Painfully Slow Fresh H2O Fill

[AlmostRetired]

I have a 2016 ES. I finally got around to addressing a slow fill issue with the rig. We dry camp frequently at Music Festivals. We typically have another couple stay with us. Consequently we use quite a bit of water since we will shower daily and the macerator toilet is a water pig. I don’t believe in being too conservative with either the generator use or the water use since why spend all the money on a nice rig and then try to save a few bucks when you’re actually wanting to enjoy your purchase?
The problem is it takes more than an hour to fill the 100 gallon tank. I calculate I’m filling at 1.4 GPM. I recognize I’m not paying the vendor for the water but more for his time for a refill. I will not get a vendor to come back a second time even if I offer double the normal price.
Is this a normal experience for other DRV rigs? Lazydays just spent 10 hrs of labor trying to find a kinked hose or other obstruction. No success. So I just wasted a ton of dough for nothing. In hindsight I would’ve used that money to bribe the vendors until I replace this unit.

[lwmcguir]

Over the years my slow water filling issues were either plugged or kinked vents or fill tubes.

I did use a short hose extension to poke down the fill tube on most of the rigs to speed up the fill to a 2-3 gpm fill rate which was acceptable.

Get the fill tube inserted down far enough bubbles don't form and "vapor lock" the fill. Also be sure the vent is completely clear of water and visually check to be sure no kinks although you already paid for that.

[The Gritz Carlton]

Not sure of the set up in the DRV but my coach had the same issue. Turned out to be the fill hose was dipped steeply between the fill inlet and the tank. Water would stand in the low point and offer resistance when filling. Do you have water coming back out of the fill inlet as it fills? I had to wrap electrical tape around the end of the hose to create a "seal" at the inlet and force the water through until the water standing in the low point started flowing. Once it got going it seemed to fill normal. The factory service center shortened and tied up the fill inlet hose between the fill port and the tank...problem solved. Is the smaller vent tube in the same place as your fill inlet? Do you hear pressure releasing through this vent tube?

[lwmcguir]

On my Landmark I shortened the fill line several inches per what Gritz noted. Made a big difference in fill rate

[Cummins12V98]

Have you replaced your KantLeak valve assembly yet?

[AlmostRetired]

Thanks for the ideas. I have my 4th Kantleak installed and it is the latest/greatest.�� It has the direct connection of a water hose to enable high pressure filling vs. gravity feed as many of you know. I can hear air escape from the vent and it will overflow easily through the vent once full. I do not have water leaking from the vent as I fill. This isn’t a big deal since everything works fine on city water and I can spend 1hr and a few minutes filling at home. It’s only a pain in the patoot when I’m dry camping and need a refill. I already feel silly spending the money for zero improvement. I can either not bring another couple, G.I. Showers, or offer to pay for water via time on site. This is really a tiny cross to bear.
My principal reason for posting was to see if others have the same issue with DRV. Lazydays tells me it’s a design issue and their search of forums shows it’s frequently cited as a complaint. My search yielded no such results.

[Nursx2]

The air return line gets filled with water if you ever filled it up to much - this is the overflow port / line that goes to the outside. I had to disconnect it and blow the water from it. It was caught in the tube inside the wall and could not be seen nor drained. Worked like a charm.

[AlmostRetired]

One thing to note: They did say there was a great deal of pressure drop from the Kantleak. They said they could put their hand over the connection and stop the flow. They cannot do that with the bare hose supplying the unit.

[AlmostRetired]

I’ll try to use the compressor and blow it out. I’ll be quite upset if that fixes the issue. I pick it up from Lazydays tomorrow.

[lwmcguir]

Originally Posted by Nursx2

The air return line gets filled with water if you ever filled it up to much - this is the overflow port / line that goes to the outside. I had to disconnect it and blow the water from it. It was caught in the tube inside the wall and could not be seen nor drained. Worked like a charm.

