water tank in new concept van

rvmad · Member

water tank in new concept van

iana · Guru

I guess what the first question would be, is the van new or have you brought it second hand?
What is the model or part number of the Ctek charger (so I can look it up on the net), my guess is the house battery maybe past its use by date, any idea how old it is?
Will it be a new model Ford Ranger, if it is, be careful they have a smart charging system and lots of computers to blow up!
I am about to wire up a Mazda BT50, same car and looking like towing the same weight van, still doing research on it though.

PeterInSa · Guru

Re ( I have tried everything to get some water into the tanks so that I can try equipment out, such as water heater/pump , toilet etc).
We go bush with 5 x 20Lt Water Jerry Plastic containers. To Top up a water tank I put 2 containers on the ground ( stabilized by rubber straps) and a full container on top and use a jiggler tube hose to empty the container.

Re Boot heat, I agree with iana, if the deep cycle battery is on the way out, the battery and the charger can heat up, although with some Ctek chargers from memory they have heat sensors with the cable left on the battery, and can lower the charge, to minimise problems.

Peter

rvmad · Member

The van is brand new so I am assuming the batteries should also be new, altho' you never know. I tried to get a battery out of the box but its such a tight fit and I need to stand on the A frame just to get enough height and leverage. I guess being a 5ft nothing female doesn't help! As for the Ranger I think the first model that will tow 3.5 ton launched 2013-2014. I heard one of the main problems was the wiring not compatible with LED trailer lighting systems. Ive read all sorts of blogs about a $40 cable to fix this, it's really frustrating that any ute manufacturer should ignore something so basic, but saying that I understand there is no trailer breaking system out yet for the new Triton just launched!!!!

Ideally I would get a Troopy, but the other half ain't so keen on a manual and I don't feel like doing ALL the driving, but I love the indestructible nature of the beast!

rvmad · Member

Hi Peter, thanks for that, I did buy a jiggler hose (if that's the syphon with the ball in the top) and jiggled away for ages (not a very becoming look, just glad I'm not a guy!) but couldn't get any flow. I had a 25 litre jerry can at ground level and the water inlet is about 1.5 meters off the ground. then I hauled the jerry can up onto a stool to maybe level things up, to no avail.

That's when I came across this seemingly perfect solution from Aldi, only $13.00. Short hose out either side of this little turbine pump which you put your drill into and away it motors. problem is it won't seem to suck up the water from the bottom of the jerry can and can only get a few litres into the tank. I asked some guys at the last caravan show to be met with blank stares. Is my problem isolated? am I missing the obvious and they all just think I'm stupid!!!

KFT · Guru

A couple of questions to put my mind at rest

re the jiggler syphon:did you have the bit with the ball in it in the water? that is how they work

re the drill powered pump: did you have it the right way round? there should be an arrow indicating flow direction.

just asking because these things do happen.

frank

rvmad · Member

I have just dug out the CTEK manual and it's an mxs 25 model 1055. I should probably get a mobile battery guy to come out and check things over. It could be charger or batteries and with all the best of intentions I know you haven't a crystal ball. Can I still run the charger intermittently or is is o.k to leave the batteries with no charge going in for a few months? it's plugged into mains power in the shed if I do need to run anything. I'm just afraid I could kill the batteries completely if I let them stand

rvmad · Member

Thanks Frank, yes I had the ball end in the water (maybe my jiggle action was lacking finess!) and there was an arrow on the Aldi pump to indicate direction and in fact it did manage a couple of litres, then stopped! still running tho but no water, the instructions said never let run dry so I may have buggered it myself waiting for the water to start again.

iana · Guru

OK more suggestions and questions. I would suggest that you have a cuppa or whisky or something, and read up about the Ctek charger from the manual. I had a quick look and it looks like everything is spelled out there. LED lights that tell you what its doing etc. The charger can be left on, and it should go to the standby mode when the battery is charged. The heat may be just normal. That is if the battery is charged up. It does have a temperature sensor connected to what looks like the positive terminal. Any led lights showing with reference to the manual should tell you what's going on.
With your next question re leaving the battery charger on for a couple of months that's a good idea, batteries loose charge and when they drop below a certain percentage of charge to dead flat this is the best way to ruin a battery.
If the caravan is brand new, did the sales staff go through all of the services including the water system with you to make sure they were working? and how you would use them?

Olley46 · Guru

Just a little tip about the drill water pump,I have one and it will not pump water with a battery operated drill ,only an electric drill this is what I found,the battery one was not running fast enough.

