Ok, so I have a 2014 Starcraft AR-ONE. This weekend was my first time using it at a location with no hook-ups. Before the trip, I read the manual and it stated that if I was dry camping I could attach a hose to the city water fill point and put the other end of the hose in a source of fresh water (I used my large prepper-type water containers which did not have a spout, otherwise I would just have poured the water in the fresh water fill port). The manual went on to say that you would then just turn on the water pump switch inside the trailer (DC operated) and the water would be pulled from the water jug into the RV. The only note it said was to allow additional time for this process. Well, I went on the trip and no attempts of this process worked. I tried "priming" the water hose with water (not mentioned in the manual) and that didn't help. There was zero suction on the hose. I called starcraft and at first the lady said you can't do this--but I read the manual verbatim. She then handed me off to a tech, who said "yeah, it's a pain in the butt." He mentioned priming it with water, etc. but that was no help. So, I'm a little pissed because I read the manual before I purchased the TT and knew that this was an advertised capability. I now just wonder if it is not at all set up to do this and that the manual is just misprinted. To add, the water pump does work just fine at pumping fresh water in/around the trailer--It seems to work as advertised for the normal function. I ended up going to Wal Mart and buying a couple of 6 gallon jugs with handles and spouts to do the job.Any help/info/comments would be appreciated. I'm a bit of a newbie to Travel Trailers.

I know there are owners of that same TT on this Forum and hopefully one will post with exact information. AFAIK, most TT's that have a "City water fill" connection on the exterior have that fill line connected to the fresh water system after the pump. In that situation, there would be no way for the onboard pump to pull water out of a container, the connection relies on the pressure of the camp ground system for your water. I have read of some TT owners either plumbing the winterization pick-up hose into the supply lines and using that connection for pulling out of a container. A guy could also attach a longer pickup hose to the winterization connection and pull water in that manner.Good luck with the water system, it sounds like you now have the situation in hand.

Hi, I have an AR-One 17RD and for the life of me, I can't imagine how that would work. My manual is in the trailer, so I can't check it out right now, but I'm going to look at it tomorrow. The city water hookup depends on city water pressure since it bypasses the pump. As Westend stated, you could use the winterizing hose, which uses the pump to suck the antifreeze from the bottle. The valve for this is typically closed, so you would have to find it. On my tt it is under the dinette seat. I'll check my manual tomorrow and post my findings.

You indicated that you will be dry-camping. Knowing & understanding your 12 volt system will be very important in these situations.Another "must read" for new owners of an RV.http://www.trojanbattery.com/tech-support/battery-maintenance/

OK, I had to get something else from my trailer so I also brought in the manual. The section of using the city water fill to "pressure fill" the fresh water holding tank makes absolutely no sense to me. I've been through the entire manual before but never paid too much attention to this section since I use the gravity fill if I'm going to fill the fresh water tank.The section of using the city water fill is exactly what I would do if I was going to use a city water hook up WITHOUT filling the tank. In fact, in this section of the manual, step 6 states that after the water heater is filled, the lines will fill and you may get air pockets (this is typical). The entire section NEVER states that the fresh water tank will fill, and frankly, I wouldn't expect it to (nor would you want it to, it would just keep overflowing!!). I see what you mean about the dry camping section and using the city water connection to fill the tank from a container. Still makes no sense. The only thing I can think of, is if you use this method, you'll have to use a hose that actually screws onto the city water connection, Otherwise, you'll never get the vacuum to fill it.When I get a chance, I'm going to look at the valving to see if there is a way to line up the valves to make this happen.Sorry I couldn't answer your question.

westend wrote:... . A guy could also attach a longer pickup hose to the winterization connection and pull water in that manner....I can't provide any help to the OP, but "westend" ... what a fantastic idea! The first thing I did after purchasing my new Outback was to install the weatherization kit (hose). The pump draws from the attached hose from the gallon "pink stuff" .... Simply by using a larger container (I have several 6 gallon military style containers and alwasy carry 2 of them even with full hooks up or not). Your suggestion is brilliant! Thanks!

Starcraft fresh water pump/dry camping | Good Sam Community

20 Replies

whiteeye42
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
on my trailer i can use the pump to fill the tank from a container i just have to change the valves around to do it in the diagram above you would set the valves to the fill tank setting and put the hose into the container and turn on the pump and it would suck the water out and fill the tank does your trailer have a valve panel like this or one similar
RCMGNZ
Explorer
Oct 17, 2014
My 2014 AR-ONE 26BH WB shows the same option for filling. I keep forgetting to call SC about not being able to fill with the pump as described. 2 year post op for a spinal cord injury and cervical fusion made multiple trips with a 7 gal jug to fill the fresh water difficult, and painful, not to mention an incredible display of stupidity and stubbornness only to prove my wife correct when she says I make life difficult for myself (Lowes and Walmart are 3 min down the road and both sell drinking water safe long hoses that would have reached our spigot. don't ask how long it takes to fill 40 gal with a 7 gal jug.). I think the owner guide is missing a step that would involve diverting water from the city inlet straight into the house plumbing over to the fresh water tank. Check under the sink and/or behind the drawers next to the sink. I recall seeing three valves, maybe four, within 10 inches of the pump. The owners guide only mentions the winterizing valve, not the others. Good luck. I will repost if I figure it out or get an answer from SC or the dealer.
jfkmk
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
westend wrote:
Before I started re-plumbing the fresh water system and, if having need to empty 5 gal + containers into the RV tank, I'd buy one of these 12V water pumps. I own one of these pumps and it's a fairly good little pump.

I agree. For $38 this looks like the cheapest, easiest solution. Too bad the manual is so misleading.
westend
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
Before I started re-plumbing the fresh water system and, if having need to empty 5 gal + containers into the RV tank, I'd buy one of these 12V water pumps. I own one of these pumps and it's a fairly good little pump.
mbopp
Explorer
Sep 26, 2014
PAThwacker wrote:
You can have a huge tank in a truck and second pump to fill camper. No heavy lifting!

If you're lucky the tank will be high enough to gravity feed into the trailer tank.:B
PAThwacker
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
i have a hose fitted to my aquatainers. Sit it on a 3 step ladder, rotate, done deal.

You can have a huge tank in a truck and second pump to fill camper. No heavy lifting!
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 25, 2014
Some additional valves/bypass and moving the water pump to after the tank/inlet tee this system would be easily achieved.
campinia
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
I agree with all of the posts that this cannot be done. Starcraft is owned by Jayco and I owned a 2008 Jayco 1208 pop up that had this same language in the manual. I also owned a 2012 Jayco 184BH (similar models to the AR One) and it said that you could also fill the tank the same way. I ended up calling Jayco and they said that was just a general manual and that my particular unit could not fill water this way. I ended up buying blue aquatainers and filling the tanks with a funnel when needed and it was alot of work!
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
PAThwacker wrote:
Not sure even why you would even want to draw from a jug instead of dumping 5 jugs worth of potable water.

Because lifting 5 or 6 gallon jugs high enough to pour in the fresh water tank is heavy. Then you either need a spout attached to the jug, or a good funnel. Either way, end up spilling half of it on the ground. It's a heavy job. Some of us (especially getting older), just can't lift that much, that high, without ending up in traction! :E
PAThwacker
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
Not sure even why you would even want to draw from a jug instead of dumping 5 jugs worth of potable water.