New Camper, new to the forum

[Gforce24]

Hello everyone! I just bought a 2015 Rockwood HW296. First camper of this size and all the amazing options. Went from a '94 Fleetwood/Coleman Popup so you know the change! I'm pretty excited about getting it out there. Most of my excursions will be "dry" camping but I did also buy a generator. Where my concerns come in really is just taking care of the water tanks...(going in and out) so I don't break anything. Any tips on set up, using, and emptying?

[LittlePM]

Welcome from Alabama, Congratulations on the new RV you are in for some exciting times.

[w4drr]

First of all, welcome to the site, and congrats on your new pop-up.

You didn't mention any specific concerns, so I will briefly touch on all things water. Your freshwater holding tank is pretty much standard. It has a gravity fill, most likely identical to your previous pop-up. There is also the standard water inlet connector for camping where water is available. What will be new to you will be the holding tanks. There are two 6 gallon tanks plumbed together for the gray water (sink and shower), which outputs to a 1 1/2" pop-up style outlet. If you don't have one already, you will need an adaptor to drain the gray tanks. I use one of these: Drain Connector, 90°, 1-1/2" x 3/4", Carded - Valterra.com | Valterra.com
To drain into a standard sewer connection I also have one of these: Item
These two adaptors allow the use of a standard garden hose.
For the 12 gallon black tank, the usual 3" sewer hose and fittings are used. A black tank in a pop-up presents a cleaning challenge as you cannot access the tank through the toilet if the roof is lowered. Also, since the gray and black do not share a common outlet, you cannot flush the hose with the gray water after the black tank has been dumped. Some people have had good luck using a Flush King or Hydro Flush to back-flush the tank from the outlet side, but you have to be careful as you have no visibility as to how full you have back-filled the tank. I always either camp at a full hook-up site where I can clean the tank before leaving, or dump at the dump station and raise it up when we get home and finish the cleaning.
Hope this helps.

[BamaBob]

Welcome to the Forums from Huntsville AL GForce!

[Gforce24]

Thanks w4drr! It does help. The old one had no storage tanks at all, not even for fresh water. There was a hose connect but that was direct to the sink. There wasn't much else as the old camper was very basic. Thanks for the adapter tip for the gray tank. It did come with the small adapter from the drain but I wasn't sure how to connect the hose. I will definitely be getting the adapter for the dump end(similar to the black water to dump in the dump station). Great tips and I really appreciate it!

[w4drr]

Originally Posted by Gforce24

The old one had no storage tanks at all, not even for fresh water.

I'm a bit surprised it didn't have a freshwater tank. Our previous pop-up, a Coleman Sea Pine, not exactly the most luxurious pop-up out there, had a small freshwater tank and pump, in addition to the "city water" connector. So I guess I could give a couple extra pointers....
The freshwater tank can only be filled via the gravity fill inlet. Hooking up to "city water" will not fill the tank (unless the check valve is faulty). To use the water from the tank, the irritatingly noisy pump must be turned on. It is also a good practice, when using the freshwater tank, to give it a bleach water flush before each trip to get the cooties out. There is a drain valve on the bottom of the tank to drain it, which should also be done when you winterize, though a little water left in the tank doesn't seem to be a problem.

[Gforce24]

Great tips! We all hate cooties! Ha. Yeah it definitely didn't have a water tank or pump. The sink basically just had a lever that turned the water on or basically opened the valve. Not hear/AC, or fridge anything. Just a removable stove and sink and a couple of beds. I just moved to a new city recently and am currently in an apartment so I can even pop it up and play with it. I have to wait until the weekend and start tinkering. Brutal!

[GalsofEscape]

Welcome to the forum. Many happy camping trips. We love our hw ( it is the 277 model).

Some other tips as well since you mentioned you previously had no tanks at all,
The water pump is only needed if you are without a water hookup. The pump pulls the water out of the fresh water storage tank. If you have water hookup, the pump and storage tank are not used. You should also use a pressure regulator on the city water inlet connection. Ask dealer about how to sanitize the system.
Fill the water heater by turning on a hot water faucet and bled air until you have a steady stream of water. Then you can turn on the water heater. It will take 6 galleons to fill if you arrive with it empty and you are dry camping, so keep that in mind as it will take water from your storage tank.

Be sure to have the dealer go over all the systems and ask a lot of questions. There are checklists here to help you with what you should ask about.

[Gforce24]

Originally Posted by GalsofEscape

Fill the water heater by turning on a hot water faucet and bled air until you have a steady stream of water. Then you can turn on the water heater. It will take 6 galleons to fill if you arrive with it empty and you are dry camping, so keep that in mind as it will take water from your storage tank.

Great thanks! Quick follow up....
If on city water, I would still need to do this process to fill the hot water tank correct?

Also, would it be beneficial to hook up to city water and fill the hot water tank before I go camping? For dry camping this would help salvage the fresh water tank correct? Then I could fill the fresh water when I get to where I'm camping? This would also allow me to travel with just 6 gallons instead of possibly 32 gallons? (Easier on weight). Also I'm assuming with the 26 gallon fresh water and 6 gallon hit water tanks, I can essentially have 32 gallons of fresh water available...( 6 of them being for hot water)

[GalsofEscape]

Yes, on city water use the same process to fill water heater.
Some people keep the water heater full all the time (drain during winterizing), and some drain between trips. Up to you. Draining will prolong the life of the anode rod (if you have a surburban heater). The anode rod is a sacrifice rod, the water will attack that in place of the tank. It needs to be replaced when used up but they are not expensive. Mine current one is on its third year. The water heater is drained by removing that rod btw.....

