Dirty Fresh WaterTube

AnOldUR

What's the purpose of this dirty tube going to the fresh water tank? Vent?

Sharon_is_SAM

Is that the vent @AnOldUR?

AnOldUR

Sharon_is_SAM said:

Is that the vent @AnOldUR?

That's what I thought. Coming out of the side of the tank doesn't seem like a good design, but I could be wrong. In any case that's a pretty foul thing to be anywhere near fresh drinking water and not something that should be seen in a two year old trailer. Water has to be getting in there when the tank is topped off and then back washes into the tank as the volume goes down. It looks like a PITA to replace.

Another view ...

ScottG

Yes, that is the vent for the FW tank. Yes, by virtue of its design, it gets filled with water. However, FWIW, I'm wrapping up eight seasons with mine and it still looks pretty clean.

AnOldUR

@ScottG Any ideas what could cause it?

Sharon_is_SAM

Any possibility antifreeze was in the tank and backed up into the vent?  Is the hose only stained?

AnOldUR

When we bought our 2020 320S used at the beginning of 2021 we had the dealer de-winterize. We store it in a heated garage, so have never winterized. I suppose something could have made it up into the vent tube from that first winter, but why would only the tube have the discoloration?

I'm mostly interested in the best fix. Replacing the tube or maybe bleach in place?

Sharon_is_SAM

If anything is in that tube, I would be afraid of it dislodging and mucking up the downstream pump and/or drain.  I vote replace.  Maybe contact nuCamp to see if this is unique.

ScottG

AnOldUR said:

@ScottG Any ideas what could cause it?

Not really. Could be any number of things. Can you tell if it is really dirty (as in solidish stuff lodged in the tube) or is just discolored?

sunnynjer

Sorry to revive an old thread, but found the same thing upon removing the coroplast cover for the first time (also a mouse nest, that bit the grey tank sensor wire, that kicked this whole thing off).  Wondering if @AnOldUR
replaced or not.  If so, was it hard?  I pushed hot bleach water through with a syringe from the fill port.  Hoping it clears up and then will flush the whole system twice.

AnOldUR

Actually glad you revived this @sunnynjer. After I buttoned up the cover I forgot about this thinking it looked more like it was just discolored and that nothing would cause a problem under everyday use. Regardless, replacing that section of tubing is on my to do list, but I never seem to get to it.

Interested to hear how your hot bleach flush works.

manyman297

@AnOldUR  I'm assuming you've sanitized your fresh water tank? Could the bleach in the water have faded the tubing's color to clear? It looks like the tube is black (or dark brown) and the clear section going into the tank could've just faded from using a bleach solution. 

AnOldUR

Hadn't even thought of that @manyman297. Yes, I've sanitized the tank many times. It will be interesting to see if the tube is dark everywhere beyond where the tank can back fill it.

manyman297

It just looks too perfectly dark throughout. Like the color is impregnated into the tube. If you have a borescope that would be perfect to insert into the tube to see what’s going on with minimal effort.

sunnynjer

While I am fairly confident the bleach killed anything there, it did not remove all the staining. I had to resort to Powdered Brewery Wash.  We hombrewers are familiar with cleaning plastic lines