Fresh water tank drainage and design issues

[Big Kitty 13]

Hello,

This is more of a FYI.....2013 293REX Wildcat.

Yesterday I went winterize my 5th wheel. For the life of me I could not get the fresh water tank to empty below 1/3. In the evening, looked on line and noticed that there have been other similar issues. This morning I pulled back some of the underbelly and sure enough there is zero support or strapping braces underneath the plastic fresh water tank. It is bulging in the center with a good 4 to 8 inches below the water drain hose. Wouldn't you know that it's past a year now so I'm sure Forest River will not touch it...... Seriously, who designed this without any support structure underneath it.

Not a happy camper....buyers/owners beware, Forest River is not the best built or designed rig out there. It would be nice to see Forest River step up and fix these for everyone, no questions asked......Just hope I can figure a way to get the water out before it turns into a block of ice.......

[John Vanek]

Big Kitty,
I just joined this forum as I'm having my own winterizing issues: I can't locate either the bypass valve or the water heater drain on my 2011 Wildcat 313RE. I've never owned any type of RV/trailer until this past July.

Anyway, the Forest River Owner's Manual (in the winterizing instructions) still recommends putting RV antifreeze in drains, p-traps, toilet and tanks. Maybe you already knew this.

John

[Big Kitty 13]

Hi John,

The bi-past valves are usually located on the back side of the water heater. You may have to access them through a cabinet door or panel from the inside. There also may be a drain hose located underneath in close proximity to the water heater.

Yep, I use lots of RV antifreeze where I can......just wishing I can drain my fresh water tank.....

Thanks

Big Kitty 13

[SKnight]

Yeah, FR got us pretty good on that fresh tank frame then putting a really flimsy tank in there. Mine was the same way, the tank actually was drooping through the middle of the frame.

My frame collapsed during filling, my fault it turns out, so I rebuilt it. I added extra cross braces, dropped the corner where the drain/pump inlet is so that more water could get out and finally I added a 1/4" sheet of plywood across the bottom of the frame to give the open areas some support. So far, so good. Those legs of square tubing going left to right? I added those.

[Big Kitty 13]

Thanks for sharing the picture.....looks like it is working well for you. I'll have to consider doing something like this to help support the tank.

Big Kitty 13

[SKnight]

You're welcome. Thus far it's holding really solid, but time will tell. I also learned that it's actually a 54 gallon tank, not 64 as advertised. They counted the HWH in the figure.

Here's where I started. I ran a loop of hose attached to my vent up over the LP tank. When it was at the dealer I asked that they fill it, they pinched the hose between the wall and the tank, effectively shutting it. When I went to fill the tank later I heard a strange noise. Here's the result.