Fresh water tank

[mckyver]

When you fill the tank , once it gets full does it have a overflow ? or must i monitor the level with the meter ?

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by mckyver

When you fill the tank , once it gets full does it have a overflow ? or must i monitor the level with the meter ?

It should come out your overflow drain.

[cavie]

Overflow/vent line should be next to you drain line

[mckyver]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

It should come out your overflow drain.

thanks ,

[MillMitch]

It will come out the overflow, and may or may not stop. I saw a hint on a separate thread that seems to work. Turn your pump on, and when you see water coming out the overflow, turn a faucet on in the TT. On my last trip that didn't entirely stop the overflow, but by the time I drove several blocks to the site, it had stopped.

[mckyver]

Originally Posted by MillMitch

It will come out the overflow, and may or may not stop. I saw a hint on a separate thread that seems to work. Turn your pump on, and when you see water coming out the overflow, turn a faucet on in the TT. On my last trip that didn't entirely stop the overflow, but by the time I drove several blocks to the site, it had stopped.

thanks for the input.

[Igave]

Check out a recent thread on this for Berkshires. You’ll see that the overflow tube loops higher than the fresh water tank in a lot of our coaches. That thread has a number of great examples folks have done to monitor and deal with that. If you do nothing the tank will eventually have enough pressure that it’ll push out the overflow, yes. Sometimes though, it’ll start a siphoning action and drain more than you bargained for and that thread has suggestions (such as above) to deal with it.

[Subsailor]

Igave hit the nail on the head for Berkshires. Although I know others were simply trying to assist, this is a case when incorrect information from those that do not own Berkshires can cause damage or at least a good headache.

[Witch Doctor]

Don't understand, what damage is going to done from a overflow, really there is nothing unique about a Berks overflow unless it's installed wrong. If the overflow is in the top of the tank, you can only cause a siphon until the water drops below the fitting, that is the same on almost all units. I sure would like to know that can happen.

[Igave]

If your welding when assembled on the tank will consistently handle the pressure on it year after year then no issue. Go feel how thin they are and how they bulge when totally full and weigh those against each other.

[Oscarvan]

This is a Berkshire page. A lot of things are different. Advice about "my TT" can sometimes indeed be wrong, or at least confusing.

There are TWO vents that double as overflows. They loop up and then down through the floor overboard. They are NOT on the top of the tank they are in the side, albeit near the top. If you overfill the tank you WILL create a DUAL syphon that WILL continue until the water level is BELOW the vents.

The tank is 100 gallons in a box. The box is about 6-7" high, 36" ish wide and almost as long as the bus is wide. The vents are about 1" below the top.... So, if you overfill and get the syphon going you will dump a good 15 gallons on the street.

You can also start a syphon if the bus tilts to the right and water sloshes around just right.... done that.

And yes, depending on the water pressure being more than the vents can handle you can "inflate" the tank as that huge flat surface has a lot of give to it. It will return to normal. I don't think the welds are stressed much. Again, it's the flex of the huge top and bottom.

There are people that have installed anti siphon valves either home made or store bought (cheap, easy to install) that take care of this problem.

[Subsailor]

Thanks Oscar.

[gordonsick]

Oscar,
I can only see one overflow vent on my 34QS the extends below the body on the passenger side. There is also a low point drain on the passenger side. As well, I have hot and cold line drains on the driver side, and these all come out below the body.

But you say you see two overflow vents. Are they both on the passenger side? My tank has an extra fitting for a second overflow, but nothing is attached to it. If there is another overflow, I've got to make an antisiphon device for it, too.

I'm wondering if I'm looking in the wrong place, or whether our coaches are plumbed a bit differently.

– Gordon

[Oscarvan]

Originally Posted by gordonsick

Oscar,
I can only see one overflow vent on my 34QS the extends below the body on the passenger side. There is also a low point drain on the passenger side. As well, I have hot and cold line drains on the driver side, and these all come out below the body.

But you say you see two overflow vents. Are they both on the passenger side? My tank has an extra fitting for a second overflow, but nothing is attached to it. If there is another overflow, I've got to make an antisiphon device for it, too.

I'm wondering if I'm looking in the wrong place, or whether our coaches are plumbed a bit differently.

– Gordon

OK, then you may only have one, the other one not used. Mine are right next to each other.....Here's a pic...Now, I "borrowed" the left one for a mod but it was a vent just like and alongside the right one which disappears up out of the picture but then loops back down and through the floor just out of sight behind the frame on the right. The red plug is where the second vent used to go throught the floor. I now only have one vent but I'm OK with that.

In case you're wondering what the mod is, it T's into the output of the pump, with a 3 way valve so that the pump can output into the tank.... Which would be a loop and useless, until you put the input of the pump into a bucket with bleach, pink or what have you. Allows me to put stuff in the tank without wrestling with the hose connector and a separate pump on the other side....

[gordonsick]

Oscar,
I had a closer look and I've got the same tank connections. The one that you use for your plumbing update is where my tank fill comes in. Your tank must fill somewhere else.

I actually found another pipe going through the floor to drain below he coach, and it always had me confused. I traced it carefully today and found that it was open at the other end, so it does nothing. Maybe they were planning on two overflow pipes and just went with one. I think each installer has some leeway to do it his own way on these things.

You've got a neat idea for getting bleach and other fluids into the tank. My solution is a bit different. I've got two Camco filters for my rig, and they have replaceable filter elements – the standard 10" ones, rather than the flakey FR ones. The other filter goes on the hose. Normally, I have a 1 micron filter element in the hose one (no charcoal) and 5 micron activated charcoal in the coach. But, if I want to install bleach into the tank, I remove both filter elements and put the bleach into the filter holder on the hose.

–Gordon