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Old 07-15-2012, 08:02 AM   #1
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Fresh water tank overflow

I have a 2011 Vista 35F and when I fill the fresh water tank until it runs out the overflow, the same way I filled the tanks on my previous 5 MH, it doesn't stop until it almost empties the tank. My dealer in Northeast, Pa. told me there is a simple fix, but because my tank has stretched from being filled it wouldn't work and I needed a new tank!!! Honest, he really told me that!!! Winnebago told me to stick my head in the sewer compartment and visually check the tank, or have someone watch the gauge inside and tell me when it's full. When I told them that I never had to do that on my previous MH they told me that things have changed lately. I guess things have changed. Their quality being the first thing that comes to mind. They also told me to find a new dealer because mine is just trying to sell me a new tank. Trouble is, their are only 3 Winnebago dealers in Pa. and the other 2 are hundreds of mile from me. I would like to know if anyone else has this problem filling their tank, and if so, what have you done about it?
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Old 07-15-2012, 08:45 AM   #2
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That's strange. I can't imagine what would cause the tank to continue to drain after overflowing. I thought the overflow tube was located at or near the top of the tank would should stop flowing once the level dropped below it.

I've heard of fresh water tanks rupturing when overfilled... they're clearly not designed to withstand pressure and if the inlet hose is pumping more water than can escape via the overflow, pressure will build up quickly... but stretching?

Please keep us posted.

Rick
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Old 07-15-2012, 09:43 AM   #3
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I installed a valve in my overflow. My driveway is long and steep and I would lose a lot on my way out. Do be careful not to have it closed while filling the tank.
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Old 07-15-2012, 10:15 AM   #4
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If the water pressure is good the tank will fill faster than the air can escape causing the tank to expand quite a bit. Although the overflow tube is on the top of the tank, water will continue to flow out until the tank reaches it's normal size. It also appears that it will continue to siphon out causing the top of the tank to cave in until the pressure reaches the atmospheric pressure. You might try filling slower and opening the gravity fill port to allow more venting. I have also found that water will slosh out of a full tank while driving down the road because the tank is so shallow.
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Old 07-15-2012, 10:23 AM   #5
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When filled full and the water is running out of the overflow, siphoning will drain 1/2 of our tank back on the ground. I use a long 5/8" heater hose attached to the overflow to blow air back into the tank stopping the siphoning effect. The tank stays full and does not drain while driving. The heater hose is removed after filling.
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Old 07-15-2012, 10:24 AM   #6
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They have the vent hose stuck too far down in the fresh water tank. It is acting like a siphon. That's why your tank is stretching. Mine did the same thing. When it overfilled to the 105 gal max, it would dump down to about 85 gallons. Next time you overfill and it starts dumping turn off water and hold your hand over the overflow hose. If it stops, the vent is too far down in the tank. If it was even with the top, you could fill it with 125lb water pressure and the vent would be venting air and it wouldn't expand the tank. If you cut it even with the top, put a bug screen on it That's why it is stuck down in the tank. Kept the tank sealed. Dumb.
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Old 07-15-2012, 11:40 AM   #7
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Mine will stop siphoning out if I turn a faucet on inside the coach for a few seconds. Seems it stops the siphon effect. Might be worth a try.
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Old 07-15-2012, 12:21 PM   #8
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Here is my fix
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Old 07-15-2012, 01:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Perry White View Post
They have the vent hose stuck too far down in the fresh water tank. It is acting like a siphon. That's why your tank is stretching. Mine did the same thing. When it overfilled to the 105 gal max, it would dump down to about 85 gallons. Next time you overfill and it starts dumping turn off water and hold your hand over the overflow hose. If it stops, the vent is too far down in the tank. If it was even with the top, you could fill it with 125lb water pressure and the vent would be venting air and it wouldn't expand the tank. If you cut it even with the top, put a bug screen on it That's why it is stuck down in the tank. Kept the tank sealed. Dumb.
The overflow is the vent and Winnebago spin welds the fitting to the top of the tank so it can't extend down into the tank.
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Old 07-15-2012, 02:55 PM   #10
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I believe when filling the water pressure may cause the tank to swell. After that I believe the overflowing to relieve the pressure can result in siphoning. Mine does that frequently. I agree with becks that running a faucet may halt the siphoning. On a side note, my 05 Suncruiser does NOT have a gravity fill and I do believe that is DUMB.

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Old 07-15-2012, 04:24 PM   #11
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Does your overfill vent pipe look like this? Looks like they added a 3/4" pipe over the short piece of 1/2' vent pipe to break the siphoning. This is from your plumbing diagram.
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Old 07-15-2012, 07:24 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bruceh View Post
I installed a valve in my overflow. My driveway is long and steep and I would lose a lot on my way out. Do be careful not to have it closed while filling the tank.
I do not recommend this solution. Had a customer coach in our shop which did the same thing. They forgot to open the valve when filling the tank. Cost about $30K to fix the coach as the water tank expanded with no where to go.

