water tank leakage on acceleration

[Jim P]

I just bought a 30' Jayco fifth wheel camper this year and we have only had it out a few times. I have always filled my fresh water tank before leaving home and by the time I get to my destination, I only have about 3/4 tank. The water leaks out two tubes under the trailer when accelerating or when parked on a hill. When I am filling the tank, the water also leaks out these tubes when it is full.

I am assuming that these tubes are vent pipes but would it hurt to plug these while traveling to keep from loosing all this water?

[tanker]

Hmmm, my past TT was a 30' Jayco and never seemed to loose any water, but then I don't rember filling them full for traveling. I do know that the vent and overflow is a must and sloshing will spill out. I guess you can't raise the vent/overflow higher to prevent this? Mine was under the couch, so I would not have been able to extend mine. Maybe you could reroute them, going up and over and down, but you don't want a trap either. I also suppose you could put valves on them, but if you ever forget to open them for filling, you will have a bigger problem with a broken tank.

[ropinfool]

could they be drain lines? I have two drain lines with valves coming off my tank. Good luck.
John

[HowieE]

At first I was going to vote for the drain lines also but they are on the trailer side of the pump and unless you are leaving the pump on the water in the tank should not get to the drain lines. Check for a brake or leak in the fill tube that goes to the tank or possibly a crack in the tank. If the tank is mounted to the floor of the trailer with a flange the tops of this type of tank often crack in the winter do to shrinkage against the mounting screws when it is real cold. However most water tanks are not flange mounted, but check to be sure.

[Jim P]

Thanks guys for all the replies.

THese tubes that it leaks from are on the opposite side of the trailer from where you fill it. They are both side by side only a few inches apart. It does have a drain but it is on the same side as the filler and it has a valve.

What is weird is that when I am filling the tank with a hose, As soon as I hear the water start to leak from these tubes, I stop filling but the water will contiue to leak from these lines for a few minutes.

There is a large plastic cover over the tank that is screwed to the bottom of the trailer. I removed a few of these to where I could get my hand up in there and the tubes just feel like they are attached to the tank up towards the top. This is what makes me think that they are just vent pipes but I really don't know.

Maybe my truck just has too much power during acceleration and causes all the water to rush to the back of the tank.

[tanker]

Jim P , You hit the nail on the head, too much power Back down on the boost, ease back on the pedal, and your water problem will be solved! (just kidding) Hope you get it corrected.

[joed]

Our 94 Jayco 5th wheel does the same thing - at least when filling it full. I've always thought the tubes were just overflow/vent tubes. I don't recall noticing it coming from the tubes while traveling, just when it is full after filling.

Another thing I notice is that even with the tank seeming chuck "full" the control panel inside the trailer will only show 2/3, so I don't hold much stock in the tanks' guages/sensors.

Joe.

[HowieE]

Time to call Jayco 574-825-5861
If they are just vents I would want them screened in some way to keep bugs out of the tank while the trailer is in storage. Nothing like spider dropping to improve the taste of your water.

[arveetek]

I believe Joe D answered the question perfectly. The monitor panels in these RVs are anything but accurate, so if you're filling your tank and it shows "full" when you're done, but only "3/4" later on, most likely you haven't lost 1/4 of the water, but simply that the guage probes weren't installed properly.

There are two types of monitor panel probes. One uses actual steel probes in rubber fittings. You drill a 3/8" hole in the side of the tank, pop in the probe, and attach the wire. You'll usually have anywhere from 4 to 8 probes, depending on style. When the water contacts the probes, it completes a circuit and turns on the light on the monitor panel.

The other style uses a steel tape glued to the side of the tank. It simply senses the level of the water inside the tank. This style is adjustable. On the monitor panel itself, there might be a small screw that you can turn underneath each button. You can adjust the tank level accordingly.

The vent tubes you have are mounted on the side of the tank, so that means you can't possibly fill the tank to the top, because the water level will drain back down to the bottom of the fittings, which is about an inch from the top of the tank. If Jayco used the standard probe-type guage, then they installed the top probe near the the top of the tank, probably at or above the actual top of the water level. This would be too high. Once the water level has settled down below the vent tubes, especially after sloshing around when driving, then the water level is probably below the top probe.

Basically, all I really said is that it's normal because of the design. Not much to worry about. You're really not losing that much water as it seems. I bet it goes from "full" to "3/4" really fast, but it probably takes a long time to go from "3/4" on down to "1/2" and so on.

Casey

[arveetek]

I would also like to add that capping the vent tubes is not a good idea. If you forget to uncap them while filling the tank, you could do some major damage. You would not believe how much these tanks can swell without busting. I've seen them swell up so much that they ruin the floors, bust cabinet doors, and all sorts of things. They act just like big balloons.

Also, if you leave them capped during use, then air can't get into the tank very well, making the water pump work harder and shortening it's life.

Casey

[HowieE]

I did not mean to imply capping when I mentioned screening.
If you are really in need of a completely full tank of water of what ever reason you could extend the tubes up above the water tank top, like into the refgerator back compartment and gain the use of the full tank and stop the leaking at the same time.

[Jim P]

Thanks again for all the replies.

Howie, I know what you mean about critters getting in there. These Tubes are 1/2" I.D.

Arveetek, I understand what you mean about not actually loosing 1/4 tank of water but the first time we took the trailer out, my wife was following in her van. I was stopped at a stop sign on a pretty good grade for probably 4 or 5 minutes waiting for a break in the traffic. My wife said it was leaking full stream from these two 1/2 I.D. tubes the whole time. We almost turned around and came home because we thought it had a major leak but once I got up on the level, it 0nly leaked when I would accelerate hard.

When we got to the campground I should have topped it off before setting up camp but being a newbie, I never gave it a thought. Sure enough, about two days and we were out water. So I went to walmart and bought 4 of those hoses that roll up flat and with these we could fill it up without moving the trailer. We keep these hoses in the trailer all the time now.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for Bowling Green, Oh for the big tractor pulls(over 1,300 campsites)and I just wanted to have enough water to last the three days. Another couple is going to be camping with us and the water usage will probably be pretty heavy. I have a plastic 55 gal drum that I am taking full of water also. I rigged up a 12 volt pump to pump the water into the trailer tank when it is empty.

[HowieE]

Watch the other couple. Last month I say a guest of another camper take a 20 min shower in a 5th and run them out of water.
Guest are also h++l on toilet paper.
Good Luck