Lance C

Muzzlehatch · Senior Member

Oh my goodness me. Small scale hydraulics. When i was fitting out x - ray practices I had perfected the art of installing an x ray plate processor such that it incorporated a continuous siphon with a sound amplifying drain such that a continuous racket of slurping and a violent glubing maelstrom and decongestian was repeated at a five minute interval. If, on the other hand I liked the customer It would be completely silent. Talk about passive aggressive. I was gone. They had it to keep.

I cant imagine a bush lifestyle with out a reasonable understanding of pumps.

There are broadly two types.

Positive displacement / diaphragm pumps which will deliver high pressure and the flow rate that it says on the tin. They rely on membrane valves so they wont tolerate debris in the water.

Impeller / bilge pumps. These rely on centrifugal force to realise the head pressure. If sufficiently brutal they can chew up turds and lavatory paper and pump it over board. They are characterised by high flow rates, very low pressures and a huge tolerance for impurities.

When you are out in the scrub remember that water sources can carry biota that will make you sick. I fondly remember a Geophysics crew leader (veneered and generated} who was lost most of the time, filled us up from the wrong dam. Paul Theroux referee to it as "the squitters" not a thing to aspire to.

Take care now..

rvmad · Member

well that explains a lot, I have a Ryobi drill which has the interchangeable battery packs for chainsaw (which I also bought) etc which I thought would be perfect for travelling, I guess the next thing will be it's not fast enough to cut a log of wood! I'll borrow an electric drill and see if that works, thanks.

KevinC · Senior Member

Water tends to flow down hill, and it's only the very clever who can make it flow uphill. Always put your jerry can higher than the inlet for your tank. The jiggle bit is only to save you the indignity of sucking the hose to get it flowing.

KFT · Guru

rvmad wrote:

Hi Bruce, just read your thread saying that you use a bilge pump for water transfer. I have not hit the road yet so still learning, but I have tried all sorts to get water into the tanks of our yet unused caravan which is patiently waiting to be liberated from a friend's shed. Jiggle syphons, pump syphons with the little red squishy thing, a power drill operated pump from Aldi, all to no avail. What brand is your bilge pump and where can I buy one? it sounds like the solution I've been looking for.

Linda, Virgin Caravanner

Hi Linda

I bought a 12v bilge pump from BCF, Love it cause it pumps water very well.

I also have a Karcher filter to fit in line with it about $17 at bummings.

frank

New Wanderers · Veteran Member

We have a Newlands caravan which is made by Concept Caravans. The C Tek charger system does run warm, so I wouldn't be to concerned about that, if you've turned this off for a long period you could damage your batteries. Filling the water tanks can be challenging, as they are prone to air locks. We fill our water tanks when free camping using a 12 volts shower pump with the shower rose removed, we put the water pump in the clean bucket as it won't fit into a jerry can.

Woody n Sue · Guru

My brother has one of those drill pumps and it works just fine on a cordless ( battery ) drill so was the drill fully charged and if it is two speed was it on the fast speed ? As for the van pump may I suggest there may be an air lock somewhere so I would wait till I have the tank full to help push the water through and overcome the airlock but if this still won't pump you may need to un clamp a hose at the pump suction side in order to let the air out

sandsmere · Guru

rvmad wrote:
well that explains a lot, I have a Ryobi drill which has the interchangeable battery packs for chainsaw (which I also bought) etc which I thought would be perfect for travelling, I guess the next thing will be it's not fast enough to cut a log of wood! I'll borrow an electric drill and see if that works, thanks.

Don't worry about the chainsaw Linda. I've got a Ryobi and it does the job.

Not made to cut posts though. smile

The Ryobi drill should run the pump too.

greyhoundtom · Senior Member

Firstly I'm not real keen on my water tanks being filled with any water that I have not run through a couple of filters even when it comes out of a tap some where.

Because there are a lot of clever innovative people out there the best solution I have seen to overcome having to use an external pump and filling the water tank with possibly polluted water was posted by someone on Facebook where they simply fitted a hose two way fitting in the line where the van pump pumps water out of the tank.

Because those fittings have a tap on each outlet it is then a simple matter of closing the valve where the pump is connected to the tank, opening the other one and with a hose fitted to that you can then use the van pump to pump water from an external supply into the vans outlets for use in flushing the toilet or even for use in the shower if the water is suitable.

Then by reversing the taps procedure you are back pumping clean water into the van from the water tanks. The worst you may have to do in those circumstances where a real poor water quality is used is to run clean water for a few seconds to clean the lines out again.

