Awning rail fitting

[nickdrums]

Hi I’m looking to make or buy something which will slot into the near side awning rail on my T6 Cali, so that I can hang a gravity water purifier from it and allow the pure water to drain into the van’s fresh water tank. Has anyone done this or seen anything suitable?

 

[KGCali]

Like this?

BRANDRUP - Water / Health

www.brandrup.de

 

[nickdrums]

Yes exactly! I was going to get a Lifestraw Expedition or something like that, so hopefully I can buy just the hook on its own.

 

[KGCali]

LifeStraw Flex Gravity Bag, water filter 3.7 liter

Compact, light-weight water filtration system with extensive protection and 3.7 litre water bag

uk.knivesandtools.eu

 

[KGCali]

Hi I’m looking to make or buy something which will slot into the near side awning rail on my T6 Cali, so that I can hang a gravity water purifier from it and allow the pure water to drain into the van’s fresh water tank. Has anyone done this or seen anything suitable?

Could take a long while to fill the whole Tank, perhaps fit a 3M Water filter to the van pump instead?

 

[nickdrums]

OK I think this is the purifier I'm going to get. It's going to be heavy at 12L capacity, but I don't need to fill it right up, and the big one is only £10 more that the 5L one. Now I need to find the hook ...

LifeStraw Mission water filter, 12 liter

Life span: 18000 liter Filters: bacteria (99.9999%), protozoa (99.9%) en viruses (99.999%).

uk.knivesandtools.eu

 

[nickdrums]

Aha!

Side Mounting Thumb Screw for VW California Awning Rail - CampervanBits

These side Mounting thumb screws have a variety of uses, from using in conjuntion with roof toppers or for making your own washing line.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[WelshGas]

Aha!

Side Mounting Thumb Screw for VW California Awning Rail - CampervanBits

These side Mounting thumb screws have a variety of uses, from using in conjuntion with roof toppers or for making your own washing line.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

I was just looking to post a link to that. Works a treat for lots of things.

Personally I wouldn’t use some of these available filters. I would just use a simple particulate filter, even simple filter paper and then Katodyne Micropur.

 

[KGCali]

Make your own awning hangers ...

Make your own Awning Track Hangers

Can be used to hang tarps, lights, hang rope, or make your own awning. Strong as HECK for each one you make, you'll need 10 inches of paracord (ends melted), 1 inch of 1/4 inch rigid aluminum tubing, one M10 washer. If you cut the rigid tubing with a pipe cutter you'll end up with a piece...

www.popupportal.com

 

[GollyOlly]

I looked at the Brandrup hanger configuration and felt it put too much point stress on the near side rail, especially if you want to use the 20L (20kg/42lbs plus) Solar Water Butt from Brandrup. I wanted to disperse the weight to minimise stress, as I plan on hanging two, and made the insert for the rail. I can have hot water at the sink as well as hot water for my shower. But having the five hanger points distributes the weight evenly across the 2 meters and allows the entire rail to support the weight. I used 15mm x 5mm x 2000mm aluminium as the internal rail, M5 stainless screws, nylon washers, and 40mm x 3mm x 2000mm aluminium for the external rail. I bought some end caps, secured them with mastic and done. See the pictures. Even if the rail pulls free, which I doubt, that's not a big job to glue it back to the body. Apologies for the dirty windows....:-(

 

[WelshGas]

I looked at the Brandrup hanger configuration and felt it put too much point stress on the near side rail, especially if you want to use the 20L (20kg/42lbs plus) Solar Water Butt from Brandrup. I wanted to disperse the weight to minimise stress, as I plan on hanging two, and made the insert for the rail. I can have hot water at the sink as well as hot water for my shower. But having the five hanger points distributes the weight evenly across the 2 meters and allows the entire rail to support the weight. I used 15mm x 5mm x 2000mm aluminium as the internal rail, M5 stainless screws, nylon washers, and 40mm x 3mm x 2000mm aluminium for the external rail. I bought some end caps, secured them with mastic and done. See the pictures. Even if the rail pulls free, which I doubt, that's not a big job to glue it back to the body. Apologies for the dirty windows....:-(

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Just as easy using 5 or more of these.

Side Mounting Thumb Screw for VW California Awning Rail - CampervanBits

These side Mounting thumb screws have a variety of uses, from using in conjuntion with roof toppers or for making your own washing line.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

You still have a point load at each connection to the body rail.

 

[GollyOlly]

Just as easy using 5 or more of these.

Side Mounting Thumb Screw for VW California Awning Rail - CampervanBits

These side Mounting thumb screws have a variety of uses, from using in conjuntion with roof toppers or for making your own washing line.

vwcaliforniaclub.com

You still have a point load at each connection to the body rail.

Not really. The inner rail is clamped to the outer rail and makes contact across the entire "awning" rail so the weight is distributed across the entire rail. Even if, as you say, there is point contact, the weight is distributed equally across the five points so there is not 42lbs on one single point.