Where'd the water go?

[sreigle]

This one has me really perplexed but I'm not ready yet to say there is a problem.

About six weeks ago I filled our freshwater tank until the 2/3 light came on. It sat there for over a month. We did not use any of that water. Then we were on the road four days. We used that water only for potty stops during that time. We had water hookups each night.

The last day on the road we ran out of water in that tank. Where did it go? I have not seen any leaks. I've not dropped the bellypan but surely I'd see water dripping somewhere.

I again filled it to 2/3. The light had just come on when I stopped the filling. The 2/3 light is now off but 1/3 still lights. That could be just because the 2/3 was just flickering when I shut it down and now it's off. We have not moved since filling it.

Strange.

[Montana Sky]

Strange indeed! I know my sensor is not very accurate in my water tank. Since you do not see any leaking, my guess is there was less water in there then you thought.

[Emmel]

Steve, I might suggest filling the tank to 2/3 and run off it only till it goes empty. This might give you an idea of how much water is really in 2/3 of a tank. Also, you can keep an eye on the underbelly for any dreaded leaks. Just a thought to try!

[kdeiss]

When my unit was new I had a litle leak around the drain hose I removed some expanding foam aroud this hose and their is a hose clamp that was loose.I tighted and replaced the foam no problem since!

[richfaa]

Steve..Same as Kdeiss..We had a leak around the drain hose.That plastic thingy is just pushed into the hose.Take it out a plumb a good one in.Did not notice it when set up, guess it leaked when bouncing down the road.

[sreigle]

Dave, it took a good long while to reach the 2/3 mark and we had good water pressure so I'm sure there's plenty of water in there. Those potty stops could not have ued that much water or the black tank would have been full.

If there were a leak I'd think I'd see it dripping somewhere out of the belly. I'll check the drain hose connection anyhow.

Thanks for the replies. There's not a drop coming out of the belly anywhere and no wet spots underneath. Anywhere. Right now, though, I can't tell anything as it is raining but we've had plenty of sunny days and no drops. Really strange. The bellypan is not bulging like it's holding water, either.

[ggranch]

This sounds like an experience we had on our SOB. After using the bathroom as a road side stop, I neglected to turn off the pump. Evidently the jostling from the road caused the system to activate and it pumped a large amount into the holding tanks as we drove down the road. This may or may not be happening to your rig.

[melnjoy]

Steve We have had the same problem in our last 5th Wheel, Left the pump on while going down the road and the sink valve was opened a little and we lost a lot of water. The pump would come on about every 5 min. for a few seconds, we did not notice it intil we needed water from the tank
Mel

[sreigle]

We did leave it on once during the trip but it was for not more than a couple of hours. Still, that might be what happened. If we don't continue to lose water then I'll chalk it up to having left the pump on. I need more time to make sure we don't have a problem, though.

Thanks for all the input. Very helpful. Steve Emmel, it may be the 2/3 probe is misplaced and there was less water in the tank than I thought. But we didn't "use" enough water intentionally to empty even 1/3 of a tank. Strange.

[bsmeaton]

Steve,
Wonder if it's possible the city water flow is siphoning off thank water through the check valve at the pump?

[jrgwdenner]

If you leave the pump on, wouldn't you need to leave the faucets open in order for the water to get to the holding tanks? I would think it's unlikely that faucets would be left open. Or at least not with some evidence of a lot of water going into the sink.

[Parrothead]

Steve
Last year when we were on our way to the Minden rally we had forgotten and left the pump on at a rest stop. The toilet was malfunctioning in that it ran all the time. There was some gravel or something in the valve. At the time everyone was complaining about their toilets not holding water. Ours did it so well that it overflowed. If it hadn't been holding water then the water would have gone to the black tank. After we got that mess cleaned up, we hooked up to the city water at the CG and it did it again. A little jiggling around got the valve cleared. Later we had an opposite problem with no water coming out. New toilet now so all is well.
Happy trails..........................

[noneck]

I'm with the thought 2/3 is something much less...the tanks I've looked at those things are just button head screws slapped through the wall near the 4" outlet by someone who may not understand its purpose.
Chuck

[patodonn]

I'm trying to visualize any way for water to be pulled out of the fresh water tank, with pressure in the city water line. I can see that a check valve failure or installed backwards could cause water to go into the fresh water tank, but can't see any failure which would take the water out of the tank, especially with pressure in the city water supply line. Hmmmmmm!! A real mystery! Let us know if you figure it out..

Best,

PJ

[sreigle]

The probes may well be off, even considerably off. But we didn't use enough water on our trip to bring it to empty. When I filled the tank I counted off the seconds. 1/3 took about 90 seconds. 2/3 another 90, give or take 5 as I started outside to shut it off soon as the 2/3 light flickered on.

We only had maybe a dozen flushings of the toilet during those four days. When we parked at night we connected to city water. Pump off. So I don't know where the water went.

At this point, I filled to 2/3 last week. When we get to our next destination next Monday, I'll dump the freshwater tank to see how much is in it. Then I may fill it up to 2/3 again and compare. I won't be able to measure gallons so I'll count seconds.

[noneck]

Hi Steve, Ok, counting seconds...what should we figure your flow rate is? 6.5gpm is maximum flow I would expect on a garden hose and would suggest after 180 seconds you only got 19.5 gallons?! I may be off base here but this rule of thumb I've used for a long time when running my Black water flush...typically let it run 5 minutes and figured that would yield about 30 gallons. Anyone else know different?
Thanks,
Chuck

[LonnieB]

I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head Chuck. It takes just over 12 minutes to fill the fresh water tank on mine from my well.

Steve, have you timed it from empty to overflow?

[sreigle]

It may well be that the probes are off, based on the above posts. They make sense.

A month ago I filled the tank to the 2/3 light, as noted above. We since were on the road four days, using the bathroom occasionally while on the road. At night we were hooked up to city water. We have sat in one place the rest of the time. The gauge now reads empty, meaning somewhere between empty and 1/3.

One of these days I'll drop the belly pan enough to see the tank then will fill to the 2/3 light and see how much water is in it. Or maybe I'll just fill it until it comes out the overflow and then figure how long to 2/3. I don't think the water pressure here is as good as when I last filled the tank, though. Our neighbor and good friend has a Select Suites. He can just slide back a panel in his basement storage area and the fresh water tank is right there. That would be nice.

Chuck and Lonnie, my adjustable water regulator is set at about 57 psi and I believe we were getting that pressure when I filled the tank. Any idea how much water that would be in 180 seconds?

[sreigle]

Yesterday I filled the freshwater tank until it ran out the rear filler tube. We'll see if it is still full at the end of the month when we pull out of here, then when we reach the next destination.

It took 16 minutes to fill the tank. That's with regulated pressure, using the diverter switch in the convenience center. I previously reported I thought I filled to 2/3 because the 2/3 light came on after 3 minutes. Obviously 3 minutes is not 2/3 of 16 minutes. So I'm suspecting the sensor for 2/3 full is way, way off and I probably had far less water onboard than I thought. I'll report back after enough time has elapsed to hopefully draw some conclusions.

[OntMont]

Steve,

I think that if the sensor gets splashed by the filling process, it triggers the light. I've had some apparently quick fills, and I think that is what caused it.