Water fill up onboard tank

SoundGuy wrote:

Nope, not complicated at all ... I've done one variation or another of this mod on every trailer we've owned, going all the way back to our popups. Simpler because there are no valves to reset, better (for us) as a separate fresh water transfer pump doesn't prevent my wife from using the trailer's system at the same time I may be transferring water, and third, it cost me nothing because the pump I'm using for transfer is the trailer's original pump which I replaced with a Shurflo Revolution. Win - Win. :B

I wrote earlier: "To make it work, all I did was remove the guts (check valve) from the city water connection. Then put a tee in the line behind the city water connection and connected the winterizing hose to the tee. Last, I installed an inline check valve after the tee. Valve 1 was the original valve on the winterizing hose."

I know that some want to add water pumps, wiring, battery boxes, more hose and fittings, but there is a cheaper, simpler way. I only bought a tee, check valve and hose clamps.

If I walk to a hydrant and bring back a container of water, my wife has no problem waiting a few minutes till the water is drawn in. Can't imagine that would be a problem for any reasonable camper. The fill operation can take place when convenient for everyone.

The three "complicated" valves are turned the opposite way while filling and returned when done. Hard to imagine that is beyond comprehension.

For a visual aid, I have the instructions next to the valves.

SoundGuy wrote:
Regardless of whether a trailer has a conventional gravity fill for the fresh water holding tank or has been saddled with some form of over complicated valving system to direct potable water into the trailer the simpler solution is to ignore it all. Instead, invest in a 12 vdc potable water pump, mount it on the trailer somewhere you deem convenient, and plumb the pump's output directly to the tank.

Lynnmor wrote:
Now that IS complicated! Why not just use the on-board pump to draw the water in like I explained earlier?

Nope, not complicated at all ... I've done one variation or another of this mod on every trailer we've owned, going all the way back to our popups. Simpler because there are no valves to reset, better (for us) as a separate fresh water transfer pump doesn't prevent my wife from using the trailer's system at the same time I may be transferring water, and third, it cost me nothing because the pump I'm using for transfer is the trailer's original pump which I replaced with a Shurflo Revolution. Win - Win. :B

Learned something new again! Never heard of an RV without a fill cap where you just pour water in the tank. Apparently that's a thing these days based on a little searching. What a PITA for someone like me who can count on one hand the number of times we've had a city water hook up while camping. Not grasping what the designers are thinking on this one.

SoundGuy wrote:
SIMPLE FRESH WATER TRANSFER

Regardless of whether a trailer has a conventional gravity fill for the fresh water holding tank or has been saddled with some form of over complicated valving system to direct potable water into the trailer the simpler solution is to ignore it all. Instead, invest in a 12 vdc potable water pump, mount it on the trailer somewhere you deem convenient, and plumb the pump's output directly to the tank.

Now that IS complicated! Why not just use the on-board pump to draw the water in like I explained earlier? In my case, I added only a tee, a check valve and some hose clamps. Any needed valves were already there.

SIMPLE FRESH WATER TRANSFER

Regardless of whether a trailer has a conventional gravity fill for the fresh water holding tank or has been saddled with some form of over complicated valving system to direct potable water into the trailer the simpler solution is to ignore it all. Instead, invest in a 12 vdc potable water pump, mount it on the trailer somewhere you deem convenient, and plumb the pump's output directly to the tank. In my case Coachmen had connected the fresh water pump's intake hose to a port halfway up the side of the tank so the end result was the pump could never fully drain the tank. To solve this I installed a T in the drain port which is on the bottom of the tank and connected the pump's intake hose to the T - now the pump will empty the tank fully. With this done that left the middle tank port unused so I then plumbed the output of my fresh water transfer pump located on the trailer tongue to this middle port. To transfer potable water from Aquatainers sitting in the back of my truck I simply stick the transfer pump's intake draw tube into a full 'Tainer sitting on the truck tailgate and let 'er rip ... fresh water holding tank fills automatically. :B If the trailer's FW tank doesn't have a port on the sidewall then use a T on the drain port and connect to that instead. Naturally this mod is easier for those owning a trailer with an open underbelly but for those that are enclosed it's a simple matter of creating a 3-sided hatch where you want to access the fresh water holding tank's ports. More pics are in my gallery. :)

2oldman wrote:
Hauling jerry cans is not a way to get a sufficient amount of water, unless you like navy showers and paper plates.

This is exactly what we do, and it IS a perfectly fine way to get a sufficient amount of water. We fill up the fresh water tank (40 gallons), along with four jerry cans (six gallons each) when we enter a park. That's 64 gallons to start.

If we are at a site for an extended time, we just refill the jerry cans and use them to refill the fresh water tank.

It's really not a problem to drive five minutes to a water source, fill the cans, drive five minutes back, and dump the cans into the fresh water tank. 15 minutes of work adds 24 gallons of water.

For those who are curious, we use a 37-gallon tote for our grey water when we are at a park site for an extended time. We've gone eight nights without emptying the black tank, but I do a lot of peeing in the woods. ;)

I use the winterize suction hose on the pump then connect the outside shower hose (adapt as necessary) to the water fill connection. Turn on pump. Removes water from jug, pumps it to outside shower and into the tank. Simple enough.

I was lucky in that my "outside shower" is actually a standard male hose bib connection with a garden nozzle. If yours is something else you'll have to go to Lowes and make up some kind of adapter to get from the shower fitting to the water fill female hose bib connection.

Only extra part is the adapter. Everything else came form the factory.

Dealwiddit wrote:
YES , i saw some 12 volt water pumps fro about 69 dollars. I think this is my best bet.
Thanks

I have this Harbor Freight 12V pump. It is a good little pump for the money--$39.00.

Twice when camped at a 10 day event I ran out of water with about 2 days to go. Rather then hookup and drive to the water spigot it was easier to carry a couple of 5 gallon buckets to get me through.

I used a siphon to fill the tank. Without a fill port, I would go with a small pump. Nothing fancy or fast, just sufficient to transfer the water to the TT tank.

Makes you wonder after all the years of making RVs why they just don't make the systems easier to work with. There is enough other issues to deal with, makes you wonder how people can just go and rent an RV and survive on their first camping trip!
Thanks Again!