Hi all, looking again to tap into the collected wisdom of the group...
Since Gozza Junior has reached the age when he can decide not to come caravanning with us, we've turned our front lounge into a fixed bed, by removing the cushions and installing a permanent mattress, which is better for Mrs Gozza's back, and saves moving stuff around morning and evening.
One consequence of this, of course, is that operating the water system drain-down valve is a major pain. The valve I have,as far as I can tell, is this one:
I'm considering replacing the clear pipe (which comes through the caravan floor) with a longer section of proper caravan water pipe, leading to a tap which is easily accessible outside the caravan - probably the sort used on motor homes to drain the internal waste tank. Then when it's time to go home I can open the valve and drain the tank without doing contortions to get to a valve which is now hidden.
My thoughts so far are:
1) I considered replacing the valve with a three-way T fitting, but decided I wanted to keep the option of being able to close the valve inside the caravan, for example if the external pipe became damaged.
2) I know I need to think of a way to keep external parts clean and protected from road dirt.
And my questions...
1) Am I laying myself open to huge problems in the future of any kind? I can't see any way this could lead to water contamination as long as I flush out the "dead leg" every time I set up the caravan
2) Is there an easier way of achieving the same thing?
3) Has anyone done this and what advice would they have?
I know some people will be thinking, why not just travel with the water tank full, it's only 10 kg? Not an option for me, I already have enough trouble achieving nose weight as a previous owner of the caravan removed a bunk bed from the back end to make the 'van from a five berth to a four berth, and I've replaced a sliding wooden partition at the back end with a curtain!
(EDITED twice for clarity and spelling!)
Since Gozza Junior has reached the age when he can decide not to come caravanning with us, we've turned our front lounge into a fixed bed, by removing the cushions and installing a permanent mattress, which is better for Mrs Gozza's back, and saves moving stuff around morning and evening.
One consequence of this, of course, is that operating the water system drain-down valve is a major pain. The valve I have,as far as I can tell, is this one:
I'm considering replacing the clear pipe (which comes through the caravan floor) with a longer section of proper caravan water pipe, leading to a tap which is easily accessible outside the caravan - probably the sort used on motor homes to drain the internal waste tank. Then when it's time to go home I can open the valve and drain the tank without doing contortions to get to a valve which is now hidden.
My thoughts so far are:
1) I considered replacing the valve with a three-way T fitting, but decided I wanted to keep the option of being able to close the valve inside the caravan, for example if the external pipe became damaged.
2) I know I need to think of a way to keep external parts clean and protected from road dirt.
And my questions...
1) Am I laying myself open to huge problems in the future of any kind? I can't see any way this could lead to water contamination as long as I flush out the "dead leg" every time I set up the caravan
2) Is there an easier way of achieving the same thing?
3) Has anyone done this and what advice would they have?
I know some people will be thinking, why not just travel with the water tank full, it's only 10 kg? Not an option for me, I already have enough trouble achieving nose weight as a previous owner of the caravan removed a bunk bed from the back end to make the 'van from a five berth to a four berth, and I've replaced a sliding wooden partition at the back end with a curtain!
(EDITED twice for clarity and spelling!)