I have been wasting too much time trying to procure the few Comet parts that is crucial to the success of this project. Amazing in this day and age of Global economy buying something retail from another country can be this freaking hard. The problems are currency conversion, banking, and shipping carriers. It takes a bit of smarts and time to make small purchases without paying too much in currency conversion and yes, shipping cost.
Worst your purchase can turn into financial loss and there is very little recourse. The banks and credit card company, and yes Paypal want to gouge you. I hate Paypal and saw though their deceptive ploys from using them when it got started. I cannot wait to see Google and Apple making it irrelevant. Paypal is never my pal in any stretch of imagination and same goes with FeeBay. Good to see Amazon has been eating FeeBay's lunch over the years.
The Comet parts that I need are their VIP Plus pump (which I can easily purchase in the US), and the little known check valve (Comet calls it non-return valve) that is an accessory to the pumps. I need two of the non-return valves so the respective submersible pumps of two tanks can supply water to the faucets and water boiler but not pumping water into the other tank. In this scheme the implementation of the switch-over is simple and elegant. All I would need is just a SPDT switch to select which pump the switches in the faucet is to send the power to.
this is the Comet non-return valve that i need
While I can find inline check valve here in the US, I do not want to waste time and money to risk they fail in my application. Most check valves in this country are design for high volume and high pressure. The chance is very good that an insertion of such device will significantly restrict our submersible pump that is designed to delivery sensible volume, pressure, and low power consumption.
I have been in email exchanges with the vendor in Ukraine. It is the most motivated seller and from my judging of the website and our correspondence it seems to be a legitimate business (your mother had warned you about doing business with "Eastern Block" countries). Even Tony Soprano advised his madeguys never to mess with the Ukrainians.
the google street view of the business location - lol
how many times did I f#$%ing tell you never mess with the Ukrainians?
Not surprisingly they are not set up to accept credit card payment. They will either accept bank transfer, Western Union, or Paypal. I tried to pay them via Paypal without success. I have no disillusion that if they turn out to be a scam, I will have little recourse with Paypal.
Right now I am waiting for them to tell me the recipient to send Western Union to. I have never use WU in my life and not too keen to start.
At the mean time I found an UK online vendor that also sell these products (at high prices) but when I tried to complete the purchase online, it says they are currently not shipping to the US. I emailed them and receive a reply that they will ship to US but I just have to call them.
Oh, I also called GoWesty hoping they would be willing to special order the valve for me. I was met with "all we sell is the pump" after wasting my time explaining what the valve is for including relieving airlock. OK, I do understand it may not be worth a business's while to do this, but I would not have try if not I observed GoWesty do work hard to find innovation products and solutions for Vanagons. They sell Comet VIP pumps.
This challange does not surprise me since my ownership of Westfalia starting 26 years ago. I also own a lot of foreign appliances and products that no one will buy in this country and have to jump through hoops to maintain them. I was well aware of these challenges when I decide to purchase Brunnhilde. I well knew most of the Westfalia coach parts will be unobtainum in this country, and most would have no spares in even Germany. I am just confident that I can always come up with satisfactory solutions.
Back to the project, I will detail my current plan.
Mount of the Tank:
By orienting the port end of the tank to face inwards the metal shroud of the plumbing and wire chase protects the water hoses and fitting from impact damage. It is likely I would need to cut a small rectangle slot into the shroud to make room for a overflow/breather port.
If you notice by laying the tank the shortest side vertical the two large ports are compromised to be used as fill port. It is not to say they (one of them) cannot. It is just not preferred as once the water level reach the height of the port it will be more restricted to fill the rest of the way if you filling relies solely on gravity which is preferred. These ports are in the mid level of the tank in this orientation.
I am somewhat undecided on the arrangement of the fill port. A part of me wanting to repurpose the existing "city water" hookup port which I never used for its intended purpose. The rational part of me tells me this is making a production with no added benefit but more potential for problems - and subjects to tempering. I even considered repurposing the "communication" ports (the stupid cable TV and POT) Airstream put in on the side.
The alternate fill arrangement is fill directly into the tank from the rear door open, just like I now do with the flush water storage tank of the cassette toilet. To me this is the most rational choice and the best. Since I always have to open the rear door (at least one and often both). By filling directly into the tank I can watch the water level rises. I am leaning to install a 3/4" faucet thread to accept a Gardena quick release fitting. The down side of the Gardena quick release fitting is it will forgo the ability to fill by gravity should the situation arises.
some of the possible Gardena fittings for filling
Securing the Tank:
As a off the shelf item that I pick up locally I cannot ask for a better tank at this price and quality. To secure it to the chosen location is very simple as it is already restrained in three of the six sides. To complete, the two horizontal axis can be done with simple cleats like the mockup in the photos below
a cleat for the side
a cleat for the back side - that is the reason not to choose the 15 gallons tanks as it is one inch deeper
Electrical Hookups and Spicing into the Water Main:
My my cursory check these are all there in the compartment of the new tank. They are the defunct provision for the original US style RV toilet. I just need to connect the pump output of the new tank to the flush water supply hose to the old toilet (that I plugged but did not remove). The power supply to the new pump just needs to be connected to one of the "throws" of the SPDT switch to be installed as the "tank select" in the cabin. I too have to modify the power to the original fresh pump and connect that to the other "throw". The existing pump in the main tank just needs to have a non-return valve added on.
The the overflow and vent port would be one and the same on the new tank. I likely to use the one located on the top left corner (pointing towards the underfloor "ski pass"). The pump wire and water outlet hose port on the tank is currently TBD subject on the right plumbing fitting I can find. It turns out the Todd port relocation kit that includes a boat deck plate do not have the 90-degree elbows that I need. I plan to just buy a 4" screw-in deck plate with o-ring but like to see it first hand to determine the build quality is adequate for the function. Most of the tank plumbing fitting are TBD at this point.
In summary, there will be a SPDT (tank select) switch in the cabin to select which tank to draw water from. No diversion valve is needed. I am leaning towards filling the tank directly with the rear doors open for simplicity and failure free. The auxiliary tank can easily be made removable as it inherently is in the chosen location. There is little need to make provisions to protect the water ports of the tank.
My attempt to send the Ukraine vendor via Western Union only resulted in frustration and waste of time. It will cost $10 fee to send $85 USD. I really wanted to give the Ukraine vendor a chance despite my perceived risks. So many folks who struggle financially have to rely on this expensive money transfer service to send money home. Yet you can wire millions with $15 bank wire fee. I am now counting on the UK vendor to come through.
Update - 2015-06-03 16:55:
I just realize that there should already be a check valve on the main feed from the existing pump/tank. in order for the system to work with external feed versus tank feed. Just like there is one on the "city water" inlet after the regulator. I went and found the Westfalia eShop screen shots that I saved - I regret that I didn't save everything Westfalia had when the eShop was up.
Sure enough in the parts diagram it shows there is a check valve in line with the pump inside the tank. I don't however ever notice it when I open the tank multiple times, including replacing a failed pump. In fact I when and measured the max diameter of the VIP pump in it today (and yes, the max diameter is precisely as specified on the spec of 48mm). It could be there sitting very high in the pump hose. It is also possible Westfalia place it on the hose segment outside the tank for the NAFTA James Cook.
item 10 rückschlagventil is the check valve
Still this only means I need an additional pump and one check valve instead of two.
I have always wonder about our
it is that simple
I know how to prepare for filling, filling, and close the bleed valve etc. I have however always nervous about venting too much propane into the air when the bleed valve is open until now. I was also afraid to take the never working level gauge off to see what is wrong, but no more.
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