Fresh water indicator

[Racebug]

My fresh water level indicator has 3 dots indicating what one would think 1/3 - 2/3 - and full. I have 110 gallons of fresh water capacity. we had 2 of the 3 lights on when we set up to camp. My wife and I each took 2 showers (under 5 minutes each) and no other big water uses, just normal toilet flushing and sink use. I am very confident we used well under 50 gallons. as soon as the last light went out, we were out of water. does this sound right? I know we aren't leaking and the pump never cycles without us using water. are the sending units for these that far out? The camper is a new 2017 Fuzion 417. this was our first time using it not in the driveway. Thanks!!

[Tbos]

The gauge in my Passport seem to be pretty close to accurate. The only way to know for sure would be to fill it from a water jug and count the gallons going in. 5 trips with my 6 gal jug is 30 gallons, etc... Hope you get it figured out easily.


2016 Passport GT 2810BHS, 2016 F350 CC DRW

[Javi]

It goes faster than you might think... 3 to 5 gallons per minute.. one 5 minute shower could be 15 to 25 gallons... if you don't do the Navy thingy...

[Racebug]

I am pretty good at conserving water. Where we live we don't have "city water" so we collect rain water from the roof. You get good at listening for dripping faucets and running toilets when you don't have an endless supply of water. I guess the part that gets me is as soon as the last light went out, I would be surprised if we had another 5 gallons before we ran dry. I would have figured we had around a third of a tank left. Could it be possible that the pump pickup is sitting a few inches from the bottom? like I said, this is new so I have not even looked at the tanks yet, but I did manage to crawl into the storage first thing sunday morning to find the pump and take the front off to inspect/clean the impeller.

[BuxCamper]

Very similar happened to me this past weekend. Showers, even the Navy type, use a lot of water.

-- Mark

[66joej]

Hard to rely on the sensors til you get to know their accuracy. I usually fill the fresh water tank until it comes out the overflow. If travelling only about 5 minutes of water goes in. This shows about 1/3 full.

[Racebug]

I knew about how much I add, but wasn't sure how much the dealer put in before I picked it up. I am gong to open the drain and see how much comes out that I can't use.

[gkainz]

I have a flow/volume meter I stick on the end of the hose when I fill that shows how many gallons dispensed. It was relatively inexpensive and accurate enough for my curiosity. I tried to find a pic online to share but all I see now are digital units, like this one here at Home Depot.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Wat...2212/205489792

[PARAPTOR]

Since you have this meter have you checked it against the level indicators on the rig? ie 1/3, 2/3, and full. I do not recall seeing many posts regarding level indicators on FWT. Most were on Gray and black tanks which I think most ignore those level indicators. When Water backs up in shower/sink drains Gray TANK FILL. Toilet starts burping time to dump Black Tank. I guess previous post stated "when water starts coming out of gravity fill TANK FULL Since I am going to be dewinterizing soon and sanitizing the FWT If I remember I could time when the level indicator lights change. 110 gallon tank

[chuckster57]

Water pump pulls from a fitting at the bottom of the tank. Either at the base of a side or on the actual bottom. No "pick up" tube.

With 100 gal capacity, I would bet you have 2 tanks, and if not plumbed properly won't "equalize" easily when filled. Seen it on another brand TH, fill til monitor panel says full. Come back a few hours later and reads 1/3. May be what's happening here.

[PARAPTOR]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Water pump pulls from a fitting at the bottom of the tank. Either at the base of a side or on the actual bottom. No "pick up" tube.

With 100 gal capacity, I would bet you have 2 tanks, and if not plumbed properly won't "equalize" easily when filled. Seen it on another brand TH, fill til monitor panel says full. Come back a few hours later and reads 1/3. May be what's happening here.

Interesting question, never really thought of it, I assumed it was one tank. never even thought of asking the tech when he recently replaced the entire gray tank, gauges, and surrounding piping Only thing I may have questioned was the total FWT capacity, ie I heard some mfg include the HWT capacity in this total. Which in my case would be 110-12 or 98 gallons in the FWT tank ?? I may me taking down the under belly cover for some wiring and maybe I can catch a peek

[Javi]

Don't ask... but I know for a fact that my 78 gallon tank is a single tank.. 😆

Javi

[JRTJH]

The fresh water tanks are usually "in the basement, under the floor", so they are most often long, wide, shallow tanks. The "level sensors" are usually located on the "roadside end" of the tank. As such, if you are not level, they won't read accurately. It only takes an inch or so of "leaning toward the sensors" to cause them to be underwater, even though the tank is almost empty. If you look at the construction of the tank in this picture, you can see how if the trailer is "slightly off level" with the roadside lower, it would keep one or maybe two of the sensors under the water level, and easily allow for all the water to flow to the "low point pickup". But, if the trailer was low toward the curbside, if it were a 100 gallon tank, there could easily be 25 or 30 gallons of water "trapped" on the low end of the tank and the "low point pickup might even be high and dry even though the tank may be 25% full, And if the tank were configured with the low point pickup on the curbside of the tank, and the trailer was low on the roadside, the sensors might show "half a tank of water" even though a pickup on the other end of the tank might well be completely dry. So, unless the trailer (and the tank) are completely level, the sensors are only a "best guess".

Most of us don't rely on the sensors to be accurate, but rather a "kinda guess" about what's left in the tank.

[Racebug]

I did open the drain when I got home yesterday and only got about a cup of water out.

[canesfan]

Mine says it holds 110 gallons. Not sure if that includes the HTW or not. When I get down to the where the 1/3 light goes out I usually have enough water for 2-3 more showers. So I'm "guessing" if you split 100 into thirds (rounding and leaving out the HTW) that leaves approx 33 gallons left. Sounds about right for my showers.

[Racebug]

that makes a lot more sense than mine! as soon as it went out, we were pretty much out of water

[canesfan]

My pump will start rumbling before I run out. It's a nice signal to "finish" what you're doing soon, like washing your hair.

[Racebug]

my pump got real quiet and it started spitting air and water.