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Old 01-28-2017, 08:58 PM   #1
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Fresh water tank location

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Originally Posted by NEWYORKHILLBILLY View Post
... I done this in my casita with out any problems. low 20's at night and above freezing in day. of course water tank and all water lines are in the heated space. ( with out cpap)

The way i understand it you can order the escape with water tank inside...
Perhaps, but I have never heard of an Escape - in any year, of any model - with the freshwater tank inside. Details vary by model, but as far as I know it is always mounted behind the axle, under the floor (outside of the fiberglass shell), between the frame rails, generally at the front of the stepped-up portion of the frame (so under the dinette in most models). Optionally, the exposed bottom and sides of the fresh water (and grey waste) tanks can be covered by sprayed-on foam insulation.

There may be someone who has successfully purchased an Escape with a custom inside water tank, and I just missed it. Other brands of moulded fiberglass trailer - particularly most 13' Bolers and various models of various brands derived from that original - have had fresh water tanks located inside.

The black waste tank (in Escapes with a bathroom) is always located on top of the floor (and so inside), under the toilet and typically extending into the adjacent cabinet. Perhaps there is some confusion with the black tank location.
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Old 01-28-2017, 09:16 PM   #2
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I would hope that the fresh tank could not freeze with low 20's at night and above freezing in the day. We do have the spray foam for such times.
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Old 01-28-2017, 09:31 PM   #3
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I only know of one water tank inside, and that was Dirk (mosquitodirk) in his 17B (which he has since sold).

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...2.html#post410
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Old 01-29-2017, 12:05 AM   #4
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If I find myself camping regularly in below freezing weather. I would leave standard water tank empty and use an auxiliary smaller water tank on the inside of trailer valved to divert intake to pump. I envision a small portable tank of shape and size that would fit under dining seat storage. It's just another item only used for trips like this. It gets stored at home. I would like a minimum of 10-15 gallons depending on space available.

You can insulate the existing water tank but insulation is just thermal friction, it slows down the movement of heat. With enough time tank content will equal ambient. Granted the more water the longer it will take to freezing, this is a big variable.
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Old 01-29-2017, 08:09 AM   #5
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Santiago,

What a great idea!

I think 5-6 gallons would do it for me.

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Old 01-29-2017, 09:09 AM   #6
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Yes, the standard location of the rest tank is outside, behind the axles in the rear, centered between the frame. There was one owner who had the tank put under the bed in the 19' model, but the loss of that storage space was tantamount to where no one replicated it. With the foam package you can achieve similar results.
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Old 01-29-2017, 09:13 AM   #7
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Another item to remember is load distribution, that fresh tank, when filled or partially filled will impact your towing experience, too much or too little weight in the rear will do that, as well as side to side. With the EZ winterizing set up, one can use the toilet with antifreeze and carry fresh water in suitable containers inside, distributed where needed.
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Old 01-29-2017, 09:54 AM   #8
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Thinking outside of the box, the winterizing t valve can be equipped with a fairly long suction hose that will draw water of any reasonable temperature, heated or otherwise, out of a shallow pan placed on the floor "near" the pump as long as it does not require excessive vertical rise. Therefore, even if your hot water heater is not working , you can still take a hot shower by heating water on a propane fired heat source and decanted into the pan or bucket. You have to have the hardware store acquired tubing on hand however.
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Old 01-29-2017, 10:36 AM   #9
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Or, just find a nice used Bigfoot w/4 season option where all tanks and lines are enclosed in heated space.
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Old 01-29-2017, 11:26 AM   #10
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Quote:
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Thinking outside of the box, the winterizing t valve can be equipped with a fairly long suction hose that will draw water of any reasonable temperature, heated or otherwise, out of a shallow pan placed on the floor "near" the pump as long as it does not require excessive vertical rise. Therefore, even if your hot water heater is not working , you can still take a hot shower by heating water on a propane fired heat source and decanted into the pan or bucket. You have to have the hardware store acquired tubing on hand however.
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Funny you mentioned that Dave.

When I had a Scamp 13 for 10 years, it had a 28-30" diameter portable shower that set up between kitchen counter and closet. Pump filled a "tamale pot" on stove heating it to desired temperature in short order. Sump pump sucked all but little water from floor pan. Shower nozzle was 4D battery powered Coleman set. There was a 4 wire telephone cable with phone jack connection next to the shower head that signaled relay in overhead cabinet to control shower and floor pan sump pump. Worked beautifully as we only needed 1.5 gallons to shower. Remember doing this in the mountains sub freezing temperatures as the Scamp's 10 gal water tank was inside. Even more comfortable during the year and worked just fine. Not sure how the 22 gallon grey tank fared but this set up never failed us. A little extreme perhaps but when you own and like your Scamp 13 you figure out how to overcome challenges.

I for one can do ok with 10-12 gallons when camping in sub freezing weather in our Escape 21.
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Old 01-29-2017, 11:51 AM   #11
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There was one owner who had the tank put under the bed in the 19' model, but the loss of that storage space was tantamount to where no one replicated it.
With regards to avoiding freezing water tank on occasional trips, as I mentioned before, it is a temporary measure that you use only when needed. Some storage space will be lost, depending on tank size and shape but you won't suffer the consequences of a frozen water tank. Obviously if you install it inside permanently you do so knowing the consequences. In my case I envision bringing the winter tank on board a few times per year.
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Old 01-29-2017, 09:22 PM   #12
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Escape Damage Blamed on Internal Fresh Water Tank

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Originally Posted by Jim Bennett View Post
I only know of one water tank inside, and that was Dirk (mosquitodirk) in his 17B (which he has since sold).

