Yep,  More questions.

Since my 180 was previously owned I wanted to flush all the tanks.   I  some of the septic cleaners to bot the black with enough water that The bottom of the tank is covered and sloshing around. I also put some in the gray tank and filled it up and let it set for a week or so then drained gray and refilled with clean fresh water completely 3 times so I am satisfied they are clean.

I added bleach to the fresh water  and filled it and let it sit for  a week or so.  I have now filled and flushed it 3 times also and am satisfied it is clean.

Originally posted by Lear111 Unfortunately I have to clarify a few things. You stated you filled the fresh water tank with water and bleach then flushed it 3 times. How did you flush it? The only way would be to use your water pump turn on the faucet and let 30 gallons of the fresh water run through the lines and then into the gray tank then dump that tank. Or as stated drain the fresh water tank which apparently doesn’t drain. The fresh water tank is the white or opaque tank ahead of the axle or the very most forward tank. It has a screw cap from a small protrusion hanging down most easily reached from the drivers or slide side on the 180. Using a flashlight shine it in the tank as you will be able to see the water level using that method. If there is water in it removing that single screw cap water should drain via gravity. I do not know the drain design but I am sure other members will comment on various ways to unplug it. Often small plastic debris or other foreign objects can be in the tank. Owners most often see it in the filter on the water pump.

 

Your are correct with all the above.   I emptied   the gray then ran the sink and shower till they were full again  then emptied it again. Running all of the bleach water in the fresh to the gray then out then two more cycles of fresh through the gray and emptied.

The fresh has been refilled as I am connected to my house.  I can see water in the tank.  But when I remove the cap nothing comes out.    I wasn't sure if it was suppose to or if it is blocked.   I didn't want to go poking things up there  and risk damaging something without asking.

I just unscrew the petcock assembly from the tank by hand.  It drains too slow if I just open the valve. No pliers or wrenches.

otherwise, just unscrew the cap on the bottom of the tank.

I assumed that the tank was full ( because the fresh water hose was connected and on)  and in an earlier post that the 1/4 , 1/2,  3/4, full LEDs on the control panel were not working.   

I assumed that because I had filled the gray tank 3 times that the fresh was full running while running the shower and sink to flush the system and to flush the tanks.    ( because the fresh water hose was connected and on)

  As stated before the reason I wanted to use the bleach and flush the tanks was for my peace of mind as I bought my R-Pod as previously owned and wanted to ensure that everything was in working order and sanitary.

I timed how long it took to fill the gray tanks so I would have a rough idea on how much we would have to curb shower times etc.  It took 18 minutes to fill the gray with both the shower and sink running. This was using my city water pressure not the water pump.

But when not running the faucets the fresh water tanks fills EXTREMELY SLOW .  It will take several hours to fill the tank.   The only way I was able to completely fill the tank was to put the hose in the fill by hand inlet instead of the city water connection and it filled very rapidly.

Are you saying that the fresh water tank is filling when you have city water connected and faucets are open, but very slowly when faucets are turned off? If that is the case, you still have an issue. There is a check valve in the pump that is supposed to close when the pump is turned off and city water is connected. That is to keep the city water from filling the tank. The only way water should be in the fresh water tank is if you fill it by way of the fill inlet.

There is likely a small piece of material in the check valve preventing it from fully closing. The general advice is to add water to your fresh tank. Disconnect your city water. Then cycle the pump by turning faucets on and off, using the tank's water and pump. If all goes well, the piece of debris should then be flushed out of the check valve.

Test by turning the pump off and reconnecting the city water and turn it on. There should not be any water flowing into the fresh water tank. If there is, repeat the process. If that still does not work, get the pump checked out.

Ok, thanks I guess I misunderstood how the system worked. 

    I thought the city water inlet filled the water tank first and then the water was pumped through the system from the tank.  What you are saying is the water comes directly from the city source and bypasses the tank and pump when the pump is off.  If the pump is on it pumps from the tank.

Regarding RV antifreeze, don't put RV antifreeze in your fresh water tank. Drain it first. Also, the water heater needs to be bypassed if you are using RV antifreeze. It can chew up the anode rod and waste RV antifreeze since the water heater takes 6 gallons to fill. Bypass the water heater (drain  it by removing the anode rod after making sure there is no pressure in the system) so the RV antifreeze goes directly through the water lines to get to the various water valves. There are other message topics with more details and also YouTube videos to watch if you have questions. Also  there are YouTube videos to show you how to sanitize and flush your fresh water tank.

