How do you gauge when your fresh tank is actually full

[HappilyLost]

Good evening. In my old travel trailer the fresh water tank had a relief opening next to it that when the water case up to the opening it would pour out that to relieve pressure. My new 5r is setup like below with a hose connection, and a tank/city valve. I’m wondering without relying on the sensors to be accurate and not off ten gallons, how do you know your tanks are full with this setup? Or do you basically just wing it.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by HappilyLost

Good evening. In my old travel trailer the fresh water tank had a relief opening next to it that when the water case up to the opening it would pour out that to relieve pressure. My new 5r is setup like below with a hose connection, and a tank/city valve. I’m wondering without relying on the sensors to be accurate and not off ten gallons, how do you know your tanks are full with this setup? Or do you basically just wing it.

when water starts coming out the fill port.

[HappilyLost]

Originally Posted by bikendan

when water starts coming out the fill port.

My hose connects directly to the inlet, so where does it come out

[Scrapper]

There should be an over-flow / vent hose under the rv. Unless it is kinked or not connected, both cases have been reported, water should run out when the tank is full.

A problem you might encounter is draining some of the water from the tank while traveling caused by siphoning.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by bikendan

when water starts coming out the fill port.

I guess mine is a super simple setup too, because that is how I know mine is full.

[NavyLCDR]

Originally Posted by HappilyLost

My hose connects directly to the inlet, so where does it come out

Attachment 227793

In your situation, I would guess the tank is full when you hear water running on the ground from the tank vent.

[RussPastuch]

I hear it gurgling, insist on getting close and get sprayed. Tank full :-)

[johnshoe]

I bought a small digital water meter that connects to the end of a hose and my filler hose connects to that. I got it from Amazon abiut $10

[Reverse_snowbird]

Originally Posted by johnshoe

I bought a small digital water meter that connects to the end of a hose and my filler hose connects to that. I got it from Amazon abiut $10

Yup. We do that too. They make several diffent models similar to this
https://smile.amazon.com/P3-Measure-...s%2C180&sr=8-2

We've also used it to measure water when we're filling the other tanks for flushing.

[Hamerjk]

I use this found on amazon. Is real accurate.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Hamerjk

I use this found on amazon. Is real accurate.

Sometimes ???

[Wolverine 1945]

Remember you can have an air lock, and your tank is over flowing, but might only be half full !!! And don't forget the W/H also !!!

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by HappilyLost

Good evening. In my old travel trailer the fresh water tank had a relief opening next to it that when the water case up to the opening it would pour out that to relieve pressure. My new 5r is setup like below with a hose connection, and a tank/city valve. I’m wondering without relying on the sensors to be accurate and not off ten gallons, how do you know your tanks are full with this setup? Or do you basically just wing it.

I put ours on real slow flow as it nears the top and let it overflow slowly. You just want to be sure you are not "pressurizing the tank"

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Hamerjk

I use this found on amazon. Is real accurate.

That’s the one I use. I keep it on the city water line all the time. It’s useful when trying to add “just enough” water for traveling.

Ray

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Tom48

I put ours on real slow flow as it nears the top and let it overflow slowly. You just want to be sure you are not "pressurizing the tank"

Me too.
Never understood the 'hurry' to fill a fresh tank.

We've seen several reports here of people blowing the floor apart or bending tank supports when the tank expanded from too much pressure/flow -vs- not enough venting.

Slow and easy has always worked for me. Always got more in too!
I also have used a flow meter on the hose for several years.

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by Hamerjk

I use this found on amazon. Is real accurate.

I have this one as well. I have used it to fill the tank in numerous locations. It fills my 42Gal tank with 32 gal.....I checked it for accuracy using a 5gal bucket. It is right so I guess FR just got the tank size wrong in the literature...now I stop at 32 gallons and don't get sprayed anymore.

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by johnshoe

I bought a small digital water meter that connects to the end of a hose and my filler hose connects to that. I got it from Amazon abiut $10

Why?

[Adrian Gordon]

Originally Posted by dbledan

I have this one as well. I have used it to fill the tank in numerous locations. It fills my 42Gal tank with 32 gal.....I checked it for accuracy using a 5gal bucket. It is right so I guess FR just got the tank size wrong in the literature...now I stop at 32 gallons and don't get sprayed anymore.

The tank size in the literature most likely includes the capacity of your hot water tank.

[NXR]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

Why?

I use a flowmeter because it lets me know how much water weight I've added when traveling. It also allowed me to determine how much water has run through the filters and when they are getting close to needing replaced even if it's been less than a year.

When we first started using the flowmeter, we learned we were using about fifteen gallons for a shower. Now it's down to about five gallons. Dishwashing actually was the biggest user of the gray tank capacity. Knowing that number allowed us to change our habits to help conserve water usage and gray tank usage.

If my usual RV trip was so short that those don't matter that I wouldn't use one either.

Ray

[dbledan]

Originally Posted by Adrian Gordon

The tank size in the literature most likely includes the capacity of your hot water tank.

Possibly, but the water heater stores 6 gal. The lines store under 2 gal based on antifreeze usage. That still leaves me a few short because I am 10gal under the advertised capacity.