Westfalia water tank

[atlime]

Can anyone tell me what I do with the drain plug on a westy water tank?

I have just bought a new tap to fit so I dont have to carry about an extra container and was hoping to remove the original container, clean scrub and sterilise it

I have it out and have started cleaning but when I put water in it comes straight out the pipe at the bottom, not the one that goes to the tap but the one that sticks out the bottom of the van.

I'm presuming its for draining the tank?

I have turned the nut on the end both ways but neither way stops the flow :shock:

any ideas ?

 

[Joval]

I didn't even know there was an drain outlet, how do I find that?

 

[atlime]

on the bottom of the water tank (under the sink) there are 2 pipes

1 is the supply to the tap and the 2nd is a drain that goes straight down and out of the van.

If you look under the van you will see 3 pipes coming from the van. The other 2 are for the sink drain and cool box

I figured out the water tank drain pipe has an allen key bolt in the centre, you undo that to drain the tank and tighten back up when you want to fill it up again...

 

[Joval]

Cool, cheers.

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

Make sure you don't twist the actual pipe or it will split from the water tank,if it hasn't already.You might have to remove the water tank and repair a crack on where the drain pipe fits to the tank.

So take it steady tightening and loosening the drain plug,use some plus-gas if you have to.And hold the pipe with some self locking pliers right at the base to stop it from twisting whilst you do the drain plug up.

 

[downsouth]

my '71 has a wing nut on the thin pipe. Spin it round and the tank drains. Need to clean my tank before i use it though. Manual says baking soda, buy i thought a water purifying tablet would serve just as well.

As my hand pump tap is missing (any one know where i can get one btw), I took the water tank out the other day, drilled a hole in top and jig-sawed out 50mm hole, then dropped one of maplins £7.99 portable 12v shower pumps in. Hey presto, the bus now has a festival shower/ pumped water. Only thing is i have a big hole in top of tank now which I have duct taped up. Nedd a big fook off grommet.

 

[Joval]

Make sure you don't twist the actual pipe or it will split from the water tank,if it hasn't already.You might have to remove the water tank and repair a crack on where the drain pipe fits to the tank.

So take it steady tightening and loosening the drain plug,use some plus-gas if you have to.And hold the pipe with some self locking pliers right at the base to stop it from twisting whilst you do the drain plug up.

Yeah, mine is a little brittle alright - the filler neck and cap just broke up in my hands.

I have a little 12v pump under the sink but it's like a kango hammer, what's the Maplin job like?

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

I've got a tip to fix the filler neck,I used a bit of pipe from a hoover extension pipe.It was exactly the right diameter to slide down the filler neck in the tank and also what was left of the threaded bit fitted perfectly on the other end.Once you're happy with the fit glue it in place.

By the way the nut you're turning is spinning the entire pipe around,like atlime said it's the allen key inside the nut you have to turn.