Fresh Water Holding Tank

[#1BAMAFan]

My wife and I recently purchased our first RV--2016 Cardinal 3850. So, new to this is an understatement. At present I can't seem to figure out how to sanitize the fresh water holding tank -- primarily because I can't figure out how to get the bleach into the tank. Any help appreciated. Thanks

[youroo]

Put funnel on hose and pour bleach in hose,the put hose in fill opening! Youroo!!

[Iggy]

Attach the hose to the fill line on the unit and use funnel on the end of the hose with a mixture of bleach and water.
Hopefully you have a short hose laying around.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by youroo

Put funnel on hose and pour bleach in hose,the put hose in fill opening! Youroo!!

Yooroo you beat me by a few seconds. lol

[#1BAMAFan]

Originally Posted by ancilhicks

My wife and I recently purchased our first RV--2016 Cardinal 3850. So, new to this is an understatement. At present I can't seem to figure out how to sanitize the fresh water holding tank -- primarily because I can't figure out how to get the bleach into the tank. Any help appreciated. Thanks

Thanks to each of you that responded; my assumption, clearly not accurate, was that it would take pressure (from the water line to get the water in; oh, new guy! Thanks again

[#1BAMAFan]

Thanks to each of you who replied. My assumption was that it would take "water pressure" to insert the fluid; obviously not true; oh well, new guy! Thanks much.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by ancilhicks

Thanks to each of you who replied. My assumption was that it would take "water pressure" to insert the fluid; obviously not true; oh well, new guy! Thanks much.

Pour all the bleach mixture into the hose and then hook up to the hose bib and turn on like you are filling the tank.

[#1BAMAFan]

Thanks Iggy; retired Army here.

[djousma]

I mixed up a strong batch of bleach and water in my 5 gallon water jug, and then set the docking station levers to suck the water out of the jug, and into the water tank. Once that was emptied, then I hooked the hose to the fill, and filled the tank the rest of the way.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by djousma

I mixed up a strong batch of bleach and water in my 5 gallon water jug, and then set the docking station levers to suck the water out of the jug, and into the water tank. Once that was emptied, then I hooked the hose to the fill, and filled the tank the rest of the way.

So, you have more than one way to fill your holding tank. What sucked it out of the jug into the tank? Just curious.

[djousma]

Originally Posted by bubbles

So, you have more than one way to fill your holding tank. What sucked it out of the jug into the tank? Just curious.

Bubbles, On my 3850RL, one of the docking station lever settings is for Sanitizing the tank, specifically. On that setting, with the pump on, it sucks water from the city inlet, and pumps it into the fresh water tank. This is also how I fill my fresh water tank when camping for extended periods when there are no water hookups.

Here is a photo of my docking station I found on the net

[bubbles]

Nice to see some thoughtful engineering effort is showing up in some needed system installs.

[djousma]

Yea, its hard to read in the photo, but there are like 5 different lever configurations that change the flow/function:

1) sanitize the fresh water tank(sucks from city inlet, pumps to fresh tank)
2) city water connection (no tank)
3) dry camping(draw water from fresh tank)
4) power fill (fills the tank from city connection)
5) winterize (sucks from city inlet, pumps directly to fixtures)

[#1BAMAFan]

A great help; thanks.

[SailorSam20500]

Has anyone tried a siphon injector to add the bleach? Something like: Grow More Yellow Siphon Mixer Fertilizer Injector | eBay


As an added comment. From my experience homebrewing beer, you could substitute iodophor for bleach. I use one of the iodophor products to sanitize beer and wine bottles before filling. This is an iodine based sanitizer that does NOT need to be rinsed off (you actually need iodine in your diet - most people get it from salt). Might be an option for folks who for whatever reason don't like putting bleach in their tanks. I know that milk producers use Iododphor to wash their cows before and after milking. It is also used in restaurants when washing dishes. You can buy the stuff from most homebrew or wine making supply places. Only downside to the stuff is that it can stain plastic if left in contact for an extended length of time.