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Old 09-02-2014, 08:18 AM   #1
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Potable Water

I have a question for the experienced campers on this forum. I have always setup and used the water hookup at camp sites. I am heading south this weekend and know I will be boondocking at least one of the nights. I have never used the onboard water tank so I'm not sure what to do.

I have the Jayco Swift 185BH and it includes factory switches in the kitchen that tell tank capacities and a "pump" switch. Other than the Potable tank, is there any other tank I should know about to fill or add water to - like the water heater? And, do I need to flip any waterline valves (usually used for winterizing) to draw from that Potable water tank? Once Im at my campsite with water, where/how do I drain the potable tank. Sorry for such an involved question but any help would be appreciated.
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Old 09-02-2014, 08:46 AM   #2
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If you have camped without incident using the water hookup at campsites, then there are no additional valves to manipulate when you use the onboard water tank.

there is a drain valve outside and underneath the trailer - probably near the gravity fill line for the tank. Open this valve to drain the tank.

SInce you haven't used the potable water tank, you will want to disenfect and de-orderize it. Find some means to dilute about 1/2 to 1 cup of ordinary bleach (not bleach with detergent) into at least a gallon of water. For example, rinse clean a gallon milk jug. Pour in the bleach, then fill with water. Pour this into your potable water tank using the outside gravity fill connection. Then use your garden hose and fill the tank full.

Turn your water pump on, then open each faucet for a bit to get the bleach water into the lines. Turn the pump off and let the system sit that way for 3 to 4 hours. after that, open the outside drain valve, drain, then fill the potable water tank and you are ready to camp.

If you still smell or taste bleach coming out of your faucets, then drain and fill your tank again and run some water through the lines.

My gray water tank starts to get full by this point, but I have no problem just dumping it at the side of the house, since it is just water.

Your owner's manual ought to have more info on this procedure.
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Old 09-02-2014, 09:03 AM   #3
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so, just be be clear, in order to have water "flowing" the pump needs to be turned on. Do I leave it on? or do i only turn it on when I want to run some water.
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Old 09-02-2014, 09:22 AM   #4
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you leave it on. Once the demand for water has stopped(faucet shut off) the pump will pressurize the lines then shutoff.
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Old 09-02-2014, 09:38 AM   #5
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As a suggestion: For safety, I always turn the pump off and the gas or electric for the HWT too whenever no one's going to be at the coach for an appreciable amount of time. If I'm on city water, I turn off the water.

You learn this "lesson" after returning back to your rig and finding a river of water coming out from the bottom of the door due to a water line that failed while you were away.

I do the same thing to my home if I'm going to be away longer than a day.
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Old 09-02-2014, 09:56 AM   #6
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Also, when you turn on your pump, your Water Heater will fill automatically (assuming you have the valves in their standard usage position and not the "winterizing bypass" position"). My FW tank is 80 gals, so I don't travel with it full. I put about 25 gals in, (not including the WH), just for incidentals on the road. We use our rig for potty stops. In your case, if I read your post correctly, you just need enough water to stop for the night, so you may not need to fill your tank all the way to make the trip. Whatever you do, remember to account for the water that will fill your water heater; it would suck to put 8 gals in the on board FW tank for incidentals, and have 6 of it go to the WH...

As an alternative, you could drink bottled water on the road, and have a couple gallons of "toilet water" to use the facilities on the road. Then you wouldn't have to deal with the pump or the FW tank at all.
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Old 09-02-2014, 10:18 AM   #7
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Also, when you turn on your pump, your Water Heater will fill automatically (assuming you have the valves in their standard usage position and not the "winterizing bypass" position"). My FW tank is 80 gals, so I don't travel with it full. I put about 25 gals in, (not including the WH), just for incidentals on the road. We use our rig for potty stops. In your case, if I read your post correctly, you just need enough water to stop for the night, so you may not need to fill your tank all the way to make the trip. Whatever you do, remember to account for the water that will fill your water heater; it would suck to put 8 gals in the on board FW tank for incidentals, and have 6 of it go to the WH...

As an alternative, you could drink bottled water on the road, and have a couple gallons of "toilet water" to use the facilities on the road. Then you wouldn't have to deal with the pump or the FW tank at all.
I didn't go into details about the HWH capacity or bypass valve, as I assumed that all worked fine when you are on city water.

While you at your campsite, you can keep the water pump and HWH (LP gas mode) switches on. I turn mine off when we are taking a day trip away from the camp ground.

Lots of advice and stories on this forum about how to "boondock" or "dry camp". This type of camping really opens up your travels, and with an 18' trailer, you can fit into a lot of smaller forest service, BLM, or other federal or state public land campgrounds. Or just park on the side of the road on our public lands and enjoy.
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Old 09-02-2014, 10:25 AM   #8
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I turn mine off at night and when I leave, you just never know
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Old 09-02-2014, 10:41 AM   #9
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is there any other tank I should know about to fill or add water to - like the water heater?
Yes. Regardless whether you're connected to city or potable on board tank, the first thing that will happen when the system pressurizes is the HW tank will fill. Since you have such small tanks on that trailer, this is valuable information. If you need all 20 gals of the fresh water in your potable tank, but you didn't fill the WH before, you're going to immediately move 6 gals from FW tank into WH as soon as you flip the pump switch. This leaves you with only 14 gals of regular potable water.

