# Converter And Fresh Water Questions



## bigboot (Apr 23, 2007)

We just arrived home with our new Outback 21RS. We are first timers and have a couple of really basic questions.

The dealer sent us home with a full fresh water tank. We are storing the TT (remote storage) for two weeks before its maiden camping voyage. Is it OK to leave the water in the tanks for those two weeks? Emptying them would require us to move it but we will do so if its important. We assume that as a regular thing, the water should always be emptied when not in use (?)

Also, the dealer told us that the on-board converter WILL NOT charge but only tricke maintain the batteries when hooked to shore power or a generator. The OEM for the converter tells us that it WILL because its a three stage converter. Good news for dry camping! Just thought we could ask if anyone has tried to do this.

Thanks for any insights.


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

bigboot said:


> We just arrived home with our new Outback 21RS. We are first timers and have a couple of really basic questions.
> 
> The dealer sent us home with a full fresh water tank. We are storing the TT (remote storage) for two weeks before its maiden camping voyage. Is it OK to leave the water in the tanks for those two weeks? Emptying them would require us to move it but we will do so if its important. We assume that as a regular thing, the water should always be emptied when not in use (?)
> 
> ...


Charger will do both. I would drain the water.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Depends on the water but we have very good water here so we leave ours full all the time.

As for the converter it is a WFCO 3 stage smart converter and does a very good job of maintaining your batteries. Just check the electrolyte level every couple of months and you will be just fine.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

I always put a couple gallons of water in both the gray and black tanks, along with a capful of liquid Calgon water softner and the correct amount of tank chemical in each at the end of each trip. (I use the "green stuff".) Then I drain the fresh water tank. If it will be more than a couple weeks before I go camping again, I drain the lines and the hot water heater, also.

Like Andy said - it depends on where your water came from. Some campgrounds have city water, and some have well water (with no treatment) that has a "stuff" in it. That "stuff" can range from high iron deposits, sulfur, lime, etc. I just don't want that stuff sitting in my tanks or lines for any length of time.

I also use about 1/8 cup of bleach in 50 gallons of untreated well water, just to make sure there aren't any "bugs" get distributed throughout the system. Better safe than sorry.

Also, we don't drink the water from our fresh water system. No matter where the water came from, it still has a "plastic" taste, and my palate can detect it in tea, coffee, and Kool-aid type drinks. We bring drinking water along - bottled water and a 5-gallon drink cooler of ice-water for weekend trips. On 2-3 week vacations, we buy the drinking water from Walmart, in the 2-1/2 gallon jugs, then refill along the way. My tummy just won't take all the different water we encounter when traveling.

Just my $.02. (But this is an aspect of RV camping that I'm particularly picky about.)

Mike


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## bigboot (Apr 23, 2007)

Scoutr2 said:


> I always put a couple gallons of water in both the gray and black tanks, along with a capful of liquid Calgon water softner and the correct amount of tank chemical in each at the end of each trip. (I use the "green stuff".) Then I drain the fresh water tank. If it will be more than a couple weeks before I go camping again, I drain the lines and the hot water heater, also.
> 
> Like Andy said - it depends on where your water came from. Some campgrounds have city water, and some have well water (with no treatment) that has a "stuff" in it. That "stuff" can range from high iron deposits, sulfur, lime, etc. I just don't want that stuff sitting in my tanks or lines for any length of time.
> 
> ...


Great info, Mike. Sounds like a good plan! Thanks for taking the time to respond to me.


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