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Old 07-27-2018, 03:45 PM   #1
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Filling the water tank

Apparently this is different from any other trailer I have had. I continue to have problems filling and lose a lot of the water or never had t to begin with.

Put in hose
Wait for water to start coming out of the overflow tube
Done filling

In last campers we would wait until water came out of the screen near the hose input.

What is the right way to fill this thing?
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Old 07-27-2018, 04:26 PM   #2
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What model do you have? I had a 26DBH and there was not hose to the screen on the fill. It had a hose underneath by the tank. I also had to adjust the fill tube so it would actually run into the tank. It took a while to fill and I had to do it slowly.
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Old 07-27-2018, 04:35 PM   #3
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is your over flow tube siphoning the tank dry? I had the same issue with mine first time. I added a cap to my over flow tube. I fill the tank when over flow starts dripping I turn off water and then cap over flow tube to stop siphon.
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Old 07-27-2018, 04:59 PM   #4
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274dbh.

I added a cap and did that yesterday. Soon as it started to overflow i placed the cap back on and considered it filled. Today I checked and I’m at 1/3 left after doing some flushes, dishes and making a pot of coffee. No wet areas so I don’t think there is a leak. Tanks are 1/3 full. It just seems really weird
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Old 07-28-2018, 11:59 AM   #5
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I never had an issue like this, however you might try opening a cold water faucet to allow venting of trapped air. I would expect if this works it will begin with water flowing clearing a line then air, then water as the tank is full. Good luck.
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Old 07-28-2018, 12:40 PM   #6
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Stop and think about this

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Originally Posted by Sarjent View Post
274dbh.

I added a cap and did that yesterday. Soon as it started to overflow i placed the cap back on and considered it filled. Today I checked and I’m at 1/3 left after doing some flushes, dishes and making a pot of coffee. No wet areas so I don’t think there is a leak. Tanks are 1/3 full. It just seems really weird
Okay, stop and think about this for a minute

There is an overflow tube which enters the fresh water tank from the top. It "should" terminate right at the top. In your case it doesn't. It dips way into the tank.

When you fill the tank with a lot of flow volume, you force water into that tube as soon as the end is covered with water, especially if there is no separate vent. Once that tube end is submerged and the tube is filled, it will start siphoning, even when you stop filling the tank, because the outboard end is lower than the water in the tank.

The only way to fix the problem is to pull some tubing out of the tank to raise the end of the tube to the top of the tank. You won't need a cap on the tube then.

Larry
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Old 07-28-2018, 12:44 PM   #7
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Faulty gauge? new unit with an issue? or existing unit with a new issue? side not I have two over flow tubes one on each side and capped both.
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Old 07-28-2018, 01:47 PM   #8
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Slow fill is caused by a non-vented tank or a fill tube that is incorrectly routed. It might be difficult to inspect for a vent tube or fill tube routing. Sometimes by opening drawers, hose and components normally hidden can be seen. If there is no vent like your prior units had or the vent tube or fill tube is kinked or the fill tube is drooping so there is not a smooth even drop into the water tank, filling will be slow and difficult. Without a tank vent or one that is restricted, filling must be done slowly so air displaced in the tank can exit out the fill tube as water is added.
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Old 07-28-2018, 01:53 PM   #9
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... because the outboard end is lower than the water in the tank.
Larry

Now wait a minute, how can the outboard end be lower than the tank which is in the underbelly?
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Old 07-28-2018, 04:02 PM   #10
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Our overflow tubes are mounted on the TOP of the fresh water tank, but then are routed below and come out underneath the coach. One time I overfilled the tank, water started coming out the tubes and kept coming out, siphoning all the water out and pancaking the tank! We have access to our fresh water tank as it is under the bed, pull a few screws and there it is. We did that and saw the tank was collapsing as the water was siphoning out because of the vacuum the siphon created. Freaked us out. So DH cut a hole in the fill tube at the tank so let air in which stopped the siphon but did not re expand the tank. We had to block the vent tubes while adding water (after he repaired the hole he had made) in order to prevent air escaping so the tank could re expand. So now, I NEVER leave the area of those vent tubes while filling and as soon as the first drop of water burps out of the tubes, I shut off the water. No need for caps, just vigilance while filling.
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Old 07-28-2018, 04:29 PM   #11
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My fresh water tank has a spigot on the top of the tank side. Once it’s full, water dribbles out from there. No tubes, no nothing. Although I’m going to put a tube on the end of the spigot so it stops dribbling all over the frame located directly under it. Never had a siphoning problem.
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Old 07-29-2018, 09:49 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarjent View Post
Apparently this is different from any other trailer I have had. I continue to have problems filling and lose a lot of the water or never had t to begin with.

