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Old 08-22-2020, 08:26 PM   #1
LadyFaire
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Two water system questions

]First of all, I've seen MANY posts that refer to a PANEL where your water tanks, fills, etc is located. What panel? I have 2 'ports' on the driver side of my camper - about mid way back. One is labeled City Water and the other is a port to fill the fresh water tank. I have found NO 'panel' where the destination for water can be found, nor for a 'flush' option. I've been doing it the HARD way - use the fresh fill port until full, then run it through the system and drain the grey and black tanks.


Secondly, I decided to do a fill and flush on the fresh water tank. Apparently, you cannot completely drain the tanks and there is always a bit left over in the tanks. It can smell NARSTY!! So, sanitize, flush out and go from there. My problem came with the 'rinse' portion of the sanitize cycle. It appears I have a leak or two. Outside, not in. There were a couple of 'streams' and the dribbles where water was following the pipes/lines. I'm fairly sure that one problem is the fill line going into the tank. It appears to be leaking around the fitting. I think that one would be fairly easy to fix, but the others? Wouldn't even know where to start. Does anyone know of an ETHICAL/honest RV service shop in the central Virginia area?


I'm attaching a couple of pictures, but I don't know if they will tell you anything.


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Old 08-22-2020, 08:34 PM   #2
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I realize I can use the camper as long as I don't want to go boondocking or 'dry' camping since the city water connection isn't part of the fresh tank, but I want to get it FIXED.
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Old 08-23-2020, 01:51 AM   #3
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Most of the campers that are referring to panels are 5th wheels. They have one location that hoses hook to behind a door normally. A few travel trailers have them also. From the pics it looks like our leaks may all be in the fill hose. Not sure of the attachment but I would look to replace the fill hose. To get every thing out of our tank use the blue hose on the bottom of it. Turn that valve and it is called a low point drain (you may know this already, if so sorry) that should be the lowest point in the tank if the trailer is level. Once you have the fill line fixed it should be simple to sanitize. If it is as bad as you make it sound I would sanitize a couple times.
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Old 08-23-2020, 03:19 AM   #4
wiredgeorge
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As noted, you have no panel; I don't have a panel. The black and gray waste tanks have nothing to do with sanitizing the fresh water tank and rest of the fresh water system. Have a look at this write up for sanitizing:
https://www.rvtrader.com/research/ne...v-water-system
Now, your leak... the hoses going to or from you water pump or the fresh water fill are the culprit and are easy to replace. Buy a new hose:
https://www.amazon.com/Flats-Concess.../dp/B07KWFZMXT
Go to the hardware and buy some NEW STAINLESS STEEL quality hose clamps that are sized correctly for the new water hose.

You will have to go to the outside of your trailer and see the panel where the fresh and city water connections are made and remove the screws. Make sure you buy a roll of butyl sealing tape. They have this at home improvement box stores or RV stores or Amazon, etc. It is a tape with putty type stuff that you put on the camper's surface when you put the water inlet panel back on to keep water from getting behind it. It usually comes in very long rolls and you will now have a lifetime supply of the stuff.

Anyway, when you get the panel off, you will note that you have a smaller line for the city water fill and a vent line. You can leave these alone. Remove the hose clamp from the fresh water fill; it will look just about like the new hose your purchased. You will have to guess at how long a hose is needed based on the location of the fresh water tank and the fresh water inlet. Buy a section longer and cut on one of the flat areas so it clamps; you can't cut on the ribbed part because a clamp won't seal. Undo the clamp under the trailer and just fish the new hose through and connect at both ends with the new stainless hose clamps. If the flanges on the freshwater and tank are long enough, two clamps will work better than one.
Clean the old butyl tape off the camper and inlet panel and put a new strip around where the screws go through and re-install the screws and that should do it. Make sure you get the correct diameter hose to match the size of your current hose as they come in various diameters.
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Old 08-23-2020, 05:22 AM   #5
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Thank you SO MUCH! Hubby (even LESS mechanically inclined than myself) looked at the pictures and said he didn't think it would be a problem to replace the fill hose at all, and what you gentlemen said fleshes out what he was thinking. He also commented that he would 'pad' the cut-through (or whatever the holes in the frame are called) and we discussed getting a piece of clear tubing, opening it down one side, a touch of RTV and fitting it around the edges of that 'hole'. He commented that the hole would most likely continue to rub or cause holes in the fill hose when on the road. I was afraid I was looking at some SERIOUS $$$$ to fix. Since we don't PLAN on boondocking, it would not stop us from enjoying the camper, but I like to fix problems before they can worsen.


I did find the low point drain, and after I had gone through the initial sanitizing steps shown on some website (honestly don't remember), I figured that I did not have to run the ENTIRE tank through grey and black tanks - they DID say to run the 'bleachy' water through all of the lines - each sink, tub, toilet, etc - to make sure they were sanitized, too - and the rinse tankful as well. Run enough of the clean/rinse tank through to eliminate any bleach smell but neglected to mention that you could then open the low point drain to complete the empty stage. Besides, the pump gets a bit irritated if you run it continuously. The overheat/breaker on the pump horrified me when it kicked in. Once the pump had cooled down, of course, it worked fine. Sometimes the 'how to' tips don't explain quite enough.


I have learned a LOT from this episode.


One last question - leaving my fresh tank empty should NOT cause any problems, correct? If that is NOT correct, what should I put in with the fresh water to keep it from 'turning' and growing noxious stuff in there?
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:00 AM   #6
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You can leave the fresh tank empty when not using it. It won't hurt anything. I will comment though that I never had the pump shut off on me. I have emptied the whole tank with the pump on my current and previous trailers and not had it overheat. My previous trailer had a broken drain on the tank so I had to use the pump to empty it...
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:03 AM   #7
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Also you might not have a black tank flush... Some less expensive models don't. But if you do it may be at the rear of your trailer or somewhere closer to the black tank. If you have one it will be a hose connection in that area.
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:11 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Campermike View Post
You can leave the fresh tank empty when not using it. It won't hurt anything. I will comment though that I never had the pump shut off on me. I have emptied the whole tank with the pump on my current and previous trailers and not had it overheat. My previous trailer had a broken drain on the tank so I had to use the pump to empty it...

This was the second tankful in quick succession. I used the pump to run the entire 60 gals of 'bleachy' water through, refilled the tank immediately and ran the clean, flush through. About 3/4 of the way through the second tankful, is when the pump decided it needed a break. I can understand that. It was a very hot day, and I was working it HARD.
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:12 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Campermike View Post
Also you might not have a black tank flush... Some less expensive models don't. But if you do it may be at the rear of your trailer or somewhere closer to the black tank. If you have one it will be a hose connection in that area.

No, no black tank flush. Would be helpful, but it isn't there. Not a huge deal, as I can always pour buckets of water through the toilet if I don't want to do it the SLOW way.
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Old 08-23-2020, 09:35 AM   #10
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You can buy an aftermarket black tank flush kit and install it yourself. My Springdale did not have one. I bought a kit at Camping World for about $10 and it took about 30 minutes to install. That was about 10 years ago, so they've about doubled in price. https://www.amazon.com/Camco-40123-Q...204058&sr=8-15



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Old 08-23-2020, 10:18 AM   #11
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I had no idea those even existed! Thank you, I will check into that ASAP. Will save a LOT of time and effort.
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