So fill your FW tank, then flip the pump switch on (which then fills the HWH), wait for the pump to cycle off (indicating the HWH is full and the system is pressurized), then top off your FW tank (to replace that water pumped to the HWH and the lines).
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Old 09-02-2014, 01:46 PM   #10
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Thanks for all the advice folks. I really appreciate it. Wasn't certain how it all worked, but now I have a much better understanding. Will print all this advice and carry with me.

The reason for the question was not so much for a potty stop, it was to be able to use toilet in evening at Walmart since we'll be driving late into the evening and to have quick shower or sponge bath in the AM before we hit the road on last leg of drive.

Thanks again for all your input.

Cheers,
Scott
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Old 09-02-2014, 02:00 PM   #11
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One more thing, while your hwh is filling, open the nearest hot water tap to the water heater. This will allow any gases to escape. Once it stops spitting and runs fully, your water heater is full.
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Old 09-02-2014, 06:10 PM   #12
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One more thing, while your hwh is filling, open the nearest hot water tap to the water heater. This will allow any gases to escape. Once it stops spitting and runs fully, your water heater is full.

I thought about adding that, but didn't. This is a good point, you don't want to waste water with a sputtering faucet.

No reason not to use the on board facilities, but if you have difficulty, for a stop like what you're talking about, you could just bring along (or buy when you stop) a couple gallons of fresh water, and you'd be fine.
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Old 09-02-2014, 07:10 PM   #13
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Just did the bleach sanitation process recommended above but when I turned off my hose and turned on my water pump...I have a lot of air in my water pipes and my water pump ran continuously. I have a new Jayco X20E and have had no problems with this when I was hooked to to the campground water supply in two camping trips this summer. I am going to Vermont next week and need my fresh water tank and pump to be operational since there will be no water available at the campground we are going to. I'm wondering if I should hook up my hose again and turn on all my faucets including the inside and outside showers to see if that gets rid of the air in the pipes? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Old 09-02-2014, 08:23 PM   #14
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Fill up your tank turn your pump on and go to your furthest faucet. Outside shower if you have it or bathroom. I start with the cold and let it run out until no air and then do the same for the hot. It just takes time
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Old 09-03-2014, 07:48 AM   #15
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Fill up your tank turn your pump on and go to your furthest faucet. Outside shower if you have it or bathroom. I start with the cold and let it run out until no air and then do the same for the hot. It just takes time
+1 It seems to take forever to get the air out when you're on the pump. Hooking up to city to get air out of the lines will help some.
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Old 09-03-2014, 02:50 PM   #16
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Tried running water through my outside shower....it continued to sputter and eventually no water came out at all! Today I called Pentair Shurflo the manufacturer of my water pump and the tech rep. there suggested connecting a hose to the city water supply outlet and turning on all the faucets and letting them run for awhile and then trying the water pump again. I opened all the faucets...inside and outside showers and even held the toilet flushing pedal down. Initially, a lot of air came out of the kitchen hot water faucet but eventually the water flowed just fine everywhere. Disconnected the water hose and turned on the water pump and with a few minutes..I'm back to sputtering and hardly any water flow. Also, the water pump never turns off. I just purchased my Jayco camper in June and the water pump has never been used. Suffice it to say that I'm not happy! Any suggestions anyone has would be appreciated
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Old 09-03-2014, 03:01 PM   #17
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Tried running water through my outside shower....it continued to sputter and eventually no water came out at all! Today I called Pentair Shurflo the manufacturer of my water pump and the tech rep. there suggested connecting a hose to the city water supply outlet and turning on all the faucets and letting them run for awhile and then trying the water pump again. I opened all the faucets...inside and outside showers and even held the toilet flushing pedal down. Initially, a lot of air came out of the kitchen hot water faucet but eventually the water flowed just fine everywhere. Disconnected the water hose and turned on the water pump and with a few minutes..I'm back to sputtering and hardly any water flow. Also, the water pump never turns off. I just purchased my Jayco camper in June and the water pump has never been used. Suffice it to say that I'm not happy! Any suggestions anyone has would be appreciated
Am I missing something?? but i don't read where you filled up your fresh water tank
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Old 09-03-2014, 03:14 PM   #18
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plus have you checked the position of your valves????

There is a valve from your fresh tank. Verify it is open

Mine also has a hose to suck antifreeze from a jug. If you do verify it is closed
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Old 09-03-2014, 03:42 PM   #19
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That was the problem!!! The valve that you use to winterize the water line was turned the wrong way....as soon as I turned it the correct way..the pump pressurized the system and turned off. Fortunately, I connected with a technician at the dealership where I bought my camper who diagnosed the problem in seconds!!Thanks so much to all who tried to help me and hopefully my learning experience will help someone else
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Old 09-03-2014, 05:13 PM   #20
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Excellent! Glad you got it figured out!
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