It is  a rather steep learning curve at first. It gets easier as you gain more experience. Hang in there.

If you want to drain the fresh water tank, why would you pump the water out?  That puts a lot of use cycles on your fresh water pump and will likely shorten its life.  Why not just open the drain on the bottom of the water tank?  It is either a petcock valve or a simple plug.  Once you open the hole in the bottom of the tank, gravity does all the work for you.  

Is it the orifice on the petcock valve or the hole for the threaded fitting that holds the petcock valve in place?  I can see where the petcock valve orifice is small enough, based on the earlier posted foto, to allow adequate water flow, but the other hole seems to be about 3/4ths of an inch. If you pull the whole valve off are you still having flow issues?

I only have a plug for that hole and when I take it out, the water drains quite quickly, indeed, faster than the flow rate for the 12v pump.

UPDATE: I did have chlorinated water in the FWT, about 15-20 gallons (that's an estimate). So I decided to time how long it took to drain it. Total time from pulling the plug to empty was 11 minutes. The last half gallon or so took almost 2 minutes, but the first xx gallons went pretty quickly. For sure, it's at least a gallon/minute. FWIW, the drain plug is a 3/4" (OD) NPT.

Originally posted by TheBum The problem with the factory fresh water tank drain is the orifice is so small that it takes hours to drain a full tank. If I knew how, I'd consider putting in a larger diameter drain.

It's possible there are different plumbing fixtures on different pods.  Mine has a simple cap.  Half inch, I think.  There's no faster, simpler way to drain the tank than to remove that cap.  If you have a cap and the water doesn't pour out in a fast, solid stream, there is probably some sort of obstruction.  It's a straight shot up from the drain to the tank, so stick a pencil or screw driver up there and see if that loosens things up.

If you have a petcock, consider removing it and checking for clogs.  If you can figure out how to blow some air up it without removing it, that might work too.

I don't see how removing the anode from the water heater will drain the tank since it's higher than the tank, and it seems like a waste of time and wear and tear on the pump to pump the water out of the tank just to drain it.

As stated, the city water inlet on the pod is supposed to bypass the tank.  If the tank is filling from the city water inlet there is a stuck check valve that can sometimes be fixed by running the pump intermitantly for a few cycles.

TT

Originally posted by jato I guess we have been fortunate in that from the time we purchased our 177 (January 2011) until we met furpod at the ERU, Traverse City, summer 2016, we had never sanitized our fresh water tank and used it a lot for drinking water.  Even when drained for the winter I would venture to say there are still probably 3 to 4 gallons in the bottom that never drain out.  We have only used well water, never muni or chemicalized water in our tank.  Anyway, we now sanitize 1 time each spring to be safe, however there is still that 3 - 4 gallons that never drains although it does get changed over I suppose, every time we fill.

When a 5000 gallon vat of apple juice doesn't test clean at the apple juice plant down the road here the employees say "Dilution is the solution"

I like beer ok, but at my age it's really not good for my girth.  And what would I do for my morning coffee.  Beer doesn't work well for making coffee.  But, on the other hand, I've never been an advocate drinking tank water under any circumstances except when one is stranded in the desert and the choice is to drink it or die. 

Since my FW tank is aft of the axle, I use bottled water for drinking and pack it forward under the bed in the front of the trailer.  It kills two birds with one stone.  It helps with the tongue weight and it helps with the coffee.

Folks who have spent extended periods in developing countries quickly learn that the stuff coming out of the faucet is not something you actually want to put in your body. Its for washing only. There are plenty of places in the US where the tap water isn't fit to drink either. Bottled or filtered water is for drinking, brushing teeth, and rinsing raw fruits and vegetables.  I'm used to that and do it at home as well. 

The trailer balance advantage is a second plus from using bottled water. In the 179 I keep it in the rear under the kitchen counter and as I use it and other consumable supplies up I'm balancing against the fresh water moving aft into the gray water tank.  

And the third advantage is that it extends the water capacity of the trailer. I usually start with two 2.5 gallon water dispensers and set one on the kitchen counter when I set up camp. That adds 17% to the water capacity, good for another day or two before having to find a dump station. 

I was dead serious about not wanting to make my coffee with beer.  It's terrible waste of good beer and doesn't taste good in the coffee.  Far better to put a dash of Jamesons in the coffee.  ;--)

Moveable ballast is very handy in the trailer.  For the 172, the waste water tanks are forward of the axle, so as my jugs of water stored under the bed are used up, the consumption of the drinking water in bottles is offset by normal water use as the FW tank is consumed for washing and such.