Trouble filling fresh water tank

[Texas mama]

Can’t fill fresh water holding tank. When we are connected to city water, no problems, water works just fine. But when we run off of the holding tank, the tank acts empty (spurts out little bits of water. (and tank sensor for fresh water says empty), but when we go to fill it up (even using the skinny attachment), water shoots right back out like it is full. The tank is under the bed. It is very empty. Why won’t it let us fill it up?
Using the top one to fill the tank and the skinny (photos attached)attachment. We have a 2015 chalet 31’

[Morich]

I'm not finding an RV to fit what you have given us for ID. I find mostly A-frame popups in a quick search!!
The fresh fill on most is the same if you have a "gravity fill" port, so some info will be the same.
A few things come to mind.

Any chance of sticking a vacuum hose over the fill port to see if something would vacuum out? Better to vac something out than to push it down into the drinking water!
One is that there is something stuck in the fill tube, so that the water never gets to the tank. A simple test for this might be to open the tank drain and let water run slowly to see if it then comes out the bottom, proving the tube is open enough to pass "some" water. If some goes through, try gradually opening the faucet more until it begins to back up or flow on through much faster. Maybe the tube is just long and has kinks that slow the water morethan expected?
Maybe somebody shoved a paper towel in the fill port??

The second is a bit more iffy as there is likely a small vent tube next to the fill tube. That may/may not be true as we know little about what other builders do on their RV, as we are mostly Winnebago folks here.

If you see a small hole next to the fill, that should letair come out as water goes in. If there is no way for air to get out, the water will have a hard time going in, so can you figure a way to hold a tube, etc over that vent hole and blow to prove it open or stopped up?

Maybe check as much of the tube as you can see to be sure there is not something bending or closing the fill tube. Maybe somebody stored a case of soda under the bed and it'son topof the tube?
You may need to try pushing something kind of flexible down the fill port to "feel" for where it might be closed. Careful not to use something sharp like a wire that might punch through the wall of the fill tube. Something like a piece of cheap old hose with the end cut off, might be a good thing to try??

[Texas mama]

Originally Posted by Morich

I'm not finding an RV to fit what you have given us for ID. I find mostly A-frame popups in a quick search!!
The fresh fill on most is the same if you have a "gravity fill" port, so some info will be the same.
A few things come to mind.

Any chance of sticking a vacuum hose over the fill port to see if something would vacuum out? Better to vac something out than to push it down into the drinking water!
One is that there is something stuck in the fill tube, so that the water never gets to the tank. A simple test for this might be to open the tank drain and let water run slowly to see if it then comes out the bottom, proving the tube is open enough to pass "some" water. If some goes through, try gradually opening the faucet more until it begins to back up or flow on through much faster. Maybe the tube is just long and has kinks that slow the water morethan expected?
Maybe somebody shoved a paper towel in the fill port??

The second is a bit more iffy as there is likely a small vent tube next to the fill tube. That may/may not be true as we know little about what other builders do on their RV, as we are mostly Winnebago folks here.

If you see a small hole next to the fill, that should letair come out as water goes in. If there is no way for air to get out, the water will have a hard time going in, so can you figure a way to hold a tube, etc over that vent hole and blow to prove it open or stopped up?

Maybe check as much of the tube as you can see to be sure there is not something bending or closing the fill tube. Maybe somebody stored a case of soda under the bed and it'son topof the tube?
You may need to try pushing something kind of flexible down the fill port to "feel" for where it might be closed. Careful not to use something sharp like a wire that might punch through the wall of the fill tube. Something like a piece of cheap old hose with the end cut off, might be a good thing to try??

Thanks. It’s a Winnebago chalet (very similiar to the winnwbago vista or Minnie Winnie class c) it’s a fleet series so it’s hard to find info on. I will definitely try the vacuum and pushing something down the tube. We did put a hose about 3 feet down and it fit so maybe we will just go further to see if something pops out in the tank. Thanks for the ideas that it may be clogged.

[Bones2003]

This is a long shot but since the tank is under the bed, I assume you can lift up the platform on the bed which is how you saw that the tank was empty. You should be able to see the flexible fill hose that comes from the side of the motorhome to the tank. It will come from that little locking door in your first photo. If there are cabinets on the side of the bed, can you remove the drawers to see the full route that flexible hose takes? If so, maybe you can see a kink or a pinch point.

[Morich]

There is a great site that lets us look at the parts like this here:
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm

But that leads me no place as the Vista and Minnie in 31 feet don't have the gravity feed.
Is it possible there is a label near the drivers door which might have an exact model number info? That might let you spot the correct info and get a look at how the tube runs?

[wyocamper]

The fresh water gravity feed on my Vista is behind a small locking door above the water/power compartment, it looks just like the one in the OP's photo.

[Morich]

Originally Posted by wyocamper

The fresh water gravity feed on my Vista is behind a small locking door above the water/power compartment, it looks just like the one in the OP's photo.

Yes, that is part of the confusion as the 2015 Vista 27 foot does have gravity feed and it does look like lots of potential for getting kinked or stopped up. But the 31 foot as they mention doesn't show a gravity feed.
So that brings the question of which model they have, since Chalet seems to be one made special for the rental groups.


If it matches what is on the 27N rather than being 31 feet, there is a spot which looks like a builtin trouble spot as the tube seems to run very nearly flat for some distance before dropping. That might make it tend to let water back up more than tubes with more drop at the start??



But the whole idea is that we don't know what they have, so no real way to give good solutions!

[Ray,IN]

I'l begin with insuring the vent hose is clear. If it has a droop, water collects in the droop and prevents air from exiting the tank.
You might be able to view the vent hose from under the bed platform, if you can, fasten it up so there is no droop in the hose. it should have a constant slope down to the tank.