Fresh Water Fill Question

As far as sanitizing water tank every season, if yo use your unit like we do, at least once per month, filling the tanks with our city tap water should be enough sanitation. As OP stated, the water tank has never been used. that could mean hidden bacteria in and around the tank fittings, tank, etc where air, wamr temps and moisture is availbel without the continuous disinfection process a typical municipality uses. Please for your own safety, health and well being, fill, flush and sanitize your complete system. use about one cup of bleach in the water tank, through the hose or whatever. run water in the coach to insure you can smell it in all fixtures including hot. let it sit for at least 24 hours. flush all an do it again. this process will take about 3 full days. then final flush and fill again. you should be fine. if you smell a bit of chlorine, you should be fine, may get a bit of dry skin form a shower or a little bit of the runs from chlorine, but the alternative is worse. Good Luck & Be Safe ! ! !

jalichty wrote:
laknox, when we fill our water tank, we also turn on the pump while it's filling to purge the air from the hot water heater and the other lines. That way, you also get the hot water tank filled when filling the fresh water tank. At least that's what we have done since 1993 with no problems. We do sanitize the freshwater system before its first use of the year but not after that. We have been drinking water from our fresh water tanks for over 22 years with no ill effects so don't worry about that, just remember to sanitize before you use it.

John, I was responding to another poster. I sorta know how this works. ;-)

Lyle

laknox, when we fill our water tank, we also turn on the pump while it's filling to purge the air from the hot water heater and the other lines. That way, you also get the hot water tank filled when filling the fresh water tank. At least that's what we have done since 1993 with no problems. We do sanitize the freshwater system before its first use of the year but not after that. We have been drinking water from our fresh water tanks for over 22 years with no ill effects so don't worry about that, just remember to sanitize before you use it.

SamKelly1965 wrote:
Novice here. Please help:

I have a few questions as we just bought a used 2008 jayco 1007 and had a frustrating first weekend.

1. If we use a hose at home (where we are on well water, not city water) in the city fill connection, my understanding is that the water will fill the hot water heater. But when the hot water heater is filled, does the water just stop running even though the water is turned on at the house where the hose is hooked up? Or will it now overflow into the fresh water tank until that is filled? If the water stops, what causes it to just stop?

On the city water connection, once your FW reaches the same pressure as the city line, water stops...or is =supposed= to. There is a check-valve that prevents back-flow into the fresh water tank. There is also a check-valve on the inlet side of the pump to prevent back-flow from the pump back into the tank. You might need to open the safety valve on the water heater to fully purge the air from the heater.

2. At the campsite this weekend, we filled the fresh water tank in the gravity fill. Once it was full and we were at the campsite, we turned on the hot water faucet to fill the hot water heater so that there would be no air in it, and turned on the pump. Five min later, the water was still gurling and spurting. Same with cold water. We were never able to get it to stop spurting. And when we turned the pump off after the faucets were closed, it was still running after five min. No water leaks anywhere, and believe me, I checked. The connection to and from the water pump seems tight. I cannot figure out why we cannot get the air out.

If the FW had been sitting, drained, for some time, it could take a while to get all the air purged from all the plumbing. As I said before, you might need to open the safety valve on the heater to fully purge it.

3. We didn't use a pressure regulator when we screwed the hose into city fill because we are on well water at home, so lower pressure. Should we still use it when at home using hose for city fill?

Your help would be appreciated. How long should it take for the tap to stop spurting once you turn the pump on and the tap on? What do we do to get this air out? My husband did not have the hot water heater turned on when we did this, but he said it shouldn't matter.

Again, if the plumbing was completely dry, it simply may take a while to purge all the air. Also, the pump may not be working correctly. Worst case is that it's sucking air from somewhere, but you'd likely have a water leak, too. I'd also check the inlet check-valve to be sure you're getting full flow into the pump. Also, your husband is wrong if he thinks that it doesn't matter if there's water in the heater if you turn it on. Absolutely, it does matter, and you can burn it up if there's no water to absorb the heat. If you heater has both gas and electric, available, the electric element will burn out in < 10 seconds if you power it up with no water in it. A pressure regulator should be standard equipment for your FW, even if it's just a fixed-pressure one. Better ones are adjustable and have a pressure gauge on them.

Lyle

Novice here. Please help:

I have a few questions as we just bought a used 2008 jayco 1007 and had a frustrating first weekend.

1. If we use a hose at home (where we are on well water, not city water) in the city fill connection, my understanding is that the water will fill the hot water heater. But when the hot water heater is filled, does the water just stop running even though the water is turned on at the house where the hose is hooked up? Or will it now overflow into the fresh water tank until that is filled? If the water stops, what causes it to just stop?

2. At the campsite this weekend, we filled the fresh water tank in the gravity fill. Once it was full and we were at the campsite, we turned on the hot water faucet to fill the hot water heater so that there would be no air in it, and turned on the pump. Five min later, the water was still gurling and spurting. Same with cold water. We were never able to get it to stop spurting. And when we turned the pump off after the faucets were closed, it was still running after five min. No water leaks anywhere, and believe me, I checked. The connection to and from the water pump seems tight. I cannot figure out why we cannot get the air out.

3. We didn't use a pressure regulator when we screwed the hose into city fill because we are on well water at home, so lower pressure. Should we still use it when at home using hose for city fill?

Your help would be appreciated. How long should it take for the tap to stop spurting once you turn the pump on and the tap on? What do we do to get this air out? My husband did not have the hot water heater turned on when we did this, but he said it shouldn't matter.

abc40kids wrote:
Thanks..... So how do I add bleach or if I took 8 to 10 gallons with me extra, my connection is thru my city water hook up??

The bottled water is for drinking, but not to put in the fresh water tank.
On our Cedar Creek, There is a selector switch that directs city water into the trailer, OR puts water in the fresh water tank. What I do is to disconnect the water hose from the trailer, drain water out of the hose, and pour some bleach directly into the hose. Then connect the hose to the trailer, select the switch to fill the fresh water tank, and turn on the water supply. That puts bleach into the fresh water tank.
ken

No problems with City Water. It's chlorinated and should last for as long as you want. Don't forget to drain all the tanks to winterize.

I just fill mine until it over flows and let it drain a little. Typically, I don't fill my tank until I get to the last water stop. No need to carry around a lot of water.

RustyJC wrote:
On our Mobile Suites, there's a single hookup for the city water. The city water supply then goes to a rotary multi-position valve with the handle located in the service bay. One of the settings on the valve diverts city water to fill the fresh water tank.

Rusty

Awesome! That's a nice feature!

Thanks!

We've been drinking the water out of our tanks in 2 TT over 20 years, also sits long periods of time between trips. Never sanitized, never got sick though we only fill with potable water (has the chems needed). Personally we do not like the taste of chlorine.

abc40kids wrote:
Thanks..... So how do I add bleach or if I took 8 to 10 gallons with me extra, my connection is thru my city water hook up??

With no way to put in with gravity you will need to put the bleach in the fill hose that you connect to the trailer and have it push it into the tank that way. As for adding more water later you will need some type of a pump 12 volt, or 120 volt if you have a generator to pump it into the tank.