How do you drain the fresh tank pickup tube

[mistertinkle]

Hi all,


Does anybody have ideas on how to drain the pickup tube from the fresh tank?


I had drained the fresh tank, the hot water tank, and blown out the lines. However it seems the fresh water tank pickup tube did not drain, and it froze in our cold weather last week (lows about -3F and highs about 15F).


We have tank heaters and foam insulation, but the cold was too much for the insulation. The pump work work fine if I poured water in the to filter and if I used the by-pass valve that is intended for drawing anti-freeze into the pump and lines. However the pump was unable to pull water from the tank.



Does the pickup tube go into the top of the fresh water tank? I can't see where it enters the tank due to the foam insulation.


FYI... it has since thawed out and everything works, but I would like to know how to get it to drain during winterizing.



Thanks!


Sam

[Viajante]

I drained the fresh water tank a couple of days ago. As the water level neared the bottom of the tank I could see air bubbles rising up the pickup tube as the water in the tube drained down into the tank. The pump was off and I did not disconnect the tube from the pump. The tube runs on the outside of the tank and connects to a fitting on the side near the bottom.

So, my observation is that the tube drains naturally as the tank is drained. If it did not drain because of an airlock I would disconnect the tube from the pump and let air into the tube from above. I do not have foam.

[mistertinkle]

Hi Viajante,

OK. Maybe I just need to remove the clear cap on the water pump filter when draining the tank. That should allow air into the top of the tube so the water can drain back into the tank as the tank level drops.

I just found the picture below in a different thread that shows how the tube enters the tank. I cannot see this tube on my tank because of the foam insulation.

Thanks!

Sam

Originally Posted by Viajante

I drained the fresh water tank a couple of days ago. As the water level neared the bottom of the tank I could see air bubbles rising up the pickup tube as the water in the tube drained down into the tank. The pump was off and I did not disconnect the tube from the pump. The tube runs on the outside of the tank and connects to a fitting on the side near the bottom.

So, my observation is that the tube drains naturally as the tank is drained. If it did not drain because of an airlock I would disconnect the tube from the pump and let air into the tube from above. I do not have foam.

[stephen99]

Without the foam it's easy to use a blow dryer to warm up the tube where it connects to the tank and makes removal (and reattachment) easy. I did that on my first winterization. Since then I just leave it alone. No damage from freezing has resulted.

[gbaglo]

Seems to me that the ETI instruction manual says to winterize, you drain the fresh water tank via the valve on the tank and that you run the pump for about 30 seconds after draining the tank to clear the pump. That should also clear any water or air in the pickup tube.

[mfschu]

I noticed when I winterized that there is always water left in the pickup hose, maybe 6" or so, after draining the tank and running the pump. So I have also been disconnecting the hose clamp that holds the hose to the fresh water tank as well and letting it gravity drain out. If you don't have access to this because of the foam insulation then the only think I can think of is to put a heater in this area to melt it and get it going again, or wait for warmer temperatures to do it for you.

[Eggscape]

I installed my winterizing Tee Valve at this location to solve what I consider a design flaw. It allows you to completely drain the tube and/or suck in your antifreeze.
You can read in the following link what, why and how to:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...tml#post266446

[JeffreyG]

There is a short piece of tubing near the pump that one can use to suck up RV antifreeze. I found that if I turned this tube's valve halfway between the two positions and blew on the antifreeze tube with my mouth, it pushed the remaining water out of the fresh tank tube, back into the tank.

[kathytony1985]

Originally Posted by mistertinkle

Hi Viajante,

OK. Maybe I just need to remove the clear cap on the water pump filter when draining the tank. That should allow air into the top of the tube so the water can drain back into the tank as the tank level drops.

I just found the picture below in a different thread that shows how the tube enters the tank. I cannot see this tube on my tank because of the foam insulation.

Thanks!

Sam

That picture is our trailer. We haven't yet been able to drain that tube. We were recently on a camping trip and it got below freezing. In anticipation of that, we wrapped that tube in insulation. It did not freeze. Tomorrow I will go out and try to drain it using the water pump as someone described above

[diannelgraham]

I have been trying to drain this hose completely since 2017 when I bought my first Escape no luck. This year I bought a pipe electric wrap and used that to protect it from freezing Any brilliant solutions will be greatly appreciated

[Viajante]

Originally Posted by kathytony1985

That picture is our trailer. We haven't yet been able to drain that tube. We were recently on a camping trip and it got below freezing. In anticipation of that, we wrapped that tube in insulation. It did not freeze. Tomorrow I will go out and try to drain it using the water pump as someone described above

Thanks for referencing the picture. I have an older model with the pickup connection on the side of the tank not the bottom. The pickup tube on mine does not curve below the tank then rise back up to the fitting, thereby trapping water in the low point. So my suggestions about the water draining naturally or disconnecting the tube at the top will not work. Nor will running the pump work.

