Newbie water ??????

[Sdgood1]

Hi All, Our old trailer had gravity fill on the water tank, as well as visually seeing if the tank is full. On our new 2014 montana 3150RL it has the pressure fill?? What is the best way to know for sure the tank is completely full. The manual says to keep checking your water level indicator.. Does the pressure fill put water in the HWH?? Probably not. Anyways not sure the best way to do this!! ALL info is greatly appreciated

[team bradfield]

you should have a vent at the back of the RV, it will have a flat cover, I switch my fill valve to tank and fill until water splashes out of the vent, been filling the FW tank this way for 20 years no issues yet.

[Sdgood1]

I have 3 hose hookups. Top says winterize, middle says fresh and city, bottom is tank clean!! middle one is used for both filling and city hookup??? In fill position it fills the tank, and in the normal flow you would have pressure from you city hookup????? I think this is right.

[Roadtravelers]

Sdgood1 yes that is correct on both

[GeologyTek]

The "Power/pressure filler" is AWESOME!! All you have to do is hook up the city water line. When you turn the valve for the Pressure Filler it flows through a dedicated hose into the tank. When the tank is full the excess water will flow out of the vent cap near the tank. You will see/hear water running out of the unit.

My vent cap is in the very rear of the unit on the outside wall. It is stamped "VENT". It looks like "upside down" U with a bug screen under the cover. This allows the natural expansion/contraction of the tanks, water etc so they do not bust when filling. You can also remove the vent cap and add chemicals (sanitizer, water fresh) as needed.

There is no way to over fill the tank and cause damage using the power filler. Assuming the vent is free of clogs.

ALSO: The power filler DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT FILL UP THE WATER HEATER. The water flows from the city hook up, through the power fill valve, straight to the tank. The water heater is on the "high pressure" side of the valve that is not open when you are filling the fresh tank. You will still have to purge the water heater with city water or the on board water pump before you turn it on.

[Rondo]

Steven, just remember that each gallon of water you add to that fresh water tank adds approximately 8 lbs of weight to the rear of your unit. That could add up to 320+ lbs to your rear of the unit. I personally only travel with a third of a tank or less when rolling down the highways and biways. This gives us enough water incase we have a restroom stop along the way and not stopping at a rest area or what ever. The tanks on the units are not the best built tanks either and a full tank bouncing down the road can cause real structural problems to that tank and can cause it to rupture or pop a seam. You have gotten the answers to your original question by those above but just wanted to remind you of the weight problem running with a full tank.

[beeje]

Slight diff of opinion here.

- I hate the pressure fill. Give me the old school gravity fill any day (I have one)
- The pressure fill does NOT have its own dedicated fill line to the fresh water tank. It is the same line that the pump uses to draw water from the tank.
-No, the pressure fill will not fill up the heater. You must fill it by either using a city water hook up or filled from the tank with the pump.
-MAKE SURE THE HEATER IS NOT TURNED ON, PROPANE OR ELECTRIC WITHOUT IT BEING FILLED WITH WATER.
-The pressure fill, fills the tank from the bottom like filling a drum with the hose sitting on the bottom.
-Not sure, but I can see where pressure filling could possibly put extreme pressure into the tank and possibly damage or burst it if you are not carful at filling it. Think about it, A hose on full blast filling the tank from the bottom pushing all the air out through the small vent tube until the water reaches the vent tube and pushes the water up and out.
-You are correct about the tank supports. I have reinforced the tank supports of all the campers I have owned.
-We travel 100% of the time full of water since we know we have good water with us. In fact we rarely hook up to the campground water unless staying more that a week. And only after using our tank full of water.
-One good thing about not hooking up to the campgrounds water is that I can tell if there is a leak somewhere since I would notice the pump turning on and off when no water is being used. With the city water connected you would have a big mess on your hands if something sprung a leak and you did not know it.
-Very important to turn off the water pump or hose bib if you are not going to be at the camper.

[Sdgood1]

Lots of good info here. It's nice to get everybody's opinions, so I can make the best choice.. Thanx again for both the pro's and con's on this subject!!!

[Sdgood1]

[QUOTE=Rondo;1140310]Steven, just remember that each gallon of water you add to that fresh water tank adds approximately 8 lbs of weight to the rear of your unit. That could add up to 320+ lbs to your rear of the unit. I personally only travel with a third of a tank or less when rolling down the highways and biways.

Thanx Rondo, Although another way to look at it, is it takes off some of the tongue weight to help balance what is in the storage bay, or in my case a generator!!!

[Pathfinder75]

Should point out that Normal flow Valve position is for city water AND water pump also, thus NORMAL flow. If you use fill position to fill tank then leave in the fill position and water pump to presurize the pump will cycle on about every 3 minutes on my unit. MUST return handle to normal flow, then there is no bleed off of pressure causing the waterpump to cycle on every few minutes.

