Live and learn

Thurman · 05-17-2018, 02:32 PM

Well, we've had this TT for a bit over three years now and I have not used the fresh water tank at all. Today while checking out everything for a trip out late next week I decided to see IF the water pump would work, not that I will need it we have a full hookup site. I have a water meter to use so I put five (5) gallons of water in the tank and turned the pump on. That sound did not sound as if any water was being drawn up into the pump. No water flow at any faucet. So I put in five (5) more gallons for a total of ten (10) gallons. The pump still sounded as if there were no water being pulled up into the pump. I went up to fifteen (15) gallons and still the same. At twenty (20) gallons the pump did sound as if it was pulling water up and I had water flowing at all faucets, at the same time. O.K. we know now that it takes twenty (20) gallons of water in the fresh water tank for the pump system to operate, but how much water does the fresh water tank hold? I now know that my fresh water tank will hold forty-five (45) gallons of water as my meter reads. NO way would I even think about pulling this unit down any road with that much water in the tank.

SailorSam20500 · 05-17-2018, 09:02 PM

Depends on how your rig is put together. The underbelly is off of mine and I've been working on the heat ducts and wiring. Anyway, my FWT has 3 solid supports under it. So, I have no problem traveling with a full 45 gallon tank. That and because my tank is aft of the axles, filling it up takes my TW down to a reasonable 11-12%. Empty tank and I'm close to 15%.

dalford · 05-17-2018, 09:45 PM

I think your assumption is wrong about the amount of water needed to be able to pump water. I think for some reason it took that much water to prime the empty water hose in the tank. Who knows how it was run.

To prove that, start filling 5 gallon buckets. If it needs 20 gallons it should stop pumping after a few gallons if you need that much. My bet is it will pump most of the 20 gallons out unless the draw line is not on the bottom of the water tank.

Give it a try...

HangDiver · 05-17-2018, 10:34 PM

I first fill the plumbing and hot water tank with water from the City Water connection to "prime" the plumbing and purge most of the air out of the lines. Otherwise the pump has to run and run and run before water starts showing up at the faucets from the tank. You might be able to pull nearly all of the water out of the fresh water tank once the air between your tank and faucets has been purged.

dalford · 05-17-2018, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HangDiver

I first fill the plumbing and hot water tank with water from the City Water connection to "prime" the plumbing and purge most of the air out of the lines. Otherwise the pump has to run and run and run before water starts showing up at the faucets from the tank. You might be able to pull nearly all of the water out of the fresh water tank once the air between your tank and faucets has been purged.

The OP has been using his RV for 3 years but never used the fresh water tank so I’m sure all the lines from the output of the water pump to all faucets have been purged. The line that needed purging is the feed line from the water tank to the water pump.

Hopefully his water pickup is not mounted half way up the tank thus requiring 20 gallons to get a prime. He can quickly find out by running the water out of the tank. If it quits after a few gallons then that may be the case. Too late now, but would have been a warranty fix a could of years ago.

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