It appears the options are to blow the water out of the tube or to add a low point drain fitting. Both of these were suggested by others.

[mistertinkle]

Hi all,

Thanks for replying and all the suggestions! It does help! I really like this forum for how everybody offers ideas and isn't judgemental. You all are great!

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Seems to me that the ETI instruction manual says to winterize, you drain the fresh water tank via the valve on the tank and that you run the pump for about 30 seconds after draining the tank to clear the pump. That should also clear any water or air in the pickup tube.

gbaglo - I usually run the pump after draining the tank, however maybe I didn't this last time. I'll do that again this week to test. The difficulty with the foam insulation is that I can't see the very bottom of the pickup tube where it is connected to the tank, so I don't know how I can confirm it is clear after running the pump. I think there might be enough water left in the tube after running the pump that it can drain back to the bottom and freeze.

Originally Posted by JeffreyG

There is a short piece of tubing near the pump that one can use to suck up RV antifreeze. I found that if I turned this tube's valve halfway between the two positions and blew on the antifreeze tube with my mouth, it pushed the remaining water out of the fresh tank tube, back into the tank.

JefferyG - thanks for the suggestion. I may give that a try. I had disconnected the pickup tube from the pump filter and tried to blow back into the tank and had no luck because it was frozen at that time. I like the idea of turning the antifreeze valve half way and blowing. Another thought I had is to disconnect the tube from the filter and use my compressor to blow into it.

Originally Posted by kathytony1985

That picture is our trailer. We haven't yet been able to drain that tube. We were recently on a camping trip and it got below freezing. In anticipation of that, we wrapped that tube in insulation. It did not freeze. Tomorrow I will go out and try to drain it using the water pump as someone described above

kathytony1985 - I found your picture after I had posted. Since we have the foam insulation, I didn't know how/where the pickup tube entered the tank. That picture really helped!

Originally Posted by diannelgraham

I have been trying to drain this hose completely since 2017 when I bought my first Escape no luck. This year I bought a pipe electric wrap and used that to protect it from freezing Any brilliant solutions will be greatly appreciated

diannelgraham - I feel your pain. This is the first time this has happened. It has not frozen even when we have camped at about 14F overnight. The freshwater tank was empty this time when the temperatures dropped so low. Filling the tank and running the tank heaters didn't seem to be enough to thaw out the tube.

Originally Posted by Viajante

Thanks for referencing the picture. I have an older model with the pickup connection on the side of the tank not the bottom. The pickup tube on mine does not curve below the tank then rise back up to the fitting, thereby trapping water in the low point. So my suggestions about the water draining naturally or disconnecting the tube at the top will not work. Nor will running the pump work.

It appears the options are to blow the water out of the tube or to add a low point drain fitting. Both of these were suggested by others.

Viajante - Yes I think I will try blowing out the tube when winterizing now. I would prefer to not cut through the foam to add another valve/tube for draining because it seems to me that might cause the tube to freeze during normal low temperature camping.


Another thought I have is to pour some 200 proof alcohol, just an ounce or so, into the tube at the filter end to act as antifreeze in the bottom of the tube inside the foam insulation. If there is still water in the tube, it would dilute the alcohol some, but still provide some protection.


Sam

[escape artist]

Hi: mistertinkle... I don't drain it. As long as the ice has expansion room it won't crack the pipe. I do leave my pump lines open though!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[mistertinkle]

Originally Posted by escape artist

Hi: mistertinkle... I don't drain it. As long as the ice has expansion room it won't crack the pipe. I do leave my pump lines open though!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Hi 'escape artist'.


We didn't have any damage either. Our problem was that it seems to have frozen before we filled with water and needed to use the pump/water. We realized the pump wasn't drawing water before we left for a short trip, so we used water from a couple 4 gallon jugs for the first couple days until the pump started drawing water.


I think I'll add another step to my winterizing process to try to clear that tube when I drain the fresh water tank. We tend to use our Escape monthly, so it doesn't stay winterized very long.


Sam

[mistertinkle]

Just a quick followup...

I drained the fresh water tank today. Once it was drained I saw there was still water in the supply line at the pump filter. When I removed the clear pump filter lid, the water in the line drained down into the tank.

I also turned the winterizing valve 1/8th turn (half way between selecting the supply line and the line for drawing in antifreeze) and I was able to blow the rest of the water in the supply line back into the tank.

Now I have another step to add to the winterizing process.

Thanks for the ideas everybody! I hope this helps others.

Sam

[kathytony1985]

Thank you for sharing!