Trooper - Water drain taps.

Have recently acquired a 2004 Trooper and so far I love most things about it, but one thing puzzles me.

I've owned a number of motorhomes and campervans over the years and it has always been easy to empty the waste water - they either had a tank with a drain tap which was easily reached near the edge or back of the vehicle or a simple pipe that I could stick a bucket under.

However, I found what I thought was the grey water drain tap which was a bit difficult to get to as I had to sit on the floor to get enough purchase to turn it - and it turned out to be the fresh water tank drain! By lying on the floor and wriggling underneath the side of the van I found the grey water drain tap coming out of the middle of the van. I had to wriggle right underneath to open the tap as both hands were needed. 

Surely I don't have to go through this procedure every time I want to empty it! Is this how it is meant to be?

Hi there,

I don't know the "should be" arrangement on your van but we replaced this ...

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... with this ...

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... and it works perfectly.

Hope this helps. 

Best regards,

Having bought a Trooper of similar age a few months ago, we've had to deal with grey and fresh water drain issues which the previous owner passed on. As I understand it the arrangement from the factory (on our T5 based conversion - I guess yours at that age could be either T4 or T5) is that both tanks drain with a tube to the nearside of the van [Edit: actually I'm struggling to recall if it's the nearside or offside now!]. Each drain pipe should terminate at a plastic stopcock just underneath the sill, held in place with a steel clip - the idea being that you can simply unclip the pipe, lower it to the drain that you are over and undo the stopcock.

The problem is that the steel clips fitted at the factory are too large, so the stopcocks can free themselves and drag along the road, getting destroyed in the process. Both of ours were unusable. So... it's possible that a previous owner has modified yours to make them a bit more "inboard" and so a bit less prone to dropping down? I fitted new stopcocks and replaced the over-sized original clips with smaller, plastic coated ones, and also looped a ty-rap around the open end of the clip to try to ensure that they can't work their way free. The van has not yet done enough miles with us to be sure that this has fixed the problem, but it looks Ok in theory...

[Incidentally, the plastic stopcocks are not an ideal solution - partly because the water has to turn through a right angle at the exit, which slows the flow, partly because the exit itself is smaller than the pipework and so any larger bits of crud in the grey waste tank can block it fairly easily and partly because the rotating handle part has a nasty habit of going brittle and snapping off when you try to turn it. So Dutto's "cork in a bottle" method is not such a bad idea...]

Thanks for the replies. The taps seem to work well enough - it's just that I can't get to them very easily. It's a T4 - one of the last built, I guess.

Surely its just a case of fitting a longer pipe or pipes and a clip that fits well near to the edge of the van as Mojo has described above ?

If it's like the T5 based conversions, the exit point from the tank is a long way under the van, so it's not such a simple task in winter when you're having to lie on your back in a puddle while messing about with Jubilee clips! It's also a bit easier on the later vans, as they have plastic undertrays which you can fix the clips to, but I don't ~think~ the T4 had them, which may be why they have to be mounted further under the van.

-mojo- wrote:If it's like the T5 based conversions, the exit point from the tank is a long way under the van, so it's not such a simple task in winter when you're having to lie on your back in a puddle while messing about with Jubilee clips! It's also a bit easier on the later vans, as they have plastic undertrays which you can fix the clips to, but I don't ~think~ the T4 had them, which may be why they have to be mounted further under the van.

I must admit i don't look forward to draining my waste tank. The flexible pipe which has a tap on the end is held in place by a large jubilee clip which you cannot see unless you lay down on the ground which in many cases is not particularly a good idea. Removing the pipe out of the jubilee clip is relatively simple enough......replacing it back is quite another matter relying on guess work, 'feel' and a prayer! I try to do mine by a squating position and kneel as a last resort (i keep a small pad in the van just for that). Having arthritic problems doesn't help but to aid location i bought a couple of these off ebay and stuck one precisely where the jubilee clip is.

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You should be so lucky to have a tap or pipe!
On our latest trip UP North on crossing the 1km long Cromarty Firth bridge we were unlucky enough to disturb a largish piece of detritus metal sheet from the relatively narrow carriageway edge which on being caught by our front nearside wheel proceeded to remove the waste water drain tap and tube before exiting to the rear to be further mangled by a closely following 18 wheeler! 
When, several hours later, I returned to look for the missing pipe I found the offending detritus. It turned out to be about 1m x10cm in size weighing in at at least 1kg so we were lucky it appears to have done minimal damage that is easily fixed providing one is fit enough to get under the 'van to access the spigot which thankfully is still attached to the waste tank. I will make sure a replacement is re-fixed leak-proof, but not too firmly, should the same thing happen again.
The original one was torn free from its clip and supporting cable tie and must have fallen off somewhere between the Bridge and Rosemarkie where I stopped to check for any damage as you takes your life in your hands to stop on any section of the A9 unless in an area well away from the carriageway! 
So 'till it is fixed I will have to park on gravel or grass.
So the moral is 'Keep out of the Gutter while watching out for WhiteVanMan coming the other way'!
federic

The Duetto grey water drain is easy to improve as I did. Replace the standard tap on a pipe with a longer piece of pipe and put the old tap on the end. I then used Terry (Spring) Clips to secure the pipe to the underside of the sill. The tap is now just under the back of the passenger door.
On sites with stupid drains you cant get over I unclip all the hose and get as close as I can. I can reach under the sill without having to crawl on the floor. One of the simple but effective mods.
I am sure that with a little sussing and boggling most vans could be altered to this arrangement.

Olive Oyl wrote:Thanks for the replies. The taps seem to work well enough - it's just that I can't get to them very easily. It's a T4 - one of the last built, I guess.

My Topaz is a T4 on an 04 plate 2004 however they didn't actually make one. The T4 ended in 2003. Auto sleepers must have converted them over the winter then registered them in 2004.
You may find this info useful when looking for spares.

Our previous 'van was a Clubman LE (last of everything) '04 reg but base built in March 2003! Still any VW Van centre will be able to obtain a full base spec. print out if asked. I have been able, for both my T4 & T5, to obtain these base print-outs.
frederic

...both of my '07 Trooper's drain taps are under the nearside sill, as far as I know they are factory original.
Unfortunately the front one is in exactly the perfect position so that if you overrun a Fiamma levelling block, the rear edge shoots up and breaks off the tap's securing clip.
It happened to me on Arran. The block was tightly wedged, front end dug in the ground, back end hard up on the sill. I thought the block was going to snap, it was under some pressure. Furious digging followed...with an audience of many million midges.

Dave 418 wrote: The Duetto grey water drain is easy to improve as I did. Replace the standard tap on a pipe with a longer piece of pipe and put the old tap on the end. I then used Terry (Spring) Clips to secure the pipe to the underside of the sill. The tap is now just under the back of the passenger door.
On sites with stupid drains you cant get over I unclip all the hose and get as close as I can. I can reach under the sill without having to crawl on the floor. One of the simple but effective mods.
I am sure that with a little sussing and boggling most vans could be altered to this arrangement.

Yes i meant Terry clip and not jubilee as i'd stated! 

That seems quite a length of pipe you've added on then? And of course you still need to drop the hose down if emptying the tank. How have you angled the clips....vertical or horizontal? My one single clip is mounted horizontally with the opening away from the van side so you have to push it out first which is relatively easy, but then the fun starts when trying to clip it back in as you are working 'blind'. On a good day it goes in first time, other days leave me cussing! For a young fit agile type it's fine.....but i'm not!