[Last2Die]

[QUOTE=Sdgood1;1140377]

Originally Posted by Rondo

Steven, just remember that each gallon of water you add to that fresh water tank adds approximately 8 lbs of weight to the rear of your unit. That could add up to 320+ lbs to your rear of the unit. I personally only travel with a third of a tank or less when rolling down the highways and biways.

Thanx Rondo, Although another way to look at it, is it takes off some of the tongue weight to help balance what is in the storage bay, or in my case a generator!!!

How much weight does a full tank of water take off tounge weight..? Just courious the math on this.

Tony

[Fishin2dMax]

I was amazed to see there wasn't a gravity feed water filler on our new Montana HC. Since we do a lot of dry boondocking with no direct source of water, I bring along 12 gallon water containers to refill the fresh water tank. I replaced the rear water vent cap with a gravity feed water inlet (easy conversion). The nice thing about it is it still allows the tank to vent when power filling, yet offers ability to also gravity fill if needed - albeit a little slow. I did try the trick of using short bypass hose to (winterizing method) to suck water from the water containers, but prefer to use the direct gravity feed method.

[twindman]

Tony, the weight off the pin weight is a math thing. But should be pretty close to pound for pound. If the distance from the wheels to the tank is the same as the wheels to the pin, it is exactly equal. If longer to the pin, then a lesser reduction.

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by beeje

Slight diff of opinion here.

- I hate the pressure fill. Give me the old school gravity fill any day (I have one)
- The pressure fill does NOT have its own dedicated fill line to the fresh water tank. It is the same line that the pump uses to draw water from the tank.
-No, the pressure fill will not fill up the heater. You must fill it by either using a city water hook up or filled from the tank with the pump.
-MAKE SURE THE HEATER IS NOT TURNED ON, PROPANE OR ELECTRIC WITHOUT IT BEING FILLED WITH WATER.
-The pressure fill, fills the tank from the bottom like filling a drum with the hose sitting on the bottom.
-Not sure, but I can see where pressure filling could possibly put extreme pressure into the tank and possibly damage or burst it if you are not carful at filling it. Think about it, A hose on full blast filling the tank from the bottom pushing all the air out through the small vent tube until the water reaches the vent tube and pushes the water up and out.
-You are correct about the tank supports. I have reinforced the tank supports of all the campers I have owned.
-We travel 100% of the time full of water since we know we have good water with us. In fact we rarely hook up to the campground water unless staying more that a week. And only after using our tank full of water.
-One good thing about not hooking up to the campgrounds water is that I can tell if there is a leak somewhere since I would notice the pump turning on and off when no water is being used. With the city water connected you would have a big mess on your hands if something sprung a leak and you did not know it.
-Very important to turn off the water pump or hose bib if you are not going to be at the camper.

Agreed - one thought on tank level for transport. - if you've ever hauled liquid, have a full tank has no place to slosh - to me IMHO - partial filled tanks put more stress on components - agree full tank takes some weight off PIN - worth calculating or weight out - IMHO not worth energy - most of us are ok on GROSS Weight - just MY HO - food for thought

[DebNJim B]

Originally Posted by Ram Montana High Country

Agreed - one thought on tank level for transport. - if you've ever hauled liquid, have a full tank has no place to slosh - to me IMHO - partial filled tanks put more stress on components - agree full tank takes some weight off PIN - worth calculating or weight out - IMHO not worth energy - most of us are ok on GROSS Weight - just MY HO - food for thought

Having driven tanker trucks in my past work life, I totally agree with this point. I'm much more concerned with grey and black tanks regarding failure. If the fresh tank leaks or worse it's still clean water you're cleaning up. I do try to always have a few gallons of water in the black tank when traveling to slosh around and help break up any chunks left behind at the last cleaning.

[Caniel]

+1 , but don't have 20 years experience doing it.

[Gramps]

Concerning the pressure fill tanks, in all the years I worked on them, I never saw one with only two ports on the tank. They fill the same as a gravity fill tank, one fill line, one vent line, both at the top of the tank, and one draw line at the bottom of the tank. At least that's what I've seen on the Avalanches, Alpines, Fusions, and Impacts I've worked on. As for pin weight, I think you'll find the waste tanks will affect that more than the fresh water tank. Your fresh tanks tend to be located closer to the axles creating a more neutral effect on the overall balance. Running with a minimum amount of water, say 10 or 15 gallons, gives you enough for essentials while on the road until you get where you're going. Unless you're dry camping, then fill it up, you'll need it.

[beeje]

I beg to differ. I have opened up the belly's of all my rv,s and ALL have had only one line from the bottom of the tank towards the front of the unit. Trust me when I tell you that the line to power fill your fresh water tank is the same line that is used to draw water from your tank with the pump. If you look behind the convenience center you will see only one white flexible line leaving it.

[Gramps]

Yeah, I only pull them out and repair them, so don't mind me. Glad I only came to visit. Everybody, have a nice day, I'm out for another 9 years.