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Old 05-21-2020, 07:14 PM   #1
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Can't get bleach into FW tank to sanitize

2017 Cardinal 3250FL. My city water fill/inlet has a plunger inside the opening that won't allow me to pour bleach into the tank to sanitize my system, there is no gravity fill. I tried a section of hose with a funnel, that was a trip. All of my water functions are done from the main panel with various valve positioning.


Other than taking down a wall to access my pump, is there a way to gravity feed my FW tank?



Can I suction it like I do the pink stuff? Seems like that would take gallons of bleach to circulate the whole system and tank.



I searched the forum with every word and phrase I can come up with.


Thanks, Larry
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Old 05-21-2020, 07:18 PM   #2
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My unit doesn't allow for gravity feed either. I simply pour the necessary amount of bleach into my waterhose, connect it to my fresh water tank inlet and turn on the water. This pushes the bleach all through your line and down to your tank.
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Old 05-21-2020, 07:19 PM   #3
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You don't need much bleach 1/4 cup for each 15 gal capacity of your FW tank. That should be easy with an empty hose. Disconnect both ends of hose then drain it. Pour in bleach and holding both ends equal height connect one to water intake and other to hose. If connecting to hose bib on house kink hose to keep bleach in. Then run pump to fill water lines.
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Old 05-21-2020, 08:03 PM   #4
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My unit doesn't allow for gravity feed either. I simply pour the necessary amount of bleach into my waterhose, connect it to my fresh water tank inlet and turn on the water. This pushes the bleach all through your line and down to your tank.
X2

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You don't need much bleach 1/4 cup for each 15 gal capacity of your FW tank. That should be easy with an empty hose. Disconnect both ends of hose then drain it. Pour in bleach and holding both ends equal height connect one to water intake and other to hose. If connecting to hose bib on house kink hose to keep bleach in. Then run pump to fill water lines.
And X2
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Old 05-21-2020, 08:12 PM   #5
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Man, that was fast response, thank you all, great idea, why didn't I think of that... thanks!
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Old 05-21-2020, 08:15 PM   #6
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Man, that was fast response, thank you all, great idea, why didn't I think of that... thanks!
That's what makes this forum so helpful & informative.
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Old 05-22-2020, 11:50 AM   #7
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Yes, took me a season to figure out how to get bleach into my fw tank. A half to 2/3 cup easily fits into my 75' of hose.

Just remember to hold and keep the hose elevated so it doesn't come running back out.

Chris
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Old 05-22-2020, 12:00 PM   #8
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I use the hose "trick" too. Just be sure both ends are elevated higher than what you'll connect too and that both ends aren't connected to anything so it is easy for the bleach to displace air out the other end. As a plus, this also means your hose gets a yearly cleaning =)
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Old 05-22-2020, 02:12 PM   #9
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We use an external water filter. We just take the filter out, pour the bleach into it, hook it to the spigot with a very short hose, hook up all 100 feet we carry and fill the tank.
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Old 05-22-2020, 02:14 PM   #10
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When did they remove the fresh water gravity fill ports on RV'S? Our 2004 Damon Challenger had one just aft of the fuel filler.
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Old 05-22-2020, 03:17 PM   #11
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One thing to be careful about these days is the different types of bleach available. Some, like the splashless bleach, are not appropriate for sanitation purposes. Only regular old-fashioned straight bleach works.
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Old 05-22-2020, 03:32 PM   #12
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One thing to be careful about these days is the different types of bleach available. Some, like the splashless bleach, are not appropriate for sanitation purposes. Only regular old-fashioned straight bleach works.
I use liquid pool chlorine. I don't know if it's pure chlorine but it's 12% chlorine. If I can swim in it (at max 10 ppm, usually less) it must be okay. Though after running the diluted chlorine through the RV system, I do drain the FW tank and put in 5 gallons of fresh and run that through to get rid of most of the pool chlorine. I do this twice.

The biggest issue I have is the diluted chlorine that goes through the 6 gallon hot water heater. The taste of that can linger for days if I don't pull the anode rod out and drain the hot water tank. Typically that water only gets used for showers and dish washing so sometimes I don't bother to flush the hot water tank.
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Old 05-22-2020, 03:49 PM   #13
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i have a small pump that is run from the chuck of a drill. A little bit tricky but does work.
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Old 05-22-2020, 04:20 PM   #14
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We also own a 2017 Cardinal 3250RL. All I do to add bleach (about 1/4 cup to 12 gals.) is use a small funnel and pour the bleach into a partially emptied hose, attach the hose to the fresh water fill and then begin the fill process. Easy to do.
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Old 05-22-2020, 05:38 PM   #15
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We prepare a diluted bleach mixture in a 1/2 gal pitcher and suck it in thru the antifreeze port with the pump then we use the external shower to fill the tank. That is also how we fill the tank from our 6 gal water jugs
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Old 05-22-2020, 05:43 PM   #16
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I use the hose "trick" too. Just be sure both ends are elevated higher than what you'll connect too and that both ends aren't connected to anything so it is easy for the bleach to displace air out the other end. As a plus, this also means your hose gets a yearly cleaning =)
No need to disconnect from water source. Just lift the hole and let it drain drain and there will be more than enough space to pour in a cup of bleach. Now it is important to keep the end up that you connect to the RV but that is pretty much automatic unless you water spigot is mounted 3-4 feet off the ground...
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Old 05-22-2020, 06:02 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Qbud View Post
My unit doesn't allow for gravity feed either. I simply pour the necessary amount of bleach into my waterhose, connect it to my fresh water tank inlet and turn on the water. This pushes the bleach all through your line and down to your tank.
What Qbud said.
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Old 05-23-2020, 08:53 AM   #18
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Ya know, we have a gravity fill on our camper. I used to struggle to get the bleach into the vertical opening and always spilled some.

When I read about this a few years ago it was an eye opening, "Why didn' I think of that?" moment.

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Old 05-24-2020, 07:37 AM   #19
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I had the same problem but instead of using liquid bleach, I use bleach tablets. It'a way safer and I don't have to worry about any bleach splashing on anything. I break a couple of tablets into small pieces and place them inside my water hose. Then i connect my hose to the camper and turn on the water... No mess.
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Old 05-24-2020, 07:48 AM   #20
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Go buy a transmission fluid funnel, walk mart ,auto zone etc
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