No fresh water gravity fill---how to fill from jugs?

[3x5]

[QUOTE=RVPioneer;3991297][QUOTE=3x5;3990195]I think a funnel would be too slow for me.

A hose and city water is definitely my default. But when dry camping the gray tank is bigger than the fresh tank.

Your gray tank and fresh water tank are both 100 gallons, black is 78. I don't believe the gray tank gets bigger when dry camping, but, as the DW sometimes suggests, I could be wrong.

I can't help myself from pointing out that fresh is 100 gallons, and gray plus black is 178 gallons, per the brochure. That leaves an extra 78 gallons of fresh water I could refill.

But the weird thing is, that I measured my gray with a meter at 120 gallons, and my black measured at 60 gallons! HOW CAN THAT BE??? Anyone else measure their tanks?

[3x5]

xxx

[Birddog Pilot]

I initially tried one Harbor Freight pump and it wasn't powerful enough to draw the water from my 7 gallon containers and pump it through the filters, so I added an old ShurFlo that had a bad cutoff switch. That did the job and would pump out 7 gallons rather quickly. The HF pump gave up, and a replacement of same type was worse than pure junk. I had another old ShurFlo so now I am using two and they work quite nicely. I mounted both on individual small wooden floor plates with separate on/off switches. Used an old, fairly heavy duty, extension cord, cut it in 20' lengths with alligator clips that are attached to coach batteries. One short piece of hose with garden fittings connects the two pumps, another piece of tubing goes on the intake side of one pump and is placed in your water jugs, your regular fill hose goes on the end of the second pump's output port. I have been using this setup for ten years and it works great; it's a small package and easy to store.

[3x5]

Nice

[gatorv]

Post # 7 is the best option. It saved me. I bought the same pump that's in the coach and used it to pump fresh water out of Jugs into the motor home. When my coach pump failed in the middle of the desert dry camping, I installed my backup. Mine gave no warning, it just quit. You cannot us a funnel, I tried. It won't work. It takes pressure to get the water in the tank.

[RVPioneer]

Originally Posted by 3x5

I can't help myself from pointing out that fresh is 100 gallons, and gray plus black is 178 gallons, per the brochure. That leaves an extra 78 gallons of fresh water I could refill.

But the weird thing is, that I measured my gray with a meter at 120 gallons, and my black measured at 60 gallons! HOW CAN THAT BE??? Anyone else measure their tanks?

Your math is correct. You did, however, state that the gray tank was larger than the fresh tank. Typically 36' Alpines have gray and fresh tanks that are 100 gallons each. The black tank is a separate tank with special contents. If your gray tank does hold 120, you have an exceptionally large tank. Would you describe the method used to fill and measure the tank at 120?

At WRV anything was possible, including the chance that some larger tanks were installed in a few coches.

In regards to Harbor Freight products, it seems obvious that if you want something to work you should buy it elsewhere.

[Dudley do-right]

OK, Engineer Mike, I've got a fill problem that I've mentioned before on this site, and it is that I seem to have a fault somewhere in the silverleaf tank sensor system. It keeps showing that my water tank is full, even when empty, so when I set the system so as to fill the tank, it won't, because it thinks the tank is full. I have literally replaced everything in the sensor system except the black box in the back bay, and yes, I've tried disconnecting the temp. sensor...didn't help. So now I'm putting a fitting on the tank drain line so I can hook a hose to it and back fill the tank.
Dudley do-right, '06 Apex 40, MDTS

[DrDaveMA]

[QUOTE=3x5;3992565][QUOTE=RVPioneer;3991297]

Originally Posted by 3x5

I think a funnel would be too slow for me.

A hose and city water is definitely my default. But when dry camping the gray tank is bigger than the fresh tank.

I can't help myself from pointing out that fresh is 100 gallons, and gray plus black is 178 gallons, per the brochure. That leaves an extra 78 gallons of fresh water I could refill.

But the weird thing is, that I measured my gray with a meter at 120 gallons, and my black measured at 60 gallons! HOW CAN THAT BE??? Anyone else measure their tanks?

Have you looked at your gray tank, has it been over expanded, are the sides stretched. The other thing is that the gray tank is odd shaped, multiple twists, turns and odd spaces. WRV could very well have understated the capacity.

[3x5]

[QUOTE=RVPioneer;3994401]Your math is correct. You did, however, state that the gray tank was larger than the fresh tank. Typically 36' Alpines have gray and fresh tanks that are 100 gallons each. The black tank is a separate tank with special contents. If your gray tank does hold 120, you have an exceptionally large tank. Would you describe the method used to fill and measure the tank at 120?

