Overflow

[Ed Wisgerhof]

Hello,

Wondering if anyone has an explanation for an issue I had this weekend. I have a 2017 jay flight 28RLS. This weekend I was hooked up to city water and started to notice water coming from two white hoses towards the rear of the trailer. I’m assuming they are the overflow hoses from the fresh water tank. The water was trickling out so I just left it alone. When I left my camp site and pulled up to the dump station, I noticed water pouring out of the same two hoses. This last about 5 minutes. I checked the gauge for the fresh water tank and it was 1/3 full. I don’t know how water would be coming out the over flow when the tank is only 1/3 full. Does anyone know what could have cause this?

[JFlightRisk]

Welcome to the Forum from Western New York State!

I have a few questions. Was your trailer really level at the campsite? Did you arrive with any water in the tank, or was it empty? And when you pulled up to the dump station, was the trailer level?

Fresh water tanks are very shallow, so any slope towards the overflow tubes, or sloshing will allow some water out of the overflows. Contrary to belief, the overflow tubes do not extend into the tank. They attach to a nipple that's spun-welded to the side, as high as they can get it on the tank.

I'm guessing since you were hooked up to city water, they are indeed the overflow tubes, and not the low point drains. Those would've been leaking at more than a trickle.

[Ed Wisgerhof]

Thank you for the warm welcome. Yes, the trailer was level at the site. I showed up with the fresh water tank at 1/3. The dump station was relatively level, just eyeballing it. When the water was coming out at the dump station it was really coming out. A full stream from both hoses.

[JFlightRisk]

Ok. Then what you have is unfortunately normal for these shallow tanks. We have two of them, and I added a pair of 1/4 turn plastic valves to the ends of the tubes. I just have to remember to open them to fill the tanks, then close them to move to the campsite, and open them back up if I'm using the pump. We don't travel with much water in them, just enough for a few toilet flushes.

Some use corks in the ends to plug them, same routine. Check my picture albums on my profile page, and you'll see them installed on ours.

[Cavie]

One tube is the tank drain. The other is the tank over flow/vent. Overflow/vent must be open at all times. Drain can have a valve. Sensors are never accurate. Don't loose any sleep over any of them not working.

[Ed Wisgerhof]

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it.

[JFlightRisk]

Out Jay Flight came with two 42 gallon fresh water tanks underneath. Each has an overflow tube, hence the two valves on the ends. They're always closed unless we're filling the tanks up, to vent them.

There are also two drain valves mounted side by side on a frame bracket, one for each tank.

Sensors definitely do have a lot to be desired by design, but ours have been accurate for 8 years, with the exception of the gray tank this year. We had a piece of crud stuck to the 1/3 sensor, and it took a few days for it to dry out, and show empty. Not a bad run. That issue was solved with Horst probes. The black tank gets flushed with the wand down the toilet, and remains accurate so far. It's about how they're maintained along the way. The gray tanks can't be flushed out like the black, which makes them more susceptible to gunking up. We're just careful about what goes down the drains.

I've been pondering installing a flush fitting into the side of the gray tank, but I'm not so sure on how durable or effective they really are. Some reviews describe them self destructing after a while, and becoming useless.