Fresh Tank shows 1/3 full when completely full

[jstijerina]

Hello,

After flushing system after winterizing, my fresh tank only show 1/3 full when water starts spitting out of the fill nozzle. I think I read something that could be related to the overflow vent but can't find any definitive posts. Any help or where to look would be greatly appreciated. I have a 2008 Keystone OUtback sydney 29RLS.

[chuckster57]

How fast is the water running? If the vent line is pinched, it could cause back pressure. Does your trailer have a seperate fresh fill? If so the vent line is right next to the fill port.

[jstijerina]

Chuckster57, my RV has a gravity fill line, then what I call a city water hose hookup. I need to look and see if there is some sort of a vent there as I've never paid close attention. Thanks!

[bobbecky]

It’s also possible that a couple wires to the sensors have become disconnected. We had the common break a couple years ago giving us a complete empty indication. Yours could be the top and middle wires disconnected.

[jasin1]

How long does it take to start spitting? Is the hose going full blast? When I fill my boat up if I don’t leave an air gap it will develop back pressure and shoot out of the fill neck like a geyser.
Maybe you could fill it where you think it’s full and then drain off the tank into a five gallon bucket and count how many it takes to empty the tank to measure the amount of water actually in the tank.
The vent is on the filler neck I believe. Not sure if the cap covers it when it’s on. Maybe a bug clogging the vent up ?

[RickV]

I picked up one of these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0187BOFD6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details to monitor how much fresh water I was loading for when traveling. I like to only carry 10 gallons just in case need a road side rest stop. Maybe something like this could help you determine what exactly is going on.

[jstijerina]

Thanks all for the suggestions and tips. The RV is 90 miles away at our weekend property but I'll be there this coming weekend to with a plan to try all these suggestions out to fix the problem.

[Life-in-Him]

We've had the same problem over & over. Sometime it's full, sometim, empty, sometimes 1/2 etc.

The one commonality is different water chemistry. Alcilinity (sp?) etv, &/or solids.

Drove me nuts till I worked that out.

Get a swimming pool test strip kit & check your water out as it goes in & after you run it for awhile. Any difference it's your FWT & plumbing.

If they're the same check your source.

[Stircrazy]

I had this issue on my old trailer, does it seam like the proper amount of water is going in? in mine it realy was only getting a partial tank as the vent line was louped and creating an air lock and causing the water to back flow out the filling port. I had to shorten the filling line and zap strap it on a proper angle and then my tank capacity doubled.

Steve

[German Shepherd Guy]

We've had the same problem over & over. Sometime it's full, sometim, empty, sometimes 1/2 etc.

The one commonality is different water chemistry. Alcilinity (sp?) etv, &/or solids.

Drove me nuts till I worked that out.

Get a swimming pool test strip kit & check your water out as it goes in & after you run it for awhile. Any difference it's your FWT & plumbing.

If they're the same check your source.
FWT ??? :ermm::confused:
Please explain, Thanks.

[Texas Steve]

Fresh Water Tank???

[travelin texans]

I'd say if it's running out the vent or overflow it's full regardless of what the worthless POS sensor may show. Those sensors on ALL of your holding tanks will drive you nuts trying to make them work accurately, believe me it's not worth the time, trouble or $$, ignore them.

[gearhead]

You can measure when you drain it like previously mentioned. Compare that to what spec is for the tank capacity. Or, you can open your house valve with the hose attached and see how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Then without changing the flow rate start filling your tank and time how long it takes.
I just pretend that I don't have tank sensors. Makes life less stressful.

[Javi]

You can measure when you drain it like previously mentioned. Compare that to what spec is for the tank capacity. Or, you can open your house valve with the hose attached and see how long it takes to fill a 5 gallon bucket. Then without changing the flow rate start filling your tank and time how long it takes.
I just pretend that I don't have tank sensors. Makes life less stressful.

I can't remember the last time I even looked at our gauges...

[JRTJH]

Keystone trailers have gauges??? :angel:

[flybouy]

Keystone trailers have gauges??? :angel:

IIRC they sowed them to me during the PDI but that was a long time ago.

[jim1]

Yes they do! But if they're not hooked up like three of mine were, oh forget it they are a lot less annoying if you don"t bother looking at them.

