More Fresh Water Capacity by Pumping System Full Before Trip

manyman297

I feel like maybe this has been discussed so my apologies if it has. 

On our last two trips a lightbulb went off (and maybe because I read about somebody else doing this) and I realized I should be filling the fresh water tank to full, run the pump to fill the entire plumbing, Alde, Alde Flow, etc. and then filling the water tank again to top it off.

Rough calculations based off of how much antifreeze I use to winterize would tell me that this method has to be getting you an additional 5ish gallons (Alde, Alde Flow combined would be maybe 3.25 gallons alone...I use maybe 1.75 gallons of antifreeze bypassing the Alde) of fresh water to use. 

Am I crazy or is this something everybody does and I just haven't been doing it?

scott14

@manyman297 I have been doing the same thing as you describe in both our 320S and now our 400.  I like to have the water pump primed, the water system and tank full before leaving home. 

marleecamps

I always fill the Alde tank but never thought about the plumbing lines...

manyman297

Yeah, I can't believe it took me this long to not think of just pressurizing the system before departing. And I've definitely noticed we have more water available as well. The downside is this doesn't solve the gray tank capacity issue but it at least gives us another 5 gallons of water.

Basil48192

Agreed!  I always fill my tank, then run each device to purge all of the air, then top it off...as you mentioned. 
I also drain the gray water tank just before I leave...as it's only clean purge water.  

bergger

If boondocking I always fill everything and prime the pump.  I use the power tank fill to fill the fresh tank, then switch over to city water to fill the Alde and the fresh water lines.  I also bleed all the air out of the lines to ensure the lines are filled and the Alde is filled completely.  Lastly I just turn on the pump and it primes in about a second.  Seems to prime immediately with the lines filled from the city water.  The gray water capacity has never bothered us.  It is very simple to drain it directly into a 5 gallon bucket then use that water to put out your camp fire each night.  We always pre-wipe are dishes and use biodegradable soap so our gray tank does not nasty and we can easily dispose of gray water if needed.  

manyman297

@bergger Great process. And yeah, why didn’t I think of using our 5-gallon bucket (we always have it with us) to douse the fire with gray water? Good stuff. Thanks!

KathyS

I was told by the folks in NuCamp Service department just this August to always travel with empty tanks because the brackets aren’t strong enough for the weight of the water and will bend/break allowing the tank to shift.  Maybe these brackets are only for the newer models?  Quality control department, what do you say?  Also, if this is true why isn’t it in the owners manual?

Basil48192

I have a 2021 320S and have never heard that.  Nucamp always talks about boondocking....and most boondocking locations do not have potable water sources. This is my fourth year with my T@B and I have always traveled with a full tank of water.

manyman297

We boondock 90% of the time so we always travel with a full tank of fresh water and usually a full gray and partially full black on the way back home. I don’t think it’s practical to not have full tanks when traveling…especially in a camper labeled “boondock”.

johnfconway

Alternative perspective. We live and camp in high desert conditions and boondock 100% of time. While being cognizant of water use is now second nature for us, it will become more that way for others in near future.

We learned our water use needs based on number of nights out. Use a stopwatch to gauge how many gallons to put in freshwater tank. Drinking water is carried in visibly clean insulated container and it rides in the bathroom floor. We do not use freshwater tank for drinking and cooking because sanitizing and rinsing a tank you cannot see the inside of, is a colossal waste of water. If there is water left in freshwater tank plus what's in the Alde, we drain, collect and water trees or garden plants. A subtle plus in all this is reducing towing weight to just what it needs be.

manyman297

@johnfconway We’re somewhat similar in our mindfulness. I try to capture the remaining fresh water at the end of our trips and water our yard with it. We do use the fresh water tank for making coffee. We have an inline filter under the sink and boil the water so that eliminates most of the risk. We bring drinking water separately like you do. 

Gray water is something I wish we could recapture but it’s usually too “gray” to have to deal with. 

bergger

KathyS said:

I was told by the folks in NuCamp Service department just this August to always travel with empty tanks because the brackets aren’t strong enough for the weight of the water and will bend/break allowing the tank to shift.  Maybe these brackets are only for the newer models?  Quality control department, what do you say?  Also, if this is true why isn’t it in the owners manual?

I sent an email off to NuCamp and the reply was that while they do recommend traveling with empty tanks if possible it is perfectly fine to travel with them full.  I think they recommend traveling empty if possible just for weight and possibly having a partial tank slosh around.  But is sounds like the tanks being full is not an issue.  When we boondock we always travel with a full water tank.  

jimcenname

I've read on the forum of 400 owners having the sink and shower drain line break where they enter the gray water tank. While having a floor rebuild done at nuCamp last summer I asked about the drain issue. Tech told me the hole in the floor that the drain line passes through was too small so a shift in the tank could bump the pipe and break break it. The fix, when they did my rebuild, was to enlarge the hole where the drain pipe passes into the tank.