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Post by jlo415 on Apr 25, 2019 10:17:43 GMT -5
Wondering if anybody else has experienced this same problem. I have a 2018 241RLK. Specs indicate it has a 40 gallon fresh water tank. I confirmed a suspicion that Im not drawing nearly the capacity as i should be prior to the water pump running continuously and the d=faucets starting to spit air mixed with water. With my trailer perfectly level, I filled the fresh water tank to capacity that it spilled out the fill pipe. Inside at the kitchen sink, I used a one gallon water jug to measure how much water i was getting before the pump started to suck air and would not turn itself off. At 25 gallons the pump started spitting air with the water. At 26 gallons the pump would not shut off with all faucets closed. I could not fill the 28th gallon. Whats frustrating is that when I open the fresh water drain valve , gallons of water pour out.
I talked to my dealer and the service manager explained that even though the specs say 40 gallons it might not necessarily have a 40 gallon tank, could be smaller Which I would find odd for KZ to do. He also explained that the fresh water feed draws from the tank thru a fitting thats welding to the side of the tank. The fitting is not located at the very bottom of the tank but other could be attached say a 1/2" (+/-) higher then the very bottom. He explained that with the dimensions of the tank being very shallow in height compared to its length and width. the water not able to be drawn from below the fitting could be the difference in gallons I'm not getting. He also indicated that if Im just ever so slightly not level with the fitting to the higher side, its that much more water I'm not getting.
I will admit this all sounds very logical, especially taking into account that when i open the drain valve, gallons and gallons of water drain out because that fitting is mounted on the bottom of the tank. Is this just a big MASSIVE DESIGN FLAW? Does it make any sense what so ever that you can only draw 25-26 gallons of water from a perfectly level 40 gallon tank? Looking forward to hearing from anybody who can weigh in on this issue.
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Post by lynnmor on Apr 25, 2019 12:30:01 GMT -5
Is this just a big MASSIVE DESIGN FLAW? Does it make any sense what so ever that you can only draw 25-26 gallons of water from a perfectly level 40 gallon tank? Looking forward to hearing from anybody who can weigh in on this issue. Yes, it is a flawed design that they have been using for many years. You would really have been impressed with the models that spilled most of the water out the vents while driving. Tens of thousands were built this way. The water will stop being pumped when the water level is down to the top edge of the supply port. Your dealer told you right but apparently didn't offer to fix it. My "40" gallon tank has 39 gal. embossed right in it. Make sure that you are using a long level on the bottom of the frame, anything else is just a guess. If you carefully level the frame checking in multiple places without using the stabilizer jacks and then install levels, using a secure method not foam tape, then they can be dependable. I fixed my water issue by connecting the supply to the drain and plugged the side port. The drain is then connected with a tee in the supply hose. |
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Post by nvguy on May 11, 2019 0:25:00 GMT -5
Fist off I am going to call BS on this service manager. While drawing water from the side of a tank is common, and does prevent the full capacity from being used, I seriously doubt this would cause a 37% decrease in usable capacity. I can see being short 4 gallons or so, but 15 gallons is not acceptable.
My thoughts are the tank is mounted at an angle so the pickup is high and dry before the tank is empty. Could it be you aren't getting a full 40 ga in the tank? in that if the fill line dips, it will not allow the tank to fill.
In short, the service department needs to do their job and find out why this is happening. Or you tell this poor excuse of a service manager to do what Lynnmor did and move the pick up to the bottom of the tank.
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Post by jlo415 on May 13, 2019 14:20:03 GMT -5
I have till September until I reach the end of my 2 year warranty. I'll likely bring up the issue with them again to see if they will do something. I thought about tapping off the bottom of the tank but my concern there would be cold weather. We have the Cold Climate package which seals off the underbelly and supposedly has some heat going into it as well. I've been out In November twice so far when the temps dropped down into the low 20's. Im afraid if i rerouted the water pick up line I'd be exposing it the cold weather with out a good way to keep it insulated and heated from the underbelly.
Last November for Thanksgiving we were down in Chincoteague Virginia for the long weekend with a full hook up site. Early Thursday night my wife noticed the water was starting to run sluggish. Took me about 30 seconds to think, the water hose from the faucet to the camper was starting to freeze up. Sure enough thats exactly what was happening, temps were down into the mid 20's and the wind was blowing in hard from across the water. My remedy was to fill the water tank in the camper and run off that till the morning when it warmed up.
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Post by lynnmor on May 13, 2019 15:08:23 GMT -5
My remedy was to fill the water tank in the camper and run off that till the morning when it warmed up. That is standard operating procedure in cold weather. Remember that you also risk damage to the hydrant if the hose is not removed. Connecting to the drain is no big deal, just keep the hose above the insulation. Here is mine, note that the drain now is in the tee.  |
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Post by jlo415 on May 14, 2019 13:05:19 GMT -5
Thanks for he picture lynnmor. How difficult is it and whats involved in removing the black coroplast that on the bottom of the trailer sealing off the underbelly? Mine has had a bulge in it from the time it was new that i wouldn't mind lightning up it its possible.
