Forum Discussion

BillHoughton's avatar
BillHoughton
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2016

Fresh water fill part, and the filling ritual

The part question: I've got an Itasca Navion RV on which the fresh water fill point is leaking, both when I put water in and, on a recent trip, at all times (indicating that the check valve is no longer 100%). The leak's not big, but it's enough to warrant fixing. The factory part is $60, and has a little plastic female tapered bushing that mates with a plastic tapered fitting. I'm taking it to a local RV parts place, but is this likely to be unique to Winnebago?

The filling ritual: I both filter and chlorinate our incoming fresh water when filling the tank. At the moment, I've got a non-replaceable filter, and am using a Culligan RV filter housing (no filter in it), in which I put a little chlorine for the chlorination. That, plus the hoses to reach the spigot, pressure regulator and a shutoff (the spigot at home is 50 feet from the RV's parking place, all using regular garden hose fittings - it adds up to a lot of connecting to put water in.

I'm looking at how to simplify it. Step one seems to be to get rid of the non-replaceable filter and put a filter in the Culligan unit, and then put the splash of chlorine in too. Any reason why not?

I'm also wondering whether it would work to use brass quick-release couplings, so I could snap together the various bits quickly.
Class C
  • Snowman9000's avatar
    Snowman9000
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2016
    Tell your wife it's a wonder her ancestors survived. :)
    After a trip or two of my wife watching me drink tap water from the FW tank, she finally decided to get with the program. She does use some sort of Britta squeeze bottle, though. I treat the tank before the trip, drain out that stuff, then fill and use. Sometimes I use a filter on the fill hose. More for sediment than anything.

    Why do you need a pressure regulator to fill a FW tank?

    I think we would need more info on the leak question. I will say that if it uses the white with green stripe corrugated hose, those things never seal worth a darn on either end.
  • Sam_Spade's avatar
    Sam_Spade
    Explorer
    Jul 18, 2016
    There is a check valve in that filler neck ??

    Mine tends to splash a little bit out the tiny vent (smaller than a pencil) after I sealed the main filler hole and I don't worry about it. The seal is a little square of soft styrofoam. It used to leak a lot without that.

    And I personally think you are taking WAY too much time and effort with the fill. I take bottled water for drinking and otherwise just keep the tank clean and fill her up. Quick and easy. Is your water source not clean ??

    P.S. What kind of chlorine do you use exaclty ? Bleach isn't intended to be ingested.

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