Community Forums

1010 · 10-28-2020, 02:49 PM

Been a long time since I have been on this site so please bare with me. I know there have been a lot of discussions on draining the fresh water tanks. I am interested to know if anyone has made a modification to the fresh water tank drain. I would like to keep my fresh water tank full while home and empty it prior to travels. The Trailer is inside a garage, no available space to park & drain on the ground here. Thinking of connecting a garden hose to the 1/2 drain tube. Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks in advance.

**Spdracr39** · 10-28-2020, 02:52 PM

Looks like a good setup with your tow vehicle why drain it ?

Old-Biscuit · 10-28-2020, 03:02 PM

Why empty prior to travel?

You can add any mod you want to make draining work for you
Home Depot has a 1/2 in. Plastic PEX Barb x 3/4 in. Male Garden Hose Thread Adapter with Clamp
Slip clamp onto PEX pipe push barbed fitting into PEX...snap clamp closed....connect the hose, open drain valve and get it go until drained

1010 · 10-28-2020, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spdracr39

Looks like a good setup with your tow vehicle why drain it ?

I do not want to carry the extra weight. Thanks

1010 · 10-28-2020, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old-Biscuit

Why empty prior to travel?

You can add any mod you want to make draining work for you
Home Depot has a 1/2 in. Plastic PEX Barb x 3/4 in. Male Garden Hose Thread Adapter with Clamp
Slip clamp onto PEX pipe push barbed fitting into PEX...snap clamp closed....connect the hose, open drain valve and get it go until drained

Thank you, this setup will work well for me. Appreciate the pics.

1010 · 10-28-2020, 03:33 PM

I have the 1/4” (think it is) petcock valve at the end of the 1/2” pex pipe. I have to remove the valve and replace it with an inline valve. A few mods and I will be set. Thanks

crb478 · 10-28-2020, 05:29 PM

If you have 1/2 inch pex do you have room to add a 1/4 turn bib/hose faucet to it instead of the petcock? If so you can just run a hose to it and drain it wherever the hose will reach. I have a blade valve on mine and a one inch or one and one quarter inch drain can not remember which. I added the 1/4 faucet to it to drain it through a hose.

1010 · 10-29-2020, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crb478

If you have 1/2 inch pex do you have room to add a 1/4 turn bib/hose faucet to it instead of the petcock? If so you can just run a hose to it and drain it wherever the hose will reach. I have a blade valve on mine and a one inch or one and one quarter inch drain can not remember which. I added the 1/4 faucet to it to drain it through a hose.

I will look into your suggestion, appreciate your help. I have to get under the trailer, decide what I need and then I can get all the parts I need in one trip to the store. In my case that is a 55 mile one way trip, ....ok no way in my experience I will make that goal😁.

Mudfrog · 10-29-2020, 08:24 AM

Just curious 1010? Why do you keep the tank filled at home?

I know most people say it's ok to leave the water in the tank but from my personal bad luck experience, I do not. Unbeknownst to me, the water pump housing in our MH developed a very small leak sometime late last year. It was very small and not noticeable, but over probably a month or two, caused us lots of headaches. I had to remove the bed, tank, and rip out the carpet to start the drying process. Worked out in the end because we were already thinking about replacing the carpet anyway but it still cost us a bit over 2 grand to get everything back up to par. Needless to say, except for if a hurricane is heading our way, the tank stays empty these days.

As far as draining, could you design some type of funnel set up? Maybe make a box to hold a funnel upright with an attached hose that runs to the outside. Wouldn't need to reconstruct the existing set up and you could just slide the funnel under the drain without having to crawl under to attach a hose every time you drained.

1010 · 10-30-2020, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mudfrog

Just curious 1010? Why do you keep the tank filled at home?

I know most people say it's ok to leave the water in the tank but from my personal bad luck experience, I do not. Unbeknownst to me, the water pump housing in our MH developed a very small leak sometime late last year. It was very small and not noticeable, but over probably a month or two, caused us lots of headaches. I had to remove the bed, tank, and rip out the carpet to start the drying process. Worked out in the end because we were already thinking about replacing the carpet anyway but it still cost us a bit over 2 grand to get everything back up to par. Needless to say, except for if a hurricane is heading our way, the tank stays empty these days.

As far as draining, could you design some type of funnel set up? Maybe make a box to hold a funnel upright with an attached hose that runs to the outside.
Wouldn't need to reconstruct the existing set up and you could just slide the funnel under the drain without having to crawl under to attach a hose every time you drained.

I appreciate you sharing your misfortune which confirms my concerns about storing water in the tank. I am thinking about keeping water in the tank as a back up supply since we are on a community well. No electric no water. The trailer is also being used occasionally while parked. Not sure if I will move forward with the plan, if I do I will be diligent in watching for leaks.
I like your idea, I have not done a fibbermagee project in a long time.
Thank you for your help

beenthere · 11-01-2020, 12:11 PM

on Alfa's theres 2 low water drain vales{well actually 3 as one is at water heater} and one is under pressure when pump is on so i just open that one with pump off they both drain slow.. just splice a line after pump and put shutoff on it an end thu basement floor.. open it with pump on an drain tank

NITEHAWK · 11-01-2020, 12:28 PM

Rather than a gravity drain, why not get a 12V water pump from Harbor Freight? Pumps 6 gallons per minute. Tap into your fresh water tank and run a 3/4" inside diameter clear milker plastic hose and you will empty 30 gallons in five minutes.

Ray,IN · 11-01-2020, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NITEHAWK

Rather than a gravity drain, why not get a 12V water pump from Harbor Freight? Pumps 6 gallons per minute. Tap into your fresh water tank and run a 3/4" inside diameter clear milker plastic hose and you will empty 30 gallons in five minutes.

Use existing pump; tee into the output tubing and install a shutoff then male garden hose fitting.
Hope you don''t mind me shortening your idea.