[RSchleder]

I'm sure your aware that the hot water heater is fed by your fresh water tank. As you use hot water, the fresh water refills the hot water tank so in essence, the hot water tank is always full of 6 gal of water and your fresh water tank is being drained as you use either hot or cold water. Also BE SURE YOUR HOT WATER TANK IS FULL before you turn on the heating element. If it's not full, you will burn out the heating element. The only way to fill the hot water tank is by connecting to city water or filling your fresh water tank and letting the pump fill the hot water tank. Also, you can slightly open the hot water facet to let the air escape and ensure the water heater is full. Another way to check is quickly open/close the high pressure valve on the water heater, if water squirts out when open, the heater is full and safe to have the heating element turned on. Good luck!

[mtaylor42]

Critical - you must find the three bypass valves for the hot water tank and make sure they are set to allow water into the heater's tank before you try it. Mine was set by the factory in bypass mode, and the water system had non toxic antifreeze in it when I took it home. I made the mistake of overheating an empty hot water tank and causing thermal shutdown to kick in before I learned about those valves. It's hard to know what your camper has, since the directions are just a pile of random instructions for all the of the shelf components and the manual is a generic one for all models.

[mtaylor42]

I've got a 2015 hw276, so I suspect we are going to be learning the same lessons and tricks.

[mtaylor42]

Under the couch, behind the pump switch and converter was a storage area that was screwed closed by the factory. Throw away that screw. The valves are in there. Also, push on the front of the converter (the black panel with the fan going) and the cover will pop off to expose the breakers and fuses.

[Gforce24]

I will definitely check that out! I had no idea it would come factory that way.

[mtaylor42]

It makes sense to winterize it before you ship it, since they have no idea what dealer parking lot it will wind up on. When you put in the antifreeze you have to bypass the hot water tank to keep the antifreeze out of the tank.

When I flushed my tanks the first time, I did not know about the bypass valves of course... but the following sequence makes sense to me as my checklist... it may need tweaking, so tell me if I've made any mistakes.

0. Open the grey water valve (connect a hose for drainage if you like)
1. Drain the cold water tank with whatever is in it.
2. Fill the cold water tank from the hose
3. Turn on the pump.
4. Run water through all the fixtures just to clear as much antifreeze as possible
5. Turn off the pump
6. Drain the cold water tank, leaving the sink valves open
7. Fill the cold water tank 2/3 full from the hose and add the chemicals to sanitize it.
8. Turn on the pump
9. Run the fixtures to sanitize the lines.
10. Shake the tent a bit.
11. Take hot water tank off bypass, let it fill up
12. Run hot water until all the air is out and cold water flows.
13. Turn off pump
14. Drain tank
15. Drain hot water tank (remove anode, requires 1 1/16" socket)
16. Fill the cold water tank
17. Turn on the pump and faucets until cold and hot are running.
18. Run all the fixtures a bit to clear the sanitizer chemicals
19. Close the sink faucets
20. Open propane tank valve(s)
21. Turn on furnace
22. Wait until it turns off again
23. Run the hot water for a bit until it's nice and hot.
24. Everything is proven clean and ready to go.

I ran through all that more or less as a pre-test. Then I drained everything off until I'm ready to set out. One thing I have to remember is to run the pumps to fill the lines and hot water tank, and then top off the cold water tank after that, before leaving.

[vinmaker]

Congrats on your new HW296. I too may be receiving one soon. I need to upgrade my old pup. ( Just not sure I like the black tank. Unfortunately, it looks like I have no choice. My dealer said the factory refused to substitute the current hard wall unit for a simple cassette toilet like they put into their low wall pups. ).

You will find the water systems they have devised now for pup's is thought out well. It really is pretty simple. You will do great.

[kinma13]

Vinmaker. See if ur dealer can ask them to install a blk tank rise (tornado) hile building! Its a cheap tool that would help a great deal on cleaning the tank. You can install once they seal everything up.

[Gforce24]

Hello again everyone. I finally got to tinker with my new HW296 and I really appreciate all of your tips! I do have a few more questions.

First, in the fresh water gravity fill, the hook up is not the typical hose hook up. I did buy the 25' white hose, but the fresh water fill valve on the camper doesn't match the hose. Is there an adapter I need?

Secondly, on the grey water drain pipe, my camper came with a small adapter where you'd just push a hose onto to let drain? Is there an adapter that would allow me to hook up the three inch black water pipe?

Lastly, I found the three valves for the water heater. There are two red valves and one blue. I'm assuming red for hot and blue for cold. Any certain way those all need to be for which combination?

[mtaylor42]

My valves are all black but, you want the one to hot and cold open (valves are oval. Open is where the oval is lined up lengthwise with the hose) . The one that cross connects hot and cold...the oval should be perpendicular to the hose (closed).