Shortly I have to go into 14 days lock down at the WA border. I am lining up jobs to be done on the van. One of the jobs I want to do, is to cure the difficulty in filling the rear water tank. I think the problem lies in the fact that the breather line has dips in it, forming "P" traps. I am intending to re-route the breather line up inside the van and back down to the filler assembly (Jayco). This will get rid of all the "P" traps in the line, and enable all the water to clear the breather line, either running back to the tank, or to the outlet.

I modified the drain from the kitchen sink, getting rid of any extra "P" traps (dips), the result was amazing, from having to wait ages for the water to drain, to a fast rush taking a few seconds.

Bicyclecamper, I put taps on the ends of both our breather lines in motorhome as we didn't like the water loss.

Taps are located next to step for easy use.

You have to remember to open the taps when you want to use the pump.

JeffRae

Hi Ian

Thought that I had posted this earlier, must have got lost in cyber space

I have something similar to Peter (Peter n Margaret), above

It use to be somewhat embarrassing, (when there was a queue behind), filling as slow as I could, with the water spitting back at me

Basically (after I fitted an extra tank), I put in a hose at the highest point of new tank, with a garden hose type push on connection

I then connected both tanks together

I now just connect the town water, turn the town water tap on full, then hurry up and wait

The sketch below will describe it better

Edit to say, that I have had this setup for a few years now, and have never bothered to close any of the valves
There was already a drain valve on the original tank, I just placed a "T" piece there, so I can still drain the tank, if required

Hope that this info is useful to others, as I see a lot of caravans/motorhomes struggling to fill their water tanks

Edit again to say that Ian (Iana) has brought up a valid point

When you are pressurising the tank, by having the town tap water, direct to the tank, town tap water pressure could be as high as 500 kpa/72 psi

It could be possible to cause some damage, if there are restrictions in the breather vent, with the filler cap locked on

I always have the original filler cap removed, when filling the tank, before water comes out of the filler cap, the original vent was already showing it was clear, by spitting water out

-- Edited by Tony Bev on Tuesday 4th of August 2020 09:58:22 PM

Possum3 wrote:

---

The biggest hold up at water filling stations is RV owners having filter cartridges on their filling hose that will only allow water to be put into their tank/s at the rate of an octogenarian's piddle. After they go through the process of filling they then have to dismantle their set-up and clean and pack away all the bits and pieces.

---

 Hi Possum

I have a B.E.S.T. filter, on my filling hose from the town water tap

It is rated at about 13 to15 litres a minute, I have never timed it, but not much longer than 10 minutes to fill my tanks, which are never fully empty

A lot of RV's (with or without a filters on their hose), already knowing that the water will spit back at them, usually do not turn the town water tap fully on

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:

---

The time you need the water filtered is just before you use it, so what goes into the tanks is less important than what comes out.
Cheers,
Peter

---

Hi Peter

You are absolutely correct, in a technical sense

But looking at the situation, from a layman point of view
(After 53 yeas of marriage, I now know, when to weave, when to duck, when to run, and when to do as I am told)

Although we purchase bottle drinking water, and have never used tank water to drink, the little Lady said, we need a filter, and it was easier to put one on the hose

I rest me case yer onner

Edit to say, that the above, is light hearted banter from me

What Peter said is correct, that a filter is better placed at the tap at the sink, instead of the filling hose
I use the filter mainly to stop any unpleasant smells, getting into the tank, and from there into our cuppa

iana wrote:

---

I think you have to be a bit careful suggesting to people to use pressure to fill the tanks. It may be OK for some, but if the water tank is fitted against the floor of the van, to do the sums, if the water tank measures 60 x 15 inches ( x 8) inches deep, then the top surface has 900 square inches. You have restriction's in the breather line, including trapped water, and the pressure rises inside the tank just 1/4 psi, that's a force pushing up on the floor of 225psi.
Just so happens I have two spongy floor panels that just happen to be above the water tanks, all all I have done is hand held a rag to seal between the hose and the inlet. Remember those "Off road" vehicle jacks that just use a hose slipped over the exhaust pipe to lift the vehicle off the ground.

---

 That is a valid comment Ian

None of my tanks, touch the floor

I have just edited my post to mention to keep the original filler cap off, which I always do when filling the tank, as both my vents are only 6mm dia

Hi Iana

Both caravans we have had the tanks have worked there way to the left, catching the breather on the chassis then knocking the breathers off.

This time bad luck I had a tube gun near me loaded with no more nails type stuff.

2 years the tanks have stayed put and the breathers are still working.

I have the tanks hooked together and bottom fill, ps I only turn tap on medium slow to fill so the tanks will balance out.

Project is half completed, won't be able to see the results until we fill up with water again. Can't rush these things.

Now all connected, ready for a tank filling test. Wont be able to test out the system until we need the water tanks filled.

iana wrote:

---

Tested, works perfectly. Filled properly in a fraction of the time.

---

 Hope you are going to share how you improved the breathing of your water tanks.

iana wrote:

---

I described what I was doing in the initial post. Simply, the existing breather line exhausting at the filler unit had lows in it forming "P" traps. I installed a new breather line that goes up into the van, and down to the filler unit. All water drains out of the breather, either back to the tank, or out of the breather outlet. Filling water now freely goes into the tank, and no more false "Tank full" indications.

---

 Hi iana.

I was guilty of not fully understanding your orignal post but do now. 

Water in the breather line certainly causes unnecessary problems.