fresh water tank

[ksaltman]

Is there any reason that I would want to leave the valve open?

[TNTBaker]

We leave the grey open and the black closed. It' always ME in the shower when the tank fills up and I get a footsoak in used water.... ugh. We run enough water throughout the day that whatever solids may find themselves in the grey are washed down immediately. I also am extremely careful to wipe off plates before washing with one of our napkins or a piece of paper towel into the garbage. All those little bits of food are what can cause you a problem over time. ALSO, I never leave it empty when we move or store the unit... always add a few gallons of water and enzyme/treatment. The solids can dry into something like concrete and become permanent. We have never had odors or clogs or problems in 20 years of RVing (Knocking on wood as I type!)

[ksaltman]

Actually I was asking when I might want to leave the pex value to cut off the siphon issue from the fresh water. You do bring up a good point though about the grey water drainage from the dishwasher. Going to have to think on that.

I did get a good tip from another Redwood owner regarding the 2 grey tanks. Since the tank connected to the shower will almost always fill up before the galley grey tank he uses a cap on the sewer line and keeps both grey valves open. This allows both tanks to fill up equally, a full 90 gallons of grey storage. For $3 seems too cheap to not try it!

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...connector/6383

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by 0nTheRoad

Dave, I configured the valve so that the handle is down when the valve is open, when closed it is only about 1 inch below the cover, it is actually higher than the drain valve.

Then you shouldn't have any problems.

I've only pulled my trailer full of water on a few occasions when I knew we were going to a state park and I trusted our home water more than theirs. I've also pulled into parks and had to fill the tank at a community hydrant. In most cases I travel with 1/3 tank of fresh water so if we get into a jamb, we can survive easily for the day without having to worry about water.

On one trip to AZ, this came in handy because we stopped at a place in NM and their water was expectantly not working. Sometimes on long stretches of a trip (700-800 mile days), I'll pull into a rest are and take a shower to refresh myself and then motor on.

[TNTBaker]

Originally Posted by ksaltman

Actually I was asking when I might want to leave the pex value to cut off the siphon issue from the fresh water. You do bring up a good point though about the grey water drainage from the dishwasher. Going to have to think on that.

I am also wondering about this "overflow" valve. I don't think I have seen this before and I am not sure what it's actual function is. Are we disabling something critical by putting the shutoff on? WHY do they have it? I mean, when the tank is full... you KNOW it because you get a face full of water if you aren't paying attention. Is THAT the only reason they added the overflow?? If so, I will keep it shut!

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by ksaltman

Is there any reason that I would want to leave the valve open?

If your filling your tank quickly with a 5/8 water hose I would have the valve open to give air a place to escape. When the water starts siphoning out, turn off the water and close the valve. The only time I'd close the valve is when the water is siphoning. That tank has to breath as it's expanding and contracting going down the highway since it's plastic.

Last month I had my water tank filled when I left my house to a state park. On the highway after going over a large ripple in the road I could see from my mirror water spraying out under my trailer from the tank. This was caused by the water bouncing around that tank and if there isn't room for movement, I'd be afraid of it rupturing. That is a VERY large tank with a lot of water.

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by TNTBaker

I am also wondering about this "overflow" valve. I don't think I have seen this before and I am not sure what it's actual function is. Are we disabling something critical by putting the shutoff on? WHY do they have it? I mean, when the tank is full... you KNOW it because you get a face full of water if you aren't paying attention. Is THAT the only reason they added the overflow?? If so, I will keep it shut!

I agree.....this is my first one but I think it's the size of the tank.

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by TNTBaker

We leave the grey open and the black closed. It' always ME in the shower when the tank fills up and I get a footsoak in used water.... ugh. We run enough water throughout the day that whatever solids may find themselves in the grey are washed down immediately. I also am extremely careful to wipe off plates before washing with one of our napkins or a piece of paper towel into the garbage. All those little bits of food are what can cause you a problem over time. ALSO, I never leave it empty when we move or store the unit... always add a few gallons of water and enzyme/treatment. The solids can dry into something like concrete and become permanent. We have never had odors or clogs or problems in 20 years of RVing (Knocking on wood as I type!)

If you do as many of us have and add a valve to the outlet of your pipe, you'll have 90 gallons of space for the grey water. It take several days to fill that much grey water so this won't be as much of a problem. This was one of my requirements while looking for a new trailer.....large holding tanks.