2020 303RLS Travelling with a full water tank

[Aljewett]

Hi everyone,
Just curious about traveling with a full tank of potable water. I've read about NOT doing it because of design issues (can't support the weight properly) and of course, carrying around 500 lb of water when it's not necessary. We're going to a Provincial Park in Ontario this month, and none of them seem to have a proper city connection to fill your tank. Instead, they have a crappy nozzle for filling via gravity. Apparently, they're afraid that a back-feed could contaminate their system. :-(
That's all well and good, but the 303RLS doesn't have a conventional gravity fill. Instead, it's uses suction-to-tank, similar to winterizing. I've discovered that the pump on the FW is SOOOO slow, it would take an hour to fill up at the park.
Thoughts?

[howson]

Hi everyone,
Just curious about traveling with a full tank of potable water. I've read about NOT doing it because of design issues (can't support the weight properly) and of course, carrying around 500 lb of water when it's not necessary. We're going to a Provincial Park in Ontario this month, and none of them seem to have a proper city connection to fill your tank. Instead, they have a crappy nozzle for filling via gravity. Apparently, they're afraid that a back-feed could contaminate their system. :-(
That's all well and good, but the 303RLS doesn't have a conventional gravity fill. Instead, it's uses suction-to-tank, similar to winterizing. I've discovered that the pump on the FW is SOOOO slow, it would take an hour to fill up at the park.
Thoughts?

Welcome to Grand Design's Technical Forum, and congratulations on the 303! As you'll find out soon enough, that is a popular model and there are many owners here who will likely chime in on your question.

I have a 315RLTS. While not exactly the same, the Nautilus panel and how it functions is similar. This thread shows how I've overcome the issue you're dealing with (because of all the reasons stated in your post): https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...le-boondocking

Howard

[TucsonJim]

Welcome!

In some of our Arizona parks, we face the same hurdle. However I've seen people use the device I've linked to below with some success. If there is enough of a of a spigot to slide the water bandit on snugly, you may be able to fill from the nozzle.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000EDOS...xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Jim

[Yoda]

Hi everyone,
Just curious about traveling with a full tank of potable water. I've read about NOT doing it because of design issues (can't support the weight properly) and of course, carrying around 500 lb of water when it's not necessary. We're going to a Provincial Park in Ontario this month, and none of them seem to have a proper city connection to fill your tank. Instead, they have a crappy nozzle for filling via gravity. Apparently, they're afraid that a back-feed could contaminate their system. :-(
That's all well and good, but the 303RLS doesn't have a conventional gravity fill. Instead, it's uses suction-to-tank, similar to winterizing. I've discovered that the pump on the FW is SOOOO slow, it would take an hour to fill up at the park.
Thoughts?

I carry one of these and they work well. Just be sure to sanitize the spigot before using it (wash spigot and connector with bleach water)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Camco-Wat...SABEgIZnfD_BwE

As for carrying a full tank of water, everything should be fine. Trailers are designed for it, so folks saying don't, or trailer cant take it are misinformed. However you may experience water loss while traveling. It that occurs there are several solutions - easiest is add a valve to the overflow tube, but you will need to remember to open it during filling or pump use. Not doing so can lead to tank and support structure damage.

On edit - looks like Jim and I are like minded
TucsonJim
howson

[Second Chance]

We have usually traveled with a full fresh water tank (our previous Reflection 337RLS and current Solitude 310GK-R). We've never had any issues with doing that. When high winds are forecast in the southwest (we've driven on days with 35-40 MPH winds with gusts to 65), I intentionally fill the fresh water tank for ballast... a concept left over from my sailing days. Again, we've had no structural issues.

Rob

[michael bellish]

I have a 2016 303RLS. While I try not to travel with a full tank because of the weight, I've frequently been in situations where I needed to (Traveling Oregon to Alaska or headed to Quartzsite). I've not had any problems. I've heard of some that have problems with the overflow leaking, which Yoda mentioned.

[Canyonlight]

Same feedback here with our 2014 303.......have traveled with a full fresh tank a few times over many hundreds of miles on some rough roads and no problems what-so-ever.

Like that water hook-up device Jim TucsonJim and ? Yoda ......first time I have seen that. ......thanks, guys !

Dan

[Yoda]

Same feedback here with our 2014 303.......have traveled with a full fresh tank a few times over many hundreds of miles on some rough roads and no problems what-so-ever.

Like that water hook-up device Jim TucsonJim and ? Yoda ......first time I have seen that. ......thanks, guys !

