Fresh water capacity question.**UPDATE**

We went on our second trip with our new 2009 RKBS. During that time we had no water hookups. We ran out of fresh water pretty quickly so when we got home I checked to see how much water our fresh water tank holds. Our model is advertised with a 56 gallon fresh water capacity. I completely drained the tank. I then refilled the fresh water tank, it took 38 gallons before water started coming out the overflow hose. I then went inside with a 5 gallon bucket and measured how much water I could get out of the system. I did this by taking the shower head off it's hose and filling the 5 gallon bucket repeatedly. I was able to get about the same 38 gallons before the water pump could not get anymore water out. I checked all the other faucets and I could not get anymore water out of them at this time.

Am I wrong to be upset about only having only 38 usable gallons on a unit that is advertised to have 56 gallons fresh water system? Our last KZ camper was supposed to have a 30 gallon tank and the water lasted almost as long as our new Wildcat with 56 gallons of fresh water capacity. We thought we would have almost twice the usable water capacity.

I don't understand this at all. We have contacted our dealer today and he is looking into this for us.

There are 3 possible things that I can think of that could be happening here.

1) The tank is not 56 gallons.
2) The fresh water pick up hose inside the tank was not installed in the correct location in the tank. And the overflow hose has the same problem.
3) Forest River promotes false and or deceptive advertising on it's products.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

My 2007 28RK has a 43 gal. fresh tank. Maybe they've changed tank capacities in the past couple of years, but I know 43 has been the standard on most models for quite some time. Do you have something showing the specs for your model/year?

I believe the factory installed pump is rated at 2 gpm.

Also, you're most likely going to lose a few gallons while you're going down the road because of how the overflow tubing is placed on the tank. Some have extended their overflow tubing up to the vent on the fresh water fill to remedy this problem.

TC

TC wrote:My 2007 28RK has a 43 gal. fresh tank. Maybe they've changed tank capacities in the past couple of years, but I know 43 has been the standard on most models for quite some time. Do you have something showing the specs for your model/year?

I believe the factory installed pump is rated at 2 gpm.

Also, you're most likely going to lose a few gallons while you're going down the road because of how the overflow tubing is placed on the tank. Some have extended their overflow tubing up to the vent on the fresh water fill to remedy this problem.

TC

Thanks for the response!

We have the 2009 pamphlet that came with our fiver and it states the fresh water capacity is 56 gallons. The 2008 also have 56 gallon capacity as far as we know.
I wonder if they installed a 43 gallon in ours? We do have a 6 gallon water heater, so 6 from 43 is close to 38 which is the amount I can get in and get out of the tank.

Freedom1955 wrote: I wonder if they installed a 43 gallon in ours? We do have a 6 gallon water heater, so 6 from 43 is close to 38 which is the amount I can get in and get out of the tank.

I hope this is not the case, but it sure adds up that way.

TC

How am I going to find out what size fresh water tank is in our Cat?

From Wildcat Brochure:

Model 28RKBS
Dry Hitch Weight	1,330 lb. (603 kg )
Dry Axle Weight	TBA (TBA)
Unloaded Vehicle Weight	8,415 lb. (3,817 kg )
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR)	11,750 lb. (5,330 kg )
Cargo Carrying Capacity	3,305 lb. (1,499 kg )
Exterior Length	30 ft. 3 in. (9.2 m)
Exterior Height	12 ft. 4 in. (3.8 m)
Exterior Width	96 in. (2.4 m)
Fresh Water Capacity	56 gal. (212 L)
Gray Water Capacity	50 gal. (189 L)
Black Water Capacity	100 gal. (379 L)
Awning Size	15 ft. (4.6 m)

The first red flag is fresh tank capacity is larger than grey tank capacity. Also, black tank is HUGE!! I would definitely confirm with your dealer or Forest River to confirm this isn't a type-o.

