Elite Package with 2 fresh tanks

[Aizoo Guy]

On the Jayco trailers with the elite package (2016 models, anyway) they say you have two fresh water tanks. There is only one fresh water fill, and only one fresh water indicator in the monitoring panel. Are these two tanks connected with a tee from the fresh water fill, so that when you add water you are filling both tanks? I would have thought there was a way to isolate one of the tanks in case you didn't need it, thereby allowing you to only use one tank if you wanted to...but I don't see a way to do that as they come from the factory.

Thanks,

John

[dewey02]

Here is how it is set up on my Travel Trailer:
No, there is not a t connection from the FW fill.
The two tanks are linked together so that they theoretically equalize as they are filled and emptied. The FW fill has water going to the 1st tank. As it fills there is another hose that goes to the second tank and the water flows into tank 2.

The line for drawing water from the tanks has a t connection, so both tanks feed the water draw. The drain valves for the tanks also come off the same line as the water draw.

The overflow tubes also act as an air vent when filling. The first tank has an air vent that goes up near the FW fill. The second tank ONLY has the overflow tube as an air vent. Often there is a problem with water sloshing and siphoning out of the overflow tube and people lose 1/3 or more of their water on the way to their campground. So some people (including me) have put shut-off valves on the overflow tubes to prevent water loss. If you do this, you MUST have the valves open while filling so that air can escape from the tanks while filling or you may bet bulging tanks and a lot of burping while filling the tanks (water not wanting to go in because air is trying to get out the fill hole).

Finally, I suppose you could engineer a way to isolate one tank and not fill the other, but it would take some work. As set up from the factory, there is no easy way to do that.

[Aizoo Guy]

Dewey02,

Thanks for the information. Your post leads to a few more questions:

1. Where does the line that feeds the 2nd tank attach to the first tank...near the bottom, middle, top, etc? In other words, how much water goes in the first tank before it begins to fill the second one?

2. Are you saying that both tanks have an overflow tube, or only the second one since it has no air vent? It sounds like the first tank has both an air vent and an overflow tube, while the second only has the overflow tube.

3. Are these overflow tubes easy to access? My trailer has an enclosed underbelly.

Thanks again,

John

[dewey02]

I can only tell you how mine was put together. I have a 2012 Starcraft 235fb, but it is identical to the Jayco 24fb and was actually built on the Jayco production line when the Starcraft line was closed down during the economic downturn. (Jayco owns Starcraft).

My two tanks have an equalizer hose (about 1.5 to 2 inch diameter) that attaches on the side of the tanks, but near the bottom of course. So a bit of water goes into tank 1 before it begins to filter into tank 2. But in a short time, the tanks will equalize and whatever you put in will be equally distributed between tanks.

I have two overflow tubes coming from my tanks. I would assume that one is for each tank, but to be honest, I don't know. They come off the tops of the tanks and I can't see up there to tell. I believe that someone here has said that both overflow tubes come off their 2nd tank, but again, I don't know. I know for a fact that my tank 1 has a vent that comes up and vents right adjacent to the FW fill opening on the side of the trailer.

The overflow tubes should be easy to access, as they should be sticking out below your enclosed underbelly. Mine look like two white tubes and had no fixtures or endings on them. Just a couple of tubes sticking out of the coroplast right behind the street side wheels. My two tanks are located right over the axles. If your overflow tubes aren't protruding from your underbelly/coroplast, you will have major problems because any overflow water will catch in your underbelly and wet down any insulation, etc.

By the way, we LOVE our 80 gallon FW capacity as it allows us to boondock much longer and not worry about water. We use the outside shower and are frugal with our dishwashing and toilet use, so we can go quite a while. We had quite a significant bulge problem that I noticed, where the tanks sagged between the 3 metal bars/straps that held them in place. This meant that we were hauling a lot of water we could never access (FW intake was located higher than the bulge). I added 2 additional metal bars/straps to each tank to eliminate the bulging, both for safety reasons and to eliminate the water access problem.

I hope this info is helpful to you.

[Aizoo Guy]

Yes sir, that helps a lot. Thanks for sharing.

John

[Camp Winican]

Any more info you could post on your installation of shutoff valves would be appreciated. (Valve origin, placement, pics.) I have this problem with my overflow tubes and plan to use FW tanks quite a bit this camping season.

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by Camp Winican

Any more info you could post on your installation of shutoff valves would be appreciated. (Valve origin, placement, pics.) I have this problem with my overflow tubes and plan to use FW tanks quite a bit this camping season.

There are several threads here on the forum that deal with this.
Here is just one. Solutions start at about page 4:
http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f7...es-3503-3.html

[olyelr]

Originally Posted by Camp Winican

Any more info you could post on your installation of shutoff valves would be appreciated. (Valve origin, placement, pics.) I have this problem with my overflow tubes and plan to use FW tanks quite a bit this camping season.