Put in hose
Wait for water to start coming out of the overflow tube
Done filling

In last campers we would wait until water came out of the screen near the hose input.

What is the right way to fill this thing?
It there is water coming out the vent/ screen hole you have water in the vent line !!! Take a small hose and blow thru the screen,,, water will probably come out the fill hole !!! Once vent is clear of water,,, you can fill FW tank with a hose without a fitting on the end,,, stick it down the fill tube about 2 feet,,, then fill SLOWLY !!!
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Old 07-29-2018, 10:13 AM   #13
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Easy...

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Originally Posted by OldCoot View Post
Now wait a minute, how can the outboard end be lower than the tank which is in the underbelly?
Easy! Because the outboard end hangs below the tank.

Consider this analogy. You want to siphon a full bucket of water. You set the bucket on a concrete block and stick a piece of tubing in it. The other end is lower than the top of the concrete block.

That's similar to the situations where the vent tube is on the trailer underside.

Larry
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Old 07-29-2018, 11:19 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by Larry-NC View Post
Easy! Because the outboard end hangs below the tank.

Consider this analogy. You want to siphon a full bucket of water. You set the bucket on a concrete block and stick a piece of tubing in it. The other end is lower than the top of the concrete block.

That's similar to the situations where the vent tube is on the trailer underside.

Larry
I sure hope not !!!
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Old 07-29-2018, 12:30 PM   #15
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All of my trailers have been "gravity fill" and I've found that a typical hose can fill a tank faster than it can vent normally. This can cause water to prematurely start flowing out the vent giving you the feeling that the tank is full so you stop filling. When you pull the hose you've wedged in the fill spout free more water burps out confirming your thought the tank was full. In reality you could only have a partially full tank.

Over the years I have started to use a piece of small diameter hose (about 5/8" OD) with a female hose connector as a nozzle to fill my tank. I also added a shutoff valve so I can control the flow. The smaller diameter hose allows some air to vent from the fill pipe as well as the regular vent hole. Regulating the flow with the valve keeps the water flowing with a minimum of gurgling or spitting from either fill or vent.

I then go about other tasks until I hear water flowing out the fill. By keeping the input to a low flow I don't risk expanding the tank or have water continuing to regurgitate for 5 minutes after water stopped flowing in.

One solution would be to install a valve between city water supply and the line that supplies the pump from the tank (basically bypass the check valve that keeps water from flowing back into the tank when hooked to city water). Could even be a 12 V Solenoid valve so it could be remotely operated with a switch. This would allow the tank to "Bottom Fill". Open the valve with city water hooked up, let flow until water starts to flow from vent or fill, shut off, and know you have a full tank. Bottom filling allows air to vent far faster from the gravity fill as it's almost always connected to the top of the tank and not filled with water.
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Old 07-29-2018, 02:29 PM   #16
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The method I use to stop siphoning issues with fresh water tank. I turn the water pump on. After filling the tank, run a facet (usually the shower head in my water compartment) to draw water from the tank to release the vacuum from over flow/vent tube.
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Old 07-30-2018, 07:27 AM   #17
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Don't for get to draw the W/H fill !!!
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Old 07-30-2018, 07:35 AM   #18
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I have had issues if I stick the end of the host into the filler and it blocks the end of the pipe. I think the issue for me was that the venting was forced out the screened vent and taking a lot of the inbound water with it. This fixed it for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Shutoff...rv+filler+hose
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Old 07-30-2018, 08:22 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945 View Post
It there is water coming out the vent/ screen hole you have water in the vent line !!! Take a small hose and blow thru the screen,,, water will probably come out the fill hole !!! Once vent is clear of water,,, you can fill FW tank with a hose without a fitting on the end,,, stick it down the fill tube about 2 feet,,, then fill SLOWLY !!!
Interesting, usually just have my son hold the hose to the mouth for ten minutes, lol.

I’ve got an old water hose and shutoff laying round, perhaps my I will cut that hie and make this.
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Old 07-30-2018, 08:44 AM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ImQAJack View Post
The method I use to stop siphoning issues with fresh water tank. I turn the water pump on. After filling the tank, run a facet (usually the shower head in my water compartment) to draw water from the tank to release the vacuum from over flow/vent tube.
I just added another sticky note to my list. Thanks for the tip.
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