Fresh Water Filling

[hoefler]

In our unit, there is 2 sliding doors that allow access to the back side of the water heater and UDC. For the braided hose, you can force it on the Pex fittings, but you should use a screw type hose clamp on it.

 

[lwmcguir]

I have found filling the fresh water tanks is a pain without using the Gentlemens idea of inserting about 4 feet of white hose into the fill connector. Otherwise it is a couple hour job and still gets water into the Basement. Very poor design Heartland.

 

[Wharton]

hoefler,

Those sliding doors make a big difference. We need to unlatch(use to be unscrew, mod to unlatch) our door to get to behind the UDC, unload part of the basement. Back to finding a valve that we can put in the UDC.

 

[hoefler]

Shouldn't be to hard. May take a little thought and route planning, one idea comes to mind; find a location that you can run a line through the UDC in one side out the other. Install the valve in the line in the UDC, the line will be more than adequate to support the valve.

 

[ChopperBill]

Hard to tell from the photo, but it looks like the cap has vent holes in it. If it does, so much for creating enough pressure to force the water to the tank. The short piece of tubing won't do much to help unless you can block those holes somehow.

Just got the Secure-fill today. Those are vent holes. You can slide the cap off taking the clear hose with it. I am going to plug the holes but it would be a simple deal to just take your original fill cap with no vents and drill a hole in the middle and slide it back on the brass fitting. Could install a longer fill hose at that time but I think just having in vent proof will do the trick.

 

[jhm21849]

This thread has helped me a lot, thanks to all of you. I have a brand new Big Country and just tried to add water to the tank but couldn't. I will try to blow out the vent line first and try to shove a hose down the fill line if the first option doesn't work. I can't just yet as the park has the water secured due to freezing weather.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi jhm21849,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Let us know what you find about why you could not add water to your tank.

Enjoy the forum and your new Big Country.

Jim M

 

[ncc1701e]

I have an 2011 3070RL and when I try to fill the gravity flow fresh water, I always get water backing out the inlet. This is true even if my flow rate is low. I am trying to add some bleach for clean out and i can't get it in. I have tried funnels, hoses part way down the hole, etc but not much luck. When I fill the fresh water from our home water system, I have to hold very firmly to the hose to get it in without getting soaked. This should be simple but why can't a funnel and short hose work easily? Thanks in advance

I had the exact same problem. Dealer found that when the trailer was built, somebody had litterly wrapped the fill line around a section of frame thus restricting the flow to a point it would not fill.

 

[CAN-DO]

I have the same problem (3070RL as well) and it is going back to the Heartland Dealer on 1/23/12 for repair. The dealer indicated the hose installer put several dips in the line from the tank to the fill port. The line is supposed to be ran at a straight downward angle to the tank. Further complicating my filling is that the level indicator in the trailer never reads above 1/3. Is the tank full, empty or somewhere in between? I was in Arizona two weeks ago and upon moving the trailer from the pad I had water pouring from the middle underbelly area where the gray water pipe extends through the underbelly cover. The dealer believes that I also have a hose disconnect or cracked hose issue. Sure is disappointing sometimes. As most threads have indicated, the dealer has been great at fixing any warranty issues!!

 

[jhm21849]

I was finally able to get water into my tank today. Blowing into the vent line didn't help. I cut the threaded end off a hose and shoved 3 to 4 feet down the fill line. That did the trick. I finally got a full tank just before the park secured water again due to sub-freezing temperatures.

 

[CAN-DO]

The local Heartland dealer did a great job of correcting the freshwater tank fill issue. The problem was a kinked hose on a framing member and a loose fitting at the tank. Problem solved and I can now fill without any problems. You would think that as many posts that are on this forum about this same problem that Heartland would have a QC check in place for this prior to delivery.

 

[bowhunt73]

CAN-DO,

Same problem here too. I need to check mine also or have the dealer check it on my next visit. I've had to blow air in the vent tube on all three of my trips since purchase. I know now what to look for and how to fix.

 

[Fire90]

New to the Heartland forums and already discovered the cause and ideas for repairs to an issue I have on my 2011 Trail Runner. Love these sites. Thanks everyone.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Fire90,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed. And as you have already found, just tons of remedies, fixes, and modifications you can make to help or improve your unit to be better for your use.

Think of joining the Heartland Owners Club and attending some of the rallies where you will meet other Heartland Owners and make some lifetime friends.

Enjoy the forum and your Trail Runner.

Jim M

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

New to the Heartland forums and already discovered the cause and ideas for repairs to an issue I have on my 2011 Trail Runner. Love these sites. Thanks everyone.

Fire90, Welcome to the Heartland Forum. I'm a bit biased, but I agree, this is a great Forum and Heartland Family.

 

[AlinVirginia]

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing the info on difficulties in filling the fresh water tank. I am a new member to the forum, and probably would not have bothered with joining except that I also have a 2011 Bighorn 3070RL and just after the warranty expired I found that I could not fill the fresh water tank. I was going to drop the underbelly and fix it properly, but found I would have to disassemble the propane manifold to drop the underbelly. Too much work. I read this thread and then put a flexible length of power cord down the fill hose and found after about 6 or 7 feet there was a turn the cord would not negotiate and the end came out wet, so I figured I must have a low point that was filling with water and sealing up the fill hose. I applied air pressure to the vent hose and blew water out of the fill hose all over me. I followed the suggestion about going to Walmart and buying a $7 fresh water hose, cut off the male end and inserted it about 6 feet or so and was able to get water to go into the tank. Of course, this is not as good as having the hose routed correctly, but it allows me to fill the tank without having to drop the underbelly. Wish Heartland had paid attention several years ago when these issues surfaced and corrected it then. The UDC is a nice thing, but they could have put a separate fill for the fresh water tank right over the tank and it would have been a better fix. Anyway, I wanted to thank those of you who had posted your fixes and it encouraged me to join the forum. I had previously owned SOB camper and they had a forum through which I met some great people who knew a lot more about their trailers than I did, and I know I will have the same experience here (as I just did), so thanks and I look forward to maybe being able to help some of you sometime.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi AlinVirginia,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Glad to see the forum has already helped you with a problem. Lots of mods and fixes here and lots of great people.

Enjoy the forum.

Jim M