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Old 07-08-2019, 02:44 PM   #1
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2909ws fresh water tank size problem

So we have a 2018 2909ws, we love it, bought it new a little over a year ago, have had zero problems with it.
Until now, the fresh tank is only taking about 23 gallons (spec sheet says 45 gallons). Tried multiple times. Measuring with 5 gallon jug using the tank drain on the driver side of the trailer. Anyone have a 2909? Have you checked the fresh tank?
Also the tank meter seems to reflect the 23 gallons, as in it says full when it's over flowing at the fill port, and after about 8 gallons drained shows 2/3 full and so on.

Now I haven't really used it, other than quick breaks on the way to the campground. Never paid attention to how much water we had, until a few weeks ago dry camping when I really needed it, not happy, it will be going to the dealer tomorrow. Just curious if anyone has seen or heard of this. I was disappointed when we purchased it that it only had a 45 gallon tank, but now after finding this, disappointed doesn't express my attitude.

Also any way of fitting a 60gallon tank in? Dreaming here.
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Old 07-08-2019, 02:52 PM   #2
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Tank.....

Wife and I have a 2019 rockwood 2606ws ultra with a 60 gallon fresh water tank. Your rv is larger then ours so mybe a 60 would fit.
Please update us when you find the answer to why it won't hold what it should.
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Old 07-08-2019, 03:06 PM   #3
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This is going to disappoint you even more. That 45 gallons isn't the actual tank size, it's the total water capacity of the tt including the hot water tank. Look on the weight label and it should break down the weights. You can then calculate the gallons. You are probably not completely draining the tank due to the drain fitting rising above the floor of the tank and possible sloping of the tank.
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Old 07-08-2019, 03:27 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by woo10-210 View Post
This is going to disappoint you even more. That 45 gallons isn't the actual tank size, it's the total water capacity of the tt including the hot water tank. Look on the weight label and it should break down the weights. You can then calculate the gallons. You are probably not completely draining the tank due to the drain fitting rising above the floor of the tank and possible sloping of the tank.
You could be right but ...
45 subtract 23 is 22.
Can't believe the water heater ( most are 6 gallon ) and water lines hold 22 gallons. Maybe the not draining thought you had is the answer.
Greg in Michigan
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Old 07-08-2019, 03:30 PM   #5
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I appreciate the responses, I do hope a larger tank will fit, we need the water.
I will look at the actual tag and calculate the actual gallons on the way home from work today.

I did multiple tests, 2 using the onboard water pump, then opening the drain and seeing how much more drained, rocked the trailer to see if I could get more out. Or more in.
I have a hard time believing the 6 gallon water tank and all the lines and the little bit left in the bottom of the tank account for 22 gallons.
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Old 07-08-2019, 03:30 PM   #6
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You may have a kinked/misrouted vent hose.
Where does the water come out when you think it is full?

The total capacity of the water system includes the water heater tank size and the plumbing.
Granted that isn't 20 gallons but could be 8-10 depending on water heater size.

As mentioned, many drain lines are NOT on the bottom and so you don't get all the water out. I've seen as much as 7-8 gallons left in.

And the sensor lights are inaccurate at best.

I use one of these when filling...
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Old 07-08-2019, 04:20 PM   #7
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So the water comes out of the fill port, not the vent, the vent is at the 10 o'clock position of the fill port, I figured since it's above the fill port I would NOT get water coming out of it. I will look into this tonight. Thanks for the idea.

That device looks pretty slick, might need to order one, but then again if things are working properly I shouldn't need it, haha
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Old 07-09-2019, 01:11 AM   #8
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Minor update, still dropping it off to the dealer tomorrow.
A correction from me, the spec sheet says 42gallons minor difference but should be noted as I double checked everything.
Also I put a bore camera down the fill port and the vent hose, they are clear all the way back to the tank no obstruction or kink.

The yellow sticker reads: Freshwater, Cold 139KG, hot 23kg. Converts to 36.14 gallons cold, 5.98 gallon hot (water heater). So there is the spec sheets 42gallon. (Sneaky way of inflating those tank numbers)

I agree it is possible it is not draining the bottom 13 gallons of the tank (hard to imagine that much) and the water pump pickup hose would be 13 gallons off the bottom. Harder to believe both of those at the same time. Either way I want those extra 13 gallons at least picked up by the water pump. Makes a big difference for a family of 5.

I will see if the dealer has any way of putting a bigger tank in when they have the underbelly pulled off to figure out what's going on and report back when I hear something.
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Old 07-09-2019, 07:18 AM   #9
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I have the same camper and had the same problem.
The reason for that , at least in my case, was that the support for the breather and feed hose for the water tank was just a piece of wood stuck between the water tank and the camper floor above it and it fell.
When that happened, both hoses fell to the bottom (the enclosure) and therefore the breather hose (and the feed too) was laying lower than the bottom of the water tank.
When that happens, both hoses will fill with water that will be standing in them and causing a "hydraulic lock" which means that when you are filling the tank with water, the air inside the tank needs to push the water inside the hoses up to get out which will increase the pressure inside the tank to the point that the pressure of the water coming in is not enough to make the air inside the tank to clean the hoses (at least the breather one), so the tank can't take more water for the pressure inside is greater than outside...
I took it to the dealer and they didn't solve the problem so I unscrew the 4 screws that hold the end of the enclosure under the rear bumper and put 4 pieces of 2x6 wood seating between the rear "C" beam on the chassis and the tank rear "L" support and made both hoses run over those pieces of wood.

