Water tank fill when closed

[camp2canoe]

Number one on our wish list would be to have access to the water tank fill when our TM ('05 2619) is closed. We tow with the tank filled (20 gallons at 8.34 lbs/gallon) but it would be so nice to be able to fill the tank without opening on arrival at the campground. All of our trips last year were to parks where there is no spigot at the individual sites.

 

[BrigCA61]

I agree!! Anyone ever attempt to design something that solves this problem?

 

[BobRederick]

Brigitte, Steve & fam.
There has been writings on the owners forum where someone put a hose spiggot on the fresh water drain outlet. Water was then forced slowly back into the tank thru the drain valve. I don't see how that works as the water has to go backwards thru the pump (which is impossible). Be sure to do a search for the details.

 

[RockyMtnRay]

Doesn't go through the pump

Brigitte, Steve & fam.
There has been writings on the owners forum where someone put a hose spiggot on the fresh water drain outlet. Water was then forced slowly back into the tank thru the drain valve. I don't see how that works as the water has to go backwards thru the pump (which is impossible). Be sure to do a search for the details.

The fresh water drain is directly out of the bottom of the fresh water tank. Forcing water up through this drain does not involve the water pump as the fresh tank is upstream of the pump and not part of the pressurized part of the water system. And the tank is vented to the outside via the small screen covered vent in the tank fill area so nothing will keep water from flowing in from the drain if enough pressure to overcome gravity is applied. The only drawbacks to this approach are:

• The drain on the fresh water tank is roughly 1/4"" in diameter. Even with a goodly amount of pressure, it will probably take ~10+ minutes to force 20 gallons through that small an opening. That's a fairly long time to be tying up a communal water spigot.
  
• The only way to know when the tank is full is when water flows out of the vent hole and down around the seal between the inner and outer shells. As long as the person doing the filling is paying attention and cuts off the inflow as soon as water starts to dribble out between the seals, probably no big deal. But an overly high pressure on the fill tube...or not paying attention to when the tank is full...could cause overpressurization/bursting of some part of the tank system plus a lot of water where it's not supposed to be.

Although I personally see no serious problems doing a bottom up fill via the drain tube...and am a dedicated boondock camper...I'll continue to fill my TM's water tank my normal way: from a 5 gallon collapsible water carrier into the filler on the side of the trailer. I stay fit enough that 40 lbs of water is pretty much nothing to carry/lift.

 

[Bill]

Here is the orignal thread.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=320

I have done this - it works well, albeit slowly. It would go a lot faster if larger hose were used. IIRC, the drain hose out of the tank is 1/2" inside diameter, which is plenty big for a fast fill. But the added fittings end up being only 1/4" ID, in order to fit inside the existing hose. With a little effort, one ought to be able to use LARGER (not smaller) hose and fittings. But I haven't done it ...

Bill

 

[Freedom]

Our 2000 2619 is stored for the winter so I can't set it up right now, but looking at it (collapsed), it appears the filler is in line with the window. There is, of course a screen on that window and a curtain, but I would think that you could leave the window unlatched, remove the screen, and open the curtain and you would have access to the filler. I have not checked this out, but it wouldn't be hard to open that one curtain before closing up the trailer and then look to see if that is the case. As I said, I don't want to try it on our TM because it's 22°F out there right now and the TM is all wrapped up for winter. One of you "southern" folks with a 2619 could check this out. We don't dry camp enough so I haven't checked it out. I was just thinking . . . .

 

[PopBeavers]

I also have observed that the water fill tube is in the window area. I have considered removing the window screen and leaving the window open. So far I have not investigated how to remove the screen without damaging it.

You have my sympathy regarding your temperature of 22 degrees. We still have high risk of wildfires, the temps are in the 70's. We were camping at Columbia, CA over the weekend and the temps were easily in the 70's in the low elevations (foothills) of the Sierras. I'll have the TM in storage for December. Next trip out is planned for January.

Our goal is a weekend trip every month. One of these days I will become very interested in filling up the water tank without opening the TM.

 

[XG32owner]

Larger fill hose when closed

I installed a larger fitting, hose and valve to the tank drain. I put a garden hose hook-up with a plug to keep the dirt out. I added a cable to the plug to keep from losing it. Now the tank can be filled fash with the trailer closed.

 

[BrigCA61]

That's a great idea... just one question... how do you know when it's full?

Brigitte

 

[XG32owner]

Water tank vent

The water cones out of the the vent hose on the top of the tank. The vent is the small 3/8" hose that is hooked to the outside filler. It is the one with the screen over it.

 

[jellis]

FWIW, I tried a different approach to the "fill while closed" problem. First using Harry's drain valve solution, I found it works great but takes too long, due to having a 40-gallon fresh water tank in place of the standard 20 gallons. I tapped into the regular gravity-fill line just short of the tank entry point with a plastic tee fitting, then ran a 5/8" line off that through the floor. This line exits in the same area as the other forward drain lines. A garden hose on-off valve was attached below the floor. Standard garden hose end covers keep bugs and dirt out of the line. It worked great the one and only time we have used it. Fills 40 gallons in about two minutes with good pressure. You know it's full the same way Harry's system works; the vent line squirts a little. Your curtains get a little wet if you don't remember to open them before closing down.

My TM is an 06 3124KB. Don't know if the fill pipe is different on other models, so this may not be applicable...

 

[jellis]

Think I may have gotten a little optimistic about fill time in the above post. On reflection, two minutes can't have been correct to fill 40 gallons. Suffice it to say, it didn't take long to fill the tank; it was akin to running a garden hose at normal rates. Sorry if I misled anyone.