Installing UNDERSLUNG (CAK) Water Tanks | Fiat Ducato L2H2 | UK Self-Build Campervan Conversion
Вставка
- Опубліковано 21 лип 2024
- We finally got round to starting one of the bigger jobs in our van - installing our underslung water tanks. We decided to go for the CAK water tanks that are designed to fit snuggly under the van and make use of some of the recesses in the chassis. Unfortunately, due to the position of our gas tank, we couldn't make the smaller waste water tank fit so we decided to just install the 66 litre fresh tank underneath the van and also to do this on the 'wrong' side, installing it on the drivers side.
The tanks are good but the supplied fittings aren't great so we rust treated them and then had to manually drill fixing points in the chassis members before we could fit the tank. After treating and sealing those, fitting the tank level gauge and insulating it, we were able to fit the tank in place.
The final stage was to connect up the pipework including filler hose from inside the garage and cold feed in to the van. In the next water video we'll show you how we fit and connect our in van water system but for now, we're happy the tank is in place!
Mark & Neil
===========================
PRODUCTS USED
CAK 66L Fresh Tank and Fitting Kit (various retailers)
56mm Holesaw: amzn.to/3yvFMUQ
No Nonsense Rust Primer: bit.ly/3GFXxU3
No Nonsense Black Spray Paint: bit.ly/3IN4ZP9
Underseal Spray: amzn.to/3lWWSG3
Dodomat Superliner: amzn.to/3IMgRRx
Foil Insulation: amzn.to/3pRJyUn
Evolution Mitre Saw: amzn.to/3nRGcBs
Bosch Jigsaw: amzn.to/3zjNMqx
Evolution Circular Saw: amzn.to/39zuTFX
Makita Plunge Saw: amzn.to/3AkimSl
Makita Combi Drill & Impact Driver: amzn.to/3wwzJ0B
===========================
TIMINGS
00:00 Start
00:30 Which water tanks?
02:46 Planning under van fixings
06:02 Planning the pipework
10:00 Prepping the brackets
11:00 Fitting the tank sensor
14:49 Insulating the tank
17:10 Installing the tank
18:07 Connecting the pipework
===========================
WHO ARE WE?
We're Mark and Neil and this is Our Van Plan. We've always wanted a camper van and took the plunge in 2020 by ordering a brand new medium wheelbase (L2H2) Fiat Ducato. We are converting it ourselves into the van of our dreams with little previous experience. We're glad to have you along for the ride!
===========================
FOLLOW US
You can follow our build in real time over on Instagram....
/ ourvanplan
===========================
#ukvanconversion #vanlife #campervan
Just came across your van plan today. Excellent production. Thanks for sharing.😀😋 Have a great day guys.
Thank you. Glad you found it useful.
That was one of the more daunting jobs of the conversion to tackle. You made a good job of it, well done! Enjoying the build 👍🏻
Thanks Simon
Very help full video . I m just starting my fiat ducato build and I was worrying about the tanks. Thanks for the help😃😃
Thanks. They’re a bit fiddly but definitely doable. We’ve decided our waste will go through the floor and into an external/portable tank. Works for us right now.
@@OurVanPlan sounds good. If it works it works. Is the second part of the install on UA-cam yet I couldn’t seem to find it🤔 I m happy I found your channel😁
Really useful Videos thank you. I ordered a new Boxer L3 H3 in the New Year (2023) and still waiting......but lots of time to plan which I think's a good thing anyway as there are so many decisions. You've clearly done a great job on your Van.
Oh that’s a long wait. I think mine was about 6 months which was frustrating. Good to have time to think but then you reach a point where you just want to crack on!
@@OurVanPlan Absolutely & before the Summer ends! 🙂
Awesome as always look forward to giving this a try myself! :)
Thanks! If you are good at wrapping presents then you’ll be ok! Haven’t dared try and fill it yet 😂
Truly inspirational series. We took the plunge too (Ducato L3H2) but are having it professionally converted primarily as we had no off-road space to undertake the conversion. That said, your videos are still an incredible resource when it comes to understanding what the conversion involves. Many thanks.
Thanks Richard, glad you’ve found them interesting and informative. We’re looking forward to looking back in years to come to see what we did!
Class Job on the tank where you cable tied the blue pipe to the axle It might be a good idea to put some rubber to save the pipe and fitting some kind of mud flap to save all your hard work Insulating the tank wouldnt do any hard to lag the pipes great job by the way not many people would think of Insulating and rust proofing brackets 💯👌
Have thought about wax oil the under carriage of your van class video campervan content you could be on to something there Insulated tanks 💡💡😎👌👍
Well done, plenty of thought needed for this - pity that you couldn't relocate the gas regulator. Not sure if you have already, but I would fit locking nuts to the support brackets. Looking forward to the next part.
