How to fill Fresh Water Tank: Gravity or City Water?

[MtnMike]

The Jayco forum is the best, this is my second trip this month with my new JayFlight 19RD. The first trip I got lots of help when questions came up. . .thanks!

Now my problem is that I can't figure what I am doing wrong when I try to fill my fresh water tank. The Owners Manual says the fresh water tank can be filled by "gravity or by pressure using the city water connection."

I tried to fill using the city water connection and got nowhere. I turned on the tap to remove air bubbles and left it on for 30 minutes. . .nothing. I called B&B RV where I got it and they told me I had to use gravity only. My question is that the manual says gravity OR pressure. Maybe that is a "general" guide for many of the Jayco trailers.

If gravity is the only way to fill it, it seems that the brass hose end will not stay in the hole well. Do RV'ers just hold it for the time it takes to fill 80 gallons? Isn't there a way to attach the hose so it will stay put while filling?

Do only the bigger rigs allow filling with the "city water" connection?

Thank you, I tried to gravity fill with water bottles and that was a frustrating joke. I even had a funnel but all the water came back out. I am not going to move the trailer from my camping spot this trip, just will chock this up to "experience."

Mike

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by MtnMike

Snip... will chock this up to "experience."
Mike

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted. Sorry. I couldn't resist.

I also can't help you with your question. Hopefully a, knowledgeable JOF member can help.

[Crabman]

On my trailer the ONLY way to fill the tank is with the gravity/fresh water tank fill, not the city water fill.
On some select models you can fill the tank using the city water fill, I think a valve must be turned to do that. The end of the hose will stay in my fresh tank filler and I can walk away and not have to hold it. When water starts coming out of the overflow, I know its full.

[Skaling]

Gravity only.... Buy this..

[dewey02]

I think many Jayco manuals have this incorrect info. My Starcraft had it too.
The only thing I can figure out is that they mean that you can either fill by a gravity fill (filling a container and dumping it into the large unthreaded opening to the FW tank - the gravity fill opening)

OR

Taking your pressurized hose that is hooked up to a pressurized water spigot and inserting it into the same unthreaded large opening (aka gravity fill) to your FW tank.

It sounds as if you've already figured out that connecting to the threaded opening will give you water to your RV sinks, shower and toilet, but it will not fill your FW tank.

[Imnaha.Mansion]

The manuals can be generic so you have to look at your own Trailer. The water fittings are usually labeled but if yours are not then here my thoughts.

Turned upwards spout is for gravity filling either from a container (pita) or from a hose. The fore mentioned Hose fitting makes this easier. You can have one or two screw on hose fittings, always one for city water connection and maybe a black tank Washer. A hose quick connect fitting makes attaching the hose easier. The city water may or may not fill the water tank if it does there is a valve that needs to be turned, also should be labeled.

My TT fresh water tank can only be filled from the gravity fill opening. My FW uses the threaded Hose fitting for Hose filling or it can draw water in using the water pump.

Those are just my trailers yours may vary.

[pawpaw]

Originally Posted by Skaling

Gravity only.... Buy this..

x2 - works great!

[Cosmik Debris]

Two claiifications please. First you say you hooked up to the city water connection and got nothing after 30 minutes? That should be straight forward, right to your faucets.
Second, you say you even tried a funnel but the water came back out? Like a blockage? From underneath drain hoses?
The fresh water system is simply a tank and pump. You can cut the end off an old hose and make the little stinger to insert into the fill hole. Watch your level gauge to see you're filling. Once you see that, turn on your pump, it'll pull a prime, and first fill the plumbing, including the hot water tank (unless bypass valves are closed). Once plumbing is full, the pump should shutoff and you can purge the air out.

[dewey02]

A couple of other ideas. I have not had any problems filling the gravity fill with the brass end of the hose. Just don't have your water pressure from the spigot turned up so high that it forces the hose out of the gravity fill. It probably isn't good to have the pressure up that high when filling anyway. Remember, the air in the tank has to vent out, and the vent diameter is usually much smaller than your stream of water going in.

As to why your water bottle fill keeps coming back out, you may have a pinched or clogged vent tube or you are trying to dump too much water in all at once. If you are going to be in camping situations where you will need to do a lot of gravity fill from containers, it might be worthwhile to get a small 12V DC pump and a short hose. Others have also used a small pump that runs by attaching it to a battery operated drill. It is a real bugger to be lifting 5-8 gallon containers to chest height and then trying to tip them to fill your gravity fill. With a pump, you can leave the container on the ground and let the pump do the work.

[lorendad]

I see this thread is a few years old but I ran into this problem yesterday. I'd prefer to use my filter that fits on the end of a hose for my fresh water tanks. Very hard to do with no threads on the gravity fill port. I'll improvise something in the future to hold the hose while I do other chores.