The biggest inconvenience is that I usually wind up taking an impromptu
shower when filling the tank, but I doubt it takes five minutes.  I turn the
hose on full, fold it over to control rate of flow, and poke it into the
fill hole.  I then release the fold-over and let it fill.  If I nod off in
the next few minutes, I get hosed.

Karl Wolz

|-----Original Message-----
|From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com]
|On Behalf Of Dave Mcneely
|Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 8:39 AM
|To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
|Subject: Re: Bottom-filling water tank
|
|---- The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM> wrote:
|> > Trevor, if the inlet could be made so that it allows a
|faster feed,
|> > that would be great.  Of course, that would simply entail a larger
|> > opening at the inlet, larger diameter inlet tube, and
|larger opening
|> > into the tank.  It has always seemed absurd that the inlet is so
|> > inadequate.  I always fill my tank through the tank lid
|inside, but
|> > there is always risk of getting the cabinets wet.
|>
|>
|> Sounds like a lot of hassle to me.  Personally, the time it takes to
|> fill the tank via the inlet has never bothered me at all.
|Sure it's a
|> bit slow, and if I'd designed it I'd have used a larger tube. But it
|> still fills in, what, 5 minutes or so?  If I was so rushed that I
|> couldn't spare 5 minutes, I  wouldn't be driving a Vanagon in the
|> first place. :-)  I put the hose in, do my quick pre-trip
|walk-around
|> (coolant level, oil level, tire pressure), and by the time I'm done
|> it's just about full. My last Westy had a busted inlet hose that I
|> never got around to fixing, so I had to fill it from the top
|opening in the tank, and I found that much less convenient.
|>
|
|Please explain to me how you get the tank to fill in 5
|minutes?  Mine takes 20-25 depending on how much water is
|already in it.  If nearly empty, it takes over 30.  I have
|tried to use one of the plastic valves with a tube on the end
|sold at RV stores.  The tube is too large a diameter to fit
|into the inlet sufficiently deep.  With that thing I have to
|stand and hold it in the inlet, carefully controlling flow
|rate to get maximum flow in without backup.  Not easy.  I
|tried to use a funnel.  The inlet won't accept the water fast
|enough to avoid gross spillage.  The angle of the inlet
|opening is too low to allow a funnel to properly fit.  The
|whole damned thing is just poorly designed and needs a
|complete overhaul.  You'd think that a vehicle that was sold
|for so many years, someone at the conversion plant would have
|figured out that the inlet was a piece of crap, and redesigned
|it to be adequate.  I can fill the tank from inside in 5
|minutes or so.  Oh well.
|
|mcneely
|
|> - Ron Salmon
|>   The Bus Depot, Inc.
|>   www.busdepot.com
|>   (215)  234-VWVW
|>
|> _____________________________________________
|> Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT
|
|--
|David McNeely
|-----
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