Fresh water tank?

When I fill up with fresh water, by the time I get to the campground I am going to it is down by a third of a tank. I have noticed this every trip I have made, what can cause this ?

Thanks

Barry

Water escapes through the over flow hose. Some of us have added a shut off valve at the end of this hose to prevent this. Wish I could remember where the photos are; some one else probably does.

Glen is right...I use a ball valve on the end of my overflow tube.Works good if you don't mind getting under there to open and close it.

Glen Schumann wrote:Water escapes through the over flow hose. Some of us have added a shut off valve at the end of this hose to prevent this. Wish I could remember where the photos are; some one else probably does.

Thats what I did too. Works fine and I have to get under there to open and close the water drain line anyway.

The problem is that the vent hose (overflow) is low when it should be high.

If you look at the water inlet fitting, you will see a small hole above the place where you put the garden hose. You should re-route the vent (overflow) to this fitting on back; this is where it should have been in the first place. This will solve the lost water problem without the need to turn a valve off & on.

scottz wrote:The problem is that the vent hose (overflow) is low when it should be high.

If you look at the water inlet fitting, you will see a small hole above the place where you put the garden hose. You should re-route the vent (overflow) to this fitting on back; this is where it should have been in the first place. This will solve the lost water problem without the need to turn a valve off & on.

Scott I noticed that too. Have you done this? If so where did you Ron the vent tube?

I have re-routed ours after the hose got plugged up by muddobbers.

I noticed on my last trip that the fresh water tank would siphon out 4-5 gals of water after I filled it. I had to cut a stick to plug the overflow, if you wait about 30 minutes it will stop siphoning, then remove the plug. I noticed the overflow vent next to the fill opening was not connected to any vent hose and plugged with silicone from the factory. Whats up with that. I was wondering if I can reroute the overflow line back up there and hook it up right.

We did what Scott is suggesting...works great, and the mod was simple.



TC

bighornram wrote:

scottz wrote:The problem is that the vent hose (overflow) is low when it should be high.

If you look at the water inlet fitting, you will see a small hole above the place where you put the garden hose. You should re-route the vent (overflow) to this fitting on back; this is where it should have been in the first place. This will solve the lost water problem without the need to turn a valve off & on.

Scott I noticed that too. Have you done this? If so where did you Ron the vent tube?

There is a fitting on the back of the fill basket above the large hole where you put the garden hose. Your vent goes here (should have been put here by the factory).

Thanks everyone, I did install a shut off valve and I made it easy to reach. I can't see why they change♦d it from the way it was designed. They sure didn't try it bef♦ore they changed it.

Our overflow, vent, hose comes out the bottom. Not sure if the previous owner did that. I assumed that was how it was designed. I fill the tank till it comes out the bottom. We too have the issue of half the water gone by the time we get there. I guess a valve is in order.

azandy700 wrote:Our overflow, vent, hose comes out the bottom. Not sure if the previous owner did that. I assumed that was how it was designed. I fill the tank till it comes out the bottom. We too have the issue of half the water gone by the time we get there. I guess a valve is in order.

It does not come out the bottom of the tank. It comes off the top of the tank and is then routed out the bottom of the trailer; dumb design because the water will drain out the vent. The end of the vent hose simply needs to be moved to a higher location. The filler basket (where you put the garden hose when filling the tank) has a fitting for the vent. I'll try to get a picture; I think I have an extra one laying around.

Here is what I ended up doing.

http://picasaweb.google.com/beartoo98/FreshWaterValve?feat=directlink

Thanks For all of the help.

TC wrote:We did what Scott is suggesting...works great, and the mod was simple.



TC

TC, Did you have to remove the covering on the bottom of the trailer where the original vent hose exits to get to the top of the tank? Can you explain how you got the hose into the storage area? Where is the vent outlet on the tank? (next to the filler opening)?
Thanks in advance. This is the RIGHT way to fix this issue.

I had to undo three or four of the screws holding the under belly cover on. I actually did two separate things while I was under there...one was to run the vent up to the opening next to the fill cap. The other was to extend the fresh water drain out where I could reach it without having to crawl under the Cat. I added a spigot on the end so I could get water for the dogs as well as to drain.

Here's a picture of my fresh water drain extension.



BTW, there was plenty of room to run the vent up along side of the fill tube. The hole they cut in the floor of the basment was plenty big for both. When I was fiunished, I just added some expansion foam back in to close up the hole.

TC

azandy700 wrote:Our overflow, vent, hose comes out the bottom. Not sure if the previous owner did that. I assumed that was how it was designed. I fill the tank till it comes out the bottom. We too have the issue of half the water gone by the time we get there. I guess a valve is in order.

Opps I copied the wrong post. Disregard

beartoo wrote:Thanks everyone, I did install a shut off valve and I made it easy to reach. I can't see why they change♦d it from the way it was designed. They sure didn't try it bef♦ore they changed it.

Just remember to open the valve when you get to your destination. I forgot once (and only once) and the pressure built up to a point where something had to give. The city water check valve burst allowing a free flow of water (my water pump was on) out of the city water inlet.
Jim

kwf904 wrote:

beartoo wrote:Thanks everyone, I did install a shut off valve and I made it easy to reach. I can't see why they change♦d it from the way it was designed. They sure didn't try it bef♦ore they changed it.

Just remember to open the valve when you get to your destination. I forgot once (and only once) and the pressure built up to a point where something had to give. The city water check valve burst allowing a free flow of water (my water pump was on) out of the city water inlet.
Jim

I haven't had that happen to me. I leave my vent valve closed all the time. I haven't worried about it because my filler cap strap (the one that attaches it to the side of the trailer so it won't get lost) fell off and the cap now has a hole right in the center. I DID have the city filler valve go out one time though maybe that is what caused it. I plan on moving the vent hose up through the storage compartment along side the filler hose next. Then also replace the cap as it could be a source of dirt into the system. We don't drink from that water supply though, only bath, flush and dishwash with it.

I've been keeping an eye on these posts ! I want to know if anyone else has the problem with the pump losing suction as if the fresh water tank is empty . So I shut down my pump and water heater, about the time we are leaving our site from the weekend, I remove the cap on the fresh water tank drain , low and behold a good 5 gallons drains out !!!

Same issue with losing water pressure after only 2 days. I fill tank full (50 gal), and then galley meter only reads 2/3. By the end of the second day, water pump starts cavitating and losing capacity, as if the tank level is too low. I measured how much water was left in the tank, and it was 12 gal! But I will cap my vent hose, as I'm pretty sure I must be losing al lot of water on the way out to camp sites. There's no way that we go through 38 gallons in less than 24 hours... I must be losing a lot on the drive.

You could also re-route the vent hose to the correct location by the filler neck. I did that a while ago. Take a loot at my photos.

Just be sure to open the valve when you get to the CG, otherwise your pump can crush you tank.

TC - Mine appears to have come plumbed that way.