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Post by lynnmor on May 14, 2019 13:37:20 GMT -5
Usually it is just a matter of removing enough screws to get enough Coroplast down so you can work. Before you start, mark the frame and cover so that it will be easier to locate screw holes. Don't think for a minute that the bottom is actually sealed, you can do a better job when you button it back up. For sealing, gray landscape foam is like Great Stuff but looks better, it is available at many garden centers. Look at my photo again and you will see the water tank is bulged down due to little support. I added additional supports between the factory ones. I don't know how you expect to lighten the trailer, if that is what you mean, as they are constructed with minimal materials. You can expect some bulges due to plumbing, tanks or whatever. I wrapped the water tank with this thin aluminum faced insulation. Here is the tank with better support and before installing the fiberglass and Coroplast:  |
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Post by jlo415 on May 20, 2019 15:21:34 GMT -5
Thank you everyone for your input, especially you lynnmor. I rerouted the water line this weekend on my trailer. I was prepared to take down the whole piece of corroplast but found I didn't need to. By taking out the fastening screws the front and behind the tank, I was able to pull down the material just enough on the side to give me access to the water connections. It's very obvious KZ does not plan for the end user to drop that piece of corroplast. There are four self tapping metal screws that are screwed through the plastic into the frame from the top down. The trickiest part of the whole procedure was removing and replacing those four screws. You can see in the one picture just how high the outlet is welded into the side of the tank, which was where the water was being drawn from. Take into account it's not when the water reaches the bottom of the fitting that the you run out of water, its when the water reaches the very top of the fitting that it starts to draw air causing the pump to run continuously. That outlet is now plugged and i'm drawing from the bottom of the tank as show in the other picture. I guess KZ has their reasons why they draw from the side. Maybe because it makes the water line slightly less susceptible to freezing? To me , it makes no sense what so ever. The Great Stuff Pond and Stone Sealant/Foam was a great tip. I never would have thought of it. Couldn't find it in my Home Depot so I just ordered a can off Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AQ0FVC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  |
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judyd
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 6
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Post by judyd on Aug 18, 2020 13:13:18 GMT -5
We also have a 2018 241RLK, we used the freshwater tank for the first time last week and ran out of water after 3 days, and we were cautious when using the water. I researched to see if anyone had this problem, also we drained the tank and we got 13gal from the tank. Husband fixed it and put a few gal of water in tank and it worked great. Now we can go to Missouri State Parks, because they don’t have water or sewer hookups. Thanks for all the help.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
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Post by Chris RV Living on Oct 28, 2020 16:11:13 GMT -5
We experienced the same lack of water after less that full tank. We were storing so we ran the pump to empty lines until we were only getting air.
When I opened the drain valve underneath it drained forever. Clearly, there were many gallons, could be as much as 10 gallons as others reported. It was easily over 5 gallons.
I will be trying this change in where it draws from the tank to increase our fresh water capacity closer to the specifications.
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Post by rvcouple on Nov 21, 2020 17:02:50 GMT -5
I found out my fresh water leaves about 5-6 gal. in the tank of my 2020 C261RB. I found that out after I drained it and had to put 7 gal. of anti-freeze in it to get enough to pump some into the pump and through the water lines when I winterized it.
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Post by johnr on Nov 23, 2020 8:11:19 GMT -5
How do you clean your fresh water tank then? I've never put anitfreeze into the fresh water tank except to flush the fill line before storage.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
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Post by Chris RV Living on Nov 29, 2020 14:17:21 GMT -5
I found out my fresh water leaves about 5-6 gal. in the tank of my 2020 C261RB. I found that out after I drained it and had to put 7 gal. of anti-freeze in it to get enough to pump some into the pump and through the water lines when I winterized it. I found the same thing. After draining and letting it sit, I decided to leave the drain open as we drove a short segment to get to camp office and check out. Drained water the whole time. And when we stopped on a slope is poured out, so even the bottom drain may be in a bad location on the C261RB (it's what we have) I guess I am going to need to pull the bottom down and see what's what, and determine how best to reconfigure the lines. I don't want to risk tapping a new port. Just reroute lines like others have mentioned |
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 145
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Post by Chris RV Living on Nov 29, 2020 14:19:39 GMT -5
And unfortunately our home owners association doesn't look kindly on RV's parked in the neighborhood, even for 1 or 2 days.... and most Campgrounds have "No RV Servicing" policies in their fine print, so you can get kicked out if you do too much "maintenance"..... Not sure how I am going to accomplish this task. And a bigger task I am considering, connecting the FRONT Gray tank to the rear gray tank......
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Post by Chuck on Dec 26, 2020 19:46:13 GMT -5
Chris RV Living What I would do is find a friend that has a little room on their lot an ask if you can do the work their laying drown a trap so no junk get on the lot or drive ... I know that some storage an also RV parks will let you do minor repairs an to me this is sort of a minor repair in some ways ... Of course the other option is to take it to a RV Repair shop an have them do it, it might cost you a few penny's but you sort of have a leg to stand on if the job is not done right so to speak  Only my thre cents, be Safe Chuck |
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