You would not believe the damage.
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Old 07-15-2012, 07:46 PM   #13
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Quite a few of us on the Alpine forum have put a 5psi spring check on the front overflow/vent (we have 2) due to the way the back one is run it doesn't siphon. We were losing ~25% of the 100 gal we carry on average.
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Old 07-16-2012, 05:37 AM   #14
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Thanks for all the replies. I have a couple more questions. Can I access this tank from the top? I can't see any way to do that and I'm getting too old to crawl around under a MH. On the plumbing diagram for the overflow it shows a smaller pipe going into a larger one. Is the smaller one just slid into the larger or is a reducer used to do this? Thanks again for the help folks, I appreciate it.
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Old 07-16-2012, 08:22 AM   #15
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The larger pipe slips over the smaller one with an air cap around the pipe. There is a screw holding the larger pipe to the smaller one.
You should be able to see the overflow pipe behind the water panel in front of the water pump.
Don,t think you can get to the water tank from above.
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Old 07-24-2012, 02:46 PM   #16
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I had read about this problem on the forum, but I had never experienced it myself since I haven't had the need to fill my fresh water tank completely......until yesterday. While I was staying at an RV resort, and knowing that I was going on another trip in a few days where water wouldn't be available, I decided to fill my tank while I was still hooked up. Well, water continued to poor out of the overflow tube, and by the time I arrived home from my 100 mile trip, the tank was only half full. So.....knowing that I was going to need that water this weekend, I stopped by an RV supply store & bought a small hose clamp, a slighter larger hose clamp, a 6" piece of rubber tubing to fit inside the 1/2" PVC pipe tubing (the overflow), and a ribbed petcock designed to fit inside multiple diameter tubes. I came home, pulled out the perforated tube/sleeve that was in the bottom of the overflow tube. Then I shoved the tubing in and made sure it was snug, and tightened a hose clamp around it. Then I put the larger hose clamp onto the bottom of the hose, and pushed the petcock as far up into the hose as I could, so that it was fairly tight, then ran the hose clamp down onto it, and tightened it down. Voila!! It took me all of 10 minutes. Then I hooked up my hose, filled my tank with the petcock open until water started flowing out, and then I closed the petcock. Took it for a drive, went and got some gas, etc. Never leaked another drop, and the tank is still full (or as full as it's gonna get without leaving the petcock closed and filling it above the overflow, which is NOT a good idea, I'm thinkin'. :>) So now when I fill it, all I do is open the petcock and fill until the water is coming out of the overflow tube, and shut off the water fill lever and turn the petcock valve to stop the flow. Very simple, yet very effective, and it cost less than $10. This is what Winnebago should have done, or something similar. :>( It's a damn shame to buy a brand new, expensive motorhome and have something so poorly designed as this!! :>(
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Old 07-24-2012, 02:55 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pusherman View Post
I do not recommend this solution. Had a customer coach in our shop which did the same thing. They forgot to open the valve when filling the tank. Cost about $30K to fix the coach as the water tank expanded with no where to go.

You would not believe the damage.
I just installed a petcock on mine today. I agree that if I were ever to forget to open the petcock before filling, it would be a bad thing. However, it's no different than forgetting to raise your jacks, lower your antenna or dish, or any number of other things that can cause damage if you forget. It's pointless to have a fresh water tank onboard if the tank is going to drain before you even get to your destination. The sad part is that Winnebago knows about this problem and they're just not stepping up to resolve it with a fix! I know, because I've talked to them about it. Their suggestion is to just loop the tube of rubber and create a "P" trap, like beneath your sink. "That MIGHT work!" :>(
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Old 07-25-2012, 01:20 PM   #18
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It is my opinion that Winnebago doesn't step up and fix a multitude of long time problems. The ones I've dealt with on my 2011 Vista 35F are brackets that come unglued, water tank overflowing, water leaking into storage compartments and electrical panel compartments, shoddy interior work and window weephole cover that fall off constantly. If you search just this forum you will find all of these going back years and not being fixed by Winnebago. It makes me wonder about all the other forums. My M/H is 18 months old with 11,000 miles on it. I tried to get rid of it and in trade I was offered 45,000. AND they didn't even offer to kiss me.
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Old 08-03-2012, 10:29 PM   #19
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After considering Pusherman's response above concerning damage which resulted from having a valve on the overflow which someone forgot to open and causing $35k in damages, I decided to purchase a label maker for about $20 at Walmart, and I made some labels and affixed them just above my FILL VALVE on the coach. "OPEN PETCOCK BEFORE FILLING FRESH WATER TANK". :>)
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Old 06-20-2016, 12:06 PM   #20
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Low Cost and Simple solution to prevent syphoning

Quote:
Originally Posted by RickO View Post
That's strange. I can't imagine what would cause the tank to continue to drain after overflowing. I thought the overflow tube was located at or near the top of the tank would should stop flowing once the level dropped below it.

I've heard of fresh water tanks rupturing when overfilled... they're clearly not designed to withstand pressure and if the inlet hose is pumping more water than can escape via the overflow, pressure will build up quickly... but stretching?

Please keep us posted.

Rick
------------------------------------------------------
Dear Rick,

I have had the same problem. My tank contracts some so I lose about a third of a tank with syphoning.

My syphon hose is mounted on the top of the tank with an elbow. It goes horizontally to the wheel well, and uses another elbow to create a three foot downspout.

I replaced the downspout elbow with a tee fitting. I reattached the downspout, but also added a tube going up about four inches. At it end I used another tee fitting, with short hoses attached bending slightly down.

I replaced all of the hard tubing with 1/2 5/8 inch venyl flexible clear tubing. Installation took less than half an hour. is plenty of air in the tube to prevent syphoning.

Cost me less than ten dollars. Works like a charm. Please pass this along if it works for you..

Safe travel,

John
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