Doing this, the hoses are always at the tank top level so no water will be standing in the hoses and you can fill the tank to the top.
4K miles after this change and it is still working.

As for how much water the tank can hold, I have the water meter mentioned above and I was never able to fill more than 37 gallons... That being said, I don't think that meter is precise so....
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Old 07-09-2019, 08:17 AM   #10
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Racarvalho, excellent! thank you for posting, sound like you found it, and it totally makes sense. I will pull it tonight. I really don't want to take it to the dealer, they are just not very conveniently located during my busy work week.

While you were in there does it look like you could fit a bigger tank in there?
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Old 07-09-2019, 08:48 AM   #11
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While you were in there does it look like you could fit a bigger tank in there?
That's a lot of work and expense for an extra 10 or 15 gallons. If you're going to do that why not add a second tank and transfer to the main tank? Or, just buy some 5 gallon water jugs from Wally World.
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:06 AM   #12
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While you were in there does it look like you could fit a bigger tank in there?
You could potentially fit a bigger tank if you find one wider than the original one and move the rear "L" support more to the back of the camper....
it can be done but I would not do it for:
1 - it will be a pain in the rear...
2 - I don't know what tow vehicle you have but that tank is in the rear of the camper and I can feel the difference when I tow with it full and when Its empty....
I bought the below water Jugs and adaptor and they worked beautifully in our recent trip to Badlands, SD where we where 3 days without a water connection camping with 7 people on board.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:13 AM   #13
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100% with both of you on the jugs, been doing that the last few trip, I would just like one less thing to deal with, we like dry camping, in Oregon lots of places to go without power and water, I have a full solar setup and inverter, my only issue is having enough water, never seems to be enough lol.
As far as TV it's a 18' f250 deisel, it doesn't seem to care about the trailer.
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:20 AM   #14
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... my only issue is having enough water, never seems to be enough lol.
I'm ok with Jugs for we only stay 2-3 days in places w/o water so that size of tank works for us.
If we ever move to more dry camping, I would buy a 20-30gal water tank with a 12V water pump and leave it in the truck. Then use the camper water hose to transfer that water to the camper when needed.
This way you don't need to carry any heavy weight, just connect the hose and flip a switch....
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:27 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by RACarvalho View Post
I'm ok with Jugs for we only stay 2-3 days in places w/o water so that size of tank works for us.
If we ever move to more dry camping, I would buy a 20-30gal water tank with a 12V water pump and leave it in the truck. Then use the camper water hose to transfer that water to the camper when needed.
This way you don't need to carry any heavy weight, just connect the hose and flip a switch....
I'm currently using extra jugs that we take when boondocking. I simply attach a short hose to the winterizing port on my R/V and turn the winterizing valve at the pump to allow the on-board pump to draw from the jug.

I too plan to get a bladder or tank for the truck and will do the same. The on-board pump doesn't care if it draws from the fresh tank or another tank once you turn the winterizing valve. No extra pump needed and you don't use up valuable 12v resources by pumping the water INTO your fresh tank only to then pump it back OUT when using it.
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:34 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 5picker View Post
I'm currently using extra jugs that we take when boondocking. I simply attach a short hose to the winterizing port on my R/V and turn the winterizing valve at the pump to allow the on-board pump to draw from the jug.
Good catch on that! I never thought about it.
We only stay w/o shore power for overnights at Walmart so I'm never concerned about draining the battery but you are absolutely right on pumping straight from the external water tank...
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Old 07-09-2019, 09:46 AM   #17
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I really like this idea of a 20-30 gallon tank in the truck then run a hose to the winterize port, seems so simple.
Thanks for all the input! Lots of great ideas.
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Old 07-09-2019, 02:13 PM   #18
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Tank Flange Installation

If anyone is interested, I posted a mod I did to install a flange on the bottom of my FW tank. I had an issue with the bow of the tank bottom not allowing me to completely drain it; an issue when sanitizing especially. The flange allows ALL water to be drained out.

I posted this about a week or so ago under the plumbing section.
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Old 07-09-2019, 02:52 PM   #19
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If anyone is interested, I posted a mod I did to install a flange on the bottom of my FW tank. I had an issue with the bow of the tank bottom not allowing me to completely drain it; an issue when sanitizing especially. The flange allows ALL water to be drained out.

I posted this about a week or so ago under the plumbing section.
Here's the link:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...om-188169.html

Now you just need to route the drain to the side of the TT so you don't have to crawl under it to drain.
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Old 07-09-2019, 04:11 PM   #20
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Thank you, Rockfordroo

Thanks for posting a link, Rockfordroo. You’re right about the drain. I need to come up with a valve arrangement that favors only the flange at the bottom. Otherwise, it sucks air from the original outlet. I’m just happy having a way to get ALL of the water out of the tank even if just to empty the tank. At 67, I can still crawl under the TT😂
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