Filling Hot Water Tank

LO

longhorn1

Ouch, that stings!
Joined
Nov 25, 2013
Messages
2,826
Location
Carmel, Indiana
When you fill the 20 gallon water tank, will the filling also fill the hot water tank? Or once the water tank is filled, the FWC instructions say turn on one or both sink faucets and then turn on the water pump until the flow of water is smooth. Is this step what fills the hot water tank or does it fill when you fill the 20 gal. tank? This is a little confusing.

I may have been doing this wrong for the past 3 years and may now have paid the price of turning on the hot water switch with an empty or near empty hot water tank.

Hopefully Stan or someone else at FWC can clarify this.

As of now I have to replace the deformed hot water tank with a new tank. jd
 
Remember that the hot water heater works whether using the fresh water tank and pump or using city water. A quicker way to fill the hot water tank than using the pump is to attach the hose to the city water attachment.

Turn on the city water and open the hot water faucet. When water flows freely without sputtering, the hot water tank is full. City water will fill the hot water tank much faster than the campers pump. You can fill the fresh water tank before or after filling the hot water tank. Takes only a couple of minutes. Be sure to use a pressure regulator on the city water supply.

Paul
 
Timothy McGowen said:
If thats the case could you just open the hot water drain to the main tank once the hot water heater is full then fill up the main tank?
Click to expand...
Not sure why one would want to do that. Just unscrew the hose from the city water inlet and move two inches to the left to fill as designed.

Paul
 
I'm not sure this is the best graphic for this but I found it useful. I say 'not the best' because it's not specific to the FWC system. It's from a Flojet water pump manual (this one).

(click to enlarge)

flojetWaterSystemDiagram.jpg

In any case it shows the two sources of pressurized water --- (1) 'city water' which is already under pressure from the home or campsite's water system or (2) water pumped out of the freshwater tank by the onboard electric water pump. Either can be used to fill the water-heater tank. The city water one will fill faster and is probably smarter (as it doesn't wear the onboard pump). In either case, it's important to remember to open the hot-water faucet so the air in the hot-water tank can be pushed out by the incoming water trying to fill that tank.

(If anyone knows of a graphic more specific to FWC campers, please post or let me know)
 
PaulT said:
Not sure why one would want to do that. Just unscrew the hose from the city water inlet and move two inches to the left to fill as designed.

Paul
Click to expand...
It would be easier to just turn the knob while working in the camper.
 
Idea to remember: Some "city" water supplies have more pressure than the FWC system can handle. There are simple and inexpensive attachments you place on the city faucet and attach the fill hose to, which reduces pressure [can't remember the psi] and protects against pressure surges from city supply line.

Phil
 
Wallowa said:
Idea to remember: Some "city" water supplies have more pressure than the FWC system can handle. There are simple and inexpensive attachments you place on the city faucet and attach the fill hose to, which reduces pressure [can't remember the psi] and protects against pressure surges from city supply line.

Phil
Click to expand...
This post reminded me there's a photo of a water regulator in the 2017 FWC camper manual (on page 47). A bit of searching found it's a Valterra model-- this one. Then I ran onto this article which does some real-world testing. Looks like the brass version will get you 47 psi/9.1 gpm and the stainless model will get you 52 psi/10.4 gpm. The chart at the bottom of the article summarizes but the article is worth a read. Looks like the value leader is the Camco one (of the models tested).
 
Old Crow said:
This post reminded me there's a photo of a water regulator in the 2017 FWC camper manual (on page 47). A bit of searching found it's a Valterra model-- this one. Then I ran onto this article which does some real-world testing. Looks like the brass version will get you 47 psi/9.1 gpm and the stainless model will get you 52 psi/10.4 gpm. The chart at the bottom of the article summarizes but the article is worth a read. Looks like the value leader is the Camco one (of the models tested).
Click to expand...

We leave the Camco pressure "regulator" attached to our fill hose...so I will not forget.
 
Wallowa said:
We leave the Camco pressure "regulator" attached to our fill hose...so I will not forget.
Click to expand...
+1

And after use, drain the hose then screw the other end of the hose into the regulator to keep the interior clean. Also, keeps the hose more manageable for storage.

Paul
 
PaulT said:
+1

And after use, drain the hose then screw the other end of the hose into the regulator to keep the interior clean. Also, keeps the hose more manageable for storage.

Paul
Click to expand...

Coupling the hose back onto itself is at first blush a good idea...BUT if you live where mold etc proliferates, you really need to dry out the hose before sealing it.

Phil
 
Well everyone, the doctors report is back and it was not a good one. I never got the hot water tank filled and a dry fire damaged the baffles. The cost to replace the tank and thermostat was a staggering $648. What a bonehead. So now I will be filling the city water first when starting with a empty water tank, making sure the hot water tank is full and then switching to fill the water tank. I truly hope no one else has this happen. Happy camping. jd
 
Thanks guys. It reminds me of an old post in the Lounge that talked about our screw ups
Not that I want to claim the big one, but I will accept the title. I made cheat sheets and had them laminated. I, however forgot to make one for the hot water tank. My wife asked me if that was part of my notes back in 2014 when we picked up the camper. I still had my notes and sure enough I had it very well detailed
Ouch that stings. An Easter weekend camping trip will take some of the sting away. Hoping this doesn't happen to anyone else. jd
 
Serious ouch. I've been lucky that the first thing I do when I set up camp is start the pump so the few times I've forgotten to fill up the hot water heater were taken care of by accident.
 
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