To Dump The Fresh Water Tank ... Or Not?

[Zircon]

New to this forum ... and new to RV-ing. My wife and I just purchased a new truck camper last Thursday ... an ALP Adventurer 86SBS. Believe it or not, we got the bare minimum of a walk through, so I have a ton of questions ... some of which I hope to find answers to by searching this forum. This is one I'd like a more immediate answer to, though:

??? The manual that came with the camper has a WARNING:Filling the fresh water tank should ONLY be done if the camper is on the truck, or if the floor is supported. Failure to do so may result in damage to the unit.

Does this mean that I should dump the fresh water tank before I remove the camper from the truck? If I take it off the truck while the tank still has water in it (the tank holds 45 gallons, by the way), that would be the same as filling it before loading it on the camper ... and the possibility of damage as stated above, wouldn't it? Here's the thing, there are going to be times when I want to take the camper off the truck and park it so that I could take the 4x4 into some rough terrain to do some fishing. If I've got to be dumping water before removing it from the truck, finding some support for the floor, then filling the tank again ... assuming I can even find a source of water in a remote location ...it's going to be a royal pain in the butt. What do folks do?

Maybe I could ask another question while I'm here ... seeing as it's sort of related to the first one? For winter storage in the backyard, I'm planning on pouring a concrete platform (ground level, of course) with ring bolts or chains set in the concrete that I can attach my fastguns to. This would make it pretty stable as far as wind is concerned ... and we do get some pretty high wind in this area. How high off the concrete platform should I set the camper with the jacks and should I also support it some way with blocking, saw-horses or some other thing instead of just leaving it up on the jacks?

[trail-explorer]

I bet the various camper manufacturers are wondering "why are we getting so many phone calls about using the camper off the truck today?"

[Pwrstrok]

Pwrstrok wrote:

mkirsch wrote:

Boatycall wrote:
Campers are supposed to be able to be used on or off the truck. I boat and jeep, and for boating, I would take the camper off and use the truck to launch the boat. I have NEVER had a problem.

...and just because it's worked for you and the campers you've chosen over the years, it should work for EVERY person and EVERY camper? Bad logic, my friend.

You've either made good/lucky choices in buying campers that are usable off the truck, or you've just plain been lucky that nothing bad has happened while using your camper.

Believe it or not, there are campers that are not designed to be used off the truck. Lots of them.

For some (many?) people, the main versatility of a truck camper is being able to unload the camper and have a useful vehicle the rest of the time. A pickup truck is a good daily driver, a good work vehicle, and has a million and one uses for the average homeowner. A class C motorhome is good for... camping.

The OP's bad luck is in buying one of those campers that can't be used off the truck.

Choices for the OP are:
1. Ignore the warnings, use it, and take his chances.
2. Try and take it back, and have the dealer tell him "It'll be Just Fine(tm)" if he uses the camper off the truck with the tank unsupported.

[Pwrstrok]

mkirsch wrote:

Boatycall wrote:
Campers are supposed to be able to be used on or off the truck. I boat and jeep, and for boating, I would take the camper off and use the truck to launch the boat. I have NEVER had a problem.

...and just because it's worked for you and the campers you've chosen over the years, it should work for EVERY person and EVERY camper? Bad logic, my friend.

You've either made good/lucky choices in buying campers that are usable off the truck, or you've just plain been lucky that nothing bad has happened while using your camper.

Believe it or not, there are campers that are not designed to be used off the truck. Lots of them.

For some (many?) people, the main versatility of a truck camper is being able to unload the camper and have a useful vehicle the rest of the time. A pickup truck is a good daily driver, a good work vehicle, and has a million and one uses for the average homeowner. A class C motorhome is good for... camping.

The OP's bad luck is in buying one of those campers that can't be used off the truck.

Choices for the OP are:
1. Ignore the warnings, use it, and take his chances.
2. Try and take it back, and have the dealer tell him "It'll be Just Fine(tm)" if he uses the camper off the truck with the tank unsupported.

[Boatycall]

Zircon wrote:
I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my first post! The prompness of the replies, the number replying, and the fact that some of you have gone above and beyond anything I would have expected by providing links and even making phone calls to ALP

Honestly, I needed to know for myself also. My Eagle Cap is new-to-me, and I've already used it off-truck twice with not only 75 gallons of water sitting on the basement floor, but 4 of my 6 golf cart batteries in the same compartment next to the tank. That's heavy. Eagle Cap said I'm fine.

So once you threw up your post, and of course mkirsch chimed in, it got me thinking, hence the phone calls. I don't mean to say that there are some members here who's opinion I value more than others, but if Sleepy, Mkirsch, Reddog, BradW, or any other number of very senior members chime in, I tend to listen. How does that saying go? Trust but verify? That's all I did...

So actually, thank you....

[Zircon]

I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my first post! The prompness of the replies, the number replying, and the fact that some of you have gone above and beyond anything I would have expected by providing links and even making phone calls to ALP, I find pretty amazing! Over the years, I've been a member of a number of forums concerning one thing or another, but I've never experienced anything like this. Thanks again!

As a number of you suggested, I intend to contact ALP by e-mail concerning this matter so that I can have a personal confirmation one way or the other and, assuming its ok to use it off the truck with a full tank ... or, at least, almost full ... I'll have something to fall back on should anything go wrong.

[billtex]

Boatycall wrote:
K, I just got off the phone with ALP/Adventure. I asked if I would be allowed to quote them on a public forum, and they said yes.

**ALL** products currently produced by ALP/Eagle Cap CAN be ran with full water on or off the truck, and that they are in the process of revising thier manual.

