Another newbie question. I'm new to this forum too, so please feel free to post links to threads that will answer my question or send me to the right area on the forum. Even teach me how to do a search. I'm open to being schooled. ;)The class c I bought has done a lot of sitting around. I know it sat all winter, so I need to drain the fresh water tank, sanitize it, drain it, rinse it out and then fill it with potable water. Right? Or wrong? How do I do it and what do I use? Do I have to turn on all the faucets and keep my foot on the toilet pedal to keep water flowing until the tank is empty, or is there a valve somewhere I can just open to drain the fresh water tank? Thank you.

You are right about what you need to do. Use 1/4 cup bleach for every 10 gallons of water capacity, including the water heater. Pump the mixture through the lines by opening all the water outlets, hot and cold. You want to fill up the water heater with this, too.Let it all sit for 4 hours MINIMUM. Then drain the tank, refill with potable water, and run all the water outlets until they don't smell like bleach any more. This may take a couple of tank fills.Before sanitizing is a good time to clean out the water heater tank. Remove the drain plug, drain all the contents (if any) and flush out the sediment.There should be a valve sticking down from the bottom of the motorhome, somewhere.Be sure the water heater is NOT on bypass. You want to fill it up with the bleach mixture.There are lots of good videos on how to do this. Just google "how to sanitize rv water system" or "how to flush rv water heater" and you will get tons of info.There should be a drain sticking down below the motor home to drain the tank. The valve may be visible on the drain, or it might be up by the tank.

go to google and ask then watch the U tube. theres ways to do it, but this way you,ll get to watch

Thank you so much. I'll check the videos. LOVE Youtube.

Good time to do your hose also. Put the bleach in the hose before you attach it to your hose bib and then fill your tank thru the hose.

Good suggestion. :) Love your siggy quote.

How do you flush out the fresh water tank? | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

Cheryl_B
Explorer
May 22, 2016
Oh, good! Just didn't expect that at all.
DrewE
Explorer II
May 22, 2016
Cheryl_B wrote:
This is off topic but have any of you heard of registering an older motorhome and not getting a new title in your name? I just registered it this week and they said I won't be getting a title cause of the age of the MH. I said, "WHAT? How do I prove that it's mine or sell it to someone else?" She said the person buying it would have to take the bill of sale and a copy of the registration with them to the DMV.

How can that be true? I don't get a title? CT is such a mess. Glad to be leaving it again.

Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine at least do not issue titles for any vehicle over about 16 years old. The exact cutoff varies from state to state. Apparently Connecticut is the same way.

I don't have a new state-issued title in my name for my motorhome, but I absolutely do own it and have it properly registered. Easy peasy, no unusual bureaucratic hassles. What the DMV employee told you jives with my experience.
tatest
Explorer II
May 22, 2016
Mine has a 1/2" drain on the fresh water tank, with a ball valve. I've seen others with 3/8 or 1/4 inch drains, sometimes ball valves, sometimes a valve like I usually see on a coffee urn. Some brands have a fresh water "command center" with 3 or 4 valves, there will be a valve configuration to drain.

Lacking any tank drain valves, you might pump out through a low point drain.

After getting a tank filled with bleach solution, I always run water out through each tap to get bleach solution into each line, because if the tank needs to be sanitized the water lines likely also need it.

I do all this with the water heater bypassed, as I drain and flush that after every trip, in any case.
Cheryl_B
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Thank you. Yeah, I'm sure I'll find the plug on the bottom when I get down and dirty and slide under there to check things out. Kind of scared to see just what I bought.

This is off topic but have any of you heard of registering an older motorhome and not getting a new title in your name? I just registered it this week and they said I won't be getting a title cause of the age of the MH. I said, "WHAT? How do I prove that it's mine or sell it to someone else?" She said the person buying it would have to take the bill of sale and a copy of the registration with them to the DMV.

How can that be true? I don't get a title? CT is such a mess. Glad to be leaving it again.
tpi
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Many RVs have a drain at the bottom of the fresh tank. Post make/model of your RV and maybe someone can tell you where it is. Draining a tankful of "old" water is certainly easier and faster than running faucets.

You can also drain the water heater, but sometimes that opens a can of worms with the drain plug or threads. So if you do that be prepared. You can also just flush water through it for the time being.
Cheryl_B
Explorer
May 21, 2016
I hear ya. It's hard to let things go when you see how little other people are willing to pay for them. Darn right disgusting.
samven1
Explorer
May 21, 2016
That sounds like an adventure I would like to try but alas I am a victim of rampant consumerism.
Cheryl_B
Explorer
May 21, 2016
I have thought that very thing. We just assume that the water in our pipes (no matter how old the house is) is safe to drink. I wonder just what's really in there. We should all get our tap water analyzed (those who still have a "real house.") I won't have one much longer. Leaving my rented duplex and going with the 27 footer.

What an adventure! Hope it's a mostly good one.
samven1
Explorer
May 21, 2016
You dont have to carry bottled water of course. Just sanitize it enough that you feel comfortable. I noticed that even with a filter when I hook up to campground water many taste off and almost all of them are on a well so you never know if its hard, soft or rusty and when the water sits in the tank for a week or more I felt like I wanted to sanitize it again particularly if I am in a hot and humid climate so I made the switch to bottled. In all honesty the RV water is probably cleaner than the stuff at home, how many times has anybody flushed and sanitized their home water system unless your on a well.
Cheryl_B
Explorer
May 21, 2016
Thanks, everyone. Yeah, I saw the valve in a few of those Youtube videos I watched. That's good to know about the Taste Pure. I really didn't think I'd need to be drinking bottled water but I do have one of those Britta filters, which I did plan to use. I don't see me having more than a gallon or two of drinking water in the rig at any one time. Defeats the purpose of having a holding tank for fresh water, in my mind.

Guess I better write out a Will.

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How do you flush out the fresh water tank?

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