i believe that the way to calculate the amount of water in '56's water tank would be with the formula for 'area of an ellipse' and we here are working with one half of an elliptical area.

The one time that really gripes me was last summer at Glamis. Hotter then the dickens, probably 115 degrees. We had gone out there with what was then a full tank for me - 120 gallons. After a few days i started worrying about running out because i had the wife-unit and one of her friends with me and Lord knows how they can shower when it gets hot and of course i won't even wash my hands trying to save water and i don't even have Tom's ice-maker yet although i will soon. So i, being the boyscout that i am, take the ladies into Yuma for lunch and buy 2 5-gallon jugs of water at some rip-off small grocery store and it cost like $15 per jug because i had to buy the jug too. One year later they still sit UNTOUCHED in the back of my trailer. There went $30 to help the local economy. We never ended up using all 120 gallons of trailer water. I ended up dumping about 10 gallons of water onto the sand before we took off. Anyone want to buy some one year old water for a discounted rate?

I think i need to make reservations at "Doctor Howie's Trailer Design" to implement an improved water guage. For all of us desert dwellers, it is almost more important then a gas guage. I mean i want to know by QUARTS how much water i have left, not just this red-yellow-green lights thingie.

[WWFan]

Mike:

I suppose you've got THE bridge over that "troubled" water also that you want to sell, huh Bud?

Hee...hee...hee...and I also suppose you had to unload it out of the old TH and load it into the new LE? I know exactly how this kind of stuff happens! But I can't get into it here ('ya know? )?

FWIW..I agree with you on the buldging tank thing...good catch on this otherwise, in-ghen-eer-ing pop quiz. I wonder if the pickup hose sets down inside the tank so if the bottom of the tank DOES sag a few inches, the hose would just go with it?

Things that make ya go 'huuuummmmmm....', ey?

[FatDog]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Hee...hee...hee...and I also suppose you had to unload it out of the old TH and load it into the new LE? I know exactly how this kind of stuff happens! But I can't get into it here ('ya know? )? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

EXACTLY! for the handful of months the jugs sat in the back of my old LE31, it was kinda out-of-sight-out-of-mind. But the day we got our new one and i actually had to pick them up and carry them into the new LE3305, now that was a slightly depressing moment. One of those "i'm an idiot" moments. So last week i ended up taking my $30 of stale water and pouring it in a big bucket and i washed my truck wheels with it. I'M AN IDIOT. Oh well. So i guess i can't technically sell the water as i used it already. If anyone DOES want to buy 10 gallons of stale water though, PM me.
And as far as the hose goes, we need Dr. Howie to re-enginner the whole darn water system anyway, i want to know exactly how much i have left at all times. maybe he can re-system the hose at the same time.

[56Nomad]

Update:

I just went out and
re-measured the depth of the empty water tanks and found that I made a
incorrect measurement. The bottom edges of the tanks are slightly beveled
which is why my first measurement is off by 1/2 inch.

So the actual dimensions if the tank was completely ridged and squared
is 58" x 46" x 6". This equates to 69.3 gallons..... So, with if there was a
minimal bowing as it should be, it would be reasonable to assume each
tank holds 75 gallons.

Now here is the good news. The added unistrut also bows moderately when the tanks
are full, however they have "memory" and as the tanks empty, they return to
a completely straight dimension. By adding the unistrut steel, I can fully load my
water tanks and utilize all the carried water.

Now, since the silly multi-light monitor is
so inaccurate, the next trick will be how to really figger out how much water is left in
the tanks as you use the water

[FatDog]

With this updated news, i am going to tell Cordie she now can shower to her hearts delight out in the desert.
I however will continue to not even wash my hands in an effort to conserve water while out at Glamis. so if anyone wants to shake my hands, probbaly day #1 would be the likely candidate

[PhatFireMan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> I mean i want to know by QUARTS how much water i have left, not just this red-yellow-green lights thingie. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The water gauge on my trailer reminds me of the fuel gauge in an old Volkswagen...you know you're getting low when you run out.

[FatDog]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The water gauge on my trailer reminds me of the fuel gauge in an old Volkswagen...you know you're getting low when you run out. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
that is funny
and very true of those ol' bugs.
it was just like one of my old CJ-7s. That thing had been jarred and banged so hard so often that i could NEVER get a radio or gas guage to work reliably. I must have replaced the radio 4 times and they just never worked long.
(now my wiring jobs are perhaps not the .... well nevermind )
For many years i told people i had walked more miles of calif freeways with a plastic can in my hands then any other guy in history. But when i switched over to trucks, well my wild and wooly wheelin' days, and wild automotive wiring days, both came to a huge slowdown.
and
those darn bugs did run on nothing but fresh air and a prayer. and as i recall, the more people you packed in them, the more efficient they ran.

[56Nomad]

With Mark Dixon's permission, here are his findings

Tank with 1.5" bulge = 77.01 gal

Tank with 4" bulge = 89.85 gal

This is not taking in consideration the wall thickness of the tank.

[Wildcat28BHS]

For an accurate tank monitoring system look at a review of the SeeLevel II. It blows the stock setup away.

[56Nomad]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Wildcat28BHS:
For an accurate tank monitoring system look at a review of the SeeLevel II. It blows the stock setup away.

It still requires that our rig is perfectly level
in order for the SeeLevel II to show an accurate
reading.

How would it register the water in the bulge?

[FatDog]

interesting product

[melon]

I over filled my tanks only once (thats all it took). When we stopped to pick up one more friend on the way out of town, I noticed that water was back-flowing out the top of my tank, by-passing the overflow, and spilling onto the kitchen floor. 30 minutes and 30 towel later, I had learning my lesson. Now I watch it like a hawk. That is why you don't over fill.

[56Nomad]

Today was a test. After installing the shut
off valve between the two 75 Gallon tanks, I
filled the foward tank only.

To fill it, I ran the hose full strength and let it run
to over flow. Water shoots out of the fill
opening and overflow opening on the forward tank. No leaks.... no bulging floors

Here is a photo of the unistrut under load and notice just
a slight bulge.

[Vette Racer]

Thats a good idea, when I have filled mine to max I have noticed they bulge all over the support bars and end up being deformed. Never really paid any attention to that but noticed that it takes more water to get them up to 1/2 tank. Probably a good idea to reinforce them.