Filling Fresh Water Tank

[TravelinAnderson]

I'm getting my rig weighed tomorrow (SmartWeigh) and they want me to come with my fresh water tank filled to simulate a worst case weight scenario. So I remove the hose from the city water connection and place it into the fresh water fill opening and turn on the water. I'm putzing around the trailer while the tank is filling and periodically checking the water level indicator. While outside I hear water running on the ground and look under the trailer to see water running from a blue pex tube. I'm assuming it's an overflow tube so I shut the water off and check the level indicator....2/3.
When I filled the water tank in my old trailer it would just run out of the fill opening when it was full so I figured it would be the same for the Redwood. I got the owners manual out to see if it mentioned the overflow hose and of course it didn't.. It told me to fill until water came back out the fill tube.
So... knowing how worthless these owners manuals are, I decided to ask here to see if anyone has filled their fresh water tanks and what their experience was..
Thanks for your input.

[benstefa1@yahoo.com]

When I was at the dealership I asked the same question of the technician working on my rig (I am a NEWBIE to the RV world).

He showed me how to fill the tank and what to expect. As all do -he put the hose in the tank nozzle and began to fill it up. Then he walks away. I am thinking OK it is a big tank and will take a while.
So I was not to concerned. However, after time went by - water began to spill out from under the rig.
I am like what the..........

I asked the technician what was going on. He told me to fill the fresh water tank let the hose run till it comes out the overflow. Then you know you are full. However, When I checked my gauge it showed full.
It never made it to the filler neck the hose was inserted into.

Question, was the RV level?If not, The level guage may read differently?

I hope this is helpful.

[TravelinAnderson]

Thanks Ben... I was fairly certain that the water was coming out of an overflow but it's nice to have confirmation from someone that has experienced it.
I tend to agree with you that my gauge may not be working correctly but as long as I know in my mind that it's full I won't worry about it. If it doesn't tell me when it's getting near empty I'll be more concerned.
Guess I'll start a list of gremlins that I want addressed when I take it in for the annual inspection.

[KWire]

Steve,

Would you mind checking what the water level when you get to the scale. On the Heartland forum there were a bunch of people complaining that they would fill up the fresh water before leaving home and by the time they got to their camping site 1/3 of their water had escaped out the overflow tube.

I am just curious if the Redwood has the same problem.

Thanks, Keith

[KR2011]

Hey Steve I filled mine yesterday and found that there is actually 2 overflow drains one is the blue pex line towards the middle of the trailer and the other is in between the low point drains it is the white garden hose.like an earlier post I put the hose in the fill tube and walked away thinking it was a large tank so it will take awhile, I kept checking it and came back to the 2 lines running water on the ground. On further inspection I found out that tank fills from the top and not the side like most fresh water tanks do also the blue overflow line is the main overflow the white hose is for when you are really over full it is there to keep the tank from splitting open when you are past the other overflow point. So if you see water coming out of both lines you really need to turn the water off fast.