Filling the Freshwatwr Tank

BaconLover · 02-17-2021, 10:35 PM

So I don’t know if all TMs are this way or just ours, but our freshwater inlet has a hose that goes slightly down and back up to the freshwater tank, causing the water to back out of the inlet as opposed to all going in the tank. I had purchased that little Camco yellow filler adapter for a hose, but found out that I actually have to get another vinyl hose fed into the inlet, into through the corrugated hose and into the tank in order to actually fill the tank without spewing water out of inlet.

Is there some other trick to getting water into the tank? I saw a mod on this site that looked like they connected a hose somehow to the tanks drain outlet? That drain spigot seems pretty small though, so it seems like it would take a long time to get water up via that spigot.

Anyway, please let me know how you all do this. The TM that we just bought originally was ordered with a 20 gallon tank because the guy always had hookups, but Custom RV who we bought it from changed it out to a 40 gallon tank since that’s what we wanted so we could go dry camp. I don’t know if that is causing this issue or if all TMs are just this way since it doesn’t look like the inlet could be much higher on the wall. Thanks!

ThePair · 02-18-2021, 07:05 AM

There are several answers to the question.

Hooking up a hose to a spigot, you can definitely add a hose adapter to the end of the drain hose and backfill that way. I do that when I first pull into the campground so I don't have to open the shells.

Once set up, to refill the tank many of us have added what's called "the ultimate water bridge" which is a way of reversing the flow of the water pump to get water into the tank using the onboard pump and a hose to the city inlet.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...ad.php?t=10458

**Bill** · 02-18-2021, 10:13 AM

This is my cheap/quick/easy solution. Works like a champ, although the TM does have to be open to use it. It works whether you are filling from a pressurized hose, or a water jug using a kayak bilge pump (or other pump) and a short (4 or 5 feet) piece of hose. The long snout gets past any bends in the TM's fill pipe.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...&pictureid=446.

Bill

**Kidkraz** · 02-18-2021, 05:49 PM

Are you saying that you can't get any water into your fresh water tank? The overflow hose should be a bit higher than the fill hose. Have you tried to reposition it? Any chance you could post a picture?

BaconLover · 02-18-2021, 10:59 PM

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Since we’re new to TMs, I’m not completely familiar with the terminology. So are you saying that the low pressure fill is considered the water inlet on the side wall? I would have assumed that would be more high pressure since it’s an official inlet for the the tank, but that helps me to understand the terminology you all use.

And yes! I’ll post pictures this weekend. KidKraz, your inlet looks way higher than mine, but I think we both have that 90 degree bend - mine just dips below the outlet into the tank which was why I thought the water was coming back out, but after checking out Bill’s photo of the water adaptor and the associated thread, I see that others have a problem too with filling the tank.

I’m not really clear how the 90 degree PVC adaptor you all made works? Does it just replace the existing hose or do you shove it into the existing hose? I was able to get a 5/8” ID vinyl hose to snake through the hose and into the tank. Then I connected the Camco EZ filler hose to the vinyl hose with a hose connector made for sprinkler hoses. It definitely wasn’t ideal, but at least I could control the flow of water with the EZ filler.

**Bill** · 02-19-2021, 09:28 AM

Terminology can be confusing. The terminology often used here on the Forum says there are two fill ports. There is a high-pressure garden-hose port, and a low-pressure bucket-fill port. The high pressure port does not fill the tank - only the bucket fill port does that. Perhaps this diagram from my Tech Stuff Album will help.

https://www.trailmanorowners.com/for...&pictureid=435

Assuming you are asking about my 90-degree PVC adapter, its purpose is to enable you to fill the the tank through the bucket-fill port, using any piece of hose with a garden hose fitting on one end. That hose can come from a high pressure source (a spigot), or from any low-pressure source that can have a piece of hose attached. For example, this low-pressure source might be a hand-held funnel into which you pour water, a siphon from a water container set high up on a stepladder, or a kayak bilge pump drawing water from a bucket on the ground. I did the funnel thing (hated it - the container of water is heavy and you need at least three hands), then the siphon thing (hated it less, but you still have to hold the heavy bucket up high), and finally went to the bilge pump approach (not too bad, since the heavy container doesn't have to be lifted). The right-angle piece does two things when you push it into the port. It holds the device in place so it doesn't fall out, and it straightens out the first few inches of the slinky hose inside the TM so water doesn't splash back at you.

