City Water Connection

ducj270659 · 02-08-2015, 06:34 PM

It might a beginner's question but, when I am connected to City water, does the water tank fills up.

I ask this because the last time I had a City water connection, when I left, there was an overflow of water when I started moving, it was coming out of the water filling opening (ie. not the City water connection). Either (i) I had forgot to empty the tank when I left my previous off-the-grid campsite, (ii) there is something wrong with my water piping, or (iii) the tank fills-up when you have a City water connection.

Thank You in advance for your advice.

**LJAZ** · 02-09-2015, 07:11 AM

No, the fresh water tank won't fill from the city water hookup.

Travels with Yoly · 02-09-2015, 08:37 AM

I'm not an expert or anything and I know that different models may be configured differently but from my experience, no water should come out of the fresh water fill even if the tank is over full, as there is an "overflow" usually downstream of the fill port that allows excess water to drain out before it gets back up to the filler opening. This water is usually discharged beneath the camper.

I could also be wrong in this regard

jbfunfinder · 02-09-2015, 06:12 PM

On my former 2006 FF, I had a faulty 12v water pump and city water under pressure was somehow passing through the pump in reverse direction and causing my water tank to overflow out through the overflow hole (look for a small screen just above the fill hole) on the outside of the trailer. I am unsure just why this happeded, just like the others who have responded. This because I never looked into whether there is a one-way valve located either in the pump mechanism or near it on the pressure side. I simply replaced the pump and the problem was solved. That is not necessarily a solution in you case. Hopefully someone with more knowledge will respond and assist you.

michellep · 02-10-2015, 10:01 AM

Exact same thing happened to me last August - hooked up to city water (for the first time) and the fresh water holding tank overflowed.

Turned out to be faulty water pump - if I recall correctly - a bad check valve.
(no, I did not do the diagnosis; my dealer did...)

New pump to replace the already 'new pump', and problem appears fixed.

Travels with Yoly · 02-21-2015, 10:37 AM

I have recently run across a problem possibly linked to this issue. Since this is our first trip with the FF and we have been hooked to city water for weeks, I decided to put some water in the fresh water tank for the first time just to have some on board in case we needed to stop along the road somewhere and use the toilet. I found it very hard to put water into the fill port. It kept squirting back out as if the tank was not venting properly. Eventually I managed to fill the tank by trickling water in. Every once in a while, the vent would burp a gulp of air and it would shove a decent spray of water back out the fill port. Then I ran the pump for the first time and found the cabin floor flooded in moments. Eventually, I found the leak and managed to fix it. However, I then decided to drain the fresh water tank so I flipped the drain lever up inline with the line and barely any water trickled out. The tank won't drain because of a venting/vacuum issue. I don't want to mess with the sealing skin under the trailer so I can't access the vent system easily ..... guess it will go back to the dealer when we get home.

profdant139 · 02-21-2015, 05:31 PM

There could be an easier fix -- make sure that the fill line slants down along its entire length. Ours had a slight rise when we got the trailer, and it would not fill well. I just pulled the flexible pipe down a little and fastened it in place with a cable tie. Problem solved.

On our trailer, I can access the fill line under one of the dinette seats -- open the hatch and there it is.

Wouldn't that be cool if your problem is so easily solved? I sure hope so -- let us know!

Travels with Yoly · 02-22-2015, 08:08 AM

In the case with our 214, access is very limited. The fill is on the opposite side of the dinette (slideout) and comes in where the refrigerator is. The underside is nicely skinned with a black material and an aluminum plate in that area. An RV technician I spoke with said that possibly the vent hose was kinked between the fill neck and the tank .... that's the way it behaves.

I also had one of the gas valves on the Suburban stove fail. I was in the middle of cooking dinner and the burner was on. When I went to shut the burner off, the valve locked up and seized and wouldn't rotate so I couldn't turn it off. I had to shut the propane off at the tank. Thankfully, it's easy to replace. In contacting Suburban I found out that the stove in our 214 is a discontinued model and they only have 3 remaining valves in stock for it.