Filling fresh water tank via bucket Avenue 23ml

[Travel time]

I have called the dealer and Alliance but have gotten nowhere with this one. I'm looking to see if anyone has come up with an idea to fill the fresh water tank using a 5 gallon jug and getting it into the fresh water tank with the nautilus P3 system. I turned the dials on the nautilus to siphon and turned on the water pump hoping it would pull the water from the container into the fresh water tank but it won't do anything. I believe there isn't enough pressure. We need to fill the tank when boondocking away from a water source but can't get it to fill. Thanks for any ideas...

 

[BryanValRox]

I have called the dealer and Alliance but have gotten nowhere with this one. I'm looking to see if anyone has come up with an idea to fill the fresh water tank using a 5 gallon jug and getting it into the fresh water tank with the nautilus P3 system. I turned the dials on the nautilus to siphon and turned on the water pump hoping it would pull the water from the container into the fresh water tank but it won't do anything. I believe there isn't enough pressure. We need to fill the tank when boondocking away from a water source but can't get it to fill. Thanks for any ideas...

Have you tried placing the bucket at about the same height as the pump inlet. Your pump should be able to pull water from the bucket and the panel will route it to the tank.
If you think about it, it is really no different then pulling antifreeze in during winterization.
Play with the bucket height some and see what happens.

 

[Travel time]

Tried that and nothing. I've been at it all day and really no successful way of getting watering into the fresh water tank. I've got a call in to Alliance and hopefully someone will call back tomorrow. I like the old days when you just filled the fresh water tank with the opening on the side of the trailer. This new stuff is complicated.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Are you camping now and trying to do this or planning ahead?

If you're just planning, a small drill pump is easiet method and doesn't put extra wear on your RV's water pump

 

[Travel time]

Boondocking with water in a jug only. Trying to shower is almost impossible. I can't hold that jug over my head so trying to improvise.

 

[BryanValRox]

Tried that and nothing. I've been at it all day and really no successful way of getting watering into the fresh water tank. I've got a call in to Alliance and hopefully someone will call back tomorrow. I like the old days when you just filled the fresh water tank with the opening on the side of the trailer. This new stuff is complicated.

Have you doubled checked all of your lever settings on the panels to ensure they are set correctly?
Additionally, are you sure you have good seals and tight connections? Without a doubt, you should be able to do this.
OC offered a great alternative idea, a power drill pump that feeds the panel set to power fill.

 

[BryanValRox]

Boondocking with water in a jug only. Trying to shower is almost impossible. I can't hold that jug over my head so trying to improvise.

Maybe this will help some! Good luck!

 

[DanNJanice]

I have called the dealer and Alliance but have gotten nowhere with this one. I'm looking to see if anyone has come up with an idea to fill the fresh water tank using a 5 gallon jug and getting it into the fresh water tank with the nautilus P3 system. I turned the dials on the nautilus to siphon and turned on the water pump hoping it would pull the water from the container into the fresh water tank but it won't do anything. I believe there isn't enough pressure. We need to fill the tank when boondocking away from a water source but can't get it to fill. Thanks for any ideas...

I do this all the time on my 32RLS. Just place the nautilus panel into the "Sanitize" position, connect a hose to fresh water fitting, drop the other end in the bucket, and turn on the pump.

 

[Midnight Rider]

I have called the dealer and Alliance but have gotten nowhere with this one. I'm looking to see if anyone has come up with an idea to fill the fresh water tank using a 5 gallon jug and getting it into the fresh water tank with the nautilus P3 system. I turned the dials on the nautilus to siphon and turned on the water pump hoping it would pull the water from the container into the fresh water tank but it won't do anything. I believe there isn't enough pressure. We need to fill the tank when boondocking away from a water source but can't get it to fill. Thanks for any ideas...

I built something I call the Robo Flow.
I took a strong water pump screwed it to a piece of wood board for stability, put a short piece of hose on the “IN“ portion of pump to put in a fresh water 10 gal jug, on the “OUT” portion of pump I put a short piece of hose with the male end of hose still on it. I then connect my freshwater hose to that and then to the Nautilus intake port. I put the Nautilus on city water intake Turn on the pump and it fills quickly and efficiently! To power the pump I connected long wires to the pump wires with little jumper clips on the end I can hook to the truck or trailer batteries for endless power.
This system has worked well for me in dry camp and partial hook up situations. Much faster than using the sanitizer setting on the Nautilus. It cost me about $100 all in, but I bought a strong pump to cut down on pump time. If you shop around you can probably build it for less. It’s also nice having that extra pump on board in case my main pump ever takes a dump?

Roll On !

 

[OburgOrange]

I built something I call the Robo Flow.
I took a strong water pump screwed it to a piece of wood board for stability, put a short piece of hose on the “IN“ portion of pump to put in a fresh water 10 gal jug, on the “OUT” portion of pump I put a short piece of hose with the male end of hose still on it. I then connect my freshwater hose to that and then to the Nautilus intake port. I put the Nautilus on city water intake Turn on the pump and it fills quickly and efficiently! To power the pump I connected long wires to the pump wires with little jumper clips on the end I can hook to the truck or trailer batteries for endless power.
This system has worked well for me in dry camp and partial hook up situations. Much faster than using the sanitizer setting on the Nautilus. It cost me about $100 all in, but I bought a strong pump to cut down on pump time. If you shop around you can probably build it for less. It’s also nice having that extra pump on board in case my main pump ever takes a dump?

Roll On !

Picture?

 

[stanburnb]

I tried it twice using the sanitize position. It worked, but it was so slow and so noisy that I couldn't stand it. So I did the same as Midnight Rider. Just used a spare water pump with a short hose from the pump outlet to the inlet on the panel and hose from pump inlet to water container. I did not mount my pump on a board, I just set it on a piece of wood. Works great. So much faster and quieter plus you have a spare pump in case the trailer pump goes bad. For power to the pump, I have an Anderson connector in the front compartment that the pump plugs into. I also use the Anderson connector to power my air compressor when needed.

 

[JWalker]

I’ve ran into this problem quite often. Especially when I haven’t used the water pump in a while.

-I set all the valves to “sanitize”
-I hook up a short hose that only reaches from the connection to the bucket on the ground.
-Then I hold the hose end up in the air and use a small funnel and pour water into the hose. By filling the hose with the funnel, it eliminates a lot of the air which causes my pump not to prime.

Once the pump is primed, I can put the hose down in the bucket and it will pull it from there. With no issues.

 

[Travel time]

Good morning and "Thank you" everyone for your help. I received a text late yesterday from Alliance and I will call them back later this morning to see what they say. We will pack up and head home in awhile and reevaluate all ideas. Pretty much a downer for what we thought was going to be a relaxing easy weekend away. What we thought was funny was Alliance customer service wanted me to send pictures and a full description of the panel. We have very little phone service where we are and Internet is almost non existent here. I told her she would get it, if it sent out by maybe Friday. We did have funny moments though. My wife said it was like we camped almost 40 years ago with a container of fresh water, a bar of soap and enough alcohol to wipe any bad thoughts away.
After all the suggestions we received I like the idea of buying an additional pump using the RV batteries and filling the tank the same way you would if you were hooked to a city spigot. I will add to this post after I call Alliance and tell you what they said.
Thank you all....

 

[Travel time]

Alliance called back and we walked thru the issue and they still believe turning the dials on the nautilus P3 to sanitize should work. I went out and tried it again and if it is working it is extremely slow, but I don't believe it's doing anything. I'm going to proceed with plan B and purchase a small pump that will work off the battery and put water into the tank. Thank you everyone.