# The "missing" 10 Gallons Of Fresh Water



## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

Well, we took our new 295RE on it's maiden voyage for a dry camping weekend. All went well, but it seemed like the 50 gallons of fresh water disappeared to quickly.

went home and measured the fresh water capacity. It was full at 32 gallons! A little searching indicated the capacity should be 43 gallons, not the 50 in the brochure, so the search for the missing 10 gallons began. Interestingly, when filling the vent hose never seemed to vent, and you could hear gurgeling from the fill tube when about 1/2 full. Humm... that was a clue. Pulled back the underbelly and discovered that both the fill and vent hoses had a drop in them so I basically had a P trap on both lines. As soon as the tank level hit the inlet and vent hose level, water flowed into the "P traps" and fill stopped!! A few zip ties and I was able to get the inlet and vent tubes routed "uphill" all the way.

Refilled and hit full at 42 gallons!!. Enough for at least 2 more showers and some dishes.


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## garywies (Aug 23, 2007)

Right on! Way to go!
That's a great short (Outbacker's) story.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Plus 8 more in your hot water heater = 50.


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## rock hill (Apr 17, 2009)

Good story. Gilligan is back from vacation!


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Plus 8 more in your hot water heater = 50.


Yeah, but you can't drain that 8 gallons, so it doesn't count.


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## MacTeam (Jul 27, 2008)

KTMRacer said:


> Well, we took our new 295RE on it's maiden voyage for a dry camping weekend. All went well, but it seemed like the 50 gallons of fresh water disappeared to quickly.
> 
> went home and measured the fresh water capacity. It was full at 32 gallons! A little searching indicated the capacity should be 43 gallons, not the 50 in the brochure, so the search for the missing 10 gallons began. Interestingly, when filling the vent hose never seemed to vent, and you could hear gurgeling from the fill tube when about 1/2 full. Humm... that was a clue. Pulled back the underbelly and discovered that both the fill and vent hoses had a drop in them so I basically had a P trap on both lines. As soon as the tank level hit the inlet and vent hose level, water flowed into the "P traps" and fill stopped!! A few zip ties and I was able to get the inlet and vent tubes routed "uphill" all the way.
> 
> Refilled and hit full at 42 gallons!!. Enough for at least 2 more showers and some dishes.


OMG... we have a 295RE as well and just this past weekend I was on the warpath with the family about how we could possibly have run out of water so fast! 1 1/2 days and we are empty yet I know I filled the tank to the top (so I thought)!
Will be doing this 'mod' as soon as I get the TT back in the driveway tonight.

So you just routed the flexible tubes up higher than the full tank level and used ties to hold them there? This seems like a design fault on Keystone's behalf.

Thanks for the solution!


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## OutbackPM (Sep 14, 2005)

[/quote]
Yeah, but you can't drain that 8 gallons, so it doesn't count.









[/quote]

You are correct but thats marketing for you!!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

MacTeam said:


> This seems like a design fault on Keystone's behalf.


Just lazy on Gilligan's part. When the trailers are built the frame and all the plumbing and wires in the belly are run long. Then they build up from there and instead of pulling up all the slack when pulling lines up through the floor and cutting off the excess, just enough is pulled up to make the connection. All the slack is left in the under belly.

For the water fill and vent. An easier way to fix then pulling down the underbelly is to open up the pump area an disconnect the hoes from the fill connection on the side of the trailer and pull up the slack to remove the "P" traps created by all the extra hose. If you open the under belly you will see more then hoses to shorten!!!!!


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## MacTeam (Jul 27, 2008)

[/quote]

For the water fill and vent. An easier way to fix then pulling down the underbelly is to open up the pump area an disconnect the hoes from the fill connection on the side of the trailer and pull up the slack to remove the "P" traps created by all the extra hose. If you open the under belly you will see more then hoses to shorten!!!!!
[/quote]

Can you elaborate here? Where do you access the water pump area from? I'll be doing this tonight... easy = good


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Every trailer is different but you begin your search for the water pump by locating the fill and vent connection on the outside. These connections go into the trailer then down through the floor to the tank. On most trailers this compartment is where the water pump is located.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

CamperAndy said:


> Every trailer is different but you begin your search for the water pump by locating the fill and vent connection on the outside. These connections go into the trailer then down through the floor to the tank. On most trailers this compartment is where the water pump is located.


They are usually housed in a small box on the opposite side of the outer wall from the water fill tube and city water connection. Ours is beside our queen bed (29BHS). I have to lift up the bottom of the queen mattress and the hinged board beneath in order to be able to lift the carpet-covered door on top of the pump compartment. All your connections and hoses leading to the pump and to the fresh tank are in there.

Mike


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

For the water fill and vent. An easier way to fix then pulling down the underbelly is to open up the pump area an disconnect the hoes from the fill connection on the side of the trailer and pull up the slack to remove the "P" traps created by all the extra hose. If you open the under belly you will see more then hoses to shorten!!!!!
[/quote]

Can you elaborate here? Where do you access the water pump area from? I'll be doing this tonight... easy = good 
[/quote]

On the 295RE the water pump is located under the small carpeted box on the floor inside the bedroom next to the wall for the pass through. Lift up the bed and then pull up on the top of the box. The hinge is carpet.

In my case, just pulling to take up slack didn't work, tried that first. For starters, the fill and vent don't come out the top of thte tank, but the side at the top edge. Then, while I could get rid of most of the slack on the fill tube, the vent tube was routed UNDER the fill tube hose and came out of the tank with a right angle fitting facing DOWN. (what were they thinking!) And since I had already pulled part of the uderbelly loose to see what the problem was, fixed it permanently with some reroute and zip ties. For others of you, I'd try taking up slack first, it's quicker and easier if it works.


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## Ish (Jun 15, 2010)

duggy said:


> Plus 8 more in your hot water heater = 50.


Yeah, but you can't drain that 8 gallons, so it doesn't count.








[/quote]

...unless you add one of these


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