166FBS fresh water tank not draining ?

[boatguy]

Hey all ,
As I am doing the water system winterizing on our 2022 166FBS , I am having an issue draining the fresh water tank. Gauge panel reads about 1/2 full , but I can not get water out of it via the fresh water pump, or white drain tap on the bottom . Water did come out of it when I drained it , at first, but apparently not all of it ? I tried some compressed air lightly through the tap with the fill cap open , and its not blocked . The clear hose is empty as well .
Where the hose runs up through the coroplast , I pushed upwards by it in the center of the trailer , and I think I can feel the weight of water in the fresh water tank ? Not sure how this is possible ? Perhaps a manufacturing defect ? Does anyone know how Jayco taps the drain into the freshwater tank ? Perhaps it was pushed too far into the tank, or maybe a loop of some sort in the hose during installation ?
Strange that the fresh water pump, nor the drain will empty the water out of the tank . Pump works fine otherwise , and I have seen some water drain out of the tank/drain tap when opened ......... just not all of it.

Any ideas ?

Thanks for any help !

[ARoamer]

2 Ideas.
1. Your gauge probes aren't wired correctly, or your gauge is faulty and your tank is actually empty.
2. Foreign material is in the tank blocking water. Try to flow water back into the drain to see if it dislodges a possible blockage.
Also, usually a water drain is mounted in one corner, try to tilt the RV and see if any residual water will drain. I can open my drain and travel for miles and water still dribbles out from all of the pitching of the trailer.

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by ARoamer

2 Ideas.
1. Your gauge probes aren't wired correctly, or your gauge is faulty and your tank is actually empty.
2. Foreign material is in the tank blocking water. Try to flow water back into the drain to see if it dislodges a possible blockage.
Also, usually a water drain is mounted in one corner, try to tilt the RV and see if any residual water will drain. I can open my drain and travel for miles and water still dribbles out from all of the pitching of the trailer.

Thanks for some ideas .

Probes do show full when the tank is full , but have never shown empty .
I did blow compressed air (gently) through the drain and air could be heard inside the tank, and fill port , with no water gurgling .
The tank did appear to have the feeling of water weight pushing the center of the tank down while I pushed up on it from the bottom .

Maybe I can see if I can slide my endoscopic camera probe down through the fill port and see whats going on ........Hopefully it is empty , and the sensors are just wired incorrectly.

Thanks.

[DonBr]

Something may be fouling a sensor, although there is no 1/2 sensor, just 1/3, 2/3, full. Hard to wire them incorrectly, because they don't actually have a separate connection to each one. Rather, all are joined together, and the "gauge" measures combined resistance. An empty tank with a fouled 1/3 will read 1/3. A fouled 2/3 will read 1/3. A fouled full will read 1/3. All assuming empty. If your inspection reveals empty, you could figure out which one is fouled by putting measured volume into the tank. Since it is 55 gallons, it should read 1/3 roughly (never exact) when you have put 20 gallons in. It should measure 2/3 after 40 (or just before) and it should read full around 50 gallons.
Assuming empty and the reading is 1/3, if the problem is the bottom sensor it will read 1/3 when it IS 1/3. If, 1/3 full, it reads 2/3 then one of the higher ones is fouled. If it reads full with 2/3 then the top sensor is fouled. Clearly the top sensor is the hardest to clean - the tank would have to be full and water sloshing around to clear it. Hope this makes sense. All comes back to the starting point: is it empty?

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by DonBr

Something may be fouling a sensor, although there is no 1/2 sensor, just 1/3, 2/3, full. Hard to wire them incorrectly, because they don't actually have a separate connection to each one. Rather, all are joined together, and the "gauge" measures combined resistance. An empty tank with a fouled 1/3 will read 1/3. A fouled 2/3 will read 1/3. A fouled full will read 1/3. All assuming empty. If your inspection reveals empty, you could figure out which one is fouled by putting measured volume into the tank. Since it is 55 gallons, it should read 1/3 roughly (never exact) when you have put 20 gallons in. It should measure 2/3 after 40 (or just before) and it should read full around 50 gallons.
Assuming empty and the reading is 1/3, if the problem is the bottom sensor it will read 1/3 when it IS 1/3. If, 1/3 full, it reads 2/3 then one of the higher ones is fouled. If it reads full with 2/3 then the top sensor is fouled. Clearly the top sensor is the hardest to clean - the tank would have to be full and water sloshing around to clear it. Hope this makes sense. All comes back to the starting point: is it empty?

Thanks for the sensor info . I am going to check the tank today with a endoscopic camera, and hopefully I will be able to see if the tank does have water "trapped" in it, or if it is empty . Not so worried about a sensor problem, but will not be too thrilled if there is actually water getting trapped in the tank . Hoping its just sensors, as the pump and the drain do not show signs of water left in the tank .

Also, yes you are correct. I am showing 1/3 full , which is 2 lights on the display . Out of 4 lights, my brain figures 2 lights is half.

Thanks

[jmckelvy]

You may also have the same problem I did. Refer to the thread " Jay Feather Micro Question" in this forum.

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by jmckelvy

You may also have the same problem I did. Refer to the thread " Jay Feather Micro Question" in this forum.

Ok, thanks. May have to pull down the Coroplast and have a look .

[boatguy]

OK, did some more checking today .

