Filling fresh water tank when boondocking

[blkdodge]

How would a person accomplish filling fresh water tank when boondocking? Old rig I would just pour water into the tank opening. Dont have that on the 2012 San Antonio. I'm thinkin I would have to have a 12v pump and hose an turn the lever to the tank postion.

 

[danemayer]

Hi blkdodge,

What's the water source? If the source can be raised above the level of the water connection, gravity and a hose may do the job for you.

 

[scottyb]

I was considering rigging up one of those small oval tanks, like they use for agricultural sprayers, with a 12 or 120V water pump. It would be low enough profile to ride in the bed under the rig. I don't feel like hoisting 20 - 30 gallons above my head, 5 gallons at a time. Mine takes water very slowly by gravity feed when I am trying to introduce chemicals into the tank.

 

[porthole]

I have a 28 gallon tank in the bed of my truck for when we need it.

I use hose and adapters to connect to my winterizing hose. My trailer is already set for tank filling from that source.

Assuming yours is not --> auxiliary tank - to winterizing hose - switch over the valve - shower hose into your fresh water fill - pump on.

 

[NWILSON]

Assuming yours is not --> auxiliary tank - to winterizing hose - switch over the valve - shower hose into your fresh water fill - pump on.

That's BRILLIANT! (AND....worthy of a Rube Goldberg award too!)

 

[scottyb]

That's BRILLIANT! (AND....worthy of a Rube Goldberg award too!)

Heck yeah. I'm in.

 

[jdfishing]

I use a 12v transfer pump attached to a 40 gallon bladder in the bed of my truck. I power it with a cigarette lighter adapter. And yes, turn the valve to take fill.

 

[jnbhobe]

I have a couple of different ways, depending on the time of the year I can gravity feed til august then I have to pump water from the spring. I have 12 V and 110 V pumps and the generator. If I'm not at my camp I have a 30 gal plastic tank I can pump from or use air pressure to move the water.

 

[porthole]

That's BRILLIANT! (AND....worthy of a Rube Goldberg award too!)

Heck yeah. I'm in.

Thanks, but I have a shelf full already



This is the tank I use. Don't use it much, but when we do it is needed.

 

[iowaone]

Porthole that is how I did in my old camper. It had a connection for winterizing and city connection. Scottyb my 4100 only has one connection so I don't see how this works. What am I missing..

 

[Silverado23]

If your camping along side someone who has the winterize and shower to garden hose adapter, you can use their winterize feature to pump from a spare tank and at the same time fill your tank using their shower to you garden hose filling your tank up. Or if they have very large tank you could use their water tank and pump water straight to your city water connection bypassing your tank completely like I did a few times last year.

 

[blkdodge]

Thanks for all your respones. I kinda figured that was what I would need to do.

 

[dbbls59]

I'm like you iowaone. My valve will only turn to one position at a time, winterize, tank, normal, and city. Don't see how this will work with our units. I think we would need a separate pump and pump directly into the tank.

 

[travis_g]

This is one thing I liked better about my Open Range. Instead of a single valve it had three multi position valves and a little legend that showed how to configure them for each operation. One was to use the winterization connection (which it had in the UDC) and the water pump and route to the fresh tank. I used this in Colorado a couple of years ago to suck water from a large Ice Chest into the Fresh tank.

 

[scottyb]

After looking at the manuals section, showing the UDC, I can confirm that my Cyclone looks nothing like that. For starters, it does not have a water heater bypass valve. If there is one at all, it must be behind the basement wall. This is why I have been standing on a ladder to pour chemicals into the tank by gravity feed which is a painstaking matter. i wonder when they decided to quit installing the bypass valves in the UDC?

 

[porthole]

Heater bypass valve will be three valves located near the rear of the heater, so, behind the wall is correct.
Look for a white hose with a cut end, about 3' long somewhere near the UDC. I may be in between the "j-wrap" and frame

 

[TravelTiger]

After looking at the manuals section, showing the UDC, I can confirm that my Cyclone looks nothing like that. For starters, it does not have a water heater bypass valve. If there is one at all, it must be behind the basement wall. This is why I have been standing on a ladder to pour chemicals into the tank by gravity feed which is a painstaking matter. i wonder when they decided to quit installing the bypass valves in the UDC?

I don't know if they "stopped" putting them in the UDC, but certain lines have more "bells and whistles" in the UDC than others. I know our ElkRidge does not have bypass valves in the UDC, but we were used to this from having a travel trailer. It is less convenient, as we have to crawl into the basement and reach into a 14x14 hole in the wall to get behind the UDC to the valves and water pump. We have a white hose to pull out and stick into the antifreeze bottle. (It's a two-person job... One person lays in the basement and switches bottles, while the other works the faucets.)


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[danemayer]

After looking at the manuals section, showing the UDC, I can confirm that my Cyclone looks nothing like that. For starters, it does not have a water heater bypass valve. If there is one at all, it must be behind the basement wall. This is why I have been standing on a ladder to pour chemicals into the tank by gravity feed which is a painstaking matter. i wonder when they decided to quit installing the bypass valves in the UDC?

Hi scottyb,

I'm not sure I'm understanding what you mean. If you're talking about adding bleach to the fresh tank, and you have the gravity fill hose, that's probably the best way to go. I don't think you'd want to use the antifreeze suction line to run bleach through the water pump to the shower and back into the gravity fill hose.

If you have the Anderson Valve with a single hose connection for city water and fresh tank fill, some people have been pouring a diluted bleach solution into their water hose and then attaching the filled hose to city water and switching the valve to fill the fresh tank with the bleach solution in the hose. Or I suppose you could stand on a ladder and let gravity do the work, if that's what you mean.

 

[iowaone]

ScottyB it doesn't look like anyone has come up with a good solution to adding bleach or using on board pump with our setup. Come on all you creative minds

 

[scottyb]

Hi scottyb,

I'm not sure I'm understanding what you mean. If you're talking about adding bleach to the fresh tank, and you have the gravity fill hose, that's probably the best way to go. I don't think you'd want to use the antifreeze suction line to run bleach through the water pump to the shower and back into the gravity fill hose.

If you have the Anderson Valve with a single hose connection for city water and fresh tank fill, some people have been pouring a diluted bleach solution into their water hose and then attaching the filled hose to city water and switching the valve to fill the fresh tank with the bleach solution in the hose. Or I suppose you could stand on a ladder and let gravity do the work, if that's what you mean.

Just saw this. Yes, you are correct about the bleach. Chlorine at any high concentration will kill a pump very quickly. I have rigged a container connected to a piece of hose to add a diluted bleach solution. I was referring more to the fact that the Cyclone does not have that bypass valve in the UDC as shown in the manuals section. Since unloading the basement and removing the basement wall is impractical, I don't see using the pump for more than maybe once a year winterizing. Has anybody modified their rig with a bypass valve?