Water tank ??'s

Lil'Darlin1972 · 01-30-2007, 11:13 AM

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">I have soooo much info from Winnebago to read...but I was hoping you all could forgive a beginners questions.
1- If we fill up at home with a full tank of water and go camping...what keeps the water from freezing ?? Is there heat tape, or a heated basement on my model ?? Would we be ok to go out and dry camp ??
2- Once we are back home and have emptied our tanks we will need to have the lines blown out again, right ??
3-How often do I need to sanitize the tanks with bleach and should I do it before or after filling it up for the first time ??
4-We want enough water onboard to be able to use the toilet, wash dishes, things like that while overnighting..but once we get to the campgrounds we will be full hook ups. Would we be better off filling water tank partially, or all the way when traveling ??

THANK YOU all so much </span>

Lil'Darlin1972 · 01-30-2007, 11:13 AM

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">I have soooo much info from Winnebago to read...but I was hoping you all could forgive a beginners questions.
1- If we fill up at home with a full tank of water and go camping...what keeps the water from freezing ?? Is there heat tape, or a heated basement on my model ?? Would we be ok to go out and dry camp ??
2- Once we are back home and have emptied our tanks we will need to have the lines blown out again, right ??
3-How often do I need to sanitize the tanks with bleach and should I do it before or after filling it up for the first time ??
4-We want enough water onboard to be able to use the toilet, wash dishes, things like that while overnighting..but once we get to the campgrounds we will be full hook ups. Would we be better off filling water tank partially, or all the way when traveling ??

THANK YOU all so much </span>

smlranger · 01-30-2007, 11:42 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Lil'Darlin1972:
<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">I have soooo much info from Winnebago to read...but I was hoping you all could forgive a beginners questions.
1- If we fill up at home with a full tank of water and go camping...what keeps the water from freezing ?? Is there heat tape, or a heated basement on my model ?? Would we be ok to go out and dry camp ?? 2- Once we are back home and have emptied our tanks we will need to have the lines blown out again, right ??
3-How often do I need to sanitize the tanks with bleach and should I do it before or after filling it up for the first time ??
4-We want enough water onboard to be able to use the toilet, wash dishes, things like that while overnighting..but once we get to the campgrounds we will be full hook ups. Would we be better off filling water tank partially, or all the way when traveling ??

THANK YOU all so much </span>

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Your water tank should not freeze as long as you have your LP furnace set to run. Most winne's have the tank in a compartment with a heat duct nearby.

We always travel with the FW tank at least 50% full to flush the john or in case we need to overnite in a Wally World lot and want to shower. Remember, the more water you elect to haul, it's 8 lbs for every gallon. Also, traveling with kids, you may find gray water tank capacity as much of an issue as FW capacity. It's amazing how quick that grey water tank fills when you wash dishes, shower, etc. You can always top off fresh water and dump your holding tanks at Flying J and many Love's Travel Centers (plus get your gas and look at some cool truckers stuff

)...or, eat some rib-sticking food

.

I 'sanitize' my FW tank every spring but we never drink water from the tank... we always carry bottled water for on-the-road drinking....once in a park with hook ups, we filter the water.

Yes, you will have to blow out your lines after your winter trips (and drain your water heater) to prevent freezing unless you are going to keep the rig heated while its stored.

Lil'Darlin1972 · 01-30-2007, 11:55 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Your water tank should not freeze as long as you have your LP furnace set to run. Most winne's have the tank in a compartment with a heat duct nearby.

We always travel with the FW tank at least 50% full to flush the john or in case we need to overnite in a Wally World lot and want to shower. Remember, the more water you elect to haul, it's 8 lbs for every gallon. Also, traveling with kids, you may find gray water tank capacity as much of an issue as FW capacity. It's amazing how quick that grey water tank fills when you wash dishes, shower, etc. You can always top off fresh water and dump your holding tanks at Flying J and many Love's Travel Centers (plus get your gas and look at some cool truckers stuff )...or, eat some rib-sticking food .

I 'sanitize' my FW tank every spring but we never drink water from the tank... we always carry bottled water for on-the-road drinking....once in a park with hook ups, we filter the water.

Yes, you will have to blow out your lines after your winter trips (and drain your water heater) to prevent freezing unless you are going to keep the rig heated while its stored. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">We drink bottled water too. We do use the tap for cooking and cleaning.

I am really the only one that uses the shower daily. As long as the CG facilies are ok, my dh prefers to have more room to move. We also find it easier to have the kids all go shower at the same time rather than keep waiting for the water to heat up between showers. We had a 10gallon in the 5ver and I was not happy to find that the new coach only has a 6gallon. Gulp. Oh well, who really needs conditioner anyway ?!?!

Thanks for your tips </span>

Y-Guy · 01-30-2007, 12:59 PM

The fresh water tank on our rigs is located under the bed. Freezing as already said isn't a huge issue, but worth keeping an eye on too. You can see into the connection compartment if you lift up the bed, so there is some amount of air that is shared and can get cold.

After our trip in December I blew the lines out. However our dealer also highly suggested adding some anti-freeze to the water pump - enough enough so the water left doesn't freeze. I used some for that and added some to each drain for the P-Traps.

One thing we found with the 6 gallon tank was to run both the 110 heater and the gas, really heated the water up fast. We did this on our previous 5er as well.

Lil'Darlin1972 · 01-30-2007, 03:19 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">One thing we found with the 6 gallon tank was to run both the 110 heater and the gas, really heated the water up fast. We did this on our previous 5er as well. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<span class="ev_code_PURPLE">Great tip..thanks !!</span>

rick_od · 01-30-2007, 04:22 PM

My Sightseer 30B has a 75 gallon FW tank, including the Hot Water Heater. We have the MotorAid option. As you may know, this runs coolant to a heater core under the rear bed and also goes to the HWH. I like to hook up a water line (to the city water fill not the gravity fill) and count to 120. This gives about a 1/3 of a tank. I do this for two reasons. It gives me water to wash my hands and flush the toilet. More importantly, with water in the HWH, it acts like a heat exchanger for the engine coolant. If I notice that the engine is running warm, I will tell the wife to run the hot water at the kitchen sink untill it gets cold. This will remove all the hot water from the HWH replacing it with cold water so the engine coolant in the HWH will hopefully cool down. Nock on wood, I've never had to do it.

Y-Guy · 01-30-2007, 04:36 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">rick_od </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Good idea, wouldn't the coach heat also help to lower the engine coolant as well?