Dan

Dan the Water Bandit has been sold for years under various names, but I agree lately they seem to be out of style. My dad carried one in the 60-70's for the NP spigots that had the long curved skinny spout with the stiff spring loaded twist handle. Somehow I got elected all the time to hold it on and usually got wet in the process while dad filled the tank by gravity.

A few years back some camper used one with a band clamp to permanently tie on to the spigot to keep his trailer fed (like on City Water). Fellow campers hot happy and he got grumpy (well worse) and told them to use the other one and that he was there first. Park ranger took it off and confiscated it. Also told camper to leave the park. Man was that a circus

[TucsonJim]

BTW. When I'm going boondocking in Arizona, I always fill my tank to the top before I leave the house. It's hard to find water sources in a lot of the places I go. I've done this on multiple RVs for over 30 years. On my current trailer, I was losing a lot of water from sloshing or siphoning, so I put a valve on the overflow to shut it off while traveling. But I've never had a problem with the tank or structure due to the added weight.

Jim

[Aljewett]

Thanks everyone, very much appreciated. We're travelling about 130 miles, so carrying water shouldn't be that big a deal. I'll keep an eye on the siphon thing too. Now, once this pandemic is over, THEN we can go camping!

[Beachcamper]

I called GD with this same question and was told it is not recommended to travel with full tanks. We usually carry 15-20 gallons for overnight stops and bring a 7 gallon plastic water tank in the truck bed just in case we decide to stay another night. But that is the extent for any long distance. At campground where we can fill up then find a spot, i was told this is ok to do.

[Yoda]

I called GD with this same question and was told it is not recommended to travel with full tanks. We usually carry 15-20 gallons for overnight stops and bring a 7 gallon plastic water tank in the truck bed just in case we decide to stay another night. But that is the extent for any long distance. At campground where we can fill up then find a spot, i was told this is ok to do.

I have never herd of this before. howson Can we check with Emily or Megan on this. I am very curious as to why GD would say this.

[howson]

Yoda

I was not surprised by Beachcamper (Vivian's) post nor GD Customer Service's response. A quick search through a Reflection Owners Manual for the word "water" found what I expected (I've pasted them below for reference).

My .02 (and I'll happily admit to being proven wrong): I doubt any GDRV owner can add ~417 lbs of water and stay under (or even at) their trailer's GVWR after loading up for a camping trip.

----Start Quotes----

Your FRESH WATER is treated as CARGO WEIGHT.

Water weighs 8.3 lbs. per gallon; 50 gallons weighs over 417 lbs.

If you are close to your GVWR, reducing the amount of water in the holding tank will increase the amount of cargo weight available by the same amount. This flexibility allows you to make choices that fit your travel and camping needs.

----End Quotes----

This page in the manual caught my attention, too:

[Cate&Rob]

The 303RLS in question has an UVW of 9,400 lbs and a GVWR of 12,000 lbs. Somewhere in that 2,600 lbs CCC there is room for 400 lbs of water without exceeding GVWR. Even if you carried 1500 lbs of camping stuff (which would be difficult to find storage space for), with a full water tank, you would still be 700 lbs under GVWR.

Rob

[howson]

The 303RLS in question has an UVW of 9,400 lbs and a GVWR of 12,000 lbs. Somewhere in that 2,600 lbs CCC there is room for 400 lbs of water without exceeding GVWR. Even if you carried 1500 lbs of camping stuff (which would be difficult to find storage space for), with a full water tank, you would still be 700 lbs under GVWR.

Rob

The UVW is optimistic, at best.

What I understand is the UVW listed on GD's website is an "average" that comes off the assembly line. I have yet to see one post from any source from any model of GD trailer that shows a vehicle coming off the line that is less than the "average". Every single "weight off the line" document individual's have posted over the years has shown their trailer is heavier than the average. And this is without propane or a battery.

My trailer came off the line weighing 9516 lbs with a GVWR of 10995. Empty. Adding 1,479 lbs to a trailer is not hard to do.



New 315RLTS' now have a GVWR of 11,295 (why?) with a listed UVW of 9,297.

This is an issue where I need to see the weight tickets from a CAT scale. Even if someone does manage to do it, I'd still believe they are the exception and not the rule. As lamented by many owners (including me) these trailers have way more storage space than capacity to carry it.

To Aljewett question, I encourage them to verify the weight of their trailer with a full load of water and the camper "loaded for camping" (not cheating). Is the camper below GVWR? Great--press on. Over GVWR? Fix it by removing "stuff" or water.

Howard