No Gravity Water Fill Line

MikeInColo · 04-29-2010, 01:19 PM

Hello all,

I just joined this forum and am looking forward to gathering information from this site.

My wife and I recently bought a 2004 Forest River Sunseeker 3100SS. This is our first motorhome and I noticed something very interesting. It appears that the only way to fill my water tank is through a line that requires a hose with water pressure. I have two water inlet connections, one is for the "city hookup" while the other is used to fill my water tank. These connections are below the level of the water tank.

Our old camper used the gravity fill method which allowed us to add water to the tank while camping via two 5 gallon water jugs (and a funnel).

Just wondering if anyone has gotten around this somehow. I'd like to have the option of adding more water to our tank and since we dry camp, it makes it impossible to do so without driving the RV to a water source.

Thanks!

NWJeeper · 04-29-2010, 02:00 PM

Welcome to the forums!

Have been thinking of this myself as we too dry camp. Since we replaced our stock water pump with a high output pump I still have the old one and had plans to use it as a transfer pump to add water to the tank when dry camping. My plans were to run a +12 volt supply to the water fill compartment or tap into the compartment lights with a disconnect plug. That way I could just plug in the pump after it's connected to the water and flip a switch and start the transfer.

Shawomet3 · 04-29-2010, 02:05 PM

Welcome!

We have a Sunseeker 3120. Our water fill is in the rear. It is just about top-of-tank level, and you fill by means of a hose or jug. The fill hose has a "dip" in it and there is a small vent tube next to the fill (under the screw-on cap). My city connection is located at the left rear of the rig, at about same level. We carry a water jug with us and fill with that when we do dry camp and aren't near any water spouts.

MikeInColo · 04-29-2010, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Welcome to the forums!

Have been thinking of this myself as we too dry camp. Since we replaced our stock water pump with a high output pump I still have the old one and had plans to use it as a transfer pump to add water to the tank when dry camping. My plans were to run a +12 volt supply to the water fill compartment or tap into the compartment lights with a disconnect plug. That way I could just plug in the pump after it's connected to the water and flip a switch and start the transfer.

I was thinking about doing something like that. Having a spare 12v water pump laying around is a huge bonus. I bet you could find an adapter to mate it to a standard garden hose and then to the RV.

Hmmm. I'll give this idea some more thought...

NWJeeper · 04-29-2010, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeInColo

I was thinking about doing something like that. Having a spare 12v water pump laying around is a huge bonus. I bet you could find an adapter to mate it to a standard garden hose and then to the RV.

Hmmm. I'll give this idea some more thought...

Exactly my thinking. If you go this route look into replacing your present pump with a higher output pump rather than just picking up a spare. You will appreciate the improved water pressure for showers, etc.

starburst2 · 08-25-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Welcome to the forums!

Have been thinking of this myself as we too dry camp. Since we replaced our stock water pump with a high output pump I still have the old one and had plans to use it as a transfer pump to add water to the tank when dry camping. My plans were to run a +12 volt supply to the water fill compartment or tap into the compartment lights with a disconnect plug. That way I could just plug in the pump after it's connected to the water and flip a switch and start the transfer.

Hey NW Jeeper, could you use the winterizing setup to do this water transfer? During my walk through with the Dealer he showed me a compartment with a couple of those 4`screw out access covers. He said that inside there is a hose that yolu can insert into the antfreeze bottle and pump antifreeze through the whole system. I haven`t really thought about how you could use it to fill the FW tank from a bucket but I throw the idea out there for some of you genius`to run with and come up with a mod for the boondockers.
Regards,
Lloyd

NWJeeper · 08-26-2010, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starburst2

Hey NW Jeeper, could you use the winterizing setup to do this water transfer? During my walk through with the Dealer he showed me a compartment with a couple of those 4`screw out access covers. He said that inside there is a hose that yolu can insert into the antfreeze bottle and pump antifreeze through the whole system. I haven`t really thought about how you could use it to fill the FW tank from a bucket but I throw the idea out there for some of you genius`to run with and come up with a mod for the boondockers.
Regards,
Lloyd