Gauge is now reading empty. Tank is not empty though ........
I can push up on the bottom of the freshwater tank over the Coroplast , and can feel what kind of feels like a water bed ........plus I can hear water moving about when I bump the tank up and down .

Stuck the endoscopic camera down the fill port, but could not get far enough to see. Looks like I cant get past the PVC adapter on top of the tank (from what I can see in the camera view) .

Here is something interesting ........tried manually blowing through the drain port and it felt like a very slight blockage(like water), then its clear . Did this a few times with the exact same results. Feels like water getting trapped in the hose.

Here is a good one ...........I put some vacuum on the drain hose valve , and all of a sudden it started draining , and kept draining !

Have to recheck tomorrow and see if the tank emptied fully now .

I am leaning to the possibilty of the drain hose not routed directly to the drain tap . Like it has a loop in it , or there is a section that is higher than the tank drain ? Seems like it siphons out of the tank once the siphon is started, but will not drain on its own completely if the drain tap is just opened by it self.

Will have to pull down the coroplast somewhat now and inspect . Maybe I can sneak the endoscopic camera through the coroplast a bit to see .

[Polegate]

What is colorplast?

[ARoamer]

Corrogated Plastic Sheet.
Think plastic cardboard.

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by Polegate

What is colorplast?

Its that corrugated plastic roll material that is installed on the underside of the RV .........to help hide all the ugliness of how fast and haphazardly these RV's are made noways .
It does have some minor insulating properties , and helps streamline the underside of the RV a bit ........but mostly , its to hide the crappy build quality of most all RV's .
Out of site -out of mind , comes into play here ......

[TomC_AZ]

Boatguy, was there any clear or white plastic pieces at all that also came out once you put the vacuum on it? Seems like it was that or a bit of sawdust blocking our overly small drain tubes!! Why they just didn't do the big white dump valves like most other trailers have I do not know!

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by TomC_AZ

Boatguy, was there any clear or white plastic pieces at all that also came out once you put the vacuum on it? Seems like it was that or a bit of sawdust blocking our overly small drain tubes!! Why they just didn't do the big white dump valves like most other trailers have I do not know!

No, didnt notice any white plastic bits that may have been causing a clog . Leaning towards a kink, bend or loop in the actual drain line .
Will have to pull down the coroplast to investigate a bit further .........and to check if the straps that hold the water tank need to be bolted better to the frame.

[TomC_AZ]

Go take a look at the post that JMCKELVY just did on the other thread that was mentioned earlier, it shows good pics of that tube to help give you an idea.
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ml#post1080738

[boatguy]

Well finally had some time (and nice weather) to pull down a section of the coroplast to have a look/see . Found all kinds of manufacturing "leftovers" and "debris" above the coroplast .
Luckily my freshwater tank has not dropped down , its not thru-bolted , but screwed in place using heavy duty bolt head screws . I never travel with a full tank of water, so I will just keep an eye on it, and thru-bolt if I have to down the road .
What I did find, is exactly what I was suspecting ......... the freshwater drain hose did NOT go to the drain tap in a direct downward slope . It came out of the bottom of the tank (drain) , and then was routed upwards into the frame-rail approx. 4"-5" ABOVE the bottom of the tank drain . Then went towards the drain tap for about 20" , the whole time about 4"-5" ABOVE the lowest point of the tank ! It was not till the last little section of hose , did it come back out of the frame, and angle down through the coroplast to the drain tap . Its no wonder the tank could not drain properly .............at best the fresh water tank is only about 6" tall .

I removed the hose from the frame-rail and re-routed the drain hose so it basically lays on top of the coroplast now, and now it has a nice gentle slope all the way through the coroplast, and down to the drain tap . I cut off a few inches of the extra length of hose and attached to the output of the drain tap .

Drains the freshwater tank great now, and my level gauge now finally says empty !

If you have a freshwater tank on a Micro that drains funny , this might be the culprit and worth a look. I only had to pull down a small area of coroplast right by the freshwater drain tap to find the prob. and re-route the hose properly . My guess , is that during manufacturing, the hose is routed into the frame (even though it travels uphill to do it) to make it easier to attach the coroplast, so its not hanging down.

HTH .....

[DonBr]

Interesting. I haven't messed with the drain - When I empty my tanks at the end of a trip I pump the tank out into sinks and toilet. The tank reads empty when the pump sucks air, but I can't say for sure that every drop is removed.

[boatguy]

Originally Posted by DonBr

Interesting. I haven't messed with the drain - When I empty my tanks at the end of a trip I pump the tank out into sinks and toilet. The tank reads empty when the pump sucks air, but I can't say for sure that every drop is removed.

Yes, using the water pump should drain the fresh water tank just fine as both the pump feed hose and the drain hose are basically in the exact same position on the fresh water tank.
The pump feed hose is routed down and sandwiched under the freshwater tank , but above the coroplast and runs up underneath the cooktop area to the freshwater pump. The drain hose can be troublesome if the hose is not routed correctly from the factory as the fresh water tank is only abut 6" high . Any rise above the drain position on the tank , will not let the water drain out of the fresh water tank properly (my problem) .
By using the water pump to drain the tank , this problem should be alleviated .

The drain and pump feed from the freshwater yank can be seen in this picture posted by @jmckelvy

[DonBr]

Good to know, thanks. I'm fortunate to have a full park pedestal in my driveway, so I can empty everything after returning from a trip. I'll plan on not worrying about the drain.