Fresh Water Full at 23.8 Gallons

[Griswald One]

Looking for suggestions...

I have long been suspicious about the amount of water my fresh water tank holds. We don't camp without hookups often but when we do I felt like we never had a full load of water as we often ran dry by day three. My previous two TT's had 30 gallon tanks that I have survived 5 days on when being frugal.

I had put it down to the siphoning problem others have mentioned on some posts. In order to combat that I decided to pick up a digital water meter. My tank is 33 gallons. I intended to put in thirty gallons of water and stop in order to prevent the overflow and potential siphoning. I emptied my tank completely and then filled it at the campground using the digital meter. At 23.8 gallons water began pouring out.

9 gallons short would definetly explain my issues. Any idea how this is possible or how to inspect the tank? And before you ask, I tested the volume measure on the meter in a 5 gallon jug and it was accurate. I bought the same model as others who also attested to it's accuracy.

Thanks in advance!

[WinnieView]

Including the HWH?

[Griswald One]

It is a tankless, so no HWH.

[ALJO]

You have to work that one out to see what the problems is. There always will be some water left in the tank even if it is drained completely.

[RVermont]

Without physically inspecting the tank it is difficult to say what your specific issues are.

In our case there where several issues. The tank was only partially supported and the area of the overflow was one in lower than the rest of the tank. The rope of the tank was unsupported and the large size further lowered the water level by another inch. Thirdly the front side of the tank also slopes forward so again lowers the volume.

I have supported this tank and corrected the angle and now have much more useable water volume.

[Duke4857]

The factory may not have updated the tank capacity (paperwork) when they changed to the tankless system. A 6 gal hot water tank will give 29.8 gallons. A 10 gallon tank would put you closer. During the production run the factory may have run out of the bigger tank and just put in what they had on hand that would fit.

[Grumpy]

And remember:

All information on this website is the latest available at the time of publication approval. Jayco reserves the right to make changes and to discontinue models without notice or obligation.

[Griswald One]

I believe the Tankless HWH was standard for the 2015 model year so I would be suprised to find out that HWH volume was included in the capacity and 24 gallons would be a significant drop from 33.

I took thinks apart to get a view, they don't make these things easy. The tank looks pretty purpose build for this model. It is thin and runs most of the width above the axel. It is sloped front to rear with the low point in the rear left corner. There does not appear to be much room to adjust slope anywhere.

I was suprised to find a third overflow hose behind the shield, it does explain why I was getting overflow water coming from locations other then the two hoses I could see with the shield in place.

I will try a few more measured fills and see what I come up with I might also look to replace that shield with some clear plexi so I can actually view the tank. I hate not having the ability to visually inspect it.

[RVermont]

Can you get a tape measure on it. A gallons is 231 cu inches

My tank measures 46x40x9 which comes to 72 gallons exactly what jayco says it is. However the most I ever got was high fifties. Haven’t checked since I fixed it.

A big problem with these tanks is the top collapses and while the water will lift it a little bit it forces water out the over flows. If you are parked on a slope it will also reduce the amount you can put in.

With my tank at only 9 inches tall. Loss of 1 inch equals 9 gallons. With shorter tanks every inch of loss is huge.

[Griswald One]

The Top Drop is in interesting thought, I will have to have a look at that. Measuring will be a challenge to get the length but I am sure I can get it.. Thanks for the numbers,

Can't remember if there was much slope at the fill station but that was one of my concerns as well. I can be pretty confident that I was level front to back because all three overflow hoses were discharging water. Next site is full service so I will level the unit first and then fill the tanks to get a truer measure.

I plan to get my endoscope out and poke around, hopefully that will tell me if the top is part of the problem.

[mikew968]

Is it still under warranty? What does the dealer say?

[Griswald One]

Originally Posted by mikew968

Is it still under warranty? What does the dealer say?

Unfortunately out of warranty and the two Jayco dealers near me are beyond useless. One of them started building a new facility and then tore down their existing garage before the new location was ready so I couldnt visit them if I wanted to.

The challenge is that this is a problem that needs a level space and access to water... I can provide one or the other easily... just not both at the same time 🙄

[GrumpyDad]

Originally Posted by Griswald One

The challenge is that this is a problem that needs a level space and access to water... I can provide one or the other easily... just not both at the same time 🙄

amen. At my home, I park the trailer on the street and to compensate for the crown of the street, I need to have the curb side up on three 2x10's to get it close to level. Otherwise I can't even get close to filling my tank.

[bdreinv]

Is there a vent that is not functioning, that would stop the fill?We had a toy box that would not fill occasionally turned out we had the water coming out of the hose to fast. I think hose had 60 psi cut it back to a trickle! Thanks