Fresh water tank mod for 2013 Pioneer (like Prowler)

[Sean]

So there's been conversation about the usable capacity and draining capacity on fresh water tanks lately. I came across this on some of my prepurchase research before I bought the camper which made for good conversation with the sales rep. The capacity is important to me because we will be staying at state parks a lot. I found an industrial plastic shop in town that was able to hot air weld two fittings in at the lowest points of the tank. In the before you can see the outlet is on the side of the tank. This leaves what JoelVW found to be 15 gallons left in the tank, draining or pumping out. I forwarded my modification to the Heartland Customer Service Team.

Before

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/tmackx/5a5c8d6522ffdf3942aa2eaf83dca0ce.jpg


After

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/tmackx/dabbfc29524964822dd579008fc57f14.jpg


http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/tmackx/374f5daacee2df245284ccb4bda1db42.jpg


http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/tmackx/a8c658c630e61e45730b853d54dba62c.jpg


http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/tmackx/7ccd9c7d5c2f9ad4feeec4d8582b78b1.jpg

 

[jnbhobe]

Looks good nice job.

 

[mbopp]

On our hybrid I "T"-ed off the drain valve on the tank bottom and ran the pickup line there. The pickup was on the side of the tank.
Guess I need to check the new TT and see how it's plumbed.

 

[JoelVW]

Sean,

I just saw your post. They closed my post as being resolved even though it is not. I have been struggling with Heartland for months now. The will not admit their tanks are defective. They also told me I am the only one in all the thousands of customers who has ever complained. I guess they did not read your email, or they forgot (or something...). I have been looking around at other manufactures and have found wonderful examples of proper fresh water tanks that have low point drains and pickups for the pump. Here are pictures of two of them.

Dutchman: http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii492/JoelVW/Proper RV Water Tanks/DutchmanTank_zps2fbf0131.jpg
Keystone Springdale: http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums... Tanks/KeystoneSpringdaleTank_zpse10a04fb.jpg

I have found other manufacturers like Jayco that have a drain and pickup off the bottom of the tank as well. But these two pictures are the best I have seen.

If I could just get one of these tanks installed in mine instead of the one from Heartland I would be all set. My dealer will not plastic weld the tank like you have done. I don't think they know how.

Here is my Heartland RV tank: http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii492/JoelVW/2012 Prowler 26P BH Water Tank/IMG_3406.jpg

Joel VW

 

[Sean]

JoelVW, look for an industrial plastics shop in your area. They would sell things like large pvc sewer pipes (pipes over a foot in diameter). They charged me $30 per fitting to install. They said they could do it with the tank in but I had my tank out anyways to resolve other issues with the trailer.

My dealer was the same way. I asked if they could install a 1/2" pipe fitting in the fresh water tank and they showed me a grey water tank spin weld fitting. I knew I was on my own. I forwarded the change info to Jamie Justice at Heartland but he indicated there would be little interest in it.

They won't admit the tank is defective because it functions as intended by the engineers whether it makes sense or not.

 

[JoelVW]

Sean,

Thanks for the info. I'm having a hard time finding anyone in my area that does this work. I really want a different tank, but the mod you did is better than what they did to mine.

After several emails to Heartland RV, I finally got a call from Ian Roberts. He said they could strap up the tank. I told him I did not think that would work because the tank is shaped to sag down the way it does on purpose. Pushing the bottom up would likely break it. He agreed to have the dealer call him back and discuss strapping up the tank. I called the dealer and asked him to call Ian which he agreed to do. I never heard back and it has been almost 2 weeks. I called the dealer today. He said he left more than one message with Ian but Ian never called him back. I am having the dealer look into a different tank to replace the one I have now and give me a quote.

In the mean time, I sincerely believe this is a product safety issue. ***************************************************************.

Joel