Filling fresh water tank

[SecondWind]

Escape filled my fresh water and hot water tank at pick up. I need to refill it myself now, for the first time. Do I just put my fresh water hose in the left hand opening and fill till water runs out the red circled opening? Will this fill both my fresh and hot tanks? Thank you!

 

[brroberts]

This will fill your fresh tank, but only partially fill the water heater. Open a hot faucet and run the pump to force air out of the hot side and then your water heater will be full once you have a non aerated stream of water.

 

[SecondWind]

This will fill your fresh tank, but only partially fill the water heater. Open a hot faucet and run the pump to force air out of the hot side and then your water heater will be full once you have a non aerated stream of water.

Okay! Thank you very much.

 

[brroberts]

BTW, you’ll hear the tank get full once you know what to listen for before it squirts out the vent. I have a home made one, but something like this makes it easier to fill the tank.

Amazon.com

 

[SecondWind]

This will fill your fresh tank, but only partially fill the water heater. Open a hot faucet and run the pump to force air out of the hot side and then your water heater will be full once you have a non aerated stream of water.

Just thinking….I’m on city water right now. Should my hot water tank actually be currently full? So just filling the fresh tank should top me off to be good to go for awhile? Unhooking from shore tomorrow.

BTW, you’ll hear the tank get full once you know what to listen for before it squirts out the vent. I have a home made one, but something like this makes it easier to fill the tank.

Amazon.com

Thanks! I ordered one.

 

[brroberts]

If on city water everything should be good except the tank. You don’t want the pump on while on city water.

 

[SecondWind]

I had the pump on for a few minutes at first, before I figured out I didn’t need it.

 

[iamunique127]

For future reference, all the operations of the trailer systems are included in the Owner’s Manual provided by ETI and is a good resource. Ours was with our packet of manuals also provided by ETI.

 

[Iowa Dave]

Relative to filling the tank, we always use a filter attached at the spigot whenever we are filling the tank or when we hook up to “city water” I use a new water filter at the start of every season. When I first hook the new filter up to the water supply I run water through it for a few seconds, then shake it, run water and repeat. When the water first comes through the filter, it will momentarily “run black” this is the result of carbon in the filter having settled out through the filter during shipping and storage. That way your water will not
Look “dirty” or black when it comes out of your tap. YMMV.
Iowa Dave

 

[SecondWind]

For future reference, all the operations of the trailer systems are included in the Owner’s Manual provided by ETI and is a good resource. Ours was with our packet of manuals also provided by ETI.

Thank you.

 

[SecondWind]

Relative to filling the tank, we always use a filter attached at the spigot whenever we are filling the tank or when we hook up to “city water” I use a new water filter at the start of every season. When I first hook the new filter up to the water supply I run water through it for a few seconds, then shake it, run water and repeat. When the water first comes through the filter, it will momentarily “run black” this is the result of carbon in the filter having settled out through the filter during shipping and storage. That way your water will not
Look “dirty” or black when it comes out of your tap. YMMV.
Iowa Dave

I have a filter, I ran water through it, but didn’t know about shaking/repeat. I’ll add that next time. Thanks for the tip!

 

[CharlesinGA]

Do not just shove the hose in the fitting. It largely blocks it and prevents air from escaping. The vent you circled will vent air as the tank fills but my experience with filling tanks is the air cannot escape fast enough, and you build pressure in the tank.

On my Thor Trailer, I nearly burst the tank (but didn't realize it till much later) and when I removed the hose, water gushed out of the filler as the tank contracted back to normal size. With the Bigfoot trailer, I again got stupid and shoved the hose in the filler. I almost immediately began hearing water inside the trailer and pulled the hose out and opened the compartment door that exposed that area. I ended up spilling a gallon or so and rapidly mopped it up with some towels and other cloths. The pressure had caused the filler tube to the tank to pop off the filler adapter in the side of the trailer. Another Bigfoot owner did the same thing but his tank swelled up until it broke some of the metal supports. It was a mess to repair.

