Filling Fresh Water Tank ....

[TARVIDSON]

I just use a 12V pump from Harbor Freight, it will push the water into the tank no problem. It is pretty hard to get a gravity flow started, you just about have to have your water jug 7 or 8 ft in the air to get enough pressure to fill the tank.

[rhamilton]

I had a similar problem filling the tank on our FR Forester with a hose. I decided to turn all the faucets on prior to filling, and the water went into the tank without any problem

[SharpPI]

Originally Posted by rhamilton

I had a similar problem filling the tank on our FR Forester with a hose. I decided to turn all the faucets on prior to filling, and the water went into the tank without any problem

That is a great idea ... Thanks

[johnshoe]

I have the same problem with my 2016 3011DS. I had to attach a small length of hose and shove it down the tube as far as I can and then even wrap a small towel around it and hold that firmly against the filler port to keep it from coming back out. It works, but not as it should. I took it back to the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong and they said it works just like it should. Took it back to another weekend outing and it did the same thing. My thought was that the vent tube was blocked, or kinked, but they checked it and said it was fine. It's winterized now, but I am taking it back in the Spring and going to try to fill it in front of the service manager and see if it works then. Frustrating to say the least.. and, yes, I know the difference between the city water port and the fresh water tank fill port.

[firsthere]

Other than the fill hose rising inside the camper and minimal fall, I think venting is a common problem here. I'm going to try the "faucets open" method next time.

On a side note, once when slow filling the tank, it began to expand, almost down to the axle, usually its a good 1-1/2" above when full. Possibly this contributes to some of the tank dropout problem many have posted here. Tank bloats, gets round shaped, pushes against the under floor then drops out on the ground. Seems very much vent related also.

[WolfWhistle]

Trying to get my head around these post. If the tank is vented, as is mine, what would an open faucet do? There is a water pump between tank and faucet. Once the pump is working an open faucet would purge air from the line. I suppose if the tank vent was not there; the pump running and a faucet open it would allow the tank to fill. A post I found on the forum:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ll-106238.html

http://www.coachmenrv.com/videos.aspx




WW

[Funhaus]

I had similar problems with our old Forester while filling the fresh water tank, the tank was located under the bed and I had to take the vent line off and blow directly thru it not sure if bug was clogging it or what but after that I could gravity feed the FW tank without any troubles.
Sounds like a venting issue to me.

[markb422]

To expand on the venting issue, without starting a new thread, after buying our new Coachmen mh I did an inspection under it. I discovered that the fresh water tank, that is located under the bed, had two 1/2" pex overflow/vent lines that came off the top of the tank and go down through the floor. Both lines where wide open to bugs or contamination below the mh. I also noticed that the basement compartments each had drains that have a rubber duck bill check valve on them. So I took two of the duck bill checks off the compartment drains and put them on the vent/overflows then plugged the compartment drains until I can replace the valves. Now there is no way for bugs or contamination to get up into the vent lines from under the mh but they will still drain and vent. Seems like Coachmen could add two more of those valves to the vent/overflows.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by SharpPI

We have a Forester 3011 DS and during Matthew we spent 5 days front yard camping waiting for the power to be turned back on in our community. We live in the country and use a well for water so no power no water. After a few days I needed to fill my fresh water tank, mostly because it was close to empty when we started out on this adventure.

I had several 7 gallon fresh water containers on the farm that were already full of water, however when I tried to pour them in my fresh water tank, the water always came back on my and not down to the holding tank. I tried attaching a piece of hose to my funnel but nothing worked, the water always came back out the filler hole.

Since then I have noticed that you have to use a water source that has pressure to get the water to travel down the filler house to the tank.

Is this normal? How do you fill your tank when boon-docking? Do I need to get my dealer to check this out?

Thanks in advance,

First off, I would refrain from using well water in your FW tank, city water is a much better choice. We too have well water and I use the local Cabelas to fill mine, they have city water.

I have filled mine using 2 gallon plastic jugs from Walmart. I use a funnel with an extended tube (transmission funnel) that gets way down in the fill hose.

I know all about no power, no water. We live way out in the boonies at the end of the power line so outages are common. I purchased a 20KW diesel skid mounted genset plumbed into my 1000 gallon farm diesel tank with a 250 amp automatic transfer switch. It runs everything so water and heat are a non issue now.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by rhamilton

I had a similar problem filling the tank on our FR Forester with a hose. I decided to turn all the faucets on prior to filling, and the water went into the tank without any problem

You have a vent issue then. The FW tank should be atmospherically vented to equalize the pressure when filling.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

You have a vent issue then. The FW tank should be atmospherically vented to equalize the pressure when filling.

There's a bigger issue than that. There is this thing called a water pump, which is between the holding tank and any faucet. Go figure.

[325BH]

I don't know about the campers discussed here, where "pressure" is required to fill the fresh tank, but mine is different.

On mine, it indeed has a threaded hose end where you screw your hose on (just like in the pic in the beginning of this thread), however it does not require pressure. There is an overflow that lets you know when you are full, and I do just let my water run to fill up... but gravity would work just fine if I had a short hose that would screw in the fill port and a funnel. I wouldn't want to do it that way, but there is nothing that requires pressure to make it work. The water just flows down the fill port into the tank

[moxnix92]

I had the same problem with my 2015 3010DS. It worked initially with a garden hose, but the next time I tried to fill it the water just gushed back out the fill tube. I used a long piece of clear tubing and attached it to a drip irrigation fitting with a female end that would attach to a garden hose.I thought that was working at first but then it too ceased to function. I confirmed that the vent hose was clear. One time we were dry camping and I had to use a 5 gal water can with an integral spout, hoisting it up on my shoulder and cramming the spout in the fill tube. The water just stayed in the can, and when I pulled it away from the spout, it just gushed back out. Finally I fired up my air compressor and wrapped a cloth around the nozzle and pushed it in the fill tube, using the cloth to make a seal. A few blasts of air, and I could hear and feel lots of air coming out of the vent tube. I tried the water can again and all 5 gallons went in like a NASCAR. I'm guessing there was a kink in the hose, but I have yet to find it. I also suspect it may have something to do with the slide because it happened again and I fixed it the same way.