Tank capacities - Page 8

7Gentex · 07-13-2021, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelS78

Well... CRAP................

Literally..............

That sucks, though all the apologist will be in shortly to justify such. Seem to be a lot of them from a certain geographic area it seems - excluding you.....

Paraphrased justifications:

"I don't know what my tank is - but it is fine"
"It is what it is"
"Life is short, don't be demanding"
"Tanks are half full.." (No, you are)
"Buy a different trailer brand"

What the heck is with folks these days............?

How about if you were buying a $40,000 car, and all info from manufacture stated it had a 22 gallon gas tank...........

But it doesn't...............it's only 13.2.

Uh,wait a minute.......WUT?

MichaelS78 · 07-13-2021, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7Gentex

Literally..............

That sucks, though all the apologist will be in shortly to justify such. Seem to be a lot of them from a certain geographic area it seems - excluding you.....

Paraphrased justifications:

"I don't know what my tank is - but it is fine"
"It is what it is"
"Life is short, don't be demanding"
"Tanks are half full.." (No, you are)
"Buy a different trailer brand"

What the heck is with folks these days............?

How about if you were buying a $40,000 car, and all info from manufacture stated it had a 22 gallon gas tank...........

But it doesn't...............it's only 13.2.

Uh,wait a minute.......WUT?

I was thinking about posting that analogy the other day. It really is a pretty big deal for a family of four in the 21NE. There are posts above outlining how someone can get by on 13.2gal but it involves peeing in jugs etc. Basically the same equivalent to only driving 55 to conserve fuel economy in a vehicle with a tiny gas tank. Can be done but why? Just put a bigger tank on it. Really hoping Escape fixes this soon.

Iowa Dave · 07-13-2021, 10:22 PM

I guess I don’t have much of an opinion on this somewhat confusing flip flopping and can’t do much about it. However I got to thinking about truly unknown capacities when I was watering trees today. I use plastic buckets with a couple small holes drilled in the bottom edge. I will fill them with the hose or dump a full solid bucket of water into them. But I really don’t know what they hold. It’s what we would call a 5 gallon bucket but they did not hold liquids originally. I thought to myself, I’m going to use a pitcher with graduations on the side that I know to be accurate to determine the bucket capacity for once and for all. But I doubt it will change the three buckets I put on each tree to keep it growing or to size up my apples. It’s a lot like the Escape. The buckets do the job, are of an unchangeable size, and I’ve learned to live with them. The difference is they were free to me with no stated capacities. So I can see both sides of this coin and know not to spend very much time on contemplation and more time fishing. The Cortlands are looking pretty good though and the State Fairs too. Next year I think I’m gonna have a lot of Wolf Rivers. They are getting more sun since the derecho.
Iowa Dave

MichaelS78 · 07-23-2021, 08:53 PM

Called and asked Melissa at Escape about the 21NE black tank size and if it's possible to put a larger one in. Maybe as an option. She has a note that the engineers are looking into fitting the 21NE with a larger black tank. They're aware and It's on their radar but no confirmation if they can or when.

She was very nice and I'm hoping they make progress on this soon. Would much rather have a 22gal black tank then a 13.2gal for my family of four.

7Gentex · 07-23-2021, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelS78

Called and asked Melissa at Escape about the 21NE black tank size and if it's possible to put a larger one in. Maybe as an option. She has a note that the engineers are looking into fitting the 21NE with a larger black tank. They're aware and It's on their radar but no confirmation if they can or when.

She was very nice and I'm hoping they make progress on this soon. Would much rather have a 22gal black tank then a 13.2gal for my family of four.

That would be fantastic!

I would gladly give up some storage space under the DS dinette for such.

MichaelS78 · 07-29-2021, 09:09 PM

Escape just put up their July Q and A video. At the timestamp 6:15 Karl confirms what I was hoping was not going to be the case for the 21NE

https://youtu.be/43ppbDkLdmU

He confirms they have tried over the last few weeks in detail to get a larger black tank (currently 13.2gal) to fit in the 21NE and they just can't do it. He suggests a small 7-8gal auxillary pony tank as a possible solution. And that it could possibly be stored in the front storage box or in the storage area of the trailer.

So while I'm disappointed I'm not going to let it be a deal breaker and I understand RVs definitely have their tradeoff.

I now need to find answers for 3 questions:

1)Are pony tank models available that would fit in the front storage box and how much do they weigh when filled

2)Could someone store one of these pony tanks in the access hatch without fear that it would be smelly or unsanitary? The first thing that came to mind was somehow closing it off in its own compartment so that it's not accessible from inside the trailer.

3)could it be stored on the back of the escape in a hitch mount shelf/storage rack of some kind.

kathytony1985 · 07-29-2021, 09:16 PM

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Portabl..._=as_li_ss_tl#

kathytony1985 · 07-29-2021, 09:17 PM

There are several types of these and they vary in size.

7Gentex · 07-29-2021, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelS78

................
He confirms they have tried over the last few weeks in detail to get a larger black tank (currently 13.2gal) to fit in the 21NE and they just can't do it.........................

Karl, not you............

Allan Bornestig · 07-30-2021, 10:55 AM

Portable tanks.
Keep in mind that you might have to lift that portable into the bed of your truck.
Allan.

