Water Pump/Fresh water questions

monitormix · 01-20-2016, 08:00 PM

Hello all. I'm a new owner of a 26RLS and have never owned a 5th wheel or travel trailer before, so please excuse my ignorance on this.

Would I only energise the water pump when I'm boon docking?
Does it need to be on to fill my fresh water tank or will the pressure from the hose bib suffice?

Lastly, how can I tell when my fresh water tank is topped off?

Thank you all!

SLIMSHADIE · 01-20-2016, 08:21 PM

I turn my pump on when I dont have water hookups, like boon docking. The tank is partial/full of water. I sometimes even partial fill the water tank on very long trips just to have a usable bathroom when needed on the road. I have a seperate water inlet to fill the tank and it has a vent hole on top, when full of water, it starts spitting thru the vent.
Also when I know I wont have water hookups, I prefill the tank at home and while filling, turn pump on, open cold/hot water faucets to bleed the water thru and it fills the hot water tank, too. The minimum hot water tank is 6 gallons and could be 10. So filling the lines and tank before hand could be 8-12 gallons. My fresh water tank is only 43 gallons.
I aslo santize the water tank and lines twice a year, start of season and half way thru.

**chuckster57** · 01-20-2016, 08:25 PM

All of this information should have been told to you when you picked your trailer up. Anyway to answer your questions.

The water pump only needs to be on when your not hooked up to a pressurized water source.

The water pump isn't needed to fill the fresh water tank. Depending on your "docking station" configuration, you may need to flip some levers to fill the tank and yes, city water pressure will fill the tank.

You will have a monitor panel located inside the trailer and it will show battery, fresh water, gray water, and black water levels. The fresh tank will also have a vent and it usually is in the same area as the fill. If you over fill the tank it should spurt out the vent.

monitormix · 01-20-2016, 08:38 PM

The dealer did spend about 2.5 hours going over everything. It was a little bit of sensory overload.

Just didn't seem to cover that portion of the hook ups very thoroughly.
It is a 6gal. water heater. Thanks for all the responses.

**chuckster57** · 01-20-2016, 08:46 PM

Walk through's can be very daunting for an inexperienced RV'er. Thank goodness the dealership I work for allows me to take all the time needed to make the customer comfortable with their new purchase.

Feel free to keep asking, and we will be happy to keep answering.

swanson · 01-21-2016, 11:51 AM

Monitormix, don't forget that when in "traveling mode" you need to have the pump turned off. As this way if for some reason a water valve is turned on you not get much water coming out.

Mike484 · 01-21-2016, 12:57 PM

And make sure you have a good water pressure regulator on the water suppy you are hooking your trailer to, make sure you don't get too much pressure.

PerryB · 01-21-2016, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swanson

Monitormix, don't forget that when in "traveling mode" you need to have the pump turned off. As this way if for some reason a water valve is turned on you not get much water coming out.

Or, if a water line breaks going down the road you don't flood the trailer. Also shut the pump off when your away from the trailer for the same reasons. A friend bought a new toy hauler about six years ago. Toy haulers have BIG fresh water tanks. He departed So. Cal. early one morning to come up my way for a hunting trip, about a 10 hour drive. Half way up he stopped for fuel and the entire master bedroom and living area was soaked because the pump had been left on and a water line broke going down the road. All 100-120 gallons was pumped into the interior of the trailer. This was the trailers maiden voyage. The warpage and delamination was so bad the mfg. ended up replacing the trailer with a new unit, after several failed attempts to "fix" the damage.

jsmith948 · 01-22-2016, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PerryB

Or, if a water line breaks going down the road you don't flood the trailer. Also shut the pump off when your away from the trailer for the same reasons. A friend bought a new toy hauler about six years ago. Toy haulers have BIG fresh water tanks. He departed So. Cal. early one morning to come up my way for a hunting trip, about a 10 hour drive. Half way up he stopped for fuel and the entire master bedroom and living area was soaked because the pump had been left on and a water line broke going down the road. All 100-120 gallons was pumped into the interior of the trailer. This was the trailers maiden voyage. The warpage and delamination was so bad the mfg. ended up replacing the trailer with a new unit, after several failed attempts to "fix" the damage.

This is good advice. I would add that you should, if you are hooked up to CG water, shut the water off at the pedestal when you leave the CG. That way, if something in the trailer (such as the toilet valve) should fail, you won't come back to a flooded trailer.

SLIMSHADIE · 01-22-2016, 08:16 AM

also shut the pump off if you leave the campsite. We left for dinner 1 time and came back to the bathroom faucet running, luckily no damage, ran out of fresh water and the grey tank was full but not overflowing. one of the kids or their friend probably left it running.

Has a buddy help a couple with their brand new camper. Appearently they the hooked the fresh water hose to the back flush outlet. When they finished setting up, water was running out the front door. Black tank filled and overflowed the whole camper.

DaveC · 01-22-2016, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike484

And make sure you have a good water pressure regulator on the water suppy you are hooking your trailer to, make sure you don't get too much pressure.

All good advice and pay head to this one^

A high supply pressure will pop fittings and make leaks where they did not exist before.

Pull Toy · 01-22-2016, 03:40 PM

Hi monitormix,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Camping! You're gonna love it! REALLY!

There are no dumb questions, only dumb answers! We all were NUBIES once, and the knowledge base is not an instant download! Now that we've scared you into getting rid of your brand new waterlogged camper, with all the horror stories....and everything that can go wrong... here goes my version IMHO.

When you expect to need to take fresh water, see if good water is available on site for a fill up, then decide if you need to haul it, or fill up there :

1. Sanitize your tank. There's tons of info on that... so I won't belabor the point. If your transiting to a water hook up site, use bottled water to flush in route. (We usually bring a gallon jug of "Home Water" for this purpose, or use Mickey D's. Save the weight, and the work! Fifty cent a flush...really?

2. If you do haul...Close all of your low point drains, and fill your tank with the method your camper uses (some are gravity feed, so watch how fast you feed her) Mine has a gate valve (either City / Tank) under pressure. Check with your dealer again. They should have the info you need now that the "Delivery Shock" has had a chance to subside. If you need to, re-visit the dealer for a "Demo" on a similar unit, go for it, and don't be bashful. Your Salesman got a major Spif, now make him earn it!! You spent the money, make them deliver.

3. NOW turn on your fresh water pump and fill your hot water tank and sink and toilet lines, get all the air out..

4. Turn off your pump until needed to use your water, (only leave it on when water is required), and top off tank again.

5. Enjoy your trip, but bear in mind:

1. "If you don't need it , don't haul it "8 +/- pounds to the gallon!
2. The H2O goes real quick when your working off of the tank!
3. What you don't use, dump it through your toilet before coming home.
you'll flush your black tank with left over water! Remember the 8# each gallon hauled!

WELCOME, GOOD LUCK & ENJOY YOUR NEW HOME!!!

monitormix · 01-22-2016, 06:55 PM

Thanks Pull Toy!! I don't think I'll get rid of the waterlogged trailer yet!

This is the kind of info I was looking for. I wouldn't of thought some of the scenarios you guys brought up. Sadly I'm still at work for the whole week and haven't been home to check some of the things you guys mentioned.

Thanks everyone for the input.

You may also like: