Adding a gravity fill for fresh water tank

[Rossi6998]

My RV (2013 Itasca Sunstar 26HE) did not come with a gravity fill for the fresh water tank. I'm thinking about adding one for convenience purposes. Has anyone added one to their RV? I would like to hear any positive or negative experience prior to me making a final decision on this issue.

I have a mobile RV guy who does great work and I am going to discuss this issue with him too.

[Morich]

Interesting idea and one that would be something like what I did on a "home-made " at one point way back!
I had two brothers and we "invented" a number of things at that stage!

Part of the question may be how you mean to work it. Actual gravity where you lift the water above the RV tank and let it run downhill? Or is it going to be where you have a second tank filled and it might be practical to use a small transfer pump, letting you work the flow uphill?
Both have advantages and disadvantages, so some thought is needed for what is best.
We found lifting and pouring was not something that worked as holding that much water that high was not a good plan as the tubing for the transfer was too slow!

One problem we learned to regret was thinking we could manage putting a large fill port directly into the tank and keeping our work sealed over the long haul was NOT a good plan! I think we lost more water on the 50-60 mile trip to the lake than we ever gained!
Water is tricky stuff when it gets to moving around on the drive!

I would currently look at a tank of some type, in a second vehicle to transport water and a port tied into the existing RV lines, rather than attempt a DIY connection directly into a tank where you will have such limited access.

But that may be where more info on what you have may help the planning?
Have you found the interactive parts drawings to take a look at where you might be able to find existing tubes and the tank?
Seeing the drawings and then looking in person may help you get a good plan?
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm

Something like this?



Lots of questions like can you get the blue panel off okay to get access? But a tee into this line might let you do a transfer, either holding the tank but not too high or with a small pump for the smallish line you will be feeding into?

The whole deal would be under the floor which is a help but lots more planning needed! Like the new port may need a solid cap to cut water loss when splashing? We found water rushing can blow a plastic cap that looks solid off without even thinking about it!

[creativepart]

The first thing I would ask is, "why didn't Winnebago include a gravity fill when they designed the coach?"

I'd guess there is some reason that is based on where the Fresh Tank resides and what's between the top of that tank and the outside wall of the motorhome. I doubt they did that to save $5 worth of parts and installation. There must be a good reason. But now you have to pay to discover the reason.

[Rossi6998]

Morich - I am leaning against trying to put some type of valve or opening directly into the side of the water tank. My concern (as you have mentioned) is it leaking and having further problems. I do like the T-Valve idea and think I will look into this further. Thanks!

[Rossi6998]

Creativepart - Thank you for the response. The coach was designed to be an entry level Class A coach and there were common features I had on my Itasca Class C (trade-in) that were not included with my Class A to keep the price point low. Since it was considered an entry level coach, I would not doubt that they did not add a gravity fill to save that five bucks.

I remember when I first bought the coach many years ago, I mentioned it had no gravity fill and the Dealer's Service Department said they could add one by essentially doing what Morich described above with the existing water lines.

I think looking further at modifying the water lines is the way to go. If I don't like the setup, I can always return it to the way it was.

[Morich]

It's kind of simple but a trick that we proved won't work is adding the gravity fill too low into the tank! To get water to run downhill/gravity, it has to be higher than the TOP of the water in the tank!
NOT one of our brighter moves to put the pipe into the tank nearer the bottom so that as the water in the tank got higher, the flow got slower!

The 6P's of life?
Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

[powercat_ras]

Gravity feed normally uses a larger tubing from the gravity feed wall connection to the top of the water tank, on my Vista Winnebago used 1 1/2" tubing. Since there is no water pressure to push water thru a 1/2" PEX line this is needed.

Gravity feed port will need to be 12 to 18" higher or more than the top of the water tank so that the water flows well down into the tank, remember there's just gravity to move the water into the tank.

One thought I have is that you might be able to tee into the line between the city/fill selector and the water tank and put another water hose connection on the service center panel, just for gravity feed use. This would be capped normally when not doing gravity feed. To use as a gravity feed port you would have a short length of riser hose with a funnel on top and something to hold it 18-24" above the top of the water tank when doing gravity feed. Because of the 1/2" restriction it would not work as well as the OEM does but it might meet your need.

[Eagle5]

Hi John,
On my Minnie Winnie 22M, the top of my tank is higher than my Tank Fill hose connection. It would not be possible to have a gravity-fill connection on mine which would be above the top of the tank, because living area and closet space occupies those above-the-waterline locations. I wonder if the same is true with your motorhome?
Thanks, Eagle5

2013 Itasca Sunstar 26HE

[lawdot74]

Why do you want or feel you need a gravity fill option?

