freshwater supply

happycampers · 08-25-2011, 06:27 AM

we are in the middle of our 3 week trip to the east coast and one issue that has come up is:
it seems the pick up hose from the water pump in the tank only sucks the top half. after 20-30 gallons it sucks nothing but air. I would guess this hose is supposed to be attached to the bottom of the tank somehow and ours is not (anymore). any thoughts and or experiences with this?

oh one more thing i learned is why people call duct tape 50 mph tape. we almost lost our bumper caps so i taped them on. the wind blows off the tape at 60 mph!! lol

Dayle1 · 08-25-2011, 06:49 AM

On my previous Cruiser, the pump pick-up hose was attached to a port on the side of the fresh water tank. And that meant it was not located right at the bottom of the tank. There was just a plastic screen on the inside, not an inside pick-up tube. So, the pump would begin sucking air with maybe 1-1/2 inches of water left in the tank. If the trailer is off-level in the wrong direction, there is plenty of water that can't be used.

It has been years, but I removed the screen and used a short length of soft copper pipe instead. The pipe was bent in a 'lazy S' shape and rotated so that it touched the bottom of the tank. A compression fitting secured the copper pipe in the existing tank fitting and a hose clamp secured the hose to the copper pipe where it exited the tank fitting. The end of the pipe inside the tank was cut at an angle rather than square cut to minimize the possibility of blockage.

**Lloyd** · 08-25-2011, 07:22 AM

I performed about the same thing on my water tank that Larry just described to you.
Here is a picture of the tank, the fitting with a screen on the end that I took out, and the copper tube with fitting that went back into the tank.
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shoetravel · 08-25-2011, 01:37 PM

This modis Paine's Pointers #41. http://www.gregpaine.com/cr/index.htm

Greg had some good photos on this mod but it looks like his web site was hacked

.

happycampers · 08-25-2011, 01:54 PM

I know our rig was level... or very close to it. I thought maybe some debris could have clogged it but I've only ever used water from home (city water) until now. When I refilled the tank it seemed to work fine again. so I think that rules out the idea of debris. larry and lloyd, thats an interesting mod, but I don't know if i'm up to dropping the tank.
I know on another trip we had we used almost a whole tank of water with no issue, and this time I was sure there was at least 25 gallons left.
I'll have to wait and see if it happens again, were at a KOA now in NS and tomorrow heading to PEI to another KOA with water hookups, but on our way back to ONT we will have to see. There will be a few dry camp nights.

Thanks again for the idea!

**Lloyd** · 08-25-2011, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shoetravel

This modis Paine's Pointers #41. http://www.gregpaine.com/cr/index.htm

Greg had some good photos on this mod but it looks like his web site was hacked

.

I had a feeling something might/could happen to his site, so I printed it out awhile back.
To much good info there to lose it.
Now if I could just figure out what I did with it.

Hunter11 · 08-26-2011, 12:27 AM

Patrick, this is the second time Greg's web site has been hacked. I have let him know. They have not traveled in a couple of years now as they are building a house on 36 acres they bought in Eastern Arizona. He has not been keeping up with his web site for lack of time.

Dayle1 · 08-26-2011, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by happycampers

but I don't know if i'm up to dropping the tank.

It is not necessary to drop the tank for this mod. The tank is narrower than the space between the frame rails and can be moved sideways enough to slip a 6-8 inch copper pipe in from the side.I did this mod initially, but didn't take any pics since I wasn't sure how it would work.Greg always did a much better job of documenting each mod and he did this one at the same time he fixed the sagging tank issue.

shoetravel · 08-26-2011, 11:26 AM

Thanks for the follow up Keith. The hack job must have been within the past few months. I had checked in back in May when I did the waterlines under the sink for the outside shower and everything was okay back then. Sure hope he has those photos backed up some where....

**Lloyd** · 08-26-2011, 12:19 PM

Patrick, try this link.
http://www.gregpaine.com/

shoetravel · 08-26-2011, 02:31 PM

Thanks Lloyd. Looks like Greg must have taken care of things

. Both links are now good. There's still a couple there that are on my list....

Flyone · 08-27-2011, 02:50 AM

Happycamper, as far as the bumper caps--I had to drill small hose thru the bumper and the caps and run a short piece of wire thru to keep them on. I was replacing them quite regularly. The tape leaves residue and dosen't look so good.

Flyone

Canucklehead · 08-27-2011, 02:57 AM

Has anyone noticed the the fresh water tank fitting with the screen appears to be the same fitting that Crossroads has used for the black tank flush? No wonder it continually clogs with "brown matter".
I got fed up with cleaning mine so I replaced it with a Tornado. Will see how it works after the long weekend.

happycampers · 08-28-2011, 05:14 AM

flyone, thanks for the tip, i've heard of that somewhere, but I think before next season I'm going to put on a piece of pvc pipe like others have done on here and abandon the bumper storage.

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