Full Fresh Water Tank

[Indio]

I believe this problem has been discussed before on this most wonderful forum, but I was unable to find a link. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

On our 04 FDTS, invariably when the indicated full mark is reached, it will siphon one quarter of the tank back out.....Huh? I try to shut the in-flow prior to it reaching full, but still once the coach is re-positioned, it takes the 25 gallons out.

If I remember correctly, someone came up with a fix by adding a little additional plumbing. We are leaving shortly for an extended seven week trip, and will be mostly without hookups. The extra 25 gallons may help from having to use the sponge under the arm type shower.

.............. To all attendees of the recent Hemet SoCal Rally, thanks for a really enjoyable social weekend. A big thanks to the Klinko's and Stacy's for organizing a great event to include the marvelous Romona Pageant, quite a show. We have to get out to more of these events, seems the Alpine owners are the best group of Rvers around (but who invited that Higgins guy).

Take Care,

Walt

[Indio]

I believe this problem has been discussed before on this most wonderful forum, but I was unable to find a link. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

On our 04 FDTS, invariably when the indicated full mark is reached, it will siphon one quarter of the tank back out.....Huh? I try to shut the in-flow prior to it reaching full, but still once the coach is re-positioned, it takes the 25 gallons out.

If I remember correctly, someone came up with a fix by adding a little additional plumbing. We are leaving shortly for an extended seven week trip, and will be mostly without hookups. The extra 25 gallons may help from having to use the sponge under the arm type shower.

.............. To all attendees of the recent Hemet SoCal Rally, thanks for a really enjoyable social weekend. A big thanks to the Klinko's and Stacy's for organizing a great event to include the marvelous Romona Pageant, quite a show. We have to get out to more of these events, seems the Alpine owners are the best group of Rvers around (but who invited that Higgins guy).

Take Care,

Walt

[Dave Fernandez]

Hello Walt:

Glad you could attend the Rally Donna & I enjoyed seeing you and Julie.

As for the water tank, what I did was to run the over flow tube to the sanitation area and I added a on/off valve in the Station area so when the tank fills I close the valve. I only did this to the front over flow hose not the rear. This will allow the tank to still vent without losing water. After I have used some of the water I open the valve and if I forget the rear vent allows air into the tank. I also moved the water pickup from the side of the tank to the bottom of the tank which allows for me to use all of the water.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

[Jim A]

Walt,

There was a thread entitled "Fresh water overflow" back in 2003 that discusses some solutions to the problem. I have not done any of them myself yet, so I can't tell you how well they worked. The last entry in that thread was back in November of '03, so it is down a ways in the list!

[hrhuggie]

Walt,
to make it easier, I posted the link to the discussion on this. Hope this helps

Fresh Water Overflow

[chris cross]

Walt,
I installed the system "Fresh water overflow" a couple of years ago and it's worked like a charm.

[gjstacy]

Walt,

Thanks for your kind words about our Hemet rally! We all had a really good time there. It was great to see you and Julie there, and we do hope you can join us more often.

In our 04, we didn't seem to have so much of a problem with the overflow, tho we did leave a bit of a trail after filling the water tank. But we moved the water pickup from the side to the bottom of the tank like Dave did. That one change gave us access to an extra 25 gallons of water. Just be sure that the seal for the new pickup is solid.

Good luck!

[hf]

In the owners manuel it says " dont overfill the fresh water tank to prevent a draw" I asked for several years at rallys what a draw was and no one seemed to know so I always shut or the fresh fill when the full light started to flicker Just this last time I decided to fill it longer and it took quite a bit more water. BUT when I moved the coach water came out a tube I assume was the over fill I cant say how much but it ran for 4-5 min I assumed after 3 years I found out what a draw was . Any idea how much water you realy have when red light STARTS to flicker?

[dshogman]

Dave, Gail & John,
Ralized two weeks ago when I got my coach that the water pickup wasn't in the same postion as it was in my 2001 38ftr.
As I remember, it was about 8 AM in the shower, all soaped up, when the pump quit!! (Not a pretty picture.) Later checked it out and the pickup appears to be almost 2 1/2 inches above the bottom of the tank. Pump sucks air=pump stops.
So for the non-mechanically inclined, how is the pickup moved? Find someone who works with the plastic tanks?? And when you said to be sure the seal is solid, is that something the plastic guy does?? Would like to have this done but not by myself for sure!

[OldForester]

I have learned to check the water level in the fresh water tank by shining my flashlight on it when I'm filling it. I look at it through the bay door in front of the sanitary compartment door while filling. I can see the water rise in the tanks, and I've learned to compare it with what the tank guage says on the control panel above the co-pilot's seat.

When the guages say full, I get another 10% or more in the tank by watching the fill level. Never had a siphon problem.

Bill

[Basil Shannon]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I have learned to check the water level in the fresh water tank by shining my flashlight on it when I'm filling it. I look at it through the bay door in front of the sanitary compartment door while filling. I can see the water rise in the tanks, and I've learned to compare it with what the tank guage says on the control panel above the co-pilot's seat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I took this manual monitoring one step further. I used a felt marker to mark off the tank level in 10% intervals which corresponds to the readouts on my Silverleaf system with external stick-on sensors.

[Jim A]

I just added a SeeLevel tank monitor to my coach last week, and filled the fresh water tank for the first time since the change. Just as the monitor got to 100% full, the front vent started to overflow. By the time the overflow stopped, the monitor had dropped to 82%. The monitor jumps in 3 or 4% increments, so it looks like it is siphoning off 15-20 gallons. I suspect it lost a little more while on the road back to the storage lot, but since it was not leveled at either place, I didn't bother to check it again after the drive.

I guess I will be adding a vacuum breaker and a shutoff valve to the overflow line.

Dave didn't mention it in his post above, but he once recommended to me that I add a shutoff valve in the line between the fresh water tank and the water pump. That way if you ever need to replace the pump, you can do it without draining the tank first. It's a good suggestion, and I just did that myself.

[gjstacy]

David (aka dshogman),

Sorry we didn't get back to you sooner...have been off the Internet for a bit...lounging on a California beach...it's a tough life.

Anyway, we did have a specialist move our water tank pick-up. He had a special seal and substance that he heated to ensure a tight seal on the new bottom pick-up. We never had a problem with leakage, so he did a great job.

If you were down here in LV, I'd give you the guy's name, but that won't help you much up in OR.

Good luck finding someone!

[takepride]

I was able to accurately gauge the two water issues mentioned above, this Labor Day Weekend. I found out the hard way. We dry camped in the High Mountain Desert. I left home with a full tank, visually verified. After three days camping and being somewhat conservative with water, the pump ran dry. So I drove to and checked into a campground and reconnected my umbilicals.

Here's what happens...

I filled it to over-flow and immediately turned off the water. The overflow siphoned off about 10 gallons. This was verified visually and by the gauge going from full to 3/4. Then...

I drove 100 miles. I visually rechecked the tank and the gauge. Both now indicate 1/2 full, so an additional 40 gallons siphoned off, en route.

I drained twenty five gallons off and the pump ran dry. The gauge and tank both indicate 1/4 full.

Of course you cannot get to that last 25 gallons without poking a hole in the bottom of the tank. (Which I will.) It sure would have been nice to be able to use those extra gallons while dry camping.

So, if you fill up your 100 gallon tank, you can use 25 gallons (1/4 tank) and forget the rest. Great engineering!