Forum Discussion

Explorer

Jun 16, 2017

Lose half my water during travel

My family does exclusive dry camping because we like to get away from the crowds so I depend on on-board water storage. My first TT was a 19' 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer and it had a 50 gal. fresh water tank that was fabulous. With a tank that size we could almost last 3-4 days with no issues. I loved that tank because it was entirely sealed except for the fill tube and the vent tube which was immediately adjacent to the fill tube. This allowed you to fill that puppy all the way to the brim and you wouldn't lose any during travel. We outgrew that trailer and our 25' 2011 MVP Summit only has a 35 gal. fresh water tank but this tank is designed differently. It has the fill and vent tubes like our last one, but if you crawl under the trailer you can see there is a hollow point in the center of the tank and a rubber hose dangles from the top of the tank. If you fill up the tank, water starts leaking out from this rubber tube under the trailer before it will ever come spilling out of the fill point.

Now my issue - We usually fill up our tanks before heading out to the boonies and when we arrive I find that virtually half of my fresh water tank is gone! I believe that this different tank design is allowing a large quantity of water to exit this secondary venting on top of the tank and as the water sloshes around during travel, I lose A LOT. Has anyone had a similar problem and solved it? I never had one issue with my prior TT's tank and it didn't have a secondary venting system like this one seems to have. Can I somehow just seal up that sucker under the trailer and go back to the good ol days?

Seeking Advice

JaxDad
Explorer III
Jun 16, 2017
Maybe it's just me, maybe you have a large family, BUT, 3 or 4days on 50 gallons?

Seriously?
Madmartigan
Explorer
Jun 16, 2017
Thanks for the input guys. I figured I could most likely just plug up that lower vent somehow, but was concerned that because the design looked so foolish in the first place, there had to be something to it I wasn't considering. I'll do as you suggest and see if I can't just plug it off somehow.
stickdog
Explorer
Jun 16, 2017
I'v noticed this while following some trailers, everytime they hit a little bump in the road water will start running out. Must be of the OP's design with an overflow pipe. As long as there is a vent at the water intake I would place a plug at the overflow pipe or figure a way to fasten it up high enough to prevent the outflow.
MrWizard
Moderator
Jun 16, 2017
have you traced the vent tube at runs from the fill inlet
does it go all the way to the tank ?

IF So Great, clamp off the offending extra leaky tube

it doesn't leak when filled and sitting still ? right ?

so clamp it.
John_Wayne
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2017
Extend the tube so it is higher then the tank. Or extend it to the fill side of the trailer and put a shut off on the end. When filling the tank when the water starts to come out the over flow tube you just extended shut the valve. When you get set up at camp you may have to open the valve again so the tank can get air so it doesn't crate a vacuum in the tank, when using the pump.