**John in Santa Cruz** · 07-30-2021, 11:19 AM

A pint is a pound, give or take. 8 lbs a gallon, so a 8 gallon tank holds 64 lbs full plus the weight of the tank

rubicon327 · 07-30-2021, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allan Bornestig

Portable tanks.
Keep in mind that you might have to lift that portable into the bed of your truck.
Allan.

Portable tanks are not fun. They can rarely be wheeled to a dump station that is close by and they get VERY heavy in a hurry. Many also get bad reviews for leaking/breaking. If I had any recommendation it would be to try to go without if you can. If that is not possible then I would definitely consider one of the smaller tanks made by Barker. Probably the best out there.
https://www.barkermfg.com/original.html
https://www.barkermfg.com/4-wheel.html

Iowa Dave · 07-30-2021, 11:27 AM

The lifting thing is certainly a factor. I guess if I had one I would take along a couple 2X6’s for a ramp and have it double for a tandem leveling board. I had a pair of these for the 19 but use Anderson’s for the 21. If I wanted haul it in a pickup. It’s not an option for the Highlander, just cause. I do have a nice pair of ramps I use for loading heavy things with wheels into my utility trailer when I have the very heavy ramp/ end gate off the trailer. I’ve seen the portable tanks with wheels rigged to hook up to the ball and pulled slowly to the dump station. Camped in South Carolina once, I saw a man pulling one behind a bicycle, headed for the dump station. Twenty minutes later, a fellow went by very slowly with a 3500 series RAM with Cummins turbo Diesel pulling a similar sized tank. Talk about hitch drop! I closed my eyes again and said to myself “It takes all kinds.” My dad used to say “A pint is a pound, the world around” Quite often. He also said “never get on the downside of a heavy or stinky load”
Iowa Dave

Brian B-P · 07-30-2021, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Portable tanks are not fun. ... Many also get bad reviews for leaking/breaking.

Perhaps as big an issue as leaking is the hassle of connecting a hose to the portable tank from the trailer, then having a dirty hose after disconnecting. Normally when you dump the tanks you follow the black waste with less-chunky grey waste, but that will quickly use up portable tank volume in this scenario. The most "fun" thing that can happen when filling a small portable tank is failing to stop flow in time, and having it overflow - even if the hose stays attached and nothing spills, the hose has to be disconnected eventually.

kathytony1985 · 07-30-2021, 03:22 PM

We do not have our trailer yet, GCD 09/02/2021, so I am speculating here, but I would think the gray water tank would fill before the the black water tank. There is only 28 gallons of freshwater to begin with and I read somewhere on this forum that you should empty your gray and black tanks when they are 75-80% full. I guess we will see what the two of us experience.

stephen99 · 07-30-2021, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

The most "fun" thing that can happen when filling a small portable tank is failing to stop flow in time, and having it overflow - even if the hose stays attached and nothing spills, the hose has to be disconnected eventually.

Too funny. I can picture it happening.

kathytony1985 · 07-30-2021, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

The most "fun" thing that can happen when filling a small portable tank is failing to stop flow in time, and having it overflow - even if the hose stays attached and nothing spills, the hose has to be disconnected eventually.

The very reason to use the "see through" attachment, but still imagine that would get messy as there would be no gray water to flush it out.

cpaharley2008 · 07-30-2021, 05:16 PM

Sometimes after reading some of these posts I think getting a site where the dump station can be observed would be desirable and better entertainment than television!

davidmurphy02 · 07-30-2021, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kathytony1985

We do not have our trailer yet, GCD 09/02/2021, so I am speculating here, but I would think the gray water tank would fill before the the black water tank. There is only 28 gallons of freshwater to begin with and I read somewhere on this forum that you should empty your gray and black tanks when they are 75-80% full. I guess we will see what the two of us experience.

Lots of variables determine which tank fills first and how long you can last boondocking. You can usually get additional fresh water and use a 5 gallon container to add it to your fresh water tank - many campgrounds without hookups still have water spigots available. Some campgrounds have a dish sink where you can dispose of gray water, carrying it over there in a bucket a few gallons at a time to extend your stay. Black water can wind up being the limiting factor in how long you can stay someplace, have to have a dump station to dispose of that. After you have camped a while you will get a good feel for how many days you can go before needing to dump the black tank. And when you need to go a longer time than that between dump stations you can extend that by using campground bathrooms when available....many ways to work around water and wastewater limitations.

MichaelS78 · 07-30-2021, 07:03 PM

Lots of good input, thank you. We will probably take the advice to make do with the black tank size as is until we know more and then if needed get a smaller portable tank. Unfortunately we plan on towing with an SUV (Sequoia) so it won't be possible to put it in the back of the truck when full. That means the storage box up front which is only rated for 100lbs. Which means the portable tank wouldn't really be able to be larger than a 5 or 6 gallon.

Doesn't sound fun trying to use a smaller tank as people have already mentioned. I see no way to avoid chunky waste in the drain hose.

Starting with the drain closed you're guessing when you've got 4 gallons or so and after emptying into the portable tank would need to flush with at least a little water... Which you don't have room for in a tiny 5-6gal portable tank.

Ideally one would have a portable black larger than the 13.2 gallon in the 21NE and just empty it when full and follow with a few gallons of water. So you have a clean hose to put back. The Barker 16 gallon portable tank could work. But then as people have mentioned you are lifting 130lbs or so into the back of a truck. I suppose my wife and I could handle that together... But we are going to be getting an SUV to tow with so that won't work. No way I'm hauling a portable poo tank inside with us.

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