2004 trillium outback water supply

[Daniel Allan]

Hi
Still learning about and prepping my 2004 Trillium Outback, doing the water system (soap water then bleach water) and can't figure out what the water inlet located beside the drinking water inlet is for. It could be to a holding tank for toilet water (if there is one) but I pulled the toilet out and capped off its water line. Anyone know what that second inlet could be for? It has a small "stick switch) inside it.
Thanks
Dan

[Glenn Baglo]

Looks like mine and that inlet on the left is where you connect hose to city water when you have services.

[Daniel Allan]

Thanks Glenn but when I screwed on my garden hose to it the pressure backed up on it, no water flowing through.

[Glenn Baglo]

There is a screen and behind that is a valve, which needs to be depressed when winterizing, or water remains, turns to ice and damages the valve.
What's on the inside? Could there be a shut off valve?

[NigelW]

Hook the hose to the fitting and turn the hose on. Now go inside and turn the tap on at the sink and you will get water flow. When you have city water available at a campsite you don’t have to listen to the water pump every time you flush or turn on a tap..

Nigel

[thrifty bill]

Just realize if you leave it unattended and hooked up, and then spring a leak in your plumbing, you could flood out your trailer. Best to shut it off if you are not there to monitor it. There also is a check valve in the water pump to keep the city water from entering your water tank. When that valve sticks open, you WILL overflow your water supply tank!

[theresa p]

Hey Daniel


We didn't have the toilet in our 2004, however the one on the left is for city water. The one on the right is to fill a holding tank that is under the dinette beside where your sink is.



When you capped off the toilet lines you might have broken the connection to both water connections.



We don't have a water pump in ours. Standard was a hand pump. It works fine but we have only used the holding tank once in the 15 years we have owned the trailer. We prefer to bring our own drinking water and usually hook up to the campground water.

[Daniel Allan]

Hi Theresa

I capped the hose to the toilet at the toilet end so don't think I disrupted a connection but having said that, I've just got the hand pump by the sink too so it sounds like our systems are likely the same or very similar.
Our potable water tank is up in the front corner, same side of the trailer as the sink/fridge. I've cleaned that out and drained it and can refill it, but doubt I did any treatment of the water used for toilet flushing which is supplied when throwing a "water' switch located near the sink on the face of the sink cabinet. Does the pump that is engaged by that switch pump water from the potable tank over to the toilet or is there a separate reservoir?
So there's the real beginner's question....does city water inlet( to the left of drinking water inlet) circulate independently of the potable tank or go into the same storage tank?
Regardless, when I connect my hose (using a pressure reduction valve) to the city inlet water will not flow out of the hose. It backs up at the inlet. I've tried flipping the switch inside the city inlet, left, right, centre positions with same non-result.
So I'm still stumped.
D.

Originally Posted by theresa p

Hey Daniel


We didn't have the toilet in our 2004, however the one on the left is for city water. The one on the right is to fill a holding tank that is under the dinette beside where your sink is.



When you capped off the toilet lines you might have broken the connection to both water connections.



We don't have a water pump in ours. Standard was a hand pump. It works fine but we have only used the holding tank once in the 15 years we have owned the trailer. We prefer to bring our own drinking water and usually hook up to the campground water.

[theresa p]

Daniel...here's the thing. The city water inlet doesn't go to any tank. It goes thru piping directly to the sink. Our trailer has a separate single tap in addition to the handpump. That tap is to be used when using city water. The hand pump is to be used when pumping from the holding tank.


Question---does your pressure relief valve on the hose allow water to flow when the hose is NOT connected? In other words, are you certain that the valve hasn't been connected backwards, causing the valve to close instead of being open, allowing flow? If no water comes from the unconnected hose, that would seem, to me, to be the issue.


And have you tried it without the pressure-reducing valve? We haven't used one anytime we use city water and we simply turn the water off at the connector whenever we leave the trailer for any length of time.


To my knowledge, the toilet did not have a separate holding tank but as I stated previously, our trailer isn't a bathroom model. We have friends who did have that model and it seemed to me that they only had the 1 holding tank.

[Daniel Allan]

Hi Theresa
Found a sheet of paper among the previous owner's leavings that has a schematic for the "hand pump and water fixture" and it's pretty much as you explained but for a couple of things:
I don't have a tap in the sink just the pump and it looks like the city water inlet has a short, direct line to the pump. That's it. I'll be trying lower pressure in the hose in case the valve is pressure sensitive (??) or, failing that being the reason for the stoppage of flow, replace the valve. I'm assuming its pressure fitted into the mount so I won't have to pull out the sink to get at it.
I guess that's another thread, eh?
Thanks for the followup. Much appreciated.
Dan

Originally Posted by theresa p

Daniel...here's the thing. The city water inlet doesn't go to any tank. It goes thru piping directly to the sink. Our trailer has a separate single tap in addition to the handpump. That tap is to be used when using city water. The hand pump is to be used when pumping from the holding tank.


