Adding water when dry camping

[sntbrooks]

New to the club........My wife and I just purchased a new BH 3760el. Anyone know how to add fresh water when dry camping. Our other 5er's had a port where you use a hose to fill the fresh water tank, and the new BH doesn't have that port. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Hi sntbrooks,

Congratulations on the new Bighorn and welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum.

Your rig comes with a 4-way valve at the water inlet. If you're filling the tank from a campground or home water faucet, hook the hose up to the water inlet and turn the valve to TANK. When the fresh tank is full, water will start coming out of the overflow fittings on the outside of the trailer frame.

You can read up on the water systems in our owner-written Water Systems Guide, located in this folder. You may find some of the other user guides useful as well.

 

[Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn]

If your wanting to add it from a tank or bottles the best thing to do is rig up a separate pump with a suction hose on one side and a water hose on the other to connect to the Anderson valve.
You could also modify your current pump system with a 3-way valve with a extra hose bib in the Docking Station to run a suction line into a outside water source, Tank, Jug, or bladder.
Hope this helps

 

[Bob&Patty]

Could you use the winterizing hose to do this? Just a thought.

 

[danemayer]

Could you use the winterizing hose to do this? Just a thought.

On newer rigs with the Anderson 4-way valve, to winterize, the valve is set to Winterize/Sanitize and a hose is connected to the city water inlet, with the other end in the antifreeze jug. The pump suctions antifreeze through the city water inlet and into the coach plumbing. It doesn't have a path to fill the fresh tank when in that mode.

And when the valve is set to tank to fill the fresh tank, the pump is not in the loop.

If you wanted to use the existing water pump to suction fresh water and route it to the fresh tank, you'd need to add a new water line from the pump output side to the fresh tank input side, with a 3-way valve to shut off flow to the plumbing fixtures while opening flow between pump and tank. Then put the 4-way valve into Winterize/Sanitize mode and suction water in and route it to the tank. Ideally, the handle for the new valve would be in the UDC if there were space.

 

[Bob&Patty]

Dan, I was just thinking out loud.

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

I know this is an oldish thread, but I had the same thought that Dan outlined below, and I'm planning to do exactly this:

On newer rigs with the Anderson 4-way valve, to winterize, the valve is set to Winterize/Sanitize and a hose is connected to the city water inlet, with the other end in the antifreeze jug. The pump suctions antifreeze through the city water inlet and into the coach plumbing. It doesn't have a path to fill the fresh tank when in that mode.

And when the valve is set to tank to fill the fresh tank, the pump is not in the loop.

If you wanted to use the existing water pump to suction fresh water and route it to the fresh tank, you'd need to add a new water line from the pump output side to the fresh tank input side, with a 3-way valve to shut off flow to the plumbing fixtures while opening flow between pump and tank. Then put the 4-way valve into Winterize/Sanitize mode and suction water in and route it to the tank. Ideally, the handle for the new valve would be in the UDC if there were space.

But I don't think you need a 3-way valve to shut off flow to the plumbing fixtures, do you? Wouldn't just a standard 2-way ball valve in the new diversion line work? If the new valve is "off", it's as if the diversion line isn't there, and the plumbing works the "normal" way. And if the new valve is "on", as long as all the fixtures are off, water will flow through the diversion line and into the tank when the pump is on. In other words, you don't need to shut off the flow to the fixtures, because the fixtures themselves are already off and no water is flowing through them. (For that matter, if a fixture was on, water would flow to both the fixture and the tank--workable though not very efficient.)

Is that right, or am I missing something?

David

 

[danemayer]

I know this is an oldish thread, but I had the same thought that Dan outlined below, and I'm planning to do exactly this:



But I don't think you need a 3-way valve to shut off flow to the plumbing fixtures, do you? Wouldn't just a standard 2-way ball valve in the new diversion line work? If the new valve is "off", it's as if the diversion line isn't there, and the plumbing works the "normal" way. And if the new valve is "on", as long as all the fixtures are off, water will flow through the diversion line and into the tank when the pump is on. In other words, you don't need to shut off the flow to the fixtures, because the fixtures themselves are already off and no water is flowing through them. (For that matter, if a fixture was on, water would flow to both the fixture and the tank--workable though not very efficient.)

Is that right, or am I missing something?

David

David,

I think the key is that you need a new line from the pump output. One way to do so would be to run the pump output to a 3 way valve and have the outputs of the valve feed either the Anderson Valve or the fresh tank depending on how it's set. Another way would be to add a Tee to the pump output line with a new line teed into the tank feed, and a ball valve on that line. The 3 way valve in effect is both tees and the ball valve.

I think either one would work. Do whatever works best for you.

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

David,

I think the key is that you need a new line from the pump output. One way to do so would be to run the pump output to a 3 way valve and have the outputs of the valve feed either the Anderson Valve or the fresh tank depending on how it's set. Another way would be to add a Tee to the pump output line with a new line teed into the tank feed, and a ball valve on that line. The 3 way valve in effect is both tees and the ball valve.

I think either one would work. Do whatever works best for you.

Yes, that makes sense, Dan. I thought in the original thread you were talking about using the 3-way valve in lieu of one of the tees, which would be overkill. But it would work to replace the tee'd line completely.

I just had to buy one of the brass water heater bypass valves because my plastic one cracked and started leaking. They're not cheap. So I think I'm going to go with the tee'd line and the 2-way valve.

Just to clarify for anyone else finding this thread, where you said:

have the outputs of the valve feed either the Anderson Valve or the fresh tank

I think it should have said instead:

have the outputs of the valve feed either the fixtures or the fresh tank

because the pump output isn't connected to the Anderson valve at all--only the pump input (suction side) is.

Thanks as always for the help and quick reply!

David

 

[danemayer]

You're right - it is to the fixtures.

If you can, take pictures of your installation and create a new thread showing the mod. I'm guessing a lot of people will copy you.

 

[David-and-Cheryl]

Will do!


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[SNOKING]

In the bottom picture of the Anderson valve (winterise) https://manuals.heartlandowners.org/manuals/Plumbing/UDC/Anderson/4-Way Valve Flow Diagram.pdf it appears that a bypass with a shutoff valve between the two RED X will allow the existing pump to pull fresh water from a container and pump it into the tank. Anderson valve to winterise and new bypass open. A little plumbing could place this bypass valve accessable in the UDC. Twenty or thirty dollars for elbows, two T's, valve, etc. Chris