Cheers, Tom

-- Edited by greyhoundtom on Sunday 13th of September 2015 09:28:53 AM

PeterInSa · Guru

Re ( I turned off the C tek charger in the boot after the first week as it go incredibly hot and never seemed to cool down when the batteries seemed fully charged.)

Our Van when new was purchased at a Caravan Camping show. When brought home and put on charge a week or so later charger and Battery were very hot, it appears that someone may have turned off the 240v to the charger at the show and the lights etc just ran off the vans battery and below a certain voltage for a certain time the battery is NBG. Battery was replaced under warranty.

If your Battery and charger heat up your deep cycle battery maybe NBG.

Furthermore would check to see if you have a low voltage cut out installed ( and the load ie lights TV etc go thru it). This unit disconnects the load if say the battery voltage goes below say 12v.

If you have Sola, some sola regulators have low battery cut out, although have seen a number of sola regs that do not have the load going thru them so unless there is a separate low voltage cutout the battery has no protection.

Peter

rvmad · Member

thank you everyone, wow what a mine of information this site is, sure beats some of the lousy advice I got from the drips under pressure at the caravan shows (I'm a serial attendee I'm afraid)

Fuzzball · Veteran Member

We looked at the Ford Ranger but decided on a new Land Cruiser 200 series instead, and I'm glad we did! The Ford Rangers are having LOTS of problems, such as problems with the oil pump, bending chassis and major engine problems. I personally wouldn't touch the Ford Ranger with a 40' pole. They also only have drum brakes on the rear.

Fuzzball · Veteran Member

http://www.newranger.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=802 Look at this! Tell me you still want a Ford Ranger! I used to be a Ford girl, but I've now been converted to Toyota. :P

nimrod · Veteran Member

Fuzzball, You can apparently add power window problems. My Son-in-law works on the mines and they have quite a few Rangers. He says that they all have power window failures when operating in the wet

Footprints · Senior Member

For the Jiggler Syphon to work the base of the water container must be located ABOVE the level of the inlet of the van for gravity to work. I hope this is of some help.

Cheers Allen

Fuzzball · Veteran Member

As I said, I'm sooooo glad we have a Toyota Landcruiser! Oh what a feeling! :P

rvmad · Member

I'm also a Ford girl, had a couple of Falcons and I couldn't seem to kill them despite cronic neglect, but towing is a whole different ball game and set of physics, I think that half the vehicles towing shouldn't be, but for what the manufacturers have managed to get past the regulations and put to print. The Landcruiser would certainly be my weapon of choice but we are limited to a budget $40k which may only buy me mechanical issues. The ranger appealed as it seemed to be the best of a bad bunch and I could put a canopy on the back to go off road camping with fridge tent etc. After the feedback on the ranger I'm not so sure now. may have to go back to the workmate cab chassis and tell my beloved to get used to the manual.

rvmad · Member

I'll go armed with a whole new set of devices and information this weekend. PLUS a header tank for the syphon. would you like to visit Murwillumbah with your go-pro and get a shot of a short arsed red head trying to hall 25 litres of water up to the top of a 6 foot ladder, should be very youtube worthy biggrin biggrin biggrin (not to mention the jiggle action going on that will probably launch me off the top of the ladder!!!!)

KFT · Guru

I see lots of Rangers when we are touring and have not heard a bad thing about them.

I think the rumour mill is working overtime

go with what you are comfortable with and can afford.

frank

rvmad · Member

Thanks Frank, the Ranger ticks more boxes, I just don't need extra seats and the limitation of just a rear door that the wagons offer. I also hear feedback that the suspension set up in the wagons can be a bit softer than workhorse utes and as such may need upgrade to avoid sag. I think I'm suffering from information overload. Someone suggested Amarok, apparently some very happy owners out there and the specs fit the bill, also cheap on gas, but the idea of parts being unavailable in remote locations worries me.
Too many options, too little knowledge. In the end it all comes down to how you feel with your rig off the back, and it's something we don't get the opportunity to try out until we have handed over the dosh!

KFT · Guru

You might be lucky and find a dealer with a demo set up for towing.

Lay it on them for a tow test. They can only say no at worst you then can try another dealer and I would tell them that is what you will do.

Info overload can be a real problem sometimes. Maybe you need to clean out your head drive hehehe.

I see many more Rangers than VW's towing so there may be a hint in that

I drive a Navara with a 7 speed auto and a V6 turbo diesel 2012 model, tows very sweet and great on fuel. Our last trip was 11,500 km mostly towing and fuel was 14.6 L/100km average for the whole trip.

Can you send me a video of the jiggling action with you up a ladder? could be a good movie.

frank