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...2.html#post410
Reading this reminded me a an earlier incident where an internal fresh water tank was partially blamed for a side rollover of an Escape 19 in 2011. I can find the story about the damage, take a look here. There was a follow up story as to the cause of the accident, that particular post appears to have been removed so I am reciting from memory. This was one of the first and perhaps last internal fresh water tank installs. Part of the story was that the filled water tank changed the handling of the trailer and may have caused the tow to loose control. The tank was located under the queen bed.

Lots of stories, very few facts and dubious conclusions was the gist of the posting.

Matt, who bought the trailer for salvage has repaired it, uses it and posts occasionally on the forum. I know his California title is stamped "Salvage".
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Old 01-30-2017, 06:43 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by fudge_brownie View Post
Reading this reminded me a an earlier incident where an internal fresh water tank was partially blamed for a side rollover of an Escape 19 in 2011. I can find the story about the damage, take a look here. There was a follow up story as to the cause of the accident, that particular post appears to have been removed so I am reciting from memory. This was one of the first and perhaps last internal fresh water tank installs. Part of the story was that the filled water tank changed the handling of the trailer and may have caused the tow to loose control. The tank was located under the queen bed.

Lots of stories, very few facts and dubious conclusions was the gist of the posting.

Matt, who bought the trailer for salvage has repaired it, uses it and posts occasionally on the forum. I know his California title is stamped "Salvage".

Hmmm After seeing that maybe i should leave it under.
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Old 01-30-2017, 09:43 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fudge_brownie View Post
Reading this reminded me a an earlier incident where an internal fresh water tank was partially blamed for a side rollover of an Escape 19 in 2011. I can find the story about the damage, take a look here. There was a follow up story as to the cause of the accident, that particular post appears to have been removed so I am reciting from memory. This was one of the first and perhaps last internal fresh water tank installs. Part of the story was that the filled water tank changed the handling of the trailer and may have caused the tow to loose control. The tank was located under the queen bed.



Lots of stories, very few facts and dubious conclusions was the gist of the posting.



Matt, who bought the trailer for salvage has repaired it, uses it and posts occasionally on the forum. I know his California title is stamped "Salvage".


Just to jump in and clarify things, our Escape 19 had the water tank installed under the bed inside the trailer. It was great as we never worried about our water freezing.

We camped all over for 4 1/2 years and travelled thousands of miles with all combinations of full, empty and partially full tanks on all road conditions including gravel and snow and never had any problems. This also included a full on all brakes locked up emergency stop.

Our trailer was pulled by a Toyota Tacoma and later a GMC Sierra 1500 4 X 4 so I don't think vehicle size or weight entered into the equation either.

In my opinion that accident had nothing to do with the tank placement.

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Old 01-30-2017, 05:46 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by PGDriver View Post
Just to jump in and clarify things, our Escape 19 had the water tank installed under the bed inside the trailer. It was great as we never worried about our water freezing.

We camped all over for 4 1/2 years and travelled thousands of miles with all combinations of full, empty and partially full tanks on all road conditions including gravel and snow and never had any problems. This also included a full on all brakes locked up emergency stop.

Our trailer was pulled by a Toyota Tacoma and later a GMC Sierra 1500 4 X 4 so I don't think vehicle size or weight entered into the equation either.

In my opinion that accident had nothing to do with the tank placement.

Just saying[emoji6]
Cheers
Doug


so with the water tank inside all your plumbing would be inside also? This just seems to make so much more sense to me.
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Old 01-30-2017, 06:08 PM   #16
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so with the water tank inside all your plumbing would be inside also? This just seems to make so much more sense to me.
Hi, with regards to tank and water lines freezing, yes it make perfect sense and many builders do just that. The downside is that you lose interior storage and you will likely not end up with as much water capacity as an external tank which has little space restriction.

If you plan on doing mostly below freezing camping, an interior tank and water lines make sense. Otherwise, there are many benefits of leaving it outside. My compromise is to see about bringing a portable one on board when It looks like I will be encountering below freezing temperature camping which as you can imagine in Southern California is limited and that entails going to the mountains in winter.
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Old 02-24-2017, 09:57 AM   #17
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Fresh water tank location

Moved these posts from another thread.....CPAP on solar
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Old 06-07-2017, 04:04 PM   #18
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Several months late to this thread, but when you get the "heated tank" option as we did, does that include the fresh water tank?
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Old 06-07-2017, 04:25 PM   #19
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Several months late to this thread, but when you get the "heated tank" option as we did, does that include the fresh water tank?
Just looked at my build sheet and it says 2 12 volt heating pads with the spray foam insulation. The black tank is inside. That should take care of the grey and fresh. Haven't used them yet. Loren
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Old 06-07-2017, 04:26 PM   #20
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Several months late to this thread, but when you get the "heated tank" option as we did, does that include the fresh water tank?
Yes, fresh and grey tanks, the black is inside the camper and does not need pads.
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