Thanks Errol. I was going to fit locking nuts but then forgot so I will retro fit them assuming the other ones haven’t already rusted on 😂
Great video 👍
Thank you 🙏
Great description. I've fitted a SMEV 9222 sink which takes ages to drain. Just wondering if you have any ideas?
Nice work! Could you share a link to water tanks?
Just subscribed a week ago and slowly catching up. Love your detailed explanation, your eye for detail and your unbelievable patience!
just a question with the tank. There are several raised sections (3 in all) How do they all fill up? Would there be an air lock preventing filling or are they all separately vented?
Ah thanks Phillip really appreciate that. Yes it has been very testing at times. I wouldn’t come across so patient in the out takes 😂 there are tiny vent holes in the tops of each of the raised sections.
Fantastic. Once again helping me out so much. Thank you. Definitely gonna do mine this way, think I'm gonna go with a 'spare wheel' gas tank to make sure there's room for both tanks.
Thanks Steve. We’re now considering a waste water tank where the spare wheel is as an option.
Please keep us updated how the filling performance is with the bend under the chassis member. Thanks.
Will do, I’m keeping everything crossed!
Do these tanks have interior baffles to prevent the water sloshing around uncontrolled with possible instability being a problem?
I am building a van myself. I took inspiration from your ceiling and made one similar to yours so thank you and sorry for copying your design! I am a bit behind your build so this video comes handy. I am terrified of making holes though my brand new spotless floor!
As you mentioned, I think the entry pipe will accumulate water in the elbow and possible freeze if the temperatures drop below 0. Do you have enough room to insulate the pipe? The others are quite small so I'm guessing that won't be a problem. It would be a shame if the pipe froze after all that Xmas present work done on the tank!
Your ceiling sounds great and we saw the design from someone else so sharing the love for the slatted ceiling! I still need to fully test the water filler. I think some will accumulate so will need to deal with that. There is definitely space to insulate so I’ll do that and keep everything crossed!
Good video thanks, do you think 2 of the large 91l tanks could be fitted? Like a mirror image each side of the handbrake cable
Thanks. Yeah you probably could if you were creative. It might be tight because exhaust goes that side. We couldn’t do the second one because of our gas tank annoyingly
Great instruction video 👌 but ..... you insulated the water tank nicely against a night frost, but you forget to insulate the water hoses too, otherwise all the work of insulating the water tank is useless
Yeah good shout, I have subsequently put some on the cold water feed pipe. But yet to test the system so will revisit 👍🏻
mate this is fantastic. Really helpful and makes one feel one can install a tank without stress.
I have a motorhome on a Peugeot boxer frame. one thing I dont understand is there i you call the "fill" @21min and 12 seconds. and the cold fill ? Whats the difference?
Thanks glad you found it helpful. It’s certainly more straight forward than I’d expected. Hmm there’s only a main fill for the tank and then the cold feed back into the van plus of course the drain to empty the tank. Probably got my words muddled 😂
@@OurVanPlan ACTUALY... its me that's getting muddled. There is of course a fill for the tank. There is a feed to the van and a tank drain. I am being thick. thanks for replay . really awesome video and fantastic van .
There looks like a very small clearance between the tank and the rear axle ? Going over bumps the tank when full might hit this component. Also the springs look straightened-out, consider an air suspension kit for improved height and ride comfort !
It’s close but plenty of clearance. Yeah the springs were flat so I tried the sumo springs which helped a lot (particularly with stability round corners) but ended up changing to dual lead springs which make a massive difference and it’s a nice comfortable ride now.
Hi There! Would love to chat to you guys about gas/ water systems. We just purchased a L3 h2 van for our second conversion (our first got stolen last friday which was heart breaking)
bonjour super boulot merci par contre je vois pas le lien de votre cuve ?
Hi mate. Can you please advise where you got your flexible 40mm filler hose from? I've bought a couple of potable (convoluted) pipes, which say they are 'flexible' but they are actually quite rigid! Many thanks
Hi, it came with the tank and is really flexible as you say. It’s a CAK tank but came with all fillers/hoses.
Great video, I have the same tanks that I'm fitting to an L3H2 Boxer. Do you have a link to the water level sensor / gauge you used please?
