ATF: Greystone - Problem Getting a Full Fresh Water Tank

flyingflynt

Member
Having ongoing problem getting a full fresh water tank. I have not been able to get more than 15 gallons of water into tank before it starts backing up. Took it in for service, told it was a venting problem. When I got trailer back the service department said they had no trouble filling the tank and that I needed to fill it very slowly. I just tried to fill again at home with the water at a trickle and again it starts to overflow after about 15 minutes. Fresh water sensor only registers 1/3 full! Can you give me some help here, not fun having to add water after a few days and we know we are not going thru 53 gallons of water.
 

cookie

Administrator
Staff member
Sometimes the vent tube gets a little sag in it and that allows water to block the vent process.
There are three things you could do.
One would be to follow the vent tube from the tank to the vent. Tying it up anywhere there is a sag.
Another is what I do. I take a rubber hose, hold it to the vent and blow back any water that may be in a sag. This allows for unrestricted movement of vent air.
And finally some people have success with using a smaller diameter hose attached to the filling hose. Then put it in the fill port and down the tube. This allows air to vent past the small diameter hose.
Hope some of this makes sense.

Peace
Dave
 

Bob&Patty

Founders of SoCal Chapter
You can buy what Dave is discribing at any RV store or Wally World. Will be clear plastic and screw onto your water hose. You still might not be able to turn on the water full blast. Put it in all except an 1" or so, so it can breath.
 

jnbhobe

Well-known member
I use a washing machine hose with one end cut off, I can fill wide open. I have also fixed the venting problem.
 

davidg

Active Member
I had this problem and what made it better was to have the trailer as level as possible when filling the fresh water tank, (this could be the reason they had no problem putting water, trailer may have been in different position) depending on the where or how the vent/vents are placed on the tank if water reaches the vent before the tank is filled this could/would cause the problem you are having.
Davidg
 

piet10

Active Member
I had the same problem. Dealer fixed it before going into storage last fall under warranty. He said there was a sag in the vent hose, and that the fill pipe was partially kinked. Haven't gotten out of storage yet (it snowed another 10 inches last night, last year we were already camping) so I hope that was the fix. It was a pain having to blow into that tube to clear the vent.
 

flyingflynt

Member
Thankyou for the tips! Tried getting under and following the fill and vent lines to the tank, not much luck without really undoing the underbelly. Put a hose as far into the fill line as possible and sealed off as best I could until water and then air blew back from the vent line, sensor shows a full tank, that's a first. I will try putting a hose to the vent line and blow back to see if that works better. Again, thankyou for the tips!
David and Barbara
 

wdk450

Well-known member
You can buy what Dave is discribing at any RV store or Wally World. Will be clear plastic and screw onto your water hose. You still might not be able to turn on the water full blast. Put it in all except an 1" or so, so it can breath.

I like to multitask with my tools. I bought a water heater flushout device like this one.

rv_water_heater_flushing_tool3.jpg

It has a valve and doubles as my freshwater tank filling hose.
 

flyingflynt

Member
OK! Thanks for all the advice. I have now drained the freshwater tank and filled it again as full as I think I can get it. Sensor reads full. I now drained fresh water tank again into a 5 gallon jug until the tank was empty again. The result was around 37 gallons total. It says the trailer has a 53 gallon tank. The trailer is level, so I'm not sure why it won't take another 17 gallons, or at least a few more gallons? Anyone have any more thoughts? Love our trailer, but this fresh water situation is bugging me, thanks all!
 

boatdoc

Well-known member
They include the Water Heater storage tank in their total amount of capacity. I went through everything you are going through when we first bought our BH. Hard to believe they still don't know how to keep the vent hose up properly when running all the lines. Kind of like the person who crimps the TV coax, I still think they don't know how to use their crimper.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
The gravity fill hose can also sag. If part of it is below the level of the top of the tank, it could account for maxing out at less than a full tank. You might be able to pull the hose a few inches back toward the UDC to remove a sag. I wouldn't pull very hard - you could cause damage. But if it comes easily, that might solve the problem.

An alternative is to stop using the gravity fill altogether. Put a tee into the line from the fresh tank to the pump inlet and from there run a hose into the UDC. You'll need PEX tools or if you can find Sharkbite fittings, might not need tools. Hook up city water to that hose and you can fill the tank directly. BUT, you'll need to also get a water flow meter like this one to ensure you don't overfill the tank and rupture it.
 

Thats_Ok

Member
Yup,
We use a 1\2 inch clear vinyl hose cut to about 18" in length down the fill pipe.
Takes a while to fill yet it works for getting a full tank.

Good luck there...
 
The gravity fill hose can also sag. If part of it is below the level of the top of the tank, it could account for maxing out at less than a full tank. You might be able to pull the hose a few inches back toward the UDC to remove a sag. I wouldn't pull very hard - you could cause damage. But if it comes easily, that might solve the problem.

An alternative is to stop using the gravity fill altogether. Put a tee into the line from the fresh tank to the pump inlet and from there run a hose into the UDC. You'll need PEX tools or if you can find Sharkbite fittings, might not need tools. Hook up city water to that hose and you can fill the tank directly. BUT, you'll need to also get a water flow meter like this one to ensure you don't overfill the tank and rupture it.
This is an old post but I've got the same problem on my 2012 Greystone 27RK. The 52 gal tank only takes 32 gal despite a slow fill, level coach, and unkinked vent hose. I verified by measuring what drains out the drain valve. The gravity fill hose is well below the top of the tank - Heartland routed it below a support beam and it's at the level of the bottom cover panel. When I get a chance I'll see if I can re-route it so gravity helps, not hurts, filling to capacity.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
This is an old post but I've got the same problem on my 2012 Greystone 27RK. The 52 gal tank only takes 32 gal despite a slow fill, level coach, and unkinked vent hose. I verified by measuring what drains out the drain valve. The gravity fill hose is well below the top of the tank - Heartland routed it below a support beam and it's at the level of the bottom cover panel. When I get a chance I'll see if I can re-route it so gravity helps, not hurts, filling to capacity.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
I got it to fill after raising the nose of the rig about 6 inches above level. Some day I will re-route the gravity fill hose.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
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