Considering some modifications to the fresh lines

[Riwright]

I ran a fresh water garden hose through the bottom of the trailer to allow filling with the shells closed. I used a hatch similar to the one used for the power cord. This lets me store the hose in a protected spot. That part of it works well.

What doesn't work so well is the place that I attached the hose. I put a tee into the fresh fill line and when I use the fresh fill port in the regular way it gurgles back up the hose and does not fill easily.

I am thinking that I will put the fresh fill line back the way it was and attach somewhere else.

Looking at the plumbing I have two options.

1.) I could take out the fitting for the fresh drain hose and put something in there that's larger. Essentially my fresh water hose would replace the function of the drain line. Is it a mess to take that fitting out? Am I letting myself in for problems if I mess with it? I would like to have something larger to get a good flow rate.

2.) I could tee into the hose that services the inlet side of the pump. Easy to cut into it. I would have to be able to close my hose very well otherwise the pump would just suck air and wouldn't work. Any other problems I am not looking at?

Thanks for any suggestions/opinions.

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by Riwright

snip.

What doesn't work so well is the place that I attached the hose. I put a tee into the fresh fill line and when I use the fresh fill port in the regular way it gurgles back up the hose and does not fill easily.


Thanks for any suggestions/opinions.

Maybe a check valve between the normal external fill and the tee to keep it from going up the fill line.

[Lesherp]

You might take a look at this post. I put one of the bridges in the ThePair came up with and it works great.Take a look at post #25.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=10458

Several options.

Water coming back out the fresh water fill is most likely due to the fact that the garden hose is delivering more water to the existing water fill line than it can handle and the extra is coming out the fill. This is due to the differences in the hose diameter. Try filling slower. Try replacing the "T" with a "Y" is will create smoother flow.

The best option. If you have not already done so add a Marine deck plate to the top of the water tank. This will allow you to install nylon thru hull fixtures in the tank to attach the hose to. I suggest two on the side of the tank. One close to the max fill line and one above it. Connect your garden hose fill tail piece to the top one and connect the other one to a hose running through the bottom of the TM as a full/overflow hose.. Now you can fill the tank until water exits the overflow. In addition, adding the deck plate allows you to totally empty/dry the tank for longer term storage and easily sterilize /wipe down the inside of the tank without using gallons of bleach or sterilizer solution. Over time the inside of the water tanks gets pretty nasty if not cleaned.

[Riwright]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had thought I could not install a deck plate since there is only 2 inches of clearance above the tank. But above the tank is a shelf. If I could make the shelf removeable I could get to the top of the tank.

I am warming up the deck plate idea.

On the 2720 the tank is under the sink where there is more than 2" of room , but not much. I think you will be amazed at the condition of the inside of the tank once you open it. Because all the corners are rounded, the exit feed is about 3/8" above the bottom of the tank. Even opening the drain before traveling home I have about 1/4" inch or more water in the tank that sits until the next time I go out. I have added the deck plate to my last few RVs and never regretted it. If I store for anymore than a few weeks, I use a wet/dry vac to totally empty the tank. Spring cleaning is very easy. I put a little bleach or disinfectant on a cloth and wipe down the inside . Now I only need to us a small amount of disinfectant to clean the plumbing lines vs 20 gals to get the entire tank. Much quicker to rinse.

[ThePair]

Originally Posted by rumbleweed

On the 2720 the tank is under the sink where there is more than 2" of room , but not much. I think you will be amazed at the condition of the inside of the tank once you open it. Because all the corners are rounded, the exit feed is about 3/8" above the bottom of the tank. Even opening the drain before traveling home I have about 1/4" inch or more water in the tank that sits until the next time I go out. I have added the deck plate to my last few RVs and never regretted it. If I store for anymore than a few weeks, I use a wet/dry vac to totally empty the tank. Spring cleaning is very easy. I put a little bleach or disinfectant on a cloth and wipe down the inside . Now I only need to us a small amount of disinfectant to clean the plumbing lines vs 20 gals to get the entire tank. Much quicker to rinse.

I have a 2720SL, and even with the deck plate I cannot get my arm in to wipe down the sides/top, etc. if I wanted to. In fact, I hurt myself the last time I tried to wipe the bottom all the way. I use it only for cleanouts at the end of the season, to make sure the tank is dry for storage for winter. So, wet/dry vac, but this year I'm going to just drop paper towel in and use the hose to push it around into the corners to dry it out. I'm not getting my arm back in there if I can help it!

I'm obviously a big fan of The Bridge for filling the tank, and it was especially nice this last trip I took. The hoses hadn't yet been turned on for the spring, so the only water supply was one of those freeze-proof hand pumps. I have two 5-gallon collapsibles, so I would fill them (from the drain, no less!), 2 trips = 20 gal, enough to get the water lines, hot water tank filled, and ~50-60% of the main tank full. One more trip the next day was enough for our water needs for the weekend. I can't begin to tell you how nice it was to use The Bridge to fill the onboard tank--the only effort involved was me walking back and forth, and using the pump. I would have been sunk without it. Even a deck plate would never have allowed me to fill, at least not nearly as easily as I did. Especially on an SL model.

For me, the deck plate has merit for cleaning and drying the tank, but I could never rely on it for refilling.

[mjlaupp]

Take a look at an Aqua-Saver (clean-out port) installation on the front face of the fresh tank. Last 3-4 posts in thread: http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=12821

[Lesherp]

You have no idea how convenient the bridge is until you have one. I have a deck plate but could never fill my tank from containers without dripping all over the floor. I think putting it on the side would be better for cleaning the tank out. Now that I have the bridge for filling I wish I had put mine there.

In Utah last year I was constantly having to fill the tank from containers. I just stuck a hose in them and turn on the pump. When I went to the beach last week I was close enough to run a hose to the trailer and just fill up through the drain hose. It is a bit of a project but for me it has been well worth it.

I did mine when I had a leak in my cold water line to the sink and had taken it out so I had lots of room to work. I also put in an accumulator at the same time. It cuts down on the pump running but I am not sure it is enough that I would recommend the modification unless the pump really bugs you.

[Riwright]

I put an accumulator in when I replaced my water pump. I was underwhelmed. It helps a little but I wouldn't do it again.

Having a cleanout on the side of the tank makes me nervous. I'd rather do some hacking on the shelf and put one in the top. Less chance of leaks there.

I could put one of these in place of the shelf:

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/b...uctId=10009302

Better access to the rear of the storage space. Probably get some good wifey points for that.