Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 20:57:19 -0500
Reply-To: Matt Roberds <mattroberds@COX.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Matt Roberds <mattroberds@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Gray (grey) water bladder?
In-Reply-To: <20070530004334.UTCV17078.fed1rmmtai111.cox.net@fed1rmimpi01.cox.net>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed
> From: "Mike \"Rocket J Squirrel\" Elliott" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
> Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 15:49:31 -0700
>
> I've been using a little 2-1/2 gallon collapsible jug under Mellow
> Yellow to catch sink drainage. [...] Problem is, in gusty winds, when
> the thing is empty or mostly so, it can blow away or at least slide
> enough so that the hose pulls out.
How about an oil drain pan like a Blitz 11838?
http://www.blitzusa.com/products/oil/Oil%20Drains%20and%20Pans/podp15od.htm
15 quarts (3.75 US gal, 14.2 L), and available at most FLAPS, at least
around here - this might have something to do with the fact that they
are made just up Route 66 in sunny Miami, Oklahoma, but I'm pretty sure
they are distributed nationwide. I've had a couple of them for doing
oil changes for several years and they haven't leaked yet.
The flat top would make it easy to put a rock or brick or something on
top of it to hold it down. Or maybe a tent stake through the carrying
handle. Depending on the garden hose, the opening in the center might
not be quite large enough to fit the hose - if you're almost there, a
short slit in the end of the hose might do it, or you might have to
switch to a chunk of clear vinyl hose with a garden hose fitting on the
end from the hardware store. It doesn't collapse like your existing
jug, but if you have two of them they will stack.
The one Tom Buese mentioned is probably their 11837:
http://www.blitzusa.com/products/oil/Oil%20Drains%20and%20Pans/podp10od.htm
This on is 10 quarts (2.5 US gal, 9.5 L). I've got one of these, too,
but its only disadvantage is that with advancing age, sometimes the
plastic grate tends to fall into the pan if you drop an oil filter on
it. Otherwise it works OK and doesn't leak.
If you really need it to be collapsible and not totally huge (a few
hundred gallons), maybe you could re-use something like a diver's lift
bag http://www.carterbag.com/encpill.html or exhaust-operated car jack
http://www.bushranger.com.au/exhaust_jack.php .
Maybe you could install a hook or protruding bolt head on the bottom of
the Westy that you could hang your existing jug on, maybe with a bungee
or big rubber band around the jug handle and the hook to keep the jug on
the hook. If I remember correctly, jugs like yours have a plastic
handle and wire rings to connect the handle to lugs molded into the jug
body. Maybe you could thread a piece of stranded wire through the rings
and tie the jug to something on the bottom of the Westy.
Matt Roberds
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