Blue Fresh Water Tap Flexi hose

Has anyone replaced the fresh water tap with the flexi hose for a rigid pipe? I really don’t like the hose setup & don’t see its point, would much sooner have a fixed tap that just opens like the waste does, thinking of changing mine as would sooner just bend down to open the tap rather than have to get down on my knees to unclip the tap to open, also don’t like how low to the ground the flexi hose hangs incase it gets caught on something as I drive over it… 

Unclipping the freshwater drain tap and and lowering it with the flexible hose allows significantly more water to be drained from the freshwater tank.  Your flexible pipe looks different to mine and longer which suggests a previous owner has replaced it.  Your's looks like grey convoluted wastewater pipe.  It should be blue food grade freshwater convoluted pipe.  Mine doesn't hang low like yours.  If it wasn't chucking it down with rain outside and getting dark I would send you a photo of mine.  The only change I have made to mine is to fit extra jubilee clips to stop the pipe from working loose.

A bit grubby but here is a photo of mine:

I am surprised that Autosleeper are still using the pipe and clip system for the drain tap. The N reg Duetto we had was like this and I modified it with a longer hose to make access to drain points easier. The pipe was clipped along the cill putting the tap under the passenger door. 
Our Rienza has the taps fitted in the side  skirt. It is neater and saves reaching underneath to open the taps and unless we can use a drive over drain the only way to drain the grey tanks is to use a container. 
A bit more thought by manufacturers about actually using what they build would make a big difference.

Caraman wrote:  Your's looks like grey convoluted wastewater pipe.  It should be blue food grade freshwater convoluted pipe.  Mine doesn't hang low like yours. 

I'm intrigued....why does it need to be "food grade" 

maybe answered my own question....this is for draining the freshwater tank  

I don't understand the food grade reference either, it's not as if you'll be drinking it if you're draining it .

Caraman wrote:Unclipping the freshwater drain tap and and lowering it with the flexible hose allows significantly more water to be drained from the freshwater tank.  

The outlet on the tank where the flexi hose attaches is at the base or very close to the base of the tank so a rigid pipe shouldn’t make much difference, every other Auto Sleeper we’ve had has always relied on rigid pipes not this system which I really don’t like like, it all looks very fragile & unreliable to my eyes, have asked the Auto Sleeper service centre if they can upgrade this at the same time when it goes to them for the bike rack product enhancer but don’t think they fully understood me (who’s answering emails at Auto Sleeper? This is why I miss Mark Burdett so much) they said I will need to speak with the workshop technicians on the day of my visit to find out if it can be done & the cost.

Paulmold wrote:I don't understand the food grade reference either, it's not as if you'll be drinking it if you're draining it .

It clearly should be food grade as it’s integral with the freshwater in the tank which we drink.

CC wrote:

Caraman wrote:Unclipping the freshwater drain tap and and lowering it with the flexible hose allows significantly more water to be drained from the freshwater tank.  

The outlet on the tank where the flexi hose attaches is at the base or very close to the base of the tank so a rigid pipe shouldn’t make much difference, every other Auto Sleeper we’ve had has always relied on rigid pipes not this system which I really don’t like like, it all looks very fragile & unreliable to my eyes, have asked the Auto Sleeper service centre if they can upgrade this at the same time when it goes to them for the bike rack product enhancer but don’t think they fully understood me (who’s answering emails at Auto Sleeper? This is why I miss Mark Burdett so much) they said I will need to speak with the workshop technicians on the day of my visit to find out if it can be done & the cost.

Willersey should put you right.  You clearly have the wrong type of flimsy pipe attached to the tank.  Whatever arrangement you end up with, the tap must be lower than the outlet from the tank or else you will never be able to drain your tank fully.  Similarly, there must be sufficient gradient on the pipe from the tank to the tap for water not to sit in the pipe.  My standard arrangement works well.  When I want to fully drain the tank and pipe, which I do almost every time I leave a site, I unclip the tap and lower it towards the ground and a whole lot more water comes out than if the tap remained in its clip.

My flexible pipe was rigid when I got the van and I've had problems with this type of pipe failing in the past because of aging so had the pipe replaced. It already had straps to hold it up and when the tap is unclipped it drains the tank well.

I replaced the solid drain pipe on the Malvern with flexible pipe as the solid broke every time something hit it.

Your pipe looks very similar to mine Peter in the way it hangs under the van, might see if I can rig something up to support it, probably ok just worry about it catching on something in the road.

I wonder why the pipe doesn't take the shortest and most direct route to the skirt as it does on my Nuevo.  It wouldn't need supporting then, especially if the Nuevo's blue/food grade perhaps thicker/stiffer convoluted pipe is used.

Caraman wrote:I wonder why the pipe doesn't take the shortest and most direct route to the skirt as it does on my Nuevo.  It wouldn't need supporting then, especially if the Nuevo's blue/food grade perhaps thicker/stiffer convoluted pipe is used.

The wet locker floor is fixed to the alloy side skirt there so no strong point to fix the tap too.

And on the subject has anyone got the internal pipe measurement please.

26mm-  not 28 as stated on AS spares catalogue although the pipes shown are correct

Cheers Paul that's 25mm tube which will be reinforced clear which is also food standard

The grey waste pipe and blue fresh pipe are identical other than the colour, do you think there is a difference other than the colour to make it food safe?

The blue colour is used for most materials in the food industry because it shows up the best if it gets into the product. That's not good if you supply m/s and others they get upset. The clear reinforced pipe if food quality is just as good as its only the added dye that is the difference.

Paulmold wrote:The grey waste pipe and blue fresh pipe are identical other than the colour, do you think there is a difference other than the colour to make it food safe?

Paul, I might be wrong but I think my blue convoluted piping is thicker and therefore less prone to droop than the standard grey convoluted wastewater piping which CC and Peter seem to have.  So it's not just the colour.

The photo of CCs looks like the caravan pipe you see in every caravan shop, the 'rings' are much closer together than the stuff AS supply. I have lengths of AS stuff that I keep in the van for the next time one or both split and neither would droop like the stuff shown above.

Peter Brown wrote:

Caraman wrote:I wonder why the pipe doesn't take the shortest and most direct route to the skirt as it does on my Nuevo.  It wouldn't need supporting then, especially if the Nuevo's blue/food grade perhaps thicker/stiffer convoluted pipe is used.

The wet locker floor is fixed to the alloy side skirt there so no strong point to fix the tap too.

My Nuevo's wet locker is on the near side and the freshwater tank drain like the grey water tank drain is on the off-side so not affected by the wet locker.

Quite correct caraman the grey is recycled from waste so much poorer quality. Clear plastic is first from the beads so food production is ideal.

I did away with my flex altogether, I pushed the blue tap straight on to the tank. It makes draining down a little more inconvenient, but still achievable after each use. My A.S. if a van conversion so appreciate if you did this you might not be able to reach the tap as easily. I mention it as it’s useful to know in case the blue pipe fails whilst on holiday.

Peter Brown wrote:

Caraman wrote:I wonder why the pipe doesn't take the shortest and most direct route to the skirt as it does on my Nuevo.  It wouldn't need supporting then, especially if the Nuevo's blue/food grade perhaps thicker/stiffer convoluted pipe is used.

The wet locker floor is fixed to the alloy side skirt there so no strong point to fix the tap too.

Ah that answers my question then Peter, so guess I’ll just put up with the flexi pipe, might just see if I can get the hose upgraded when I go to Willersey & get a spare tap

Just putting some water in our Broadway ready for our trip to AS, always flush it through before filling, had a better look at the hose & it does appear to be the heavier duty convoluted hose so I think it is the same as Caramans & others?