TC

I just looked at their PDF version of these same specs. It says this particular unit has 100 gal. grey and 50 gal. black. That makes more sense. However, it's still possible you didn't get what you pd for. I'd take it back to the dealer and have them eye ball you tanks to tell you what you REALLY have.

TC

TC wrote:I just looked at their PDF version of these same specs. It says this particular unit has 100 gal. grey and 50 gal. black. That makes more sense. However, it's still possible you didn't get what you pd for. I'd take it back to the dealer and have them eye ball you tanks to tell you what you REALLY have.

TC

It actually has two gray tanks with a total gray of 100 gal. and the black which is 50 gal.
I tried filling the fresh tank slower to avoid air getting in there and I was able to get 40 gallons out.

I'm with TC on the overflow/vent tube possibly being the problem. On our west coast model the overflow/vent tube is right next to the fill tube. If yours is lower, then the tank may not be full when the water starts coming out of the overflow tube.

You think there might be two fresh water tanks?

On the fifth wheel standards page (p. 12), the pdf brochure states "Heated Fresh Water Tanks 56 Gal. (43 Gal. 24RL)"

OK freedom1955, dont think I am crazy for suggesting this but it is worth a try. This happens to me several times a camping season so I know what to look for now. When you are filling your tank can you hear air escaping the vent tube? Does it sound like clear air or gurlging water in the tube? On my rig, I get it where when filling the tank the vent tube can sometimes become blocked with something and it will not take any more water no matter what I do. This can happen at any point of the filling process but most of the time it happens to me at one particular level. So, what I do is put a small tube or hose on the vent tube and blow (no jokes here please) as hard as I can until I hear the bubbles inside the tank. This clears the vent and it then takes all the water as advertised on my unit. When this problem occurs my vent tube usually starts with clear air changing to a gurgling sound and then just goes quiet. I don't want to think about what could be blocking it but it has been in there for over three years now. Give it a try, but look over your shoulder first as you may get a bit of an odd look if someone sees you trying this.

maxum1989 post pictures of your procedure. Everyone likes pictures. The Devil made me post this one. Happy Camping

In my original post I forgot to mention that after the pump runs dry there is still water in the tank (how much I'm not sure yet) and the lighted level gauge still indicates 1/3 full.

I forgot to mention that the gauge still reads 1/3 full to our Dealer but he did say that the pump will not get all the water out of the tank because it is not on the bottom of it.

After the pump stops pumping, have you tried opening the drain valve to see how much more water comes out? If you look underneath, there should be 2 lines sticking out, 1 for the overflow, the other for draining the tank.

Shooter has pictures on his site that shows how he put the overflow hose on in the correct manor, which is at the little screen on top of the fill hole.

oldelmer1 wrote:After the pump stops pumping, have you tried opening the drain valve to see how much more water comes out? If you look underneath, there should be 2 lines sticking out, 1 for the overflow, the other for draining the tank.

Shooter has pictures on his site that shows how he put the overflow hose on in the correct manor, which is at the little screen on top of the fill hole.

Water still comes out although I have not measured it yet.

I'll check out shooters site!

Thanks

Just in case you cant find it, here it is:

http://community.webshots.com/user/shooter_va

Here is a picture of our vent hole. It is mostly covered by what appears to be caulk. Why would there be caulk covering most of this screen?

Just like mine......

Cause FR doesn't use it, they poke the overflow hose down and out the bottom.

Did you see Shooters pictures?

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2471183460056654887dPVGHd

All these posts about the fresh water supply are very interesting. I am not really concerned about the gallons it holds as I usually hook up to CG water supply or don't bother if it is just an overnight er. But I notice when I fill up the fresh water tank I turn off the water when it starts coming out the overflow hose underneath the 5th wheel but the overflow continues to run for a while, actually for a long time. I guess it is because the overflow is stuck down in there to far, but that don't make good sense, maybe suction keeps it going because the open end is lower than the bottom of the fresh water tank? Has anyone else noticed that. There are a lot of little things about the 5th wheel I don't understand but it is what it is. I don't think it is a vent problem. Shouldn't it stop running out the overflow when you stop putting water in?

