Fresh water tank

[Phil P]

Fresh water tank

Because we commonly travel with the fresh water tank full I decided to look and see how it was mounted.

I opened the belly of our trailer this morning to see exactly where and how the fresh water tank was installed.

I was only able to see it from the bottom. The tank is fastened in with 2 straps that run front to back. The front of the tank is inside a cross member.

This is much more substantial than what I had come to believe from previous post on this forum.

I also determined that to drain the tank completely you would have to have the trailer low in the front and It would be best to have the passenger side of the trailer elevated on blocks under the wheels.


Phil P

[The Weekenders]

Good info to know. Thanks Phil!

[SlickWillie]

I don't know that I have ever seen anyone post about leaking fresh water tanks. Different plastic, proper mounting, and lastly, thicker walls.

[sreigle]

I know several years ago the Denners had the fresh water tank fall out of the belly while they were towing in or on the way to Alaska. Keystone took good care of them and got it fixed pronto. But otherwise I'm not aware of problems with the fresh water tank, like SlickWillie mentioned.

We normally travel with that tank 2/3 or more full. We want water available for necessary stops while traveling, while overnighting and we don't want to connect to the park's water, or if the park's water doesn't cut it with us or perhaps they have an outage.

[simonsrf]

That little cap/valve assembly was a pain for my aching back. I removed it from the hose and installed a valve that I simply turn. To get the sediment or residual out of the tank, I just add more water, wait until there is no more water coming out, close the valve and repeat. This method works real well when sanitizing the tank with clorox.

[1retired06]

To get rid of that last bit of water when draining the fresh water tank, I just leave it open when hitting the road. By the time I stop, I have bounced around enough to empty it.

[Phil P]

Hi

A few months ago there was a post about the tank-mounting failing. When I made the statement that I normally travel with the tank full I received several comments eluding to my lack of mental acuity for doing so.LOL

Also a friend has a Keystone bumper pull that he purchased used when it was about 3 years old. The flange mounted fresh water tank broke loose. He replaced it and used additional straps under the tank to take the load when it is full.

My tank has 2 straps under it similar to how my friend did his. The only thing that concerns me is the self-taping bolts used to fasten the straps are installed from above the tank. This indicates the tank was installed from the top or before the floor was installed. Then I wonder if the edge of the tank is resting on the heads of the self-taping bolts.

We travel with enough equipment to dry camp or camp with electric only for 1 to 4 days. Also when we arrive at these locations we are commonly busy for several hours unloading the basement and it is very convenient to have water for showers etc.

Phil P

[ols1932]

We always travel with a full fresh water tank. Too many times we've come to a location where the water supply was out or we wanted to dry camp where we were; thus it is always nice to know we have the water available. Have had no problems carrying that much water for ovr 11 years of full timing.

Orv

[gobears]

we weekend camp at a location that has no water hook ups, we pull it full all the time,10 years with a couple different brands and no problems. I did get a crack up near the top where the fill nozzle enters the tank, eterna bond fixed it. I cant imagine that was due to traveling full. I wrote it off as a mfg. defect.

[1retired06]

What good is it to have a fresh water tank if you cant travel with it full?? Never had a problem doing that.

[lasater]

I am with 1retired06. We travel 3 to 4 thousand miles each year and often look for places where we can camp free. That always means "boondocking".

I will make an exception when I know that I am looking at mountains the next day. But that adjustment means at least 1/3 full. Gotta keep the W/C functional.

[sreigle]

We even keep it 2/3 full to full over the mountains although I do tend to dump the waste tanks if we're doing serious mountains, like in Colorado. I have to agree with 1retired06 on using the fresh water tank. Just my opinion, though.

[simonsrf]

Guess it just depends on where you've been and where you're going.

[Bill-N-Donna]

We travel with some water in the fresh water tank mostly for the convenience of any pit stops needed. I’ve avoided traveling with it full do to the added weight. I would think that the design of all the tanks should be such that they can be full or at least close to it while traveling. However, common sense tells me otherwise. When I had the belly of our previous Monty (2001) open for some tank work I don’t remember there being any straps underneath them. It may be different on newer models but I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to travel with the black & grey tanks full but if someone is boon docking and they have full tanks when they leave I believe that would put you in a no choice situation. In that case I would probably find a place to dump them ASAP. Does anyone know if the manuals address traveling with waste water?

[twindman]

My galley tank leaked. The dealer fixed it and said there was no support on the middle of the tank. When they replaced it, they added some support there.

[HOOK]

We travel with fresh water. Sometimes full, and sometimes partial, never give it a lot of thought. IMHO, that's why it is there. Larry