Very common and they are usually to long and sag holding water

[MS60ocb]

Originally Posted by AlmostRetired

I have a 2016 ES.The problem is it takes more than an hour to fill the 100 gallon tank. I calculate I’m filling at 1.4 GPM.

I have a 2016 MS 38PS3 and I do not recall even taking more than 20 minutes for get water coming out the overflow. Normally I stop before the overflow occurs. When filling the tank, I have no idea what the water pressure is but I fill with 1/2 inch hoses. What you using a filter?
Clay

[Cummins12V98]

[QUOTE=MS60ocb;355078]

Originally Posted by AlmostRetired

I have a 2016 ES.The problem is it takes more than an hour to fill the 100 gallon tank. I calculate I’m filling at 1.4 GPM.



I have a 2016 MS 38PS3 and I do not recall even taking more than 20 minutes for get water coming out the overflow. Normally I stop before the overflow occurs. When filling the tank, I have no idea what the water pressure is but I fill with 1/2 inch hoses. What you using a filter?
Clay

I am thinking you hit the nail on the head!!!

OP take out your filter and see if it fills faster.

[Fulltimer50]

Are you sure water runs through the filter in fill mode?

[Porkchop]

In mine, water goes directly into the tank, not thru the filter. All water used, from the city water or the pump, goes thru filter. But not when filling tank.

Bill

[Cummins12V98]

That makes sense!

[AlmostRetired]

Porkchop is correct. The filter is from the holding tank to the rig and isn’t a player during fill. The vent is verified clear, Lazydays has visually inspected every inch of the supply lines (required dropping the protective covering) but cannot access the connection without removing the entire holding tank. I’m at a loss and can only guess there is some obstruction inside a line or at the connection. I’m gonna have to live with it. As a side note, neither Lazydays or I suspected this effort would require so much labor for no realized improvement. They treated me fairly without any arm twisting during settlement.

[Cummins12V98]

Originally Posted by AlmostRetired

Porkchop is correct. The filter is from the holding tank to the rig and isn’t a player during fill. The vent is verified clear, Lazydays has visually inspected every inch of the supply lines (required dropping the protective covering) but cannot access the connection without removing the entire holding tank. I’m at a loss and can only guess there is some obstruction inside a line or at the connection. I’m gonna have to live with it. As a side note, neither Lazydays or I suspected this effort would require so much labor for no realized improvement. They treated me fairly without any arm twisting during settlement.

I hate not having a "Happy Ending".

[Porthole]

Originally Posted by AlmostRetired

I’ll try to use the compressor and blow it out. I’ll be quite upset if that fixes the issue. I pick it up from Lazydays tomorrow.

Be very careful using a compressor, just a couple PSI over a very large surface area of the tank could be catastrophic.

Aside from that, the only time I had trouble with tank filling and the vent maybe having water in it was with a gravity fill trailers. I've never had a problem with water in the vent with pressure filling.

I frequently fill my tank until a steady stream of water is coming out the vent, and I am filling through a 5 micron sediment, into a water softener and then into 3 whole house filters in the basement.

Somewhat of a workaround and what I have done when boondocking with a portable bladder.

Get yourself a slip on sharkbite connector, 1/2" NPT with a 1/2" 'PEX" push on.
Also a 3/4 garden hose ---> 1/2" pipe.

Fix the garden hose adapter to the Sharkbite assembly and push on to the fresh water tank drain. Pump your fresh water in through the drain line. That will tell you if you have proper flow in to the tank and air venting out, and bypassing a possibly compromised fill line from the kantleak.

If your garden hose is flowing at 5 gallons a minute it will take 20 minutes or so to fill the tank.

[rynosback]

10 hours!!! Disconnect the fill line and run an endoscope through the line. 10 minutes at most.

[rynosback]

Originally Posted by Fulltimer50

Are you sure water runs through the filter in fill mode?

Yes, but he said that everything works fine when on city water. Which tells me that the filter is not the issue, restricted.