Maybe Lloyd as the antifreeze hose is on the intake of the pump. I believe mine has a selector valve that means I have to switch from the water tank to the antifreeze intake tube. The pump would therefore push the antifreeze down line and not into the tank. Now if you had a selector valve on the output of the pump that would divert water from the system back to the water fill line going into the tank then you could throw both valves and pump water into the tank but it would take some re-plumbing of things. Not undoable. Where there is a will there is a way. One would just have to remember to return both valves to their original positions for the pump to supply fresh water to the RV.

MikeA · 09-05-2010, 09:47 PM

All you would need to do is have a short length of garden hose with a male end and the other end attached to the end of a funnel. Connect the male end to the trailer and secure the funnel to a point higher than the water tank. As long as the funnel is held above the level of the water tank you can fill it without pressure.

MIke

Boyd · 09-05-2010, 10:03 PM

Our old camper used the gravity fill method which allowed us to add water to the tank while camping via two 5 gallon water jugs (and a funnel).

Just wondering if anyone has gotten around this somehow. I'd like to have the option of adding more water to our tank and since we dry camp, it makes it impossible to do so without driving the RV to a water source.

****Same problem with a new Freelander Dreamer, no way to gravity feed water into freshwater tank. I've already posted my fix.

Follow this link for solution and pictures:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...html#post60883 If you have any questions, need a little more detail, feel free to ask. Boyd

NWJeeper · 09-06-2010, 01:50 AM

My solution to this Boyd is a 6 gallon fermenter bucket available at any beer and wine making supply store. They have a hole near the bottom with a spigot used for draining off your beer after fermenting. I remove the spigot and put a brass fitting in it's place so that I can connect the bucket to the input of a surplus RV water pump I already had. Using a bushing on the output of the water pump allows me to connect a garden hose to it and the rig. The pump is wired to a set of alligator clips that can be attached to my Jeep's engine battery. I can fill the bucket, pull the Jeep up along side, connect the pump and transfer the water right into the presure fill port on the motorhome, no gravity needed. I also have a Sawyer water filter and a 2nd bucket for filtering water right out of a stream or lake if I don't have a source of clean water nearby. I have already used it once this year and it works great. We had no worries about running out of water while we were dry camping. I also carry a bottle of the Taste Pure with us and as I filtered water I added the recommended amount for the 5gal that I was adding each time to the tank.

Boyd · 09-06-2010, 06:54 AM

Alright Jeeper! I can see you are concerned about shoe leather and saving our backs...I like that and I like your creative juices. GREAT solution! Another item on my "To-Do" list. So many fun projects and so little time. Thanks. Now about the beer that "was" in that fermenter......

Boyd

**Herk7769** · 09-07-2010, 06:34 AM

I use a Fill line made from a cap off a 5 gallon water tote available at any home store. We use the bottled water for drinking and making coffee.
The empty bottle is used to fill the fresh tank from the potable spigot at the campground.

5 gallon filler mod pictures from travel photos on webshots

I have a foldable tote that I use to wheel the bottle around. 6 trips empty to completely full, but most times I will top off every few days with 3 trips.

Not visible is a small hole in the plastic cap (that goes through the plastic but not the foam seal) for air to enter the bottle to increase flow.

Hose goes into filler; invert bottle.

caper · 09-07-2010, 07:50 PM

If you want to pump water into the unit a drill pump and a cordless drill will solve the problem. Most people have cordless drills and the pumps sell for less then $20.

NWJeeper · 09-07-2010, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caper

If you want to pump water into the unit a drill pump and a cordless drill will solve the problem. Most people have cordless drills and the pumps sell for less then $20.

This is also an idea I had as well and I think those should work just fine too. I just had the stock pump already after replacing it for a bigger one.

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