I am pretty set on this and hoping to get some info. I have found a site and picked out a size I need.They come preset with all the fittings needed. Going from a 30 gal to a 52 gal. My tank sits under my bed and is easily accessible.All I have to do is remove a few cross members and fittings and mounting hardware to get it out. my question is, can I use to old tank fill gauge and transfer it to the new unit or do I have to go aftermarket? I cans see it till I take the tank out but I believe it may be one of those strips that runs up the side. Would appreciate and feedback on this. No worries of weight or balance as I would rarely travel with the tank full. I will also be install new one so it it centered more left to right as the original is mostly under one side of the bed. Plenty of room there to work with.

The hose from the fill spot to the tank... If you have the type of hose with ridges, it can be a hassle to get a water tight connection. Not a matter of strength with the hose clamp but angle of hose to the connection at the tank. The wiring...Be sure you know which wire goes at what level. So when you re-install the probes the sensors are at right level so you get correct reading on water level.Don't toss old tank... might come in handy in back of pick up for longer boondocking trips?

If you're dead set on this, fine, but it's easier to find ways to port water to the trailer.

Too bad you can't figure out a way to install the new one and keep the old one. Any way you could install it under the frame and then install a cross-over from one tank to the other? With the cross over, the original sensors on the original tank would still read as it always had, it would just be a lot more water? You would need to vent the new tank, and of course have a drain. But both tanks could be filled from the original fill location. The cross over would fill the second tank. (It's just an idea if you haven't thought of this yet. But, I don't know the configuration of your camper either.)Good luck!

After you fill the new tank, if you notice that it is sagging, you can put in a cross brace underneath it to help support it. I had to do this on my original tank -- the sag meant that I was dragging around ten gallons of extra water that I could not use because the pickup tube for the pump was above the low point of the tank.Good luck with this project -- let us know how it goes!

Thanks for the replies. tank is necessary as I am sick of filling up the portable 6 gal tank and pouring into trailer. I dont have to worry about sag as it sits on the floor under the bed and I can use all the factory hoses and drains. I am experienced in wiring so i will pay attention the sensors. Should be pretty straight forward. just was worried about how the sensor works.

Thinking of putting in larger fresh water tank | Good Sam Community

35 Replies

PAThwacker
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
SoundGuy wrote:
Sprink-Fitter wrote:
I'd spend about $250.00 or so on a tank and 12 volt pump for the back of pickup.

Regardless of how large a fresh water tank may be it's inevitable you're eventually going to have to go for a refill anyway so in my view as long as our FW tank holds enough to get us through at least one day of camping then IMO it's big enough. For us that means our 30 gal tank works just fine and there's no reason at all for a larger one as it's just part of my early morning routine to go retrieve more fresh water each morning and top up the trailer's tank as needed. For that I find four 7 gal Aquatainers work just fine - inexpensive, easy to store since they're cube shaped, made of food grade plastic, and when we're not camping they just sit on a shelf in the workshop, no need for an expensive tank at all. To transfer water from the Aquatainers to the trailer's FW tank I use a spare 12 vdc potable water pump, same type of pump used in the trailer itself. Been sourcing and transferring fresh water like this for years, wouldn't consider doing it any other way as it's so effortless and costs little to implement.

I do the same easily with 3 aquatainers connected with T-tube fitting linked to pump. Schumacher agm jump box alligator clamped to transfer pump mounted in a battery box. KISS method The gray water 12vt poop cannon has alligator ends as well. All portable for different camping events. State park long weekends, off grid booning in the Catskills, or limited hookups with extended family water joggers.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
hohenwald48 wrote:
ZeeLet50 wrote:
. . . just was worried about how the sensor works.

If you could simply install a second tank you would only need to "T" the two tanks together. As long as the tanks were the same height and the bottoms on the same horizontal plane all the gauges and fill connections of the original tank would work on both tanks.

I did this on a previous TT. Using this method, the second tank can be almost anywhere, so long as it is at the same level as the original. I even installed a valve on the line so I could hold the second water tank in reserve till the first one ran out... That TT did not have sensors.
Sprink-Fitter
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
SoundGuy wrote:
Sprink-Fitter wrote:
I'd spend about $250.00 or so on a tank and 12 volt pump for the back of pickup.

Regardless of how large a fresh water tank may be it's inevitable you're eventually going to have to go for a refill anyway so in my view as long as our FW tank holds enough to get us through at least one day of camping then IMO it's big enough. For us that means our 30 gal tank works just fine and there's no reason at all for a larger one as it's just part of my early morning routine to go retrieve more fresh water each morning and top up the trailer's tank as needed. For that I find four 7 gal Aquatainers work just fine - inexpensive, easy to store since they're cube shaped, made of food grade plastic, and when we're not camping they just sit on a shelf in the workshop, no need for an expensive tank at all. To transfer water from the Aquatainers to the trailer's FW tank I use a spare 12 vdc potable water pump, same type of pump used in the trailer itself. Been sourcing and transferring fresh water like this for years, wouldn't consider doing it any other way as it's so effortless and costs little to implement.

