Getting more out of your fresh water tank

I am a big dry camper, if your not this may not be of interest to you. I asked the dealer to call me when he had the belly off so I could see what was going on. He did and I went yesterday. The reason is I could put 20 gal. in the tank and nothing would come out. Coach as level as I good get it. Put in another 15 and it was just enough to fill the Hot water tank, but nothing left for use. So I had 35 gal in the Bighorn and could use none. Thats about 250 lbs. of unusable weight! I found that the tank is like a huge flat pancake. Very wide and long but not too deep. Even if you think your rig is level only 1/2 inch lower on the door side and that 20 gal is going that direction. The tank outlet is on the off door side so no water reaches that area. The service rep came up with the idea to "shim" the door side of the tank up so that the water will try run to the off door side. A simple but brilliant idea to an aggravating situation. He suggested that I also could level the trailer with the door side a little higher. The head of the bed is on the off door side so I wasn't really into that idea. I still may not be able to use all the water but 35 gal in and none out was a little ridiculous.

Water Tanks

So did you shim the tank and would this hold true for the gray and black water tank?
Mark

Dealer is shimming the fresh tank up for me on this warranty trip. The black tanks sits in different mounts. It is suspended rather than sitting on the frame work so I don't think it is possible or would take more work than it is worth.

Hi Guy's:
When I go dry camping, Before I leave the house I hook up to the city fill. This way I fill the water heater, I purge my lines of all air(wifey hates those explosions of air/water). Then I fill my tank.

BluegrassMan said:

Hi Guy's:
When I go dry camping, Before I leave the house I hook up to the city fill. This way I fill the water heater, I purge my lines of all air(wifey hates those explosions of air/water). Then I fill my tank.

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Now why haven't I ever thought about that! **** I love these forums!

I'm in the process of ordering my 3055 through Butch in Knoxville. Has anyone mentioned this tank problem to the factory so they can fix it before new ones (like mine ) come off the line?

Thanks!

Dennis

Water Tank

Mark

Mark
Sounds like a good mod, did you take any pictures??? I'm sure we would all like to see that mod.

Thanks

Mark,

It's great to hear all the improvements you're making to you rig; however, I have to say I'm also concerned as I am picking up my new 3055 in 10 days. I was under the impression the water tank issues were fixed on the '08's but you found significant sag in the tank.

How much clearance is there between the top of the water tank and the trailer floor, are you forcing it up against the floor when shimming?

Glad to see your just up the road from me in Sacto, much closer than Elkhart.

5erWonk said:

Mark,

I was under the impression the water tank issues were fixed on the '08's but you found significant sag in the tank.

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My impression also. Thought my 06 was SUPPOSE to be fixed too (fell out of the frame mounts the FIRST time I tried to fill it) and it was only built a week or two before the 07s came out. Guessing they hope full hook up folks will buy them or let the dealer take care of the fresh tank problems.

I have an 07 model and I obviously have the same problem. I had the unit back to RV's for Less in January for warranty work. Not being able to get suchion with the pump and also not being able to drain the tank was one of my issues. I've had the gravity drain cock open for a 540 mile trip and it still would not drain the tank. I had to park it on a serious down slope in freezing temperatures after returning home to get it drained.. Apparently the dealers are not aware of this issue as RV's for Less did not provide a solution. They thought it was an air lock. I just returned from another trip and I am not sure if the tank is empty or not as my fill guage does not work either. It either reads full or empty, nothing in between. Please keep us updated on a solution so we can offer suggestions to the dealers when we return the unit again for repairs.

Water Text

Today I did a bucket test to see how much water I could get out of the tank before the pump sucked air. I finally had to leave for work and I was up to 60gals and it was still pumping. I'll finish the test tonight, but for now the tank seems to be discharging water as it should. With the metal bars I put in, the tank sags 1" fully loaded and after pumping 20 gals the sag was gone and the tank was at it's starting position.
Mark

water test

Well I ended up pumping out 67 gallons, this is about what I expected. It's impossible to get all the water out of the tank, so I'm happy with this now.
Mark

That sounds great! That and the water heater capacity gives us what the factory says. Wont be trying mine out for a few weeks or so.

M Hamilton,
Is this test after you have made some corrections/modifications to the water tank mounting?

M Hamilton,
Just noticed your earlier post about your modifications. I'm going to ask the factory if they have sent recommended modifications to their dealers on this subject. The problem of not being able to get the tank drained thouroughly really bothers me. This means that we cant really get the tank sanitized properly and that water will potentially stand in the tank and becomed molded and/or diseased after a period of time. This could be a serious health issue.

Scott, can you respond as to the correction of this. As I previously posted, my dealer apparently is not aware of the issue and I want to have it corrected before my warranty is expired.

Vangoes;
You need to post your question to Scott in the Ask the Factory section as Scott doesn't read all of the threads.
John

Howdy, I am in for about my last warranty trip and was just over looking at the water tank, still has 20 gals in it. How high did you guys shim the tan to get it to drain? My tank is approx 8 x 40 x 58 with the vent lines down about an inch from the top? Thanks....

Uncle Rog
Did you by chance take any pictures of the tank and its supports?

vangoes, I took my camera but there wasn't much to photograph, I talked to Mark this AM in depth about the tank supports and that is definately the problem with everybody's units with the problem. Chopperbill has posted in depth about this also. I thought my tank was braced at the last visit, it was not. It will be this time. I am going back thuis AM to pick a spot for my outside stero installation and will take a picture for you....UR