Lose half my water during travel

[Madmartigan]

My family does exclusive dry camping because we like to get away from the crowds so I depend on on-board water storage. My first TT was a 19' 2004 Fleetwood Pioneer and it had a 50 gal. fresh water tank that was fabulous. With a tank that size we could almost last 3-4 days with no issues. I loved that tank because it was entirely sealed except for the fill tube and the vent tube which was immediately adjacent to the fill tube. This allowed you to fill that puppy all the way to the brim and you wouldn't lose any during travel. We outgrew that trailer and our 25' 2011 MVP Summit only has a 35 gal. fresh water tank but this tank is designed differently. It has the fill and vent tubes like our last one, but if you crawl under the trailer you can see there is a hollow point in the center of the tank and a rubber hose dangles from the top of the tank. If you fill up the tank, water starts leaking out from this rubber tube under the trailer before it will ever come spilling out of the fill point.

Now my issue - We usually fill up our tanks before heading out to the boonies and when we arrive I find that virtually half of my fresh water tank is gone! I believe that this different tank design is allowing a large quantity of water to exit this secondary venting on top of the tank and as the water sloshes around during travel, I lose A LOT. Has anyone had a similar problem and solved it? I never had one issue with my prior TT's tank and it didn't have a secondary venting system like this one seems to have. Can I somehow just seal up that sucker under the trailer and go back to the good ol days?

[hotpepperkid]

For what ever reason i have two v oent tubes hanging below the under belly. So what I did was put 1/4 turn valves on the and leave them open while filling and close them for traveling

[Lynnmor]

The hose labeled Vent Tube may be connected to the vent next to the fill cap, maybe you can disconnect it and blow thru to test.

If there is a way to pressure fill with city water connected, one vent is not enough and doesn't meet code. Perhaps the second hose was added for this reason. If there is a way to simply route the black hose up and out, that may be all you need. Just remember that the water tank is not a pressure vessel and does need adequate venting.

[dewey02]

Lynnmor wrote:

dewey02 wrote:
And there is a risk of driving off a cliff if you don't pay attention.:S
Or driving away with your awning out. Or not putting your stabilizer jacks up before moving.
There is no problem with valving the vents, just remember to have them shut while travelling and open when filling or when you are at camp. Many (likely thousands) of us have done it. It solves the problem. Just make it part of your routine to open and shut them at the proper time.

You won't find me recommending stupid, unsafe modifications. There just might be some of us that are less than perfect. When connected to city water, any flow to the tank can also be a big problem. One can take the time to do it right, or crawl under the trailer and turn valves twice every time water is needed while traveling.

You raise this point every time it comes up. And you have had arguments with others repeatedly on this topic, and I don't believe you've convinced anyone. You certainly haven't convinced me. My set-up works fine because I simply have made a habit of when to open and close the valves.

It is only stupid if someone is so absent-minded as to not turn on/off the valve. As I said: Do you leave your shore power cord plugged in when you pull away? Do you leave your antennae up when you are heading down the highway? No, you don't. Because you know to take them down, just like you can know to turn on/off the valve on your FW tank. I learned about the overflow valve here on this forum. I made the modification, and I've used it for about 4 or 5 years now. And LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE DONE THIS. You can call us all stupid if you want to, but I've got a full FW tank when I arrive and I have a checklist for setting up and breaking camp...and I follow it. And if you are perhaps smart enough (and not stupid like you think all of us who have installed a valve are) then just maybe you may have thought to extend the overflow tubes to the side of your trailer so you don't have to reach underneath to turn the valve.

Nobody is perfect and nobody ever said anyone was perfect. And people that see things differently than you do aren't necessarily stupid and unsafe either.

[Madmartigan]

Here is the view under the tank:



Here is the fitting on top of the tank. It is just an elbow fitting with a rubber hose, hose clamped to it:



Here is the fill port and you can see there is another vent tube at the top left:



Notice next to the fill port:



Side view of my fresh tank. I believe this is where the fill tube, "other" vent tube and pump tube are all connected. If that second tube next to the fill tube isn't the vent tube next to the fill port, I have no clue what it is:

[Lynnmor]

dewey02 wrote:
And there is a risk of driving off a cliff if you don't pay attention.:S
Or driving away with your awning out. Or not putting your stabilizer jacks up before moving.
There is no problem with valving the vents, just remember to have them shut while travelling and open when filling or when you are at camp. Many (likely thousands) of us have done it. It solves the problem. Just make it part of your routine to open and shut them at the proper time.

You won't find me recommending stupid, unsafe modifications. There just might be some of us that are less than perfect. When connected to city water, any flow to the tank can also be a big problem. One can take the time to do it right, or crawl under the trailer and turn valves twice every time water is needed while traveling.

[MrWizard]

my guess, that vent is there because of some over filled and busted tanks ,
replaced under warranty in previous TT's

some body sticks a hose in the fill and walks away

so they install an overflow vent equal to task of preventing this
never mind how its routed and loss of water during travel,
no more warranty replaced busted tanks

[Madmartigan]

eichacsj wrote:

JaxDad wrote:
Maybe it's just me, maybe you have a large family, BUT, 3 or 4 days on 50 gallons?

Seriously?

Extremely easy actually in the type of camping OP describes. We do and empty what is left for the trip home.

Exactly. Now that he mentions it, I can think of one time in 3 years with that TT that we actually blew through those 50 gallons and it was more like a 5 day trip in high heat, fishing (frequent hand washing) and bathing. For our usual 3-4 day-ers we would do as you said. Top off the tank, enjoy our camp and then drain what was left (I never bothered to keep track of how much that was - I just knew we'd be fine (I kept a 7 gallon filled water jug in tow for emergency water)).

[eichacsj]

JaxDad wrote:
Maybe it's just me, maybe you have a large family, BUT, 3 or 4 days on 50 gallons?

Seriously?

Extremely easy actually in the type of camping OP describes. We do and empty what is left for the trip home.

[dewey02]

And there is a risk of driving off a cliff if you don't pay attention.:S
Or driving away with your awning out. Or not putting your stabilizer jacks up before moving.
There is no problem with valving the vents, just remember to have them shut while travelling and open when filling or when you are at camp. Many (likely thousands) of us have done it. It solves the problem. Just make it part of your routine to open and shut them at the proper time.

[Lynnmor]

Tens of thousands of trailers were built with this stupid design. Route the vents to where they exit higher than the tank. If you plug or valve the vents, there is a risk exploding while pressure filling or collapsing while using the tank if not vented properly.

Yes, you are one of just a few that is aware of the problem.

[JaxDad]

Maybe it's just me, maybe you have a large family, BUT, 3 or 4days on 50 gallons?

Seriously?

[Madmartigan]

Thanks for the input guys. I figured I could most likely just plug up that lower vent somehow, but was concerned that because the design looked so foolish in the first place, there had to be something to it I wasn't considering. I'll do as you suggest and see if I can't just plug it off somehow.

[stickdog]

I'v noticed this while following some trailers, everytime they hit a little bump in the road water will start running out. Must be of the OP's design with an overflow pipe. As long as there is a vent at the water intake I would place a plug at the overflow pipe or figure a way to fasten it up high enough to prevent the outflow.

[MrWizard]

have you traced the vent tube at runs from the fill inlet
does it go all the way to the tank ?

IF So Great, clamp off the offending extra leaky tube

it doesn't leak when filled and sitting still ? right ?

so clamp it.