Hope this helps.

Bill

BaconLover · 02-20-2021, 09:00 PM

Thanks Bill - that diagram is handy! And I did some more research today, so I get it - you're not supposed to fill the freshwater tank with a garden hose due to the pressure, but I did see that some people just hooked up a garden hose to some PVC adapters that went into the freshwater inlet/bucket fill port - wouldn't that be just as bad as connecting a hose up since there are no pressure regulators in the PVC tubing? Or maybe people just turn on the water in the hose to a lower flow?

Anyhoo, here are some pictures of what I'm dealing with. I feel like many of you also have similar problems too. So I've taken a picture of what the hose connection looks like under the dinette seat. Then, the second picture shows the camera more level with the tank's inlet, and you can see that the corrugate hose dips down from the outside inlet/bucket fill port and then back up to the tank's inlet. The last picture is the vinyl hose contraption that I put together to get water into the tank. I had to feed the vinyl hose into the tank by moving it around from the outside while my husband wiggled the corrugated hose a bit so I could get it through. Then, I just held the connector to the Camco filler and just turned on the water high enough to just get water in. That hose kept the water from just backing out of the outside inlet/bucket fill port.

When I tried to use the Camco filler by itself, some water would fill the tank but a lot of it was just leaking back out through the outside inlet/bucket fill port - I think because of the dip in the corrugated hose. I hope that makes sense, and that you can see that my outside inlet is pretty much level with the tank inlet - it's definitely not much higher. I feel like if I try to make that 90 degree PVC thing, that I would just have the exact same problem still with water spewing out the bucket fill port since I think it would be similar to using the Camco filler.

I was wondering if I got the Valterra one with the cap and I could close the cap up, maybe it would cause the water to be forced down into the tank? I would assume there would still be a lot of water just sitting in the corrugated hose though.

**commodor47** · 02-21-2021, 07:02 AM

The thumbnails in your last post nicely show what you are dealing with. I am surprised the outside fill port is virtually on the same level as the fresh water tank inflow. If your unit is still under warranty you might want to have the factory or a dealer make a hose change to stop the backflow issue. Or, the corrugated hose should be readily available making it fairly easy to try an experiment. Once you obtain another hose, cut it so it fits on both connections and eliminates the sag. Then try filling the fresh water tank and observe if that corrects the issue. If it does, you can either keep the "test" hose in place or shorten the OEM one and re-attach it.

Let us know if you are able to find a remedy for your fill issue.

Dick

**Bill** · 02-21-2021, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaconLover

Thanks Bill - that diagram is handy! And I did some more research today, so I get it - you're not supposed to fill the freshwater tank with a garden hose due to the pressure, but I did see that some people just hooked up a garden hose to some PVC adapters that went into the freshwater inlet/bucket fill port - wouldn't that be just as bad as connecting a hose up since there are no pressure regulators in the PVC tubing?

Like Commodor47, I'm very surprised that the two fill connectors for the slinky hose are at the same level. Maybe try this. At the trailer wall, your picture shows that the large white fill hose is clamped to a nipple on the black fill piece. The nipple is not at the center of the black piece, but is at the bottom. I bet if you find a way to detach the entire black piece from the trailer wall (probably 2 or 3 screws), you could rotate it 180 degrees so the nipple is at the top. (Maybe only 120 degrees if the vent hose is too short.) Then re-attach it. Drill new screw holes if needed, and caulk around it. Yes, the vent hose will be a bit lower than the fill hose - but who cares? It just means that the tank will begin to overflow when the water level is 1/2 inch lower than before.

With this change, either the Camco filler or the 90-degree PVC device should work well.

As for the pressure question you raised (above), it is not a problem, since the tank is not a closed space. You fill the tank with the hose, and when it gets full, water spurts out of the vent. This means that the tank is a little over-full, but pressure cannot build up.

Bill

BaconLover · 02-21-2021, 03:21 PM

Thanks commodor47 and Bill! Yeah, we were thinking last night that we might be able to just swap out the corrugated hose for a smooth vinyl hose which might help - especially one without the sag. That's a good idea about rotating the inlet - we just closed it up so that we could put on our weight distribution hitch, so I'll take a look to see what might be possible after we open it back up again.