How to empty waste water tank

[fili villanueva]

This last question has been driving me crazy since Friday evening. We just got a second hand Ocean. As I had no idea from where the previous owner got the water in the fresh water tank, how long it had been there, and we have always drunk from the fresh water tank in our two previous T4 Calis, I decided to drain the tank.
Big surprise, when the water started flowing through three different places and going all over the place in the garage, even though I had placed a bucket under a big hole, through which I assume the water would appear. Had to run and close the lever and for the mop to clean the mess. I cannot avoid thinking about how this was so neat and easy in our T4 Cali.
So, just to be clear, you cannot really collect the water from below the fresh water tank, and my van is not missing any pipes or similar. I actually managed to take a picture of what I think is part 21 mentioned above. Is all this correct, or am I missing something? If this is correct, next time I'll empty it on the street.
The first picture shows the two holes through which water was leaking. It was also coming down closer to the wheel, and the garage floor is pretty much level. The second picture I took it through the little hole, illuminating the interior through the big hole at the same time.
Many thanks in advance

 

[fili villanueva]

It looks like I cannot edit or delete my previous post. I just found the full explanation to my questions in another thread. Apologies.

 

[kurienp]

It looks like I cannot edit or delete my previous post. I just found the full explanation to my questions in another thread. Apologies.

There is also a thread where someone has attached a pipe to the water emptying outlet to ensure that the water does not go everywhere. You may want to do that in case you plan to empty the water talk often, when in your garage.

 

[Hawthorn37]

To add, it’s also useful to look at the route the water draining out of the drain hole, by removing the gas bottle and shining a torch down the gas drop out hole. You hopefully will see the water drinking straight through the drain annular hole, but if the drain annulus is not perfectly lined up, some water can come in to the boot under the floor. If by any chance this is the case, the fix is fairly simple, by slackening the fixtures around the plastic drain parts and plate through which the water flows, and retightening to align the hole.

 

[fili villanueva]

Thank you, both. I think my problem is not that something is broken or missing, but that I keep comparing this van with my old 97 T4 Cali. In any case, next time I empty the fresh water tank, I will follow your suggestion, Hawthorn37.

kurienp, I have looked for that thred, and I think is the one pointing to the one below, where someone places a funnel to collect the water. Are you referring to this one? https://www.t5calif.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1455
I did go under the van, removed the spare wheel, but when I saw some strange looking screws (I'm familiar with torx and they weren't torx) and also that it looked as if the rear bumper has to be dismounted too, I decided to just take the pic posted above and do more research. If removing that plastic panel is simpler than I thought, then I would definitely fit the funnel to direct the water. I add to my list trying again, however in the meantime, if someone can confirm that removing that panel is relatively easy, that'd be awesome. Thanks again.

 

[WelshGas]

Thank you, both. I think my problem is not that something is broken or missing, but that I keep comparing this van with my old 97 T4 Cali. In any case, next time I empty the fresh water tank, I will follow your suggestion, Hawthorn37.

kurienp, I have looked for that thred, and I think is the one pointing to the one below, where someone places a funnel to collect the water. Are you referring to this one? https://www.t5calif.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1455
I did go under the van, removed the spare wheel, but when I saw some strange looking screws (I'm familiar with torx and they weren't torx) and also that it looked as if the rear bumper has to be dismounted too, I decided to just take the pic posted above and do more research. If removing that plastic panel is simpler than I thought, then I would definitely fit the funnel to direct the water. I add to my list trying again, however in the meantime, if someone can confirm that removing that panel is relatively easy, that'd be awesome. Thanks again.

Just the plastic panel. No need to remove bumper. Just need the correct bit for the screws.
Personally I just open the tap when leaving for home. It's only fresh water.

 

[kurienp]

kurienp, I have looked for that thred, and I think is the one pointing to the one below, where someone places a funnel to collect the water. Are you referring to this one? https://www.t5calif.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1455

Yes, very similar. You don't need to remove the bumper or the spare wheel. If you post a pic of the screws, I am sure someone on here will be able to identify for you.

 

[fili villanueva]

Thanks a lot, all. It will take me some time, as this has gone down the list of priorities, but I'll get onto it and report back.

 

[fili villanueva]

It's taken me some time, but this morning I got into this. In the end, I have left everything back as it was and done nothing, however I have decided to share my findings, as this may help others with the same van, an Ocean from 2019.

Below you can see the five screws I had to remove to reach the bottom of the fresh water tank. You can also see a weird round bit that could well be a nut, but it's not, It's just one of those things that go with pressure into a pin, no thread, and if you're not careful removing it, it may break.


As some of you mentioned, you don't need to remove the bumper, however you need to remove this plastic screw, which is meant to go with an hallen key, but because it is designed to break, the hallen key spins around even if you use the correct size.


This is the state of that useless "screw" after removing it. If someone has some tips for removing these, I'm all ears. Luckily, I had a spare one in good condition from my previous van. I thought I would use it when mounting everything back, but after all I have managed to fit the black one and is tight enough, so saving the grey one for next time.



After removing the six bits mentioned, you get the plastic bay as you see below. Contrary to what some of you said, I had to remove the spare wheel, and two of the screws you see above can only be removed after removing the spare wheel. With the spare wheel in place, the plastic bay hardly moves, as it goes almost all the way to the other side of the van.


I have been experimenting with two funnels, and some weird plastic bit that I think came with a washing machine. With the funnels I would need to make a hole in the plastic bay, even with the small one, and it would be difficult to mark where exactly the hole would go and what shape it should have, so I want to avoid that. However the weird plastic bit does not require to make a hole. My conclusion is that with a fairly shallow funnel, and a short spout where to attach a bit of hose, it would be possible to achieve this mod without having to make a hole. Given that recently I met a guy with seven 3D printers and he's lent me one, and that this mod is an improvement not urgent at all, one day I may try to design that shallow funnel if I cannot find one in the shops!