I looked in the Bigfoot manual (such as it is) and did find that they call for the use of a filler adapter, such as the CAMCO one to allow air to escape while the water goes in the tank.

Due to the odd design of my filler tube to the tank, I made a filler adapter that reaches all the way to the tank itself. I made mine with Tygon tubing and a brass water hose adapter.

Charles

 

[Ron in BC]

the air cannot escape fast enough, and you build pressure in the tank.

I ended up spilling a gallon or so and rapidly mopped it up with some towels and other cloths. The pressure had caused the filler tube to the tank to pop off the filler adapter in the side of the trailer.

At least it was "only water". Doing that on a boat diesel tank and having it erupt in a fountain can ruin your day.

I like the Camco filler also because I keep it in a clean plastic bag and feel better about inserting it into the filler than the not so clean hose end.

Ron

 

[SecondWind]

Do not just shove the hose in the fitting. It largely blocks it and prevents air from escaping. The vent you circled will vent air as the tank fills but my experience with filling tanks is the air cannot escape fast enough, and you build pressure in the tank.

On my Thor Trailer, I nearly burst the tank (but didn't realize it till much later) and when I removed the hose, water gushed out of the filler as the tank contracted back to normal size. With the Bigfoot trailer, I again got stupid and shoved the hose in the filler. I almost immediately began hearing water inside the trailer and pulled the hose out and opened the compartment door that exposed that area. I ended up spilling a gallon or so and rapidly mopped it up with some towels and other cloths. The pressure had caused the filler tube to the tank to pop off the filler adapter in the side of the trailer. Another Bigfoot owner did the same thing but his tank swelled up until it broke some of the metal supports. It was a mess to repair.

I looked in the Bigfoot manual (such as it is) and did find that they call for the use of a filler adapter, such as the CAMCO one to allow air to escape while the water goes in the tank.

Due to the odd design of my filler tube to the tank, I made a filler adapter that reaches all the way to the tank itself. I made mine with Tygon tubing and a brass water hose adapter.

Charles

Thank you Charles. I did just stick the hose in and didn’t have trouble this time. I ordered one of those filler things but won’t get it till I get home to Alaska.

 

[CharlesinGA]

You can make one easily, with parts from Home Depot, Lowes, any good hardware. Find a brass female threaded garden hose fitting with a barbed nipple for 1/2 inch hose. Then some hose, a clamp or a ty-wrap and you are done. add a male/female ball type water valve, the cheap ones you buy in the garden section of stores.

I have a peculiar situation as the water tank sits on the floor under the bed, and the filler hose is generally horizontal. I replaced it with a longer one, so I could get it on the fittings without "stretching" it and then I strapped it up. End result is for me, the filler goes uphill then down hill into the tank, so the long hose is necessary.

I replaced the vent tube as it was hanging down and had mold in it, and it too is strapped up. Again, this is not an Escape but some things apply across the board to all brands.

Charles

 

[SecondWind]

You can make one easily, with parts from Home Depot, Lowes, any good hardware. Find a brass female threaded garden hose fitting with a barbed nipple for 1/2 inch hose. Then some hose, a clamp or a ty-wrap and you are done. add a male/female ball type water valve, the cheap ones you buy in the garden section of stores.

I have a peculiar situation as the water tank sits on the floor under the bed, and the filler hose is generally horizontal. I replaced it with a longer one, so I could get it on the fittings without "stretching" it and then I strapped it up. End result is for me, the filler goes uphill then down hill into the tank, so the long hose is necessary.

I replaced the vent tube as it was hanging down and had mold in it, and it too is strapped up. Again, this is not an Escape but some things apply across the board to all brands.

Charles

Thanks for the detailed tips!

 

[Thrak]

For future reference, all the operations of the trailer systems are included in the Owner’s Manual provided by ETI and is a good resource. Ours was with our packet of manuals also provided by ETI.

We just bought ours used and, while there were a number of "manuals" included some seem to be missing or not very helpful.