Fresh water tank

Larkn5 · 01-23-2017, 08:27 PM

Taking out our 2016 eagle where there is no pressurized water and am woundering can you fill the fresh water tank by the winterizing hose off the back side of the pump? If so how?? Looked in the Manuel but I must be looking in the wrong place...

Thanks
Lark

bansai · 01-23-2017, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larkn5

Taking out our 2016 eagle where there is no pressurized water and am woundering can you fill the fresh water tank by the winterizing hose off the back side of the pump? If so how?? Looked in the Manuel but I must be looking in the wrong place...

Thanks
Lark

That hose is for winterizing your water lines. It will not backfeed into your fresh water tank unless you get really creative, and there's really no point. Why not just connect your water hose to the gravity fill connection on the side of your camper? Am I missing something with your model that makes using anti-freeze bypass hose + the pump an option? I think you just want to fill the tank with your hose... You have a gravity fill, fresh water connection on the outside of your camper right? Just attach an RV grade water hose to it and fill er up. You shouldn't need your pump for this. Apologies if I'm missing something unique to the Eagle, but I've never heard of using the water pump to fill the fresh water tank... pump is for emptying it

Are you trying to suck water out of a lake or something?

I've used 5 gallon water jugs in the past to replenish the water in our fresh water tank, no pump involved, not sure if that's the issue you are trying to tackle though.

**Crabman** · 01-23-2017, 08:52 PM

I dont see how it could be done either without some creative plumbing. That hose takes the place of the fresh tank when winterizing and the pump pushes fluid the other way, into the pressure side of the system not towards the tank.

klpoppe · 01-23-2017, 09:01 PM

I read somewhere about this before... Close the valve from the tank to pump. Open valve for clear winterizing tube... Place tube in freshwater jug or bucket containing freshwater you want to end up in the tank. Connect a fresh water hose to faucet nearest a window or door to reach gravity fill (will need to use adaptor). Run that hose to the gravity fill. Turn on pump and open that faucet. It will draw the water from the jug, through the pump, out the faucet, through the freshwater hose and into the tank.

I guess this is so you dont have to struggle holding a jerry can to refill your tank 5 gallons at a time...

BuddyRay · 01-23-2017, 09:21 PM

My 2016 Eagle HT has a valve and pipe that runs from the pressurized side of the pump to the water tank. It almost looks and works like the water heater bypass. Basically, you flip the valve to allow the pump to pull from the winterizing hose, then you flip a second valve to send the pump output to the tank. You stick the clear winterizing hose into a container of water (or I guess a lake :-)) and off you go.
It's all described in the owners manual for my unit. And if you look in the pump area and trace the pipes out, you can see how it works.

Not sure your rig is the same however.

bansai · 01-23-2017, 09:26 PM

Oh, that makes sense. Seems kind of complicated, but I guess that would work?

Lark, how much water are you needing to pump into your fresh water tank like this?

We usually just take a case of bottled water along with us in the event that we start running low, we make due until we can get to a pressurized hose to fill. I like this MacGyver stuff though. Might have to mod my water pump to do all kinds of cool stuff I never really thought of... kegerator perhaps?

Guessing the water pumps in the Eagle are higher capacity than mine. My little pump struggles (in a big way) just pulling antifreeze out of a 1 gallon jug sitting on the floor. It works ok once it gets going but I think I'd just use a manual hand pump outside if I was trying to do 5+ gallons, some of those hand pumps can move a lot of water.

3'senough · 01-24-2017, 07:53 AM

I am taking it that you do not have the water service panel on your unit? With mine there is a number sequence that you follow to draw water in under the Country Fill option which will draw water in using a hose like the antifreeze hose from a container. City fill option is a pressurized water fill to the tank.

This method uses the house pump to draw the water into the unit through the cit water connection and into the water tank. Then you simply turn the valves back and the unit will pump the water from the tank to the fixtures.

If you do not have this panel then you could plumb the pump to push water back into the tank with some valving.

Cdash · 01-24-2017, 07:19 PM

On mine, that is called "country fill". I use the winterizing (clear) tube plumbed in by the pump. I have to change two valve positions in the plumbing by the pump. I've attached the picture from the manual that shows the valve positions for this.

Change the valves as shown, stick the tube in a jug of water, turn the pump on via the outdoor pump switch, and repeat. It's important to note that the jug needs to be of the ground in order to suck. I put mine in the lowered floor part of the compartment.

If we are on a site for a week without water, I'll add two 6 gallon jugs on the third day, then a couple more each day.

Cdash · 01-24-2017, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bansai

That hose is for winterizing your water lines. It will not backfeed into your fresh water tank unless you get really creative, and there's really no point. Why not just connect your water hose to the gravity fill connection on the side of your camper? Am I missing something with your model that makes using anti-freeze bypass hose + the pump an option? I think you just want to fill the tank with your hose... You have a gravity fill, fresh water connection on the outside of your camper right? Just attach an RV grade water hose to it and fill er up. You shouldn't need your pump for this. Apologies if I'm missing something unique to the Eagle, but I've never heard of using the water pump to fill the fresh water tank... pump is for emptying it

Are you trying to suck water out of a lake or something?

I've used 5 gallon water jugs in the past to replenish the water in our fresh water tank, no pump involved, not sure if that's the issue you are trying to tackle though.

Assuming that his 2016 Eagle is a fifth wheel, he probably doesn't have gravity fill. I wish they did! It's so much easier to add water at a no hookup site with it.

**Crabman** · 01-24-2017, 07:27 PM

Yeah that's a different setup then I have had in my trailers but I see now how it works.

Larkn5 · 01-26-2017, 10:26 AM

Thanks for all the replys ! And yes it's called "country fill" found it buried in the Manuel...sounds pretty easy as well . Much better than holding up a 5 gallon jug to pour in..lol
Never had a rig that only has a hose connection .... but love it!
There r times when we're camping with no water only electric and we really don't want to pull out to fill up!
Thanks for the replies !

Cheers
Lark

Jagiven · 01-26-2017, 12:04 PM

sounds like you may have found a solution.

On my HTT, I have found my outdoor shower will reach my gravity fill port to fill the FW tank. With the pump off, I take the shower head off, shove the shower hose down the fill port, open the Cold water valve. Then inside I stick the winterizing pickup tube into my 5 gallon jug, ensure the valves are turned to bypass, and turn on the water pump. Within a short period the jug is drained. Turn the pump off, and get another jug.

If I had a fancy filling station that required a hose connection to fill the FW tank, I would need to make an adaptor for my outdoor shower.

Good luck, I would recommend giving it a try at home!

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