I bought an Orbit hose end water meter at Home Depot, about $15. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with a 4 cup measuring cup and found the 5 gallon level, which was right to the brim. I tested the water meter by filling the 5 gallon bucket, and it was right on at least for 5 gallons. I dumped the gray and black tanks, closed the valves, and then filled them with a water hose through the window. I used the toilet for the black tank, and shower for the gray tank.

A few days before, I filled them with five gallon buckets and got the same results, but I couldn't believe the results and figured I lost track. That's why I bought the water meter.

I will also try and use the water meter to fill the fresh water without letting it overflow. I suspect it will be a lot less than 100 gallons that I can actually get into the tank.

By the way, the owners manual says to not let it overflow or it could cause damage.

[RVPioneer]

[QUOTE=3x5;3995732]

Originally Posted by RVPioneer

Your math is correct. You did, however, state that the gray tank was larger than the fresh tank. Typically 36' Alpines have gray and fresh tanks that are 100 gallons each. The black tank is a separate tank with special contents. If your gray tank does hold 120, you have an exceptionally large tank. Would you describe the method used to fill and measure the tank at 120?

I bought an Orbit hose end water meter at Home Depot, about $15. I filled a 5 gallon bucket with a 4 cup measuring cup and found the 5 gallon level, which was right to the brim. I tested the water meter by filling the 5 gallon bucket, and it was right on at least for 5 gallons. I dumped the gray and black tanks, closed the valves, and then filled them with a water hose through the window. I used the toilet for the black tank, and shower for the gray tank.

A few days before, I filled them with five gallon buckets and got the same results, but I couldn't believe the results and figured I lost track. That's why I bought the water meter.

I will also try and use the water meter to fill the fresh water without letting it overflow. I suspect it will be a lot less than 100 gallons that I can actually get into the tank.

By the way, the owners manual says to not let it overflow or it could cause damage.

At what point did you determine that the tanks were full?

Tank level sensors?
Water up to the shower drain or bottom of the toilet bowl?

The latter would indicate a tank that is filled to absolute capacity as well as having water in the drain pipes and vent pipes.

[RVPioneer]

Originally Posted by Dudley do-right

OK, Engineer Mike, I've got a fill problem that I've mentioned before on this site, and it is that I seem to have a fault somewhere in the silverleaf tank sensor system. It keeps showing that my water tank is full, even when empty, so when I set the system so as to fill the tank, it won't, because it thinks the tank is full. I have literally replaced everything in the sensor system except the black box in the back bay, and yes, I've tried disconnecting the temp. sensor...didn't help. So now I'm putting a fitting on the tank drain line so I can hook a hose to it and back fill the tank.
Dudley do-right, '06 Apex 40, MDTS

Does the Silverleaf actually prevent you from filling an empty tank in the conventional manner simply because the sensor thinks the tank is full?

I don't have one so am unfamiliar with this inconvenience.

In another related question, for those who have modified the front overflow/vent, would it be possible to add water to the tank via the extension into the propane bay?

[Dudley do-right]

there are two options on the silverleaf re: water. The first is the auto fill, which supposedly lets you walk away from the filling operation. That function shuts off the fill internally by closing certain solenoid valves when the tank sensors say the tank is full. The second option is just city water, which (through solenoid positions) will bypass the tank fill, and direct the water directly to your various faucets, etc.
So, whoever designed this system never anticipated that there would ever be any type of malfunction in the myriad switches, wires, valves, or circuit boards involved here.
Dudley Do-Right, '06Apex40MDTS

[RVPioneer]

Originally Posted by Dudley do-right

there are two options on the silverleaf re: water. The first is the auto fill, which supposedly lets you walk away from the filling operation. That function shuts off the fill internally by closing certain solenoid valves when the tank sensors say the tank is full. The second option is just city water, which (through solenoid positions) will bypass the tank fill, and direct the water directly to your various faucets, etc.
So, whoever designed this system never anticipated that there would ever be any type of malfunction in the myriad switches, wires, valves, or circuit boards involved here.
Dudley Do-Right, '06Apex40MDTS

It sounds like it does prevent the tanks from being filled unless you plumb in a bypass around the cantankerous solenoid. Kind of a bummer. All those convenience features are great until they're not, I suppose.

[cruzbill]

I have a Beaver with auto-fill via the Aladdin system. Had the tank level circuit board fail, which means the auto fill won't work. No way to fill the tank via gravity, only thru the shore water hose.

You need to find that fill solenoid and simply jumper the hot to the solenoid. I found the solenoid wire connector where it plugs into the tank level circuit board. removed the connector from the board and used a paper clip to jumper. Worked great. I've since replaced the board and all is again well. But I keep the paper clip by the board.