Fresh Water Auto Fill ??

[0533]

I have 2 locations to turn on my Fresh Water Auto Fill, Button at the dash and one in the water bay. (Marathon XL 99) When I turn on the button, nothing happens, the light lights up, there is plenty of water pressure at the street, but no action. This seemed to happen right after I dumped all the water in the bus, emptied everything, water heaters the whole works, went to refill and nothing. Any ideas on how to trouble shoot this??

[dale farley]

Bruce, I have those two switches in my 99 CC also. I assume that either of the switches activates a solenoid in the water line that opens to divert the water into the tank. I would first check the fuse/breaker, then I would try to locate the solenoid and see if power is reaching it. If power is there, then you have a bad solenoid. Maybe someone with a Marathon can tell you where their solenoid is located. Do you hear the solenoid click when you push the button? I assume you don't. I don't think that power at the switch light is a positive indicator that there is power reaching the solenoid.

[0533]

This is a good point Dale. I do normally hear a noise when I switch the auto fill on when at the water bay, will check both. Thanks

[dale farley]

If you don't hear that click, then you either have a bad solenoid or there is no power reaching it. Hopefully, you just have a bad fuse/breaker, but I don't know how yours is wired. In CC, I would first look to my elctronic control panel, and I would expect to find a blown fuse (automotive type).

[0533]

Thanks dale will report back

[Petervs]

Hi Bruce,

Marathon Auto Fill..... a nice system with a built in design defect.

I suggest you go to the street side water bay, activate the autofill switch there. You should hear a click as the solenoid valve opens. If you hear the click, but no water fills the tank, then there are two possibilities. One, the tank is already full. Two, the manual ball valve on the water fill line is closed. Also, the water faucet must be turned on. ( I only say that in case Jon ever buys a Marathon, he would need to be told that item!).

On the other hand, if you do not hear a click, then the switch that controls this function is not telling the solenoid that the tank needs water, in effect it is saying the tank is already full. Here is the design defect, these switches seem to fail after a few years. And they can not easily be replaced.

The switch is located on top of the fresh water tank, over on the street side water bay. The fresh tank is the lowest tank, you may have to remove the cover panel for access, just a few screws. The tank has 4 or 5 switches molded into the side of it, spaced vertically every couple of inches. Each has two wires coming from it.These drive the tank level lights on the dashboard. The autofill switch is controlled from an identical switch mounted on the top of the tank, just above the row of level switches. This is the one that fails.

You can test to see if this is the cause of the problem by disconnecting the wires that lead to it and jumpering them together and then not to simulate the operation of the switch. That will make and break the contacts, and open and close the autofill solenoid.

If the switch is defective, replacement is problematic. MArathon says you need to have one welded into the polypropylene tank. You would probably have to remove it first. I simply appropriated the highest level switch and wired the autofill to that one. Now my autofill shuts off with 1 inch of empty tank, but otherwise it works like before. Of course my highest level light no longer functions, but who cares. I had already installed a SeeLevel tank monitoring system because it works on the black and gray tanks too, and these same switches had long since failed on the black tank.

If this last autofill switch fails in the future, well, I guess I will have to buy a Liberty.

Hope this helps, let us know how yours turns out.

[0533]

Hello Brian,

This makes sense. I will add this to my list. I have had problems in the past, each was simple but did need to do something each time, turn on water etc.

I will print this out and take to the bus.

Thanks again. It all should be a bit more simple, just wanted to fill the water tanks

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

I found this article in the FMCA Magazine Feb 2009, and thought I would post it word for word, for any of you that may need to Sanitize your Fresh Water System. Here it is:

"Fresh water chlorination

Dear RV Doctor:
The water in our RV had a bad odor — a musty smell — so we added some household bleach to the tank and let it sit awhile. Now we cannot get the bleach taste out. What do you suggest we do?

Stacey Johnson, Sacramento, California

Stacey, not only can foul- or stale-tasting water ruin an RV vacation, but it may even be harmful. However, the pungent flavor of household bleach might even be worse — like drinking water from a swimming pool! There is usually sufficient chlorine in most city water supply systems for safe storage in an RV, but if foul-tasting water persists, it may be necessary to treat the fresh water system from scratch. Of course, the fresh water tank stores only the quality of water put in there, so be sure to taste it prior to filling up. Here’s the approved method of chlorinating the entire fresh water system:

1. Drain and flush the fresh-water tank; leave empty. Be sure the water heater is not in the bypass mode.

2. Mix 1/4-cup of liquid household bleach (sodium hypochlorite) solution with one gallon of fresh water.

3. Pour directly into the fresh-water tank.

4. Pour in one gallon of the chlorine/water solution for every 15 gallons of fresh-water tank capacity.

5. Top off the tank with fresh water.

6. Remove or bypass any water purification equipment and/or filtering cartridges.

7. Turn on the water pump and open every faucet in the RV, including exterior faucets and showerheads.

8. Allow the solution to pump through the system to the toilet, through the water heater, and to every hot and cold faucet at each sink until a mild odor of chlorine is present at every fixture.

9. At the city water inlet, using the eraser end of a pencil, push in on the check valve spring, allowing the solution to pump out through the city water inlet until the chlorine odor is detected in the discharge.

10. Close all the faucets and turn off the water pump.

11. Allow the system to stand for four hours. This will chlorinate and disinfect the system, including the fresh-water tank, the water heater, the faucets, the complete piping system, and all fittings to a residual level of 50 ppm (parts per million).

12. At four hours, drain and flush the system with fresh water once again.

If 100 ppm residual concentration is required or desired, use 1/2-cup of bleach instead of 1/4-cup with each gallon of the solution and let stand for at least one to two hours. To avoid damage to delicate plumbing components found in some water pumps, do not allow the chlorinated solution to sit longer than four hours in the fresh-water system. This is the approved method to be sure bacteria are effectively eliminated. This process should be performed after any period of nonuse or storage, or whenever stale or distasteful water is experienced.

Since you’ve already put household bleach in the system, you may have used too much. Just keep flushing it out. Fill the tank, pump it through, drain, and refill. If the heavy bleach concentration has permeated the plastic piping severely, you may have to keep pumping fresh water throughout the entire system to be sure all the bleach is eliminated. The odor of the bleach eventually will subside. There are aftermarket products that can be added to the fresh-water tank, but those that I’ve tested consist primarily of chlorine elements, and I don’t think you need any more of that. I’ve also heard of adding distilled vinegar to the water system. Add about 1 quart for every 5 gallons of water capacity and pump it through the system as you do with chlorine. Let it stand in the system overnight and, as with chlorine, fully flush the system until you are satisfied with the taste and smell. I’ve not tested this method personally, but if the bleach taste remains, it just may be a viable alternative."

Hope this may help someone?

Gary S.

[GSwaim]

Has anyone got a good working knowledge of how Royale did their autofill system? Mine doesn't seem to function according to the manual and simply pours water on the ground when I fill the water tank. I was wondering if someone knew how they detect the water level in the Tank to shut the incoming city water off during filling?

[GSwaim]

I cn hear the crikets on here. Doesn't anyone have a anser to my Royale autofill?

Gary
2002 Royale #332