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bnk190's avatar
bnk190
Explorer
Jun 25, 2014

Filling Fresh Water Tank

Back in the 90's my trailer fresh water tank was nothing more then a hole in the side of the trailer that you would open and stick the hose in. The state parks fresh water hose at the dump station was typically a hose but without the thread attachment on the end.

This past weekend we looked at a Keystone Cougar and gone are the days of the hole. To fill this up you would have to thread a hose fitting to the trailer fill area and fill the tank.

This had me question how do you fill the trailer if you have no hose or a hose with no threaded end? I stopped at our local state park and their hoses at the dump station now have the threaded end (at least this park did)

Has anyone ever run into a problem with this set up? How do you refill water if at the site? I recall growing up getting gallon jugs of water to top off the water supply. In this traier that isn't possible (unless you have full hook up at the site)

My only solution would be to take a short garden hose and a funnel and fill the tank that way. That would be a pain though.

We looked at the Jayco next to it and they still have the old fashioned filling hole.

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  • johnm1's avatar
    johnm1
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    I have the same setup as bnk109 with the same issue ... how to fill the freshwater tank when you can't run a garden hose to it.

    I haven't rigged it up yet but I'm going to install a winterization kit (it didn't come with one). I'll suck the water out of a 5 gallon water bucket (just like you would when winterizing the rig) and pump it into the holding tank via the outside shower connected to the water fill valve (where you'd connect the garden hose). I'll just need to make sure I'm running the genny at the same time or I'll kill the battery!

    For all you people questioning if bnk190 is looking at the correct water fill "port" the answer is yes. The my new rig does not have the "old style" gravity fill port. You connect a garden hose to the fill valve and turn the valve one way to fill the tank and the other way to run off the pole (like when you have water at your site).
  • popeyemth's avatar
    popeyemth
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    So what do you think of the WaterThief I showed you?
    That's exactly what is for .
  • bnk190's avatar
    bnk190
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    So one clairification

    When I said dump station here the state parks have the standard water and then yes you pull foward 40 ft or so to the dump section. They are both in the same area.

    The trailer in question is Cougars 21FBS. It's a 2014. I will look for photos but you have one area that the hose connects. From there you turn a valve handle. One way is for city water the other is for filling the tanks. I will try to find a photo tonight of it.
  • DiskDoctr's avatar
    DiskDoctr
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    lat471 wrote:
    PA state parks have a fresh water filling area also in the lot you dump at. They are not close to each other but they are in the same general vicinity. The only other option is to hook up to one of the faucets in the camping loops and fill. But you may block traffic.


    Which parks? I've been to quite a few and seen some unwise folks with their white hoses out while at the dump station, but in every situation their is a sign indicating nonpotable water only.

    Maybe folks do not understand that term? Maybe the signs should say "Not fresh water, Unsafe water" or something of the like.

    You can usually download a map of each park showing the fresh water locations.
  • dahkota's avatar
    dahkota
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    Nvr2loud wrote:
    GENECOP wrote:
    Carry a hose...the dump station water is not Potable and is not supposed to fill your tanks....any site with water hookup has standard hose threads....


    Half true....


    The dumping station has the identical pipe stand but clearly states it is for cleaning the dump hoses / tanks only... not the fresh water tank.


    Agree...

    We have been traveling around the US for 6 months now, mostly in Federal and State parks. Most don't have water at their sites and in every case, potable water was found near the dump station. Sometimes, there are non-threaded water spigots in the campground to be used by tenters; one either needs a water thief or a jug to fill an RV tank. Potable and non-potable water is always marked as such - some campgrounds use red and blue painted pipes to distinguish them. Sometimes there is a hose attached, sometimes not.
  • pappcam's avatar
    pappcam
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    I'd like to see a picture of what the OP is describing. I've never heard of a fresh water tank fill port being threaded for an actual connection like that.

    What happens when the tank is full? Does the tank all of a sudden become pressurized? That would in all likelihood break something as I'm pretty sure the tank isn't designed to hold any pressure.
  • popeyemth's avatar
    popeyemth
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    This is what is needed for unthreaded connections



    It's called a "hose thief"
    eBay ,camping world etc have them.

    Good Luck, Mike
  • Monaco_Montclai's avatar
    Monaco_Montclai
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    wow-sounds like that's the sewer pipe rinse line, and not used for anything else. now its all happy-camping
  • 69_Avion's avatar
    69_Avion
    Explorer
    Jun 25, 2014
    I'm curious as to how the fresh water tanks fill from the city water connection. How would you keep from pressurizing the fresh water tank when it is full. Even if it had a vent (which it would need) once it is full, the vent usually can't vent the tank faster than the filler can fill it.

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