No water from FW tank

jehdfd · July 2016

I am not getting any water from the fresh water tank. The pump worked fine last fall when I winterized but now there is no water. City water works fine. I checked the vent which appears to be clear. I tried to prime the supply side of the line at the water pump but I can't seem to fill it up. I put more then a half gallon in. That doesn't make sense to me...it should just need enough to fill the short section from the water tank to the pump right? The pump sounds like it's running. When I check the supply side I can't really feel any suction but if I put my hand in front of the inlet I can feel air movement. I'm not sure this is enough pressure. I'm not sure if the pump is bad or if there is a problem with the supply line between the fresh water tank and the pump. I'm going to call LG tomorrow morning but I thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone has any ideas that I missed.

Nomad · July 2016

Could it be the fresh water tank "vent" is blocked - or vent tube is kinked. That might cause a vapor lock.

jehdfd · July 2016

I put a small tube in and I was able to blow air through it and cause it to gurgle out of the fill. I couldn't suck any water up through it...which I don't think I should be able to do from a vent line.

Nomad · July 2016

Only if the tank was over full. When filling, you know you're full when it spurts out the vent hole.
Could you maybe drain a gallon or two from the fresh water tank to make sure the vent tube at the tank is well above the water level? Otherwise I'm clueless if the pumps working and primed.
Oh - have you made sure the pump filter screen isn't clogged (or the faucet screen)?

Ratkity · July 2016

@jehdfd, when I first got my T@Bitha, I had the same issue. I used a small hose attachment so the air could get in via the inlet pipe (the flexible hose to the FW tank) and the tank NEVER seemed to fill up (it's black to boot - hard to tell). When I changed the flip-open water tank filler (the flip open part) kept popping off, I replaced it to a cap screw type. The pressure from holding a 2.5 gal water container whose spout fits perfectly in the new filler apparently popped out whatever was blocking the vent hose. Now, I know my water tank is full when my hear gurgling and have wet feet shortly thereafter!

jehdfd · July 2016

PXLated, the water never spurted out of the vent hole. As I was filling it kept gurgling out of the main fill and then backing up. I tried filling slower and I also raised/lowered the front of the trailer with no change. I thought filling slower might help properly fill the tank but I wonder, if there is a blockage, if I need more pressure as Ratkity suggested to free it up. The pump is not primed and I can't get it that way. The clear filter cover at the pump has just a tiny bit of water in it. It is clean and clear. Faucets work fine on city water.

Nomad · July 2016

I had a time where I couldn't get the fresh water tank to fill - it was like there was a blockage. I gave up, wanted to get on the road. At the next campgrounds I tried again and it was all just fine. It was like the sloshing around while driving blew the block - figured it was a vapor lock of some kind either in the main filler line or the vent or both. Haven't had a problem since.

Verna · July 2016

jehdfd said:
I'm going to call LG tomorrow morning but I thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone has any ideas that I missed.

If you call, please call the Pleasant Valley factory and not LGWW. LGWW is the marketing office, and Pleasant Valley actually manufactures the T@B and the rest of the line.

Mr_Mrs_Gnome · July 2016

I had the same problem and texted Jenn, who had data service. She found a string where Ron described the pump needing primed. I first cleaned out the pump filter and then disconnected the far end of the hose leading from the pump. I turned the pump on and sucked water up from the tank through the pump and into the hose. Had Sweet Pegaleen turn of the pump cause I liked like a chipmunk and reconnected the hose to the fitting. Worked like a charm the rest of the week. We have an S model so the pump is behind the panel in the shower. Had to reach down the wall to disconnect the hose.

Norbert1223 · July 2016

My 2016 T@B Max S is at the dealers for this same issue. Mine worked fine for my first 1 1/2 trips then in the middle of trip #2 I was low in the tank so I filled it and the pump quit working. It's runs but won't pump water. I did all the troubleshooting, removing the parts, disconnecting hoses, opening up the clear value, etc and nothing worked. Thankfully I had water hookups on trip #2 so I didn't have to cut my trip short. My dealer had another 2016 in the shop for the same problem.

Ratkity · July 2016

You could always try my redneck solution - get your handy tire compressor and get the adaptor that blows up inflatable toys and mattresses. Use that to blow air into the tube outlet under the T@B. Whatever is in there will move into the tank, but it will clear it up. The water in the tank will dissolve whatever mud or dirt got in there. This is how I blew out my air conditioning drip tube. Meh.. it worked!

jehdfd · July 2016

I called the factory and Awesome Ed gave me a few things to try. What ended up solving it was to disconnect the supply hose (down inside the wall) and use the short section of hose to suck some water up from a bucket. It worked and emptied my bucket so I reconnected the hose and tried again...problem solved. Thanks to you all for your advice and thanks to Ed for getting it going again. By the way, Ratkity, your redneck solution was also suggested by Ed except he suggested blowing from the supply side of the water pump into the hose leading to the FW tank. I didn't try it since the bucket solution fixed it.

Sierranevada · August 2016

My solution: put fresh water hose down about 5 inches into fresh water hole on side. Blew with all my might. About 10 or 15 blows in, i began to hear the water under my sing run. I opened the drain valves and water came out. I closed them and turned on my water pump - BAM! Problem solved. Must have been an air bubble. I had drained my fresh water tank after the last trip. I won't be doing that again.

jkjenn · August 2016

This seems to be happening more frequently with newer T@bs. I am wondering if there is something that should be added to the dealer walk through check list?

Nomad · August 2016

Maybe but then again, the forums can distort the true nature of the problem, make it seem common when overall it's not.

jkjenn · August 2016

PXLated said:

Maybe but then again, the forums can distort the true nature of the problem, make it seem common when overall it's not.

Usually I would agree, but this particular one has appeared on the forums and FB a lot this summer.

Nomad · August 2016

Only judging by here - Don't do facebook.

Photomom · August 2016

I follow some of the T@B forums on Facebook. The Facebook ones are great for inspiration but when I want authoritative information I come here. I would take problem reports there with a grain of salt.

fiddlefoot · August 2016

There is some sort of thing going on here, with the water filling. We have only been able to take our 2016 css out twice and both campgrounds had fill stations but no water hook up at sites. At the first campground I thought I had filled the water tank, but obviously not. At the second campground we ran out of water very soon and the faucet sputtered when we were sure there was water in the tank. I have not sorted this out and do not want to fill the tank with water at home (softened water, high in iron). It would have been good to have cell service, but no luck there, no phone a friend. Guess we'll just have to go camping somewhere with phone, internet, water hook-up, that's a good enough reason for a special short trip for me. The digital things are a bit over my head, last camper was a 2007 tab clamshell, no technical challenges there. Not a Facebook follower, but do appreciate this forum, have a 10 day planned in December and want to get things sorted out by then.

ScottG · August 2016

Can you confirm if the tank is actually getting filled, either by monitoring the number of gallons that go in, or by visually checking under the T@B with a strong light (if you can see through the tank)?

I have occasions where the tank vent line gets pinched or filled with water. This can cause the tank to burp back out of the spout when filling, making you think you are done when you are not.

If the tank is actually full, than it's likely a pumping problem. Probably the oft-discussed air bubble that needs to work itself out.

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