Just dipping my toes in here. I notice most caravans have the water tank filler, equaliser and outlet pipes on the RHS of the van. I agree the filler should be on the right side away from the entertainment area of the van (ie the left side) as any water spillage from filling is muddy and inconvenient. However, take the common scenario of stopping in town at lunch or for a cuppa. Usually the left hand wheel is in the gutter and the van slopes left. If you are running light with quarter of a tank of water, it is all now on the left side of the tank and the outlet on the up side is out of water, so your pump just pumps air. Some Motor homes are configured with the tank outlets fitted oriented left. Do van manufactures ever have left facing tank outlets with RHS fillers, if not why not?
Take another typical scenario, I'm all setup with the awning fully extended and the walls of the annex and van skirt all done up drum tight to make a wind proof external room. I don't want to be bringing the hose "inside" to fill an empty water tank do you?
I'm with you 2Happy. At one particular caravan park in Queensland the water standpipe was on the opposite side of the van. I had to run the hose from the tap through the middle of the annex then under the van to connect it to the input.
That meant that we were forever tripping over the hose for over a month during our stay.
I think yourself and happy2 missed the point. I wrote that the filler (the inlet) should be on the offside to avoid the situation you have described. It is the outlet I am talking about, not the inlet. You know the pipe that goes from your tank to the pump inlet. It should be on the left so that when you are parked on the side of the road with a wheel in the gutter, then you still have water.
I was lucky when I had my Roadstar, it was a 93 model offroader, and had 160 litre tank, so we never ran out of water, but even so we had a good handpump as well. I wish Roadstar built the same van today, same design and innovation, but just new, and I would come back and buy it.
The water inlet and tanks fill points are at front third of the drivers side of the caravan, I have moved the water inlet to the back of the van, the next job is to install a 12v solenoid valve at each water tank to fill tanks.
I understand what Ian is saying with the road camber causing the pump to suck air when parked. Of course it only happens when the tank is low.
In my van, the sink and shower are on the right hand side of the van, and the tank fittings are as well. But I don't recall ever cursing the road camber for not being able to pump water to make a cuppa. So as it is a rare situation I would plumb another one the same .... with the shortest hose runs.
Ian if it bothers you that much change the outlet to the left, simple. Or have water at hand for your tea break if you don't wish to changed the outlet point. I always have bottled water so there is never a problem of this magnitude disturbing my sleep.
The manufacturer would put the outlet where ever it is easiest and cheapest to locate during the build..... (Hint - many vanners do not realise this....with an Airbag suspension it is a simple ,quick operation to "level the van", and give you all the associated advantages of using a level van whilst "parked" on uneven ground.... )
You must be frustrated by the responses given by some here. Obviously those responders have put their keyboards into action before the brain understood the question.
I do tend to agree with the point that the manufacturer will put the tank outlet in the cheapest and easiest location. I must admit though that it isn't something I've ever considered when looking at new vans.
On our van, the tank outlets are central to the tank and very near central to the van.
For those who need to run a hose through the annexe to fill, either get a fill hose extension or a new fill hose altogether. Then you can go around the rear of your van.
Just for this "wrong side" situation, we carry fill hoses and grey water drain hoses that can be daisy-chained, and power cords of various lengths.
Ian, I understand your frustration at not being able to get the last of your water from the tank.
The outlet/s of tanks are always up from the bottom of tanks so that they don't allow "Gunk" to be drawn into pump - this will always have a layer of unusable water in the tank, even more so when the nearside is lower in a gutter or ditch.
Most plastic tanks are molded (correct spelling), so that outlet can be on either side (or both). If your tank has provision for an outlet on the near side you could insert an outlet spiggot and run it to your pump. For the required effort it would be better to ensure that the van is always parked with off side down. Mind you the amount of extra water obtainable would be almost negligible.
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Maybe the water tanks are designed for Left Hand Drive vehicles & vans where there are greater populations of travelers as in North America and Europe.
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