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Old 03-28-2017, 09:02 PM   #1
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Water disappearing from F.W. tank?

Prior to a trip, I filled the freshwater tank to 2/3 full (according to panel gauge). Only use was a few bathroom trips on our five hour trip. After 5 nights connected to campground water, tank was near empty and would barely pressure up. After adding water, everything worked fine. Grey and black tanks filled normally. There are no visible leaks. Our 2015 Coachman Encounter 36BH has a separate f.w. tank fill hose connection from the city water hose connector.

Question is, could there be some type of siphoning from the f.w. tank going on while running city water?
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Old 03-28-2017, 09:21 PM   #2
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Was there additional water in your grey or black tank after the 5 days? If you don't notice a leak under the camper, I would suspect a slow drain from the toilet...?
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Old 03-28-2017, 09:32 PM   #3
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Several showers, dishes and 4 adults using bathroom...only dumped once prior to dumping before leaving.

Pump was off the entire time we were connected to city water.
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Old 03-28-2017, 09:56 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jubbabnr View Post
Prior to a trip, I filled the freshwater tank to 2/3 full (according to panel gauge). Only use was a few bathroom trips on our five hour trip. After 5 nights connected to campground water, tank was near empty and would barely pressure up. After adding water, everything worked fine. Grey and black tanks filled normally. There are no visible leaks. Our 2015 Coachman Encounter 36BH has a separate f.w. tank fill hose connection from the city water hose connector.

Question is, could there be some type of siphoning from the f.w. tank going on while running city water?
Last summer we were going to Boondock, we filled the tank to the max (50 gallons according to the manufacturer), we drove about 15 miles. We were very frugal with water yet were running low after a few days. I think the water was sloshing out of the overflow/drain as we drove. Before we went to Boondock in Quartzsite in January I capped both overflow/drain lines after we filled fresh water, then drove to our site and uncapped. We lasted over a week and still had half a tank of fresh water. Hope this helps you some....
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Old 03-28-2017, 10:41 PM   #5
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Good call, I didn't check the f.w. tank gauge when we arrived.
Hard to imagine sloshing that much out but I guess it could. I'll ad cap and see.
Thank You
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Old 03-28-2017, 10:47 PM   #6
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I ran in to the same thing with the Sierra we bought. Our Wildcat had a ball valve installed on the vent tube of the water tank. When filling the tank I would fill until water came out that line and close it. I could get probably 4 to 5 more gallons in until it came out of the vent by the fill hole. I'm thinking the Sierra is siphoning water out of the vent tube because it hold way more water than the wildcat yet we ran out way faster. I'll be putting a valve on it before the 1st outing.
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:20 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by jubbabnr View Post
Several showers, dishes and 4 adults using bathroom...only dumped once prior to dumping before leaving.

Pump was off the entire time we were connected to city water.


Does the pump need to be on when connected to city water?
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:23 AM   #8
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Never mind, Judy answered my question. Hope I didn't screw up the pump
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:38 AM   #9
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You won't hurt the pump if it is on when using city water., but you can cause the back flow valve to seat improperly and allow city water to fill the FW tank. You do not need the water pump on when on city water. If city water pressure is too low then use it to fill FW tank shut it off and use water pump to supply water from FW tank..
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:42 AM   #10
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There have been lots of reports here of water siphoning out of the fresh tanks going down the road. A misrouted vent line is usually the culprit.

There isn't anything in the plumbing that should suck water from the fresh tank when connected to city water UNLESS you were connected to city water AND had the pump on. You would have been using water from the fresh tank along with the supply from the city water.

You typically will not run the pump when connected to city water.
The only time you might is if you were at a rally or someplace where 4-5-6 campers were hooked to each spigot and the water pressure was so low you would need to supplement the city water with onboard water. Even then it would be best to just fill the fresh tank and use only the pump.
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:42 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by mj0528 View Post
Never mind, Judy answered my question. Hope I didn't screw up the pump
the pump should be off when on city water .
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Old 03-29-2017, 09:59 AM   #12
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you could also consider the 'low point' drain for the water tank, as it may have a slow leak below the rv, if not shut off tightly...
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Old 03-29-2017, 10:20 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Flybob View Post
You won't hurt the pump if it is on when using city water., but you can cause the back flow valve to seat improperly and allow city water to fill the FW tank. You do not need the water pump on when on city water. If city water pressure is too low then use it to fill FW tank shut it off and use water pump to supply water from FW tank..


Got it, thanks!
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Old 03-29-2017, 01:21 PM   #14
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I found on mine, if I fill the tank and leave Ill lose maybe a 1/4 to 1/3 of a tank. If I fill and put a piece of gorilla tape over the vent, then I arrive with a full tank according to gauge. Usually flushing and very little sink usage so it doesnt affect the tank. No wosh when I remove the tape!
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Old 03-29-2017, 02:26 PM   #15
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We also have a 2015 Coachmen Encounter 37LS. Every time we are ready to head out my husband fills the fresh water tank. We have noticed a strong line of water all the way down the road for quite a distance. We asked our dealer and he didn't have an answer (or didn't want to mess with it). We still don't know what the problem is.

I must admit that I was excited to see a fellow Encounter RVer on the thread ...even if it was in regards to a problem!
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Old 03-29-2017, 07:25 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jubbabnr View Post
Prior to a trip, I filled the freshwater tank to 2/3 full (according to panel gauge). Only use was a few bathroom trips on our five hour trip. After 5 nights connected to campground water, tank was near empty and would barely pressure up. After adding water, everything worked fine. Grey and black tanks filled normally. There are no visible leaks. Our 2015 Coachman Encounter 36BH has a separate f.w. tank fill hose connection from the city water hose connector.

Question is, could there be some type of siphoning from the f.w. tank going on while running city water?
We used to have a Wildwood that had the same problem. I put a cap on the overflow tube which solved the problem completely. The water would slosh out of the tank while traveling.
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