I had the same conversation with AMLRV today and can confirm.

Bill
p.s. Nobody said anything about older Adventurers...they have always been the same company...

[Super_Dave]

This does NOT apply to TC's prior to thier acquisition - meaning Eagle Cap's prior to 2011, and Adventures prior to '08. He stated that since they did not make them prior to those years, they wouldn't want to speak for them.

That's funny as I was under the impression that nothing with these models had changed but build location. I can speak for my 2007 EC as a full use off the truck camper.

[Boatycall]

K, I just got off the phone with ALP/Adventure. I asked if I would be allowed to quote them on a public forum, and they said yes.

**ALL** products currently produced by ALP/Eagle Cap CAN be ran with full water on or off the truck, and that they are in the process of revising thier manual.

This does NOT apply to TC's prior to thier acquisition - meaning Eagle Cap's prior to 2011, and Adventures prior to '08. He stated that since they did not make them prior to those years, they wouldn't want to speak for them.

On edit---
I also just got off the phone with Arctic Fox - all of thier products 2005 and newer are also full off-truck usable. They did a floor redesign in 2005 to guarantee the support needed. The only issue they noted prior to '05 was overfilled/over-pressured tanks blowing the bottom out. Prior to '05 are still ok for normal off-truck use as long as you make sure you don't blow the tank out.

Its not that I don't have anything better to do, I'm actually at work, but since this got brought up, I just needed to know from the horses mouth.

[hedgehopper]

Wow! Thanks to Zircon for alerting us to a possible deal breaker when we're shopping for a TC. I never heard of this before.

[campn4walleye]

We have an Adventurer 910FBS. Our TC is meant to be used off the truck. I called and asked Adventurer. Call or e-mail Brad at Adventurer. Ask him questions specific to your model. I did this so that I could have an e-mail trail as proof of what was said. They ere very helpful and always responded quickly.

We use our TC off the truck every time and keep our fresh water tank full. So far, so good (knock on wood). As far as TC supports, this forum is full of helpful suggestions. DH made a set of crosses out of plywood that we lower it onto at home. You can see pictures of them on past threads. I think you'll find them in TC university. TONS of helpful info there. To give credit, they were copied from another forum member.

You'll find that on this forum you'll learn something every time, and it's addictive. Welcome and enjoy your new TC!

[wnjj]

AnEv942 wrote:
Wow-I would also call mfg. Explain your situation and how you plan to use camper. Unfortuanently not all campers are designed to be used off loaded. I dont know if other modles of the Adventure are, or Id be back at dealer-no discussion on using camper off truck?
Snipped from manual



Pretty clear to me, my interpetation isnt the act of filling-its having tank and water weight unsupported from bottom. I dont see any wiggle room to assume its ok after its filled to off load full. This would be IMO question only the mfg can answere with any faith in answere. Would be nice if 'filling' was the issue as brholt noted. Id also ask about holding tanks-as lit. doesnt say anything.

I did peruse the sales lit on your camper- Awesome camper-hopefully you can resolve & use. Myself though off loading is nice and we do often-I might figure another means of getting to that fishing hole.

It's pretty clear to me too. It says "filled" which is a verb that describes the act of filling. It says nothing about after you're done filling. If they meant having water in it at all was the problem they would have simply said, "the camper floor must be supported any time the water tank is not empty."

[billtex]

From ALP website FAQ's;

Can your camper be used while it’s off the truck?
Yes, our campers are designed and engineered to be used off of the truck. That is one of the features that truck campers provide the ability to set up camp, off-load your camper and the ability to use your truck for other things, hunting, launch the boat, run to town etc.
ALP FAQ's
This is in direct contradiction of the manual...which I just read this weekend when we picked up our new Eagle Cap.

It does not really concern me as we never off load when travelling.

I will say...I have filled the tank on our old Adventurer many times when off the truck at home.

For now, I will be more dilligent with the Eagle cap and be sure the base is supported.

There are some threads around here about AF's and exploding floors!

Too bad Mfrs can't post here...this one needs clarification!

IIWY...I would play it safe for now...keep it on the truck.

Bill

[AnEv942]

Wow-I would also call mfg. Explain your situation and how you plan to use camper. Unfortuanently not all campers are designed to be used off loaded. I dont know if other modles of the Adventure are, or Id be back at dealer-no discussion on using camper off truck?
Snipped from manual



Pretty clear to me, my interpetation isnt the act of filling-its having tank and water weight unsupported from bottom. I dont see any wiggle room to assume its ok after its filled to off load full. This would be IMO question only the mfg can answere with any faith in answere. Would be nice if 'filling' was the issue as brholt noted. Id also ask about holding tanks-as lit. doesnt say anything.

I did peruse the sales lit on your camper- Awesome camper-hopefully you can resolve & use. Myself though off loading is nice and we do often-I might figure another means of getting to that fishing hole.

[brholt]

I would call Adventure and ask them directly. Note that they are talking about FILLING the tank as opposed to having full tanks with the camper floor unsupported.

The issue with filling the fresh water tank is that, depending on the design of the fill system, you can pressurize the tank. 80 psi water pressure can easily "blow up" the tank when the tank becomes full if the venting system is not sufficient to allow the water to escape and the pressure relieved. When on the truck or supported the tanks are much less likely to "bow," at least through the bottom. The Arctic Fox manual warns about this even though you can have full tanks unsupported. At one point there was someone on the forum who had managed to break their AF camper bottom by pressurizing the fresh water tank.

As others have noted this is a pretty big deal and you will want to know the truth.