Heartland Sundance 5th Wheel-problems filling fresh water tank

mikemaron

Member
We have continuing problems filling our fresh water tank in a reasonable amount of time. Air vent is not blocked, but we have to fill at an extremely slow rate or the water just overflows out the fill port. We've tried inserting a tube into the port and sliding it about 4 feet into the fill tube, but still have overflow. When going on a trip we usually allot about 2 hours to fill our 40 gallon fresh water tank. Is the line going back to the tank kinked, and is this a common problem? Don't want to have to remove whole underside cover to work the problem if there is another solution. Thanks
 

NP_Chief

Well-known member
Welcome to the forum! If you have the Anderson Valve, it probably has a bad o-ring. If you search the forum for Anderson Valve, there are numerous threads that explain the problem and how to remedy it.
 

Gary521

Well-known member
This is a very common problem. You have water in your vent line. Get a small piece of rubber or plastic hose about the size of your vent opening. Place the hose on the vent opening and blow out the water. This will blow the water back into the tank and clear the vent line. The tank will then fill normally. Keep the hose handy as this will happen again.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi mikemaron,

Your 2011 Sundance no doubt has a "gravity fill" for the fresh tank. If the vent line is clear and a 4' tube in the fill hose doesn't help, there's probably a portion of the fill hose that's sagging. You might try a longer tube, but be careful not to force it in; I think it might be possible to break the fitting where it connects to the fresh tank.

The Anderson Valve mentioned by NP_Chief got rid of this problem by adding overflows to the fresh tank and routing city water (under pressure) into the fresh tank.

You can approximate what the Anderson Valve does by teeing into the PEX that goes between the fresh tank and the suction side of the water pump. Here's a link to a Sharkbite press-on Tee that doesn't require crimping. The 90 degree leg of the tee would get a PEX line to your UDC (drill a hole). Add a cutoff valve and a garden hose fitting to the PEX where it comes into the UDC. The barb type fitting could either be crimped to the PEX with appropriate tools, or for this application, you could probably use a hose clamp.

When it's time to fill the tank, you open the valve and use your water hose to push pressurized city water into the tank.

BUT, if you overfill the tank with pressurized water, you can damage the tank. So you'll need a garden hose water meter inline where you connect the water hose. The meters, like this one, are not expensive, but they're not terribly accurate either. So if your fresh tank holds 50 gallons, you probably don't want to put in more than 40. You will get some spitting through the vent as you fill.
 

JohnDar

Prolifically Gabby Member
Does saying the air vent is not blocked mean there is nothing covering the screen for it? If so, that does not tell you anything. Take a short piece of tubing that will cover it and press it tightly to it then blow forcibly into it. You may hear a gurgling sound indicating you’re blowing water out of the vent line. Now add the water via the gravity fill port and you should be able to fill your tank easily.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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