T4 California - bodged grey water tank - repair, replace, or ignore?

Pat

Pat

Messages
29
Location
Cork, Ireland
Vehicle
T4 PopTop
My baby (98 T4 Cali) is away having many edges, mainly under the sliding door, being replaced. Also, as it turns out, needing a floor from a donor vehicle. Having removed everything Westfalia from the van, I found what I had expected since driving her home from Hamburg - the grey water holding tank was bodged, probably pulled out roughly by the guys who resprayed her at some stage. Now there is a flexible pipe running straight through the tank from sink drain to floor outlet valve.
So - is it possible to get a direct replacement tank? I suspect not, and maybe an underslung tank might be easier and cheaper (not cheap - just cheaper!).

Or is it possible to repair this material (nylon? Rotamoulded resin of some kind?) - I'm handy enough with epoxy resin, having built and repaired boats, but this stuff strikes me as the kind of material that is always "oily".

Or should I take the attitude that life is too short, I'm unlikely to ever frequent German camper parks, and accept that I rarely use the sink anyway, since I usually bring dirty dishes home, or do a megawash every few days in some camp kitchen or a bucket on some deserted beach up the Wild Atlantic Way.

If anybody knows of useful German sites that might have California breakers or spares I'd appreciate a pointer.

Thanks.
 
I’ve used West Systems G Flex Epoxy on plastic canoes and it seems pretty good. It’s designed for nautical applications bonding plastics, so should be strong.
The easy option would be the “through drain” into a water carrier under the van.
 
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My baby (98 T4 Cali) is away having many edges, mainly under the sliding door, being replaced. Also, as it turns out, needing a floor from a donor vehicle. Having removed everything Westfalia from the van, I found what I had expected since driving her home from Hamburg - the grey water holding tank was bodged, probably pulled out roughly by the guys who resprayed her at some stage. Now there is a flexible pipe running straight through the tank from sink drain to floor outlet valve.
So - is it possible to get a direct replacement tank? I suspect not, and maybe an underslung tank might be easier and cheaper (not cheap - just cheaper!).

Or is it possible to repair this material (nylon? Rotamoulded resin of some kind?) - I'm handy enough with epoxy resin, having built and repaired boats, but this stuff strikes me as the kind of material that is always "oily".

Or should I take the attitude that life is too short, I'm unlikely to ever frequent German camper parks, and accept that I rarely use the sink anyway, since I usually bring dirty dishes home, or do a megawash every few days in some camp kitchen or a bucket on some deserted beach up the Wild Atlantic Way.

If anybody knows of useful German sites that might have California breakers or spares I'd appreciate a pointer.

Thanks.
Or go the old fashioned route and have a suitable receptacle (I used to have a wallpaper paste bucket) that the outlet can collect your grey water in. If you don’t do much washing up it should suffice. And you can use the bucket to store things in when travelling.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pat
My baby (98 T4 Cali) is away having many edges, mainly under the sliding door, being replaced. Also, as it turns out, needing a floor from a donor vehicle. Having removed everything Westfalia from the van, I found what I had expected since driving her home from Hamburg - the grey water holding tank was bodged, probably pulled out roughly by the guys who resprayed her at some stage. Now there is a flexible pipe running straight through the tank from sink drain to floor outlet valve.
So - is it possible to get a direct replacement tank? I suspect not, and maybe an underslung tank might be easier and cheaper (not cheap - just cheaper!).

Or is it possible to repair this material (nylon? Rotamoulded resin of some kind?) - I'm handy enough with epoxy resin, having built and repaired boats, but this stuff strikes me as the kind of material that is always "oily".

Or should I take the attitude that life is too short, I'm unlikely to ever frequent German camper parks, and accept that I rarely use the sink anyway, since I usually bring dirty dishes home, or do a megawash every few days in some camp kitchen or a bucket on some deserted beach up the Wild Atlantic Way.

If anybody knows of useful German sites that might have California breakers or spares I'd appreciate a pointer.

Thanks.
Sorry - I meant to put this photo in as well:

IMG_20210717_153057957_compress83.jpg
 
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