I just installed barb type fittings with shut off valves in the overflow pipes dangling under the trailer. Once the tanks are full, close the valves.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Camp Winican

Any more info you could post on your installation of shutoff valves would be appreciated. (Valve origin, placement, pics.) I have this problem with my overflow tubes and plan to use FW tanks quite a bit this camping season.

Our low-tech overflow tube leak solution, is a couple of small 'rubber' corks from Ace Hardware. One step of our setup procedure in an RV park is to take the corks out of the tubes. When we get ready to travel, one step is to put the corks into the tubes. Has worked well for us.

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

Our low-tech overflow tube leak solution, is a couple of small 'rubber' corks from Ace Hardware. One step of our setup procedure in an RV park is to take the corks out of the tubes. When we get ready to travel, one step is to put the corks into the tubes. Has worked well for us.

Good simple plan!
My overflow tubes were hidden behind the trailer's wheels. I would literally have to lie down and crawl under each time I wanted to plug them. So I teed both of them together and added an extension hose to extend them to the side of the trailer. Now I can turn them on and off, without having to kneel or crawl under.

[DC8Captain]

Hello all,
I purchased a JayFlight two weeks ago but it will be June before taking it out. I only plan on filling the two tanks half way for most of our trips. With the tanks only filled half way am I still at risk for the siphoning effect?

[ALJO]

If you can extend your overflow hoses is the best solution from spillage during travel.
They have to be at least 6" higher than the Tank. Plugging those overflow hoses and by forgetting can rupture the tank during filling. Tanks are usual supported by 3 psc. 1 1/2" flat iron, I installed 1/2" ply under the tank for flat support and better draining.

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by fdhealy4

Hello all,
I purchased a JayFlight two weeks ago but it will be June before taking it out. I only plan on filling the two tanks half way for most of our trips. With the tanks only filled half way am I still at risk for the siphoning effect?

Here is the problem you might encounter (I'm not saying you will encounter it).
These tanks are long and wide and very shallow. Each tank is about 4 foot by 3 foot by about 6 inches or less. So if you fill half way, that means each tank will have about 3 inches or less of water in them. I'm not sure where your FW intake to your pump is, but on my 2012 model, it is located on the SIDE of the tank. You may start sucking air through your pump sooner than you think even though there may still be some water in your tanks. This is especially true if you trailer is not perfectly level, or you have some sagging of your tanks. You may run out of water long before you thought you might.

[glbtrekker]

We have a 28bhbe on order with the Elite package. Here's what I don't understand, what good does an 80 gal FW tank do when the grey tank is only 39 gallons? Most of the State/Federal parks around here have fresh water, but they don't always have a dump station. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to have 39 gals of fresh water and 80 gals of grey? How are people utilizing the extra 40 gals of fresh? Surely the black tank doesn't fill that quickly does it? Lol

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by glbtrekker

We have a 28bhbe on order with the Elite package. Here's what I don't understand, what good does an 80 gal FW tank do when the grey tank is only 39 gallons? Most of the State/Federal parks around here have fresh water, but they don't always have a dump station. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to have 39 gals of fresh water and 80 gals of grey? How are people utilizing the extra 40 gals of fresh? Surely the black tank doesn't fill that quickly does it? Lol

I agree with you. Ours has 84 gallon FW capacity and only 33 gallon BW and GW tanks. I wish I had more GW capacity. However, we usually do the following:

1. We use a dish pan in our sink and catch all the wash and rinse water. We empty this into the toilet (BW tank) when done doing dishes. Keeps water out of the GW tank and helps add water, soap and lubrication to the BW tank.

2. We also have a portable outdoor kitchen set up. We connect it to the outdoor shower hookup and often do dishes and hand washing out there. We drain it into a 5 gallon bucket. If we're in a campground, it gets emptied into the vault toilet.

3. We have a shower tent and often take our showers outside. Some campgrounds allow this, others do not. When boondocking, it isn't a problem. We use Dr. Bronner's biodegradable soap. That keeps a lot of water out of the GW tank.

4. And when we can't do either of the above, we just are very frugal with our showers and water use. The two of us can usually go about a week without filling up the GW tank.

We do LOVE having the 80 gallon FW capacity.

[Aizoo Guy]

Our 29RKS has two grey tanks, totaling around 70 gallons. That is one feature that attracted us to that model.

[jloco]

Originally Posted by Aizoo Guy

Our 29RKS has two grey tanks, totaling around 70 gallons. That is one feature that attracted us to that model.

I'm on the opposite side of the spectrum. My new 38FDDS has 80 gallon fresh water capacity, but being hooked up to city water at my seasonal site, i suspect neither tank will ever see a drop other than when I perform seasonal sanitizing just to keep them clean. LOL!

[norty1]

You may have to experiment to find out if you get siphoning with a half tank of fresh.
As stated the more capacity you have the less the effect except when full.