Question---does your pressure relief valve on the hose allow water to flow when the hose is NOT connected? In other words, are you certain that the valve hasn't been connected backwards, causing the valve to close instead of being open, allowing flow? If no water comes from the unconnected hose, that would seem, to me, to be the issue.


And have you tried it without the pressure-reducing valve? We haven't used one anytime we use city water and we simply turn the water off at the connector whenever we leave the trailer for any length of time.


To my knowledge, the toilet did not have a separate holding tank but as I stated previously, our trailer isn't a bathroom model. We have friends who did have that model and it seemed to me that they only had the 1 holding tank.

[Daniel Allan]

Originally Posted by Daniel Allan

Hi Theresa
Found a sheet of paper among the previous owner's leavings that has a schematic for the "hand pump and water fixture" and it's pretty much as you explained but for a couple of things:
I don't have a tap in the sink just the pump and it looks like the city water inlet has a short, direct line to the pump. That's it. I'll be trying lower pressure in the hose in case the valve is pressure sensitive (??) or, failing that being the reason for the stoppage of flow, replace the valve. I'm assuming its pressure fitted into the mount so I won't have to pull out the sink to get at it.
I guess that's another thread, eh?
Thanks for the followup. Much appreciated.
Dan

Hi
It looks like I'll be checking the city water inlet (city water regulator). It looks like a pretty straightforward system, as you suggested, may be installed backward or it's not working any more. If it's not working it looks like the part is no longer available in the '04 design and might have to install a newer version which I'm hoping I won't have to do as it may present it's own problems.
So I guess the next question is how to remove the old inlet/regulator. If I'm lucky it's a pressure fitted piece, if not, it may be getting complicated.
Thanks again
Dan

[theresa p]

Hi Daniel----in our trailer, our holding tank is under the dinette at the back of the trailer.

Have you taken out the stove? Once removed, the sink and all its connections are visible. Perhaps you don't have water flow because (maybe???) your city water connection isn't connected????? Sounds weird, but without a tap on the top of the sink, that's all I can think of.


Joe Thoen, the owner and builder of Outbacks near Calgary, is your best resource.

Have you tried to contact him by phone? He is easier to reach that way, instead of emailing him.
If anyone can direct you, it'd be him.

[Daniel Allan]

Hi again
lol the water's got water.
You're right, without the tap the piping setup is different. it's a single line from intake to pump, which apparently has to be in raised position to start in-flow. My wife just found that bit of info last night so we'll try again when the rain stops.
I've got a call in to Leisure Components(562-924-5763) who are still distributing parts for the water system and will give Joe Thoen a call as well.

Originally Posted by theresa p

Hi Daniel----in our trailer, our holding tank is under the dinette at the back of the trailer.

Have you taken out the stove? Once removed, the sink and all its connections are visible. Perhaps you don't have water flow because (maybe???) your city water connection isn't connected????? Sounds weird, but without a tap on the top of the sink, that's all I can think of.


Joe Thoen, the owner and builder of Outbacks near Calgary, is your best resource.

Have you tried to contact him by phone? He is easier to reach that way, instead of emailing him.
If anyone can direct you, it'd be him.

[Daniel Allan]

Thanks for all the advice on my city water supply problem. After eliminating the check valve as the problem I ended up pulling out the hand pump and found it couldn't draw water so replaced it. That was it.

[thrifty bill]

Be sure to watch the Slim Potatohead youtube video on the water he found trapped under the floor on his similar era Trillium. The pontoons did not have drains. He drained out a couple of gallons of the nastiest, foulest water I have ever seen. My guess is the plywood in his floor is going to have some rot.

The Trillium pontoon design is a great one, but without drains, they will fill up and water will get to the plywood flooring, which is encased top and bottom with fiberglass.

[Joe at Outback]

Wow all that fussin over a super simple question,Daniel the large hole with the cap is the fresh water filler, the outlet beside that is your city water filler, If you have the original Delta faucet on the counter the city water will directly hooked up to it, to get water flow from the city water you simply push the lever arm down and then your water will start flowing. That simple.

[Daniel Allan]

yup
everything's new to the newbie