I rerouted my vent to the proper location. Seems I am able to get more water in and it doesn't slosh out going down the road.

My vent came from the factory in the correct location. Up at the fill spout where it should be.

I have dual 40 some gallon tanks. I can go a week of dry camping with conservative use. I added the second tank after the first tank proved to be limited for our type of camping. We dry camp 95% of the time. I haven't had an issue with the vent. When I plumbed the new tank, it looked to be hooked up correctly.

Ole Yella wrote:All these posts about the fresh water supply are very interesting. I am not really concerned about the gallons it holds as I usually hook up to CG water supply or don't bother if it is just an overnight er. But I notice when I fill up the fresh water tank I turn off the water when it starts coming out the overflow hose underneath the 5th wheel but the overflow continues to run for a while, actually for a long time. I guess it is because the overflow is stuck down in there to far, but that don't make good sense, maybe suction keeps it going because the open end is lower than the bottom of the fresh water tank? Has anyone else noticed that. There are a lot of little things about the 5th wheel I don't understand but it is what it is. I don't think it is a vent problem. Shouldn't it stop running out the overflow when you stop putting water in?

Ole Yella, I know exactly what you are talking about because mine does the same thing . We took our first trip a couple of weeks ago and after filling the fresh water tank and shutting the water off, I noticed that water kept coming out the overflow for a long time after. After arriving at the campground, I check the fresh water level and it was at 2/3. Don't know why I didn't check it before I left home. I think I'll look at Shooter's fix for this.

My pump will completely drain the fresh water tank. It sounds like your pick-up line is not long enough.

I called another Dealer and talked to a very nice service man. He told me that the vent with the screen near the water fill mouth is not connected to anything, plain and simple it is not a workable vent and there is no hose connected to it. They had to much trouble with the hose kinking. He said there is another redesigned air vent down below, (where he told me I can't remember).

Also I'm basically stuck with whatever tank I have in there unless the Dealer I bought the Cat from is willing at his expense to check it out .

The underbelly of our Cat is completely enclosed so I am not going mess with it.

I have a call into Rod Batts at Forest River, he's the guy you here talked about on this site. We will see how long it takes for him to call me back.

You can pull the underbelly rather easily to expose the plumbing. It just rests on the top of the bottom flange of the frame. No screws.

I called Rod Batts yesterday 7/12/09 and left a message for him to call me, he called me back today, darn good service if you ask me !

He had me go out and look at the underbelly where the fresh water tank is located to see if it was sagging apparently they are having a problem with the supporting of the tank. It is sagging quite a bit and he said that was the problem. He said when the tank gets supported properly we will have the stated 56 gallons of fresh water.
I have made an appointment to take the Cat in this Wednesday to have the tank correctly supported.

Hopefully this will fix the problem.

Thanks for all of the responses. I'll post the results when we get her back.

I installed a few galvanized 1/2" wide chainlink fence tension bars under the tank to keep the tank flex minimal. Remember, when the tank is full, it will sag. As it empties, it should recover. If it is permanently sagged, you will never get the full capacity. I just installed the bars to keep the skirt in place after I added the second FW tank.

I also get the continued flow from the overflow after I stop filling. I am going to look into doing the reroute. The underbelly on mine is completely attached with self tapping screws, which are nearly rusted to the point where a wrench will do nothing but round them off. The impact driver works great at removing these.

I load this up when we are going to be out for more than 2 days.


Horse Trailer Acc

It holds 63 gallons. When I get time I plan to install a second 40 gal (that is about what my OEM tank is) like Jetskier did. That will boost my total capacity to 143 gallons. Beware the weight!

I am envious of the toy haulers and their 150 gallon tanks; can't quite figure out why they do not put them in the other rigs.