My last toy hauler TT did not come with a gravity fill option, but one could attach a hose to the winterize/sanitize port, turn some valves and use the pump to fill the tank from an external water source.

My ‘05 journey has a gravity fill port but I find the pump and winterize hose to be so much easier to use.

Pouring water via jug takes patience and strength.

If you don’t have a winterize system in place then perhaps it would be simpler to add the winterize hose and valves killing two birds with one stone.

[dickb46]

Well said lawdot74
dickb

[Rossi6998]

Hi Lawdot74... Thanks for the input. The motorhome does have a winterize system, but it only flows one way which is into the water lines and away from the fresh water tank. I have played around with the gravity fill idea, but I think I have decided to create a portable pump case which I have seen on YouTube. To me, this sounds like a better idea and I do not have to mess with my plumbing or fresh water tank. Thank you all for your input.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUROv42cQ48&t=405s

[Morich]

That's where we all have different wants and needs and often depends on what we each feel worthwhile. The stand alone pump is one that my group used to use a lot as we were doing more of the boondock thing where getting fresh water was often a trip to the supply, fill some type container and come back to pump it in.
We kept changing things as we changed vehicles and it often took several tries but pouring it in was out pretty quick once we had used a pump.

One point to consider is how much more pump you may be able to buy and get more water moved quicker if you move away from the Rv specific pumps as they are often "special priced" for RV folks!

[cruizerEd]

I wrote a nice description and explanation on how to use this to gravity feed and how to use it to fill from city water faster but my login timed out while composing and it is gone. I'm not doing all that again.

Here are the pictures.

[Eagle5]

Originally Posted by cruizerEd

I wrote a nice description and explanation on how to use this to gravity feed and how to use it to fill from city water faster but my login timed out while composing and it is gone. I'm not doing all that again.

Here are the pictures.

Hi CruizerEd,
I have had that happen to me too, so I make a back-up copy into a simple text editor for those longer editing sessions. You can also select all text when you are going to be away from the keyboard and put it into your copy buffer. I totally get your irritation with that time-out. I will send a note onto Janet & creativepart to see if the timeout duration can be increased.
From the looks of your photos, your work looks great.
Thanks, Eagle5
P.S. There may be another issue other than a away-from-keyboard time-out causing the problem you encountered. I am inquiring about that.

[DKStewart]

Originally Posted by Rossi6998

My RV (2013 Itasca Sunstar 26HE) did not come with a gravity fill for the fresh water tank. I'm thinking about adding one for convenience purposes. Has anyone added one to their RV? I would like to hear any positive or negative experience prior to me making a final decision on this issue.

I have a mobile RV guy who does great work and I am going to discuss this issue with him too.

I considered adding a gravity feed to my 2019 Minnie Winnie 31G. Instead, I purchased an inexpensive transfer pump and two short (6') hoses. When I want to add water, without a spigot handy, I simply drop one hose in my container and connect the other to the fill. the water transfers quickly, much faster than using a gravity feed, and all the heavy containers sit on the ground.

[Morich]

Small point to consider when thinking of building a tranfer pump? You will likely want a self priming pump for this to avoid the trick of pouring water into the pump for priming!
The difference is in how the pump developes the pressure tomove the water. Some will move air and that will draw water until it gets to the pump.
Other impeller designs will not move air and have to be flooded to get them to work!

Use care if shopping for a pump!

[tim myers]

Originally Posted by creativepart

The first thing I would ask is, "why didn't Winnebago include a gravity fill when they designed the coach?"

I'd guess there is some reason that is based on where the Fresh Tank resides and what's between the top of that tank and the outside wall of the motorhome. I doubt they did that to save $5 worth of parts and installation. There must be a good reason. But now you have to pay to discover the reason.

There is no gravity fill on my Journey either

[Morich]

The idea may be how the designer has in mind using the rV. Many do want a gravity fill if they go out where no water at sites. But that is so rare for me that a gravity fill is pretty much a wasted effort and I would lean toward saving even a few dollars on the cost!

My group left the boondock idea when we left the tent camper stage. We worked to do it for a while as we made different DIY RV but found we rarely used it after that. Once we found we could fill the tanks for onroad use, we never poured any more water than really required!

[cruizerEd]

We were dry camping in Big Meadows CG, Shenandoah NP when this was posted. I added about 100 gallons using my setup. Let us take showers and be fairly casual with water. Showers there a $5 and not long enough for two people. So I got some exercise which I enjoy and saved $120.

If you do build a pump system I personally would only use a drinking water approved pump not something cheap from harbor freight.