Thanks. Yeah it’s this: www.jacksonsleisure.com/caravan-motorhome/water-plumbing/cbe/water-level-kit/
@@OurVanPlan superb, thanks very much
Hi, Great video and explanation, thanks.
I'm converting the same van as yours and at the moment I'm planning the water and gas tanks.
A question: I made a template of the larger fresh water tank (based on dimensions from CAK) and when positioned on the van the sweep of the handbrake cable in front of the rear axle cuts the corner of the tank, not much but it looks like it might prevent the tank fitting properly.
How did you get round this?
Glad you found it useful. I didn’t have any issues with the hand brake cable but I know what you mean. I think the tank can push forward to keep it clear enough. There’s a reasonable amount of movement when the bumps of the tank are up in the gaps between the chassis struts.
Hi and thanks again, On your video it looks like the handbrake cable is just clear of the tank. I don't suppose there is any difference in the routing of this cable between your van and ours (2023) but, you never know!!
If you say it fitted then I'll believe you.
My thinking is to use 2 of the larger tanks (1 for fresh the other for grey) so there is a bit more clearance to get the gas tank inspection cover off. (The CAK 224W looks to be a bit further towards the front of the van than the 223F).
It's so difficult to plan these things without having the bits in front of you. C'est la vie!! Ron@@OurVanPlan
Can you advise what the blue pipe is that you are using for the cold water feed. I'm in Australia and I've shipped a CAK tank over from the UK with 15mm OD outlet, struggling to find a pipe to fit it.
Hey, it’s basically just a drinking water safe flexible hose pipe like you’d use in the garden. 15mm. I got it from the same place I got the John guest fittings and the 12mm pipe. Quite hard to find admittedly but that’s what it is.
Hi mate, can I ask what specific pipe you used for the feed up into your van? Was it an internal diameter of 15mm or smaller?
Yeah the cold feed into the van is 15mm flexible hose and seems to do the trick. It’s more like hosepipe than the 12mm internal plumbing pipe work.
Do you know what size those hook bolts are?
great job planning do it aswell where did you buy it?
I think I got the tanks from eBay somewhere.
Do you need a breather pipe for when you fill it up. Release the pressure from filling ?
No the tank has breather holes in the top so all fills ok.
I have the same set but found them to fit quite loosely on my Relay. Thinking of refitting them using my own alternative to their hooks. Did you have this issue?
Yeah they’re not amazing tbh. I managed to get it to a point that I was happy and the tank was held in place but would prefer a different solution.
Hii!! Where did you get the gray water tank? Do you have a link? I'm having a hard time finding it so shaped! Thanks❤️
It was off eBay, search for CAK tanks. Think the company was Caravan Accessories. Expensive for what they are but do the job. Consider your placement as you can change where the fill points are. The eBay listing has schematics.
Was it just the regulator stopping you from using both tanks? I have a 25L underslung LPG tank that I'm about to fit and want to get the fresh and waste water tank in too. Is there a way I can do this without running into problems?
Yeah it’s just the regulator and we could move it but it’s working ok with just one tank at the mo. You can definitely fit both plus the gas tank, it’s just quite right. The tanks come up close to the cross beam that the gas tank fits to.
@@OurVanPlan Ahh that's a relief to hear :) I'll look at trying to put the regulator in another location when installing then. Thank you!
Did you dodo matt over the vents on the top of the tank?
No, left them clear
Hi guys, can you tell me what brand the tanks are, hopefully can get them here in Australia or see what freight would cost from UK😯😁
Hey, they’re CAK tanks. Not amazing so I’m sure there’ll be somewhere as good in Australia? The other one people seem to use a lot in the UK are Barrett tanks who do custom sizes.
@@OurVanPlan awesone cheers for that👍
Why so many holes in the van floor for the water pipes. For the inlet surly be better to run a to a plastic trim on the rear and run the tube under the van? Avoids all the holes?
Benefit of hindsight I guess. I was planning as I was going so yeah I think I could have been more efficient. However I got quite confident about the holes in the floor tbh. Well sealed and protected and no problems to date!
@OurVanPlan very true, you've done an awesome job and have helped immensely with my build so thanks for the videos. Personally trying to avoid as many holes as I can. Even for shore power and water inlet I'll keep the runs external and pos just hide under the bumper
What is the full height of the waste water tank?
They’re 203mm
Dove avete acquistato i serbatoi? Costo €? Grazie
Did the bend cause any problems?
We haven’t tried it yet! Will let you know when we do. Fingers crossed!
Might not be a good idea to attach the fresh water drain to the back axle!
Ah, yeah good point 😂 will rethink that one. Thanks.