What I a was getting at is he says it's only an out $250.00, I would rather buy a tank and pump, actually much less than $250.00, instead of changing tanks.

Our toy hauler hold 150 gallons, the wife and I have gone five days with no problems.
DutchmenSport
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
hohenwald48 wrote:
I don't think I've ever stayed in any campground where water wasn't available from a hose of some length or another...

Very few Indiana State Parks have full hook up sites, and those that do usually have a limited number. There are a few Indiana State Parks that do have water on every site, or water for every 2 sites, but the majority have a single fill station, centrally located. Now you could stretch a couple hundred feet of hose to reach it and fill your tanks (which we do lot), but here in the last few years, the State Parks are switching to no-threaded spigots. "Water Thieves" still work with these, if you have enough hose.

For EVERY state park in Indiana we have stayed in for the last 15 years, we have carefully examined the campground layout maps on line from the DNR web site and make sure we were within 200 feet of a spigot. In 15 years, we've been further than than a few times, and I carried 300 feet of hose on those occasions.

If you stay at Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana, you better make sure you are within hose reach or you will be moving the camper to refill or cart from the ONLY fill spigot in the entire campground. When we've stayed there, I always carry 6 - 6 gallon jugs so I can refill. It's times like this I wish I had larger fresh water tank.

So yes, there are still LOTS of campgrounds "out there" where a hose will not reach a spigot.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Jan 17, 2016
hohenwald48 wrote:
I don't think I've ever stayed in any campground where water wasn't available from a hose of some length or another. Maybe it's just an issue for folks who boondock a lot out west on public lands. Not much of that here in the east. It seems that running out of holding tank space has always been a bigger problem than running out of fresh water.

Around here a lot of the parks will only have one hydrant in the middle of the park near the bathroom somewhere.

My TT only holds about 20 gallons of fresh water. I'm with the OP, I would like to have a bigger tank. Hauling water every day is a drag.
hohenwald48
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
I don't think I've ever stayed in any campground where water wasn't available from a hose of some length or another. Maybe it's just an issue for folks who boondock a lot out west on public lands. Not much of that here in the east. It seems that running out of holding tank space has always been a bigger problem than running out of fresh water.
SoundGuy
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
Sprink-Fitter wrote:
I'd spend about $250.00 or so on a tank and 12 volt pump for the back of pickup.

Regardless of how large a fresh water tank may be it's inevitable you're eventually going to have to go for a refill anyway so in my view as long as our FW tank holds enough to get us through at least one day of camping then IMO it's big enough. For us that means our 30 gal tank works just fine and there's no reason at all for a larger one as it's just part of my early morning routine to go retrieve more fresh water each morning and top up the trailer's tank as needed. For that I find four 7 gal Aquatainers work just fine - inexpensive, easy to store since they're cube shaped, made of food grade plastic, and when we're not camping they just sit on a shelf in the workshop, no need for an expensive tank at all. To transfer water from the Aquatainers to the trailer's FW tank I use a spare 12 vdc potable water pump, same type of pump used in the trailer itself. Been sourcing and transferring fresh water like this for years, wouldn't consider doing it any other way as it's so effortless and costs little to implement.
hohenwald48
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
ZeeLet50 wrote:
. . . just was worried about how the sensor works.

Most use resistance between contact points installed in the sidewall of the tank. There are other systems. The resistance systems are usually the cheapest and least reliable and, unfortunately, what most manufacturers install.

If you could simply install a second tank you would only need to "T" the two tanks together. As long as the tanks were the same height and the bottoms on the same horizontal plane all the gauges and fill connections of the original tank would work on both tanks.
Sprink-Fitter
Explorer
Jan 17, 2016
I'd spend about $250.00 or so on a tank and 12 volt pump for the back of pickup.
ZeeLet50
Explorer
Jan 16, 2016
I am set on putting in the larger tank. I can get it for $250 or so. I will call them about sensor but do not see any mention of it on the site. Hope mine is a strip sensor I can just transfer. Won't know till I get it out. Fresh water sensor is usually pretty reliable as it cant get gummed up with poop or other contaminants. There are after market sensors available but I am worried about getting the wiring to the panel by the door. I have a covered underbelly and do not want to mess with pulling it off to run wires if I don't have to.

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Thinking of putting in larger fresh water tank

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