Water tank fill

[VanKitten]

I have never done this before...I went to fill the fresh tank to begin sanitizing....

I do not know how to hook up the hose to that plastic tube.

There are no threads on the RV intake.    

I guess there is something else?

Someone please show me a pic of the various parts of this hookup.   
I am missing something.

 

[Kmmech]

To fill the onboard tank, there usually is no hose hookup. You just stick the hose in and fill it. If you have never filled it before, keep a close eye on it and check for leaks.

 

[highdesertranger]

yep just stick the hose in the fill hole. use a potable water hose. also let the hose run a bit before putting it in the fill to flush the hose and line. also on some RV's you must fill them slow because of poor a design by the manufacturer. highdesertranger

 

[jimindenver]

Kat they do make a fitting for the end of the hose to slip down into the fill tube. You can buy one or pick up a 3/4 inch hose end, a short piece of 3/4 inch clear tube and a hose clamp for less money. A bit more and you can add a shut off valve. All it does is make it easier for the hose to stay in the fill tube without you holding it.

 

[VanKitten]

Whew... I thought I was among the great un-washed and not privy to the inner secrets

Now I know, I will try it out

Thanks all!

 

[Vern]

This one is readily available, got mine on amazon for about $5 

Vern

 

[rm.w/aview]

Use caution with the hose add-on when filling, and if you are able to see the other side of the water fill area take a look. Mine has a flexible hose not unlike a large gauge flexible straw that is fastened with a hose clamp on the back of the water fill fixture. I imagine that this can be ruptured, or perhaps the hose clamp may fail, if too much force is applied as the hose changes direction very soon inside the compartment in order to get to the tank. My potable water hose fits in the opening nicely so I really don't need the add-on, and I throttle the water input with the valve at the source if the water pressure is to high causing a little spilling while filling. In the past I've used the water pressure regulator, but found it a little quicker without.

 

[jimindenver]

Vern

That is better than the one I bought because on mine the hose fit into the valve and came unglued. My DIY version can be clamped like the one you show. A on/off valve is very handy to have.

 

[Vern]

A on/off valve is very handy to have.

The valve is really handy when filling on my own, doesn't waste any water and I can throttle it back a bit. It also seems to be gentler on the fill door/hose connection, I've got a rather abrupt right angle really close to the outside opening.

Vern

 

[blars]

Some RVs, like mine, do use a normal hose fitting and require pressure to fill. There is a one-way valve to prevent back-siphoning. In the camp I had a tank on stilts to fill from, it would take a lot of time to fill my onboard tank.

 

[highdesertranger]

blars I have never seen that. how do you know when the tank is full? most RV's have a pressure fitting and a gravity fill but the pressure fitting does not fill the tank. highdesertranger

 

[Spark]

To fill the onboard tank, there usually is no hose hookup. You just stick the hose in and fill it. If you have never filled it before, keep a close eye on it and check for leaks.

. I strongly suggest you fill it slowly..
 You have to be cautious of the gasgets etc.. if you  fill it to fast you. too much pressure.. slow tricle takes about 15 minutes.

 

[Kmmech]

There is no gaskets in the water fill to the tank. It consists of usually a 1.25" hose going from the fill hole to the tank. With the vent tube, it cannot build pressure. Even if there was no vent, being gravity feed, it wouldn't build up pressure even then. You can fill an rv tank as fast as it will take water. Sometimes you dont have a choice but to go slow, as HDR stated earlier, some will only take water so fast.The worst that can happen is you will get all wet when it is full and shoots back out the filler tube. So stand a little to the side. But if you prefer to be cautious, by all means, fill it slowly.

 

[westriver]

blars I have never seen that.  how do you know when the tank is full? most RV's have a pressure fitting and a gravity fill but the pressure fitting does not fill the tank.  highdesertranger

It's actually pretty common to have a pressurized tank fill set-up on motorhomes. My old Winnebago has a selector switch next to where the water hose attaches to the pressurized plumbing. You can either select "city water" or "tank fill". You know it's full when you see water starting to flow out from under rig, since you have now completely filled the fresh water tank and are blowing water out of the overflow tube. It's really nothing fancy, just a mechanical diverter valve.

 

[highdesertranger]

I have never seen that and I have been around Motor Homes since the 70's. all the ones I have dealt with have a check valve in the tank feed that blocks the pressure line from filling it. the only ones I ever saw that resembled that were the ones with metal water tanks and there was no water pump but an air compressor that would pressurize the whole tank and there was no overflow vent. highdesertranger

 

[tx2sturgis]

I always just cut the metal threaded end off a 10 ft white water hose and then push the bare end deep into the fitting and down into the tank so it's less likely to 'burp' and no metal fitting to get hung up when retrieving the hose. Make sure the hose is very clean. 

BTW I don't drink or cook with RV tank 'fresh' water. It's for showers, toilet, lavatory and dishwashing. Not human consumption. 

At least 10 people on this forum will disagree and say it's perfectly fine for drinking. I say that's acceptable IF you run it thru a quality fiter at the tap. Otherwise I consider it non-potable water. Fresh water for drinking, like food, shoud always be in sealed containers, or a sealed, pressurized sanitary water system.

Even hydraulic brakes must be serviced from sealed containers. I'm at least as valuable as a brake system!

 

[moorejames]

I have never seen that and I have been around Motor Homes since the 70's. all the ones I have dealt with have a check valve in the tank feed that blocks the pressure line from filling it.  the only ones I ever saw that resembled that were the ones with metal water tanks and there was no water pump but an air compressor that would pressurize the whole tank and there was no overflow vent.   highdesertranger

My RV has two hose fittings. Fresh tank fill and “city water”. When filling the fresh tank I either keep an eye on the monitor level and get it close, or I get distracted and notice the water overflowing from underneath. A lot (most?) of the newer units are like this. 

I only fill the fresh tank when I I’m hooked up to municipal water sources. Some of the state parks are a little sketchy. 

The rest of the time, I’m hooked up using the city water connection. I have a pressure regulator on the end of my potable hose to make sure the city pressure isn’t too high.

 

[bullfrog]

My 1983 Barth has a valve which allows the fresh water tank to be filled from pressurized city water connection and as stated above comes out the over flow / vent when full. It was there when I bought it used so it may have been added as I have more than one water storage tank, but makes it really easy to fill tanks.

 

[westriver]

My 1983 Barth has a valve which allows the fresh water tank to be filled from pressurized city water connection and as stated above comes out the over flow / vent when full.  It was there when I bought it used so it may have been added as I have more than one water storage tank, but makes it really easy to fill tanks.

Yea, fill valves have been common for decades, I had an older Winny that also had another great feature. You could dump the fresh water tank by pulling a cable actuated handle that opened an 1-1/4" gate valve at the bottom of the tank. No waiting fifteen minutes to gravity drain a little 1/2 tube, this thing dumped in moments. Now it's on to powered hose reels that rewind and store the fresh water hose  and power cord automatically, rigid telescoping sewer "hoses", built in macerators that allow you to dump your tanks a hundred feet away through a garden hose, and tank level gauges that actually work.  Anything you want, as long as you're willing to spend the money. I'll stick with cheap and simple.

 

[VanKitten]

Well, after trying just about everything...there is no hope for this...it takes about 30 minutes to fill the fresh tank...it is barely more than a trickle!

I do not consider the tank water to be for drinking. I have 9 gallon glacier water storage and another 1 gallon in the Berkey. Tank water is for everything else. Just filling it is slow and tedious