Really slow to drain fresh tank, help!eful,!

T

Timtomxf

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Joined
Sep 28, 2018
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56,435
MH
Low profile Rapido 2002
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Camper van for 4 years, Moho new
hi all and thanks for the welcomes

I have had a classic bow camper and have now moved up to a pretty old Moho (Rapido 772F 2001), which I am getting to grips with, and this site is Sooooo useful!

My current issue is draining the fresh water tank, I’ve found the valve (I think) in the wardrobe floor, but it is painfully slow to empty

I am doing this right? Or is there a way to do this faster ( on our first trip I noticed a fellow MH’er empty theirs and it gushed out, different and newer van though)

Thanks all

Tim
 
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Chances are that is just the boiler frost protection valve. There should also be a plug or tap on the bottom of the tank. Try taking the big cap off the tank & look inside.
 
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why don't you just run the taps and open waste valve?
 
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welcome.. and as DP Jay said.. but why drain fresh water when leaving the site ??

OR do you mean the GREY waste tank?
 
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Hi and welcome to FUN, sorry can’t happy with your problem. (y)

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Just to save fuel when travelling, don’t fancy hauling a heavy tank of water about; also moho will sit on drive for 3/4 weeks at a time so don’t fancy drinking that water, even if boiled!
 
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Timtomxf said:
Just to save fuel when travelling, don’t fancy hauling a heavy tank of water about; also moho will sit on drive for 3/4 weeks at a time so don’t fancy drinking that water, even if boiled!
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little if any fuel saving,. I always travel with mine FULL, fill up before leaving the site .. also means you water for washing, flushing toilet, or making tea on the road .. I've even used the shower when it was a long hot day driving.

water left in the tank for 2 or 3 weeks will be perfectly fine.. only time I ever drain mine is for winter when there is a risk of freezing...

but in any case, there should be a drain plug on the bottom of the tank, usually accessed via a big blue cap on top of the tank..
 
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Timtomxf said:
also moho will sit on drive for 3/4 weeks at a time so don’t fancy drinking that water, even if boiled!
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I think water that's been in the tank for a few weeks is quite OK for washing up, washing and showering etc.

Like you, I am also wary of drinking water that has been in the tank for a few weeks. My solution is a separate 5 litre drinking water container for drinking water and filling the kettle.

I bought a 5 litre bottle of water somewhere in Spain, and just refill it directly from the site drinking water supply tap as required.

It has other uses occasionally, like when the pump fails or the battery is flat.
 
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I don't drain my F/W tank each time I refill it so there must be a ratio of 'old' water to new. I don't run my taps at home when I return from 3 or 4 weeks away.
My F/W tank has a short (6"?) drain hose with a tap just under the side skirt.
Like @autorouter I have a 5litre container which I use as a day supply for drinking but keep the tank water for washing/washing up etc. I also travel with a full tank as the effect on performance or mpg seems to be insignificant.

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we also leave ours full or part full, always travel with it full as we leave home and whenever we can refill

but also would never drink the water from the tank, bottled water is so cheap that is all we drink, although we do also refill the bottles when on a site we trust the water supply (y)

On our first MH we had to go inside the water tank and manually pull out a plug on a chain, then refit when empty, now have a valve in garage, I also suspect you have only opened the boiler dump valve so far (y)
 
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@Timtomxf - On my Rapido the little wheel that operates the valve to empty the fresh tank needs several turns anti-clockwise to get a reasonable flow.

It took ages to empty the tank on the first time because I had not got the hang of this.
 
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My fw drain is very slow and also comes out underneath where it would be difficult to place anything to catch the water. I have given up using it and just drain the tank by running the taps.
 
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Don’t think you will save that much on fuel by emptying the tank but you will cause yourself a lot of headaches refilling it again. If you travel and aim to wild camp for a night or two you will need water. Trying to fill up on a campsite is not always easy unless you carry a very long hose or are happy with a couple of watering cans. As for drinking it I don’t think I would bother. We use 5ltr bottles from supermarket and what’s in the tank for washing and the toilet.
 
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After 70 years of drinking anything that looks vaguely wet I'm still waking up each morning ........................... (y).

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Like many other replies on here we always have some water in the tank. Somewhere between 50 and 120 litres.
We don’t drink it but do use it for washing, showering etc. We also use it for hot drinks where the water gets boiled. We buy drinking water in packs of 4 x 2 litres.

However, I have just treated my tank with Puriclean, and will drain it down tomorrow then fill and drain twice more. After that the intent is to treat the water in the tank with Aqua Clean tabs each time we fill it then use it to fill a Britax filter jug which we will keep in the fridge.

We may well go back to buying drinking water as well

At home we only drink water from the kitchen tap which is connected directly to the mains, not from the bathroom tap which comes from the header tank
 
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Some great sugggestions. And advice here from everyone, thanks to all!
 
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My Rapido takes ages.Fresh water valve is a flip up type.I open all taps which helps.Mines a 2004 model.
 
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so you dont drink water from a plastic tank but do drink water from a plastic bottle thats got a six month sell by date ???

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Masman said:
My Rapido takes ages.Fresh water valve is a flip up type.I open all taps which helps.Mines a 2004 model.
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Just finished the soak-empty-fill-empty-fill-empty-fill sequence with 120 litres each time. The Rapido flip up drain valve is really slow, even with taps open and water pump off. So I alternated between draining through the drain valve, and ten clisingbthat and turning the pump on to pump water through the taps and into the waste tank. I was running the water pump for only 5 minutes st a time, as I have no idea if the pump is continuous rated. This way it didn’t take too long. Does anyone know ho long you can safely continuously run the water pump without damage?
 
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Always drink water in tank and only drain down in winter enough chlorine in tap water to sterilise the system
 
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I didn't realise that we had so much surplus water we could just chuck it away! :unsure:
 
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Why does bottled spa water that's been in the ground for eons have a sell by date? The wine I drink is always out of date according to the bottle.

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denisejoe said:
Always drink water in tank and only drain down in winter enough chlorine in tap water to sterilise the system
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recently our toilet flush pump failed. On removal of the old one, I saw it was covered in black slime. MH is 2 1/2 years old and I have only ever filled flush tank with clorinated tap water and never used any additive. Fully drained in winter. Would my fresh water tank look like this I asked the MH fitter. Yes definitely, he replied.
We always use a separate 5 litre water container, which is sterilised each trip with Milton, for fresh drinking water ..... thankfully.
 
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Mr Chrysalis said:
Just finished the soak-empty-fill-empty-fill-empty-fill sequence with 120 litres each time. The Rapido flip up drain valve is really slow, even with taps open and water pump off. So I alternated between draining through the drain valve, and ten clisingbthat and turning the pump on to pump water through the taps and into the waste tank. I was running the water pump for only 5 minutes st a time, as I have no idea if the pump is continuous rated. This way it didn’t take too long. Does anyone know ho long you can safely continuously run the water pump without damage?
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If it's same as mine it's a surflow pump and it can run continue to run.What I can't understand is why there is a rush to empty it.I just open valve and taps and forget it. It Always empties.
 
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Masman said:
If it's same as mine it's a surflow pump and it can run continue to run.What I can't understand is why there is a rush to empty it.I just open valve and taps and forget it. It Always empties.
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I never normally need to empty it, but having decided to clean the tank with Puriclean, it needs to be emptied and filled 3 times in a row to clean it. I didn’t want to spent something like 3 days doing this!
 
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