Water tank draining while driving

[kokaneezer]

After filling water tank water drains thru vinyl tube while driving. Wife was following me and notified me of this. Wondered why we went through so much water so quickly. Model TSL 2003 26' 5th wheel. How do I solve this? Tank not accessible as bottom of unit is covered with OSB (factory) Is there a valve not correctly turned? Thanks for any help.

[Old Blue]

That tube is the over flow from your fresh water tank I have the same thing when I fill my tank it starts to come out of tube but when I hook up hand start out of my driveway it really starts to flow my driveway is up hill so the only way that I have found to stop flow of water is clamp off tube till I get to camping spot when I am all set up I remove clamp other wise i loose to much water.

[mcfarmall]

My tank has 2 places for water to "leak" out. The first is a white plastic spigot that is mounted on the frame rail with a plastic tube running to the bottom of the tank. This is the one for draining the tank before winter or after a trip. The second is an overflow tube that comes out of a port on the top of the tank. It lets me know when my fresh water tank is full during filling.

Does yours have a spigot for draining the tank? If so, maybe it's not closed all the way. Otherwise it's probably just excess water in the tank coming out of the overflow from sloshing around as the trailer moves down the road.

As far as I know, none of the fresh water tanks are baffled.

[jwstewar]

There is a thread on here somewhere about this, but what a lot of us have done is put a valve on the overflow tubes. I put a barb-thread fitting into the overflow tubes and then a PVC valve. Open the valve while filling the tank, close it, drive to the destination, and then open the valve again. We go through a lot less water.

[OffTheGround]

Might be a stupid question, but does that overflow tube that you guys are putting a valve on act as a vent as well while drawing water from the tank while at your destination? I would think it would be so as stated above, make sure it is opened again once you are all set up......

just thinking out loud here, correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks

[dalenoel]

My 322FKS has two of those overeflows and I also did lose alot of water.

I put a valve and joined the two overflows to stop the loss. Now I open the valve when filling and close it after. The vent to allow the pump to work is still at the gravity fill spot.

Overflow Mod

[dewey02]

Yes, there is another thread on this forum that deals with the EXACT problem. The name of the thread is Fresh Water Tank Pukes
Here is the link. http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthrea...ter+tank+pukes

You really only need to read and look at the posted photos (same photos that dalenoel links to above) on the last page of the thread, because the first several pages are filled with responses from disbelievers stating that his lowpoint drains are open and disputing the fact that some Jayco Travel Trailers hold 90 gallons of fresh water (2 45 gallon tanks). The last page has great advice that fixes the problem pronto. His photos are very helpful. Quick fix that works...but you MUST remember to open the valves while filling so the overflow tubes can do their work. Once they begin to flow, close the valve. I do not believe that they need to be open for venting once at your campsite and using water, because my Starcraft 235fb (Jayco twin) has a small vent tube located right next to it.

And I don't believe that it is just a sloshing while traveling problem, I believe the overflow tubes actually siphon quite a bit of water while just standing still (at least mine did until I used the solution found on this thread). Apparently, this overflow tube problem is a long-recognized one with Jayco/Starcraft trailers and one that they can't seem to get fixed at the factory.

[CruizinKim]

dewey says...but you MUST remember to open the valves while filling so the overflow tubes can do their work. Once they begin to flow, close the valve.

What valves are we talking about?

[dalenoel]

The one kokaneezer and the others added under their fresh water tank where the overflow tubes that have been joined together and had a valve added to eliminate syphoning.

[kokaneezer]

Thanks to all who responded. I didn't know it was a common problem. I now know the cure for this problem. Wish Jayco could have done it differently. Am a little dissappointed with them.
kokaneezer

[Chakara]

I didn't believe it until I saw it on my trailer. A bit of history:

We had a Casita with only 25 gallons of water and no overflows other than the vent built into the fill opening. Nice thing was it was easy to actually look at the tank and know exactly how much we had left. Typically on a 3 day weekend, wife could do a marine shower on the 2nd or 3rd day and we'd still leave with water.

Flash forward to our upgraded trailer in my sig. It's got 55 gallons of water, which was a selling point for me as many in its size only have 30. Anyway, things were going pretty good - as we conserve we didn't tap out. Then we had a long weekend where we ran out of water. I couldn't believe, how we use water, that we ran out and assumed a kid had done something to waste it all away. However, the holding tanks didn't confirm this so I knew something was up.

At this point I read some thread on forums about the "siphoning" including the tank collapsing because of it. I wrote it off as internet jibberish.

Then I got home and started testing.

Started filling the fresh water tank. It takes a while. Then, eventually, I get a small trickle out of the overflow tubes. A few seconds later, I get a hard steady stream out of the overflows. I can remove the fill hose right at that point, and the overflows will continue to run for a minute or two. It has to be 10 gallons or more that pour out, almost under pressure, when this happens. Then they stop very suddenly.

I have to assume that same siphon type activity could occur while on the road with a good slosh. The tank itself has to be flexing/compressing - there really is no other explanation I can think of.

I went to Home Depot and found a couple of valves I then placed on the overflow valves. I leave them open when filling until the siphone effect starts and then close them and shut off the water.

After I installed the valves it made me wonder how the trailer was plumbed. I decided to close the valves and fill as full as it would go. I learned that the air valve in the fill hole is plumbed in, however the fill hose on my trailer, when full, will leak.

Anyway, we had a good 4 day weekend since then. It was hot - 100 each day so that uses water. Yes I drink my tank water, but that isn't my primary water source for drinking when camping like this. Anyway, we used water as normal - IE: conservatively - and when we got home had 25 gallons + left in the tank (tested with a 5 gallon bucket under the drain valve)

Around $6 at hardware store spend - water capacity greatly improved - happy camper!

-Chak

PS: I'll update my blog with this post - modified with pics and maybe even vids.