LARGER Black Tank for scamp 16

[Ryan P R]

First post, but I've been lurking for a year or 2. Just purchased a '79 Scamp 16 a few weeks ago and have been working on it since then. We (family of 4) will be downsizing from our 24' stick built. Looking forward to an easier tow, a trailer that doesn't fall apart when it leaks, the "cool egg factor" and getting into tight National Forest boondocking areas easier.
My Scamp is a side privacy room room model. No bathroom, and no grey water tank. I have lots of things to do get this ready for camping. One thing that is stumping me is the black tank size. I want a a black tank that can hold 20 gallons, we are used to 30 gallons on all of our tanks but think 20 will suffice, the stock 9 gallons just won't cut it.

I've tossed lots of ideas around in my head about how to use the stock toilet (which i plan to buy) and increase the holding tank size. Could another larger holding tank be used inside under the toilet just like the stock one, or does it have to be made stronger than usual? Perhaps I could just mount a small holding tank under the stock one under the trailer?
The doesn't seem to be enough space to just mount a 20 gallon tank outside and underneath the trailer....

Any help or insight into this would be much appreciated!

Thanks
Ryan

[Carol H]

Due to the size of the bathroom I personally would not want any bigger tank inside the bathroom - how about just using a large tote for draining off as needed.

[Ryan P R]

Carol,

I don't want to deal with totes. The more integrated the better. We go camping in places where dump stations are nowhere to be found... Until the way home.

[Ryan P R]

Seems many folks complain abut the height of the toilet from the floor anyways. I've been wondering if a larger interior black tank could be used that takes up all off the interior floor space in there?
There are several unknowns with that scenario. I am not sure if there is some sort of special connection point molded into the stock sealand toilet tank, or special connecting hardware that will only work on that tank only, and not another larger tank. I am also unsure of the ability of a typical black tank to hold both a toilet and a persons full body weight on top of it.

[Carol H]

Putting a tank across the whole bathroom floor (which in itself is not big) would mean you would be covering up the shower pump (if you have one) that is located in the floor. Raising the floor would also mean you would loose the shower pan area. I do a lot of dry camping so I would not be willing to give up the shower .... it comes in handy On the Scamp website in their parts department they show all the parts used to connect the Sealand toilet.

To be real honest having a bigger black water take is not modification that I would consider as being really needed. It can always drain it to a tote if dry camping for a week and take it with you in the car when you go exploring the area and find a public toilet to dump it out in. IMHO for dry camping the money would be better spent on a good solar system and LED lighting.

[Ryan P R]

There are 4 of us, so a larger tank size is pretty high on the List of problems to solve. There is no shower and I don't have much interest in adding one. We have a shower in our 24' stick built and never use it for anything besides storage of caping chairs. We camp near streams and rivers, that fact coupled with sponge baths is enough to keep us from getting to ripe.
Admittedly I have at least considered adding the shower, but seeing as how we don't use our current shower even when boondocking I'm not so sure its worth the time and money. We have lots of other work/parts to invest in this trailer as it is. We have used our outdoor shower on occasion with our other trailer for a quick rinse down.


In our larger trailer we have LED lights that will be transferred over to our Scamp when it is ready for camping. We also have 2 group 27 batteries we will transfer from that trailer when the time comes. I have considered a solar system since we mostly dry camp, but the 2 group 27 batteries and LEDs are more than adequate for our current camping needs.


How much long can most of you get out of 9 gallons black tank before its full?
We seem to use about half or more of our current 30 gallon black tank for any 3-4 day camping trip. We are very careful with our water use when dry camping and leave the water pump off for our #1 potty functions. We have a monitoring system on our larger trailer, but it doesn't seam to be reliable or accurate at all, so my guess at our black tank needs is just that.

[Thane]

I added an extra 13 gallon waste tank to my Escape, maybe you could do something similar on your trailer. The extra volume has come in very as I prefer to drycamp if possible to get away from the crowds. Here is the link.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ank-30273.html

[Ryan P R]

Thane,

That was a great write up, thanks for taking the time to do that. I have already read that several times and its what helped me decide that perhaps I should just buy and install the stock Scamp toilet/tank system then add an auxillary tank to that.
Im not sure about the layour under the Escape, but underneath the bathroom in the Scamp there is only ~13" of max width between the main frame and the side of the fiberglass. The depth is perhaps 4" and usable length is about 36"-40". Its not a whole lot of space. If the tank if deeper than 4" or so it will literally hang lower than fiberglass on the side of the trailer, I dont think I can deal with that.
Another issue with the small space under the Scamp bathroom is that I dont think the stock tank should always be open to the auxillary tank, I can see the stock tank just getting really funky if used in that way. I was thinking of using a valve to connect the tanks like you did. The big problem with that is that the additional valve and plumbing would take up even more of that precious little space.

Selection of tanks that are 4" deep is slim pickings, I may have to go with a custom tank like you.

Someone here mentioned in a post that their friend added what he calls a "potty plus" to his black tank. Seems its essentially extra pipes under the bathroom before the Master drain valve that increased the capacity by a few gallons. That may be the ticket, but I am a bit concerned about proper draining with such a winding path for waste.

[Ryan P R]

I've decided to just go with the stock setup for now. Well do our best to minimize fresh water flushing into the toilet and hope for the best.

If we find we need more capacity I'll add a small "overflow" tank under the trailer.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Oh My! What did we do before we carried around black water tanks?? How did we ever manage?

[Carol Ann in TO]

Byron- if you were really asking, I could tell you. We have no tanks in use and seem to survive.

[Ryan P R]

Hey now, no need to tease...
I've done my share of ultralight backpacking with only 10lbs of gear on my back, just a bug net to sleep under, and no black tanks to speak of.
Our camping style changed quite a bit when we had kids.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Ryan P R

Hey now, no need to tease...
I've done my share of ultralight backpacking with only 10lbs of gear on my back, just a bug net to sleep under, and no black tanks to speak of.
Our camping style changed quite a bit when we had kids.

I did mostly the same thing. With the kids the packs went up to about 45+ lbs. and the kids packs growing as they grew. Now those that have kids are doing the same thing with their kids. Our kids are girls.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Carol Ann in TO

Byron- if you were really asking, I could tell you. We have no tanks in use and seem to survive.

I do have a grey water tanks that has never been close to full. No black water and have managed for months at a time. BS (before Scamp) most of our camping with our 4 girls was backpacking style. Some how we all managed.