filling &emptying tribute 550 or 650 water tanks Forums

Nickynoo

Hi all, not been on for a while due to disasters with our coachbuilt engine managment system. We couldn't part ex our van and were lucky enough to get our deposit back for a 550 ordered after it took the dealer too long to get it !
Anyway we are now in a position to go ahead and have found a 550 which we have wanted for ages my only query is we often visit sites were acess to water is difficult so tend to arrive for a weekend fully loaded with water. How easy is it to empty waste water we would intend to shower etc in van on rural cl site etc . One of the reasons we want the van is for larger water tanks than we have already 60/40. Thanks for advice anyone greatly appreciated

Jacobite

Hello,
others will be better placed to give you more detailed reply. Waste water tank emptying lever is on drivers side of the van, sort of below the water tank filling cover.(underneath the van). You pull it out as far as I have watched OH do. Confused

You may have to drive over point if on a site to dispose of water, it is easy enough to do.

Again, we haven't yet got to grips with filling water from the outside, found it very slow and we will need to get a longer bit of pipe for it. We found it easier to buy a VERY large funnel, open the top of the water tank and fill it using large water containers. Easy to empty fresh water tank withemptying turning point to right hand side of water tank.

Probably not a very good explanation, others will be more precise I am sure.

Jacobite

fridgeman

i use the tried and tested technical way,"a watering can" to fill up from the outside, Smile

emtying the waste is by reversing in most instances over the disposal point and just pulling the drain lever,dead easy after the first time

Nickynoo

Hi ,thanks for info my only concern was how long the waste tank takes to empty due to narrow bore pipe. When we got our compass the waste hole on the end of the pipe was tiny and it took ages to empty , we managed to get another much wider lever fitting for the end at the york show. Coz we plan on using more water on site coz the tank is bigger will we be losing the will to live while we wait for it to drain or could we do somthing similar? Cheers for all your help.

fridgeman

once you pull the waste lever out it empties very quicley as its about a 40mm hole, fill it up with fresh water down the plug holes and test it .

Nickynoo

Thanks for the info Fridgeman , We put our deposit down today and pick the van up oct 23rd So excited can't wait !!
See what you mean about emptying , I thought the exhaust for the diesal heating was the waste water tap Embarassed

,you live and learn!
I've been watching the chat on here for months and so pleased now to get our 550. Hope we don't have too many teething probs our maiden voyage will be at the end of the month. Still haven't seen any other new shape tribs out and about but its like cars once you get them you see the same model everywhere you go ! Happy trib trips! Nic

fridgeman

i would take a day off to hand over,tell the seller that you would like a full and comprehensive check in front of you,ie put water in the tanks and run the taps,check the heating, make sure the control panel is not alarming all the time,check all the doors and catches work,no water on top of the engine to name a few,write them all down so as not to forget, dont take any flanel,make sure they show you how to operate the bed,and bingo,join the club. Very Happy

oldenstar

Welcome to the Tribute crew Nickynoo.
The waste water on the Tribute has a wide bore exit pipe and empties much quicker than most others I have seen.
Filling the fresh tank is fiddly as you have to get the flow just right or it simply blows back out.
Strangely enough I had to use my 20m filling hose recently for the first time, and this has a connector on the filling end which I just pointed into the hole and it filled much quicker than when I have tried to poke the hose end into the filler.??
Don't ask me why.

Elva

When we picked up our new 550, we were pleased to see, under the external water-filler cap, not only the end of the corrugated hose to the tank but also a female "click" fitting. How convenient, we thought.

Well, it would have been, but it wasn't connected to anything inside.

When we return (from Australia) to the van in the spring, I intend to try to couple it up to the tank, because, as others have said, the "normal" filling hose spouts back and the tank takes an age to fill.

Has anyone else gone through that process?

Jacobite

Hello,

we were told by our dealer that the click fitting was for use on serviced sites. You click fit the water fitting and the water comes direct from the connection, it does not fill your tank. We had forgotten that and bought the proper fitment thinking we could fill the tank with that. The water just poured out.

Now we have bought a VERY large filter from a motor accessory shop, we put that in the top of the tank and it is filled using a ginormous stainless steel soup pot we have. 5 fills from it and the tank is full enough for us.
We tried filling it with the 5 litre bottles bought from the caravan accessory shop. It was very slow and glugged out causing splashes. The pot and filter works very well for us, that is now our preferred method if we fill up before going away. It would have to revert back to normal methods if away for any length of time!

Jacobite