2024 17MKE Fresh Tank - Not able to fully fill.

[JayCee123]

I have owned my 2024 Imagine XLS 17MKE for about 4 months now.
I have been boon docking a few times and every time I have tried to
fill the fresh tank, it starts to come out the overflow well before it
fully fills - only 2/3 full or less. I have tried both through the
control panel and via the manual fill. The most recent time I filled
it I had a meter running on the hose and it started to overflow at
28 gallons. The tank is supposed to be 42 gallons?
How can I fill my tank properly? Am I doing something wrong?

 

[traveldawg]

Thanks for joining. We have a good group of members here. You will get a lot of helpful information so hang in there - someone most likely has experienced this before.

 

[livinthelife]

I have owned my 2024 Imagine XLS 17MKE for about 4 months now.
I have been boon docking a few times and every time I have tried to
fill the fresh tank, it starts to come out the overflow well before it
fully fills - only 2/3 full or less. I have tried both through the
control panel and via the manual fill. The most recent time I filled
it I had a meter running on the hose and it started to overflow at
28 gallons. The tank is supposed to be 42 gallons?
How can I fill my tank properly? Am I doing something wrong?

According to the Grand Design website your Fresh water capacity is 37. Still short of 42, but less than you're expecting. Possibly the water heater capacity is also included in the total? Plus I believe I've read that there is some water ( so more capacity) in the lines.

CAPACITY
Fresh Water Capacity 37
Gray Water Capacity 45
Waste Water Capacity 37
Propane Tanks 2
LPG 40
Sleeping Capacity 4


EDIT: Another thought - possibly the sensor for that tank is too high and your tank isn't all the way empty when you think it is.

 

[Second Chance]

@livinthelife is correct in that, if you have a tank-style water heater, that volume is included in the published fresh water capacity total. If you have an on-demand WH, this doesn't apply.

Rob

 

[bjlakatos]

I have found if the trailer is not level it will overflow faster. Once our rig starts to over flow, it will continue until the top 1/3 has drained. It all comes down to the location/length of your overflow tube in the tank. If you wanted to address this you would have to get to the tank and change the overflow tube length or location(on the tank) or both.

To mitigate this effect I have a 4 part strategy:
-level the trailer before fillng
-make sure the tank is drained before filling
-use a meter on the hose (my tank is 45 and i fill to 45gal. I slow the water flow way down during the last 10 gal to prevent the tank from overfilling too fast)
-use a section of rubber surgical hose to shove up the over flow tubes one at a time to break the “siphon” effect by blowing air in them

I suspect if we camped routinely in locations where we had to fill before arriving at the campsite, I would probably change the overflow pipe location/length.

 

[JayCee123]

Thx for the info so far everyone.

From the dealer they say that the fresh capacity is 42 gal. and this unit has an
on demand heater so no hot water tank.

Seems that the overflow tubes on some tank designs are in the wrong place as
I am seeing that this is a common problem.

I am worried that if I go ahead and block the overflow tubes with a valve or something
that I may overflow into the trailer (yikes!). Thoughts?

 

[livinthelife]

Thx for the info so far everyone.

From the dealer they say that the fresh capacity is 42 gal. and this unit has an
on demand heater so no hot water tank.

Seems that the overflow tubes on some tank designs are in the wrong place as
I am seeing that this is a common problem.

I am worried that if I go ahead and block the overflow tubes with a valve or something
that I may overflow into the trailer (yikes!). Thoughts?

Another issue is that tank sensors are notorious for false readings.

 

[Riverbug]

Thx for the info so far everyone.

From the dealer they say that the fresh capacity is 42 gal. and this unit has an
on demand heater so no hot water tank.

Seems that the overflow tubes on some tank designs are in the wrong place as
I am seeing that this is a common problem.

I am worried that if I go ahead and block the overflow tubes with a valve or something
that I may overflow into the trailer (yikes!). Thoughts?

Does the 2024 still have a gravity fill port? If so, you can put a valve on the overflow tube and make sure you open the gravity fill so that it vent and run out of the fill when it's full. Then after shutting off the water, you open the overflow valve you installed and let some water out so that it empties the tube going up to the gravity fill port. Close the overflow valve and you now have a full tank of water. Put the cap on the gravity fill and off you go. If there is a leak, it will be down in the belly, not above the floor in the camper. There is no insulation to soak up the water so not really any damage done if it does leak, but obviously you would want to drop the coraplast to find and fix that leak. Hope that helps.

 

[bjlakatos]

You would not want to block the overflow tubes. They are there to ensure the tank does not burst.

The waste tanks do not need overflow protection since the filling process is not under pressure.

 

[Riverbug]

You would not want to block the overflow tubes. They are there to ensure the tank does not burst.

The waste tanks do not need overflow protection since the filling process is not under pressure.

That is correct. Unless the gravity port fill also has a vent tube running to the tank, which mine does. So it is always vented regardless of the lower vent tube that runs to the ground. But I should have also mentioned that once you start using some of the fresh water, open the overflow valve as well to ensure proper venting. But most of the time I forget to do that which is okay, because the upper vent tube takes care of that issue.