[JRTJH]

IIRC they sowed them to me during the PDI but that was a long time ago.

Yes they do! But if they're not hooked up like three of mine were, oh forget it they are a lot less annoying if you don"t bother looking at them.

Oh, you mean those green and red lights on the wall panel ???

Hell, I thought that was Keystone's poor excuse for Christmas decorations.... Status gauges, eh ???? Who'dathunk......

[flybouy]

Oh, you mean those green and red lights on the wall panel ???

Hell, I thought that was Keystone's poor excuse for Christmas decorations.... Status gauges, eh ???? Who'dathunk......

Yup, I thought they were a low voltage alternative to thebold Lava lamps.:facepalm:

[jim1]

Kinda like the cross walk button for pedestrians, not wired to anything behind it, just a pedestrian pleaser keep pushing it!! Sooner or later it'll change.

[JRTJH]

Kinda like the cross walk button for pedestrians, not wired to anything behind it, just a pedestrian pleaser keep pushing it!! Sooner or later it'll change.

I thought that crosswalk switch was wired to an observation camera at "headquarters" ... As soon as a little old bluehair using a walker gets to the center (point of no return) the "walking figure" changes to the "orange hand" and cars start speeding by.... 10 points if she makes it before the light changes, 10 point penalty if someone hits her... Double points if she makes a "run for it and makes it" and "game over if her walker gets stuck on a bumper"...

I haven't seen a lava lamp in ages... We had one in the hooch in Viet Nam. Used to sit and watch it for hours, a Johnny Walker Black bottle in one hand and, well, we don't talk about what was in the other hand :hide:

[skids]

I haven't seen a lava lamp in ages... We had one in the hooch in Viet Nam. Used to sit and watch it for hours, a Johnny Walker Black bottle in one hand and, well, we don't talk about what was in the other hand :hide:

It was you GUN of course. Your GUN.

[JRTJH]

It was you GUN of course. Your GUN.

Ahem.... Rifle.... That's what it was... I remember that old Army lesson well... I was in the Air Force, but spent as much time with the Army as with the "blue suiters"...

This is my rifle, this is my gun. One is for shooting the other is for fun..... :party::party:

[dutchmensport]

I have a feeling you are just using more water than you realize. You can not trust those tank sensors. You need to start taking notice how many showers you can take (and how long the water is actually running, how many loads of dishes, and how many flushes you can do before your fresh water tank runs empty. After going through this exercise a couple times, you'll very quickly develop a "feel", a "sense" when your tank is running low and you'll just know when to fill it up.

If you dump your tanks into a tote to haul to a dump station, you can really get a handle on how much water you are actually using, as the "tote" will hold only so many gallons.

We have learned, 4 showers, 2 loads of laundry, and 2 days of dishes, and we have to dump the grey water tank. That is about 3/4 of a tank of fresh water. Add some toilet flushes and it goes even faster.

But, those sensors are simply not reliable, although out of all of them, the fresh water tank sensors are usually the most reliable ones.

[LHaven]

I thought that crosswalk switch was wired to an observation camera at "headquarters" ...
I haven't seen a lava lamp in ages...

I had no idea where the "lava lamp" issue came from. For a second, I thought your idea of a town wired into observation HQ was giving both of us the same "Prisoner" flashback.

[Life-in-Him]

What was happening for us was due to different electrical conductivity of water.

The PH, alcalinity/acidity has varying resistance.

The level sensors display the voltage across the sensors.

0.25v might not register. 0.75volts might be 1/2 full.

The tank level might cover the middle sensors & have 0.75v after one fill up or use.

Same physical level from different water source might have 0.85v reading.

That conductity may only be the water chemistry..

To check chemistry a swimming pool test strip kit works. About $10 @ walmart or other place.

[Life-in-Him]

Pedestrians in small town Idaho pick a flag off the lightpost & wave it to cross the street ;}

[LHaven]

To check chemistry a swimming pool test strip kit works. About $10 @ walmart or other place.

For $10-$20, I highly recommend a modern electronic meter. Instant, easy to use, no optical interpretation necessary, and doesn't get used up.

https://www.amazon.com/total-dissolved-solids-meter/s?k=total+dissolved+solids+meter