Summer Mode/Winter Mode - Two Water Tanks in Roadtrek 190 and 210

One of the most frequent questions that comes up about Roadtrek's 190 and 210 models is about the two fresh water tanks that these models have. There is an interior tank that is located inside the van in the rear and there is the exterior tank which is located outside the van in the front. The exterior tank holds 14 gallons of fresh water. The interior tank holds 11 gallons of fresh water. Together the two tanks equal the capacity of the single 25 gallon tanks that are found in the other Roadtrek models. The questions that come up about these two tanks that confuses many are which tank is in use, how do I only have water coming from the rear tank, how come my back tank never empties and so on. The answer to all of these questions will be clear when you understand how the connections to these two tanks work. Detailed photos for the 210 are at the end of this article.

There are two valves inside the  Roadtrek that determines how water flows between these two tanks. In my Roadtrek they are located in the cabinet on the floor on the driver's side where the bed platform starts. Inside this cabinet you also find the water pump and the hot water tank with its bypass valves. Inside are also two valves that can shut off water flow to the outside shower. Here is the cabinet once opened -

The biggest thing in this photo is the hot water tank. If you look to the left you can just make out a red handle at the bottom. That is the location where you are going to find all that you need to control which tank your water flows from and how that works. 

Let me explain why there are two tanks. The Roadtrek 190 and the Roadtrek 210 is designed to allow one to travel in the winter with a fresh water tank inside the van where it can stay warm - provided that you have heat inside the van - and the water not freeze. To make this happen you set the tanks into what the Roadtrek manual calls "Winter Mode".  I will tell you how to set the valves for winter mode shortly. First, let's talk about what the Roadtrek manual calls "Summer Mode". Summer Mode is the normal operating mode to use all of the water that both tanks are carrying. 

SUMMER MODE

Here are the two valves that control where and how the water flows from the two tanks - the small black handle valve on the  left and the large red handle valve on the right. The two valves in this photo are in SUMMER MODE position. Each valve is pointing along the length of the pipe that it is on. Here is a close up -

Take a look to the right of the red handle at the pipe that comes off with an elbow the right goes back and then is connected off to the right at the bottom. This pipe is going directly to the water pump.  The RED HANDLE VALVE is the TANK SELECTOR valve. The BLACK HANDLE VALVE is the FLOW THROUGH valve (Roadtrek calls this valve Tank Isolator Valve and also Tank Transfer Valve - two names in the manual for the same valve). Think of the valves as "red" and "black" because thinking of them with the names given only gets more confusing.

When the handles are set AS YOU SEE ABOVE the two tanks are in SUMMER MODE. Now, what does that mean. In Summer Mode water flows from the back interior tank into the front exterior tank and then from the front exterior tank into the water pump and then into your faucet or toilet or shower or hot water tank. In Summer Mode if you look at the monitor panel on the wall of your Roadtrek and push the test button you will see that the back tank or "FRESH 2" on the panel of LEDs will empty first, and after it is empty and you look at the monitor panel, you will start to see that the exterior tank or FRONT tank is then being used and emptying. As I said, in Summer Mode water is coming into the system from the FRONT tank - and while there is water in the back tank, the back tank water flows into the front tank and refills it. Confusing? A little. Water comes from the front tank but the front tank is filled back up from the back tank. With the valves set as above you do not have to do anything to use all of the water in both tanks. Some people say that they like to manually switch from one tank to the other. I am not sure why, but some do. I am not going to get into that and confuse you any more. If you want to just "automate" the process just put the two valves as shown here. WITH THE VALVES IN SUMMER MODE YOU HAVE THE TANK SELECTOR VALVE SET TO WATER COMING FROM THE EXTERIOR (FRONT) TANK AND THE WATER FLOW THROUGH VALVE IS SET TO ALLOW THE WATER TO FLOW FROM THE INTERIOR BACK TANK INTO THE EXTERIOR (FRONT TANK).

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WINTER MODE

1 - It is getting cold outside. You are afraid of a sudden drop in temperature to below freezing and you don't want to take any chance that your water or pipes will freeze. This is one reason why you would put your water tanks into Winter Mode. (This is not a substitute for winterizing! This is temporary.)

2 - You are planning a winter trip and it will be freezing outside. The 190 and 210 are designed with the interior (back) tank to carry water inside a heated van. You want to use your interior tank for water. This is another reason why you would put your water tanks into Winter Mode.

Let me give you some warnings to be very clear up front. The interior of the van must be kept at 64 degrees F and above at all times - ALL TIMES - if it is freezing outside for the water in the back interior tank not to freeze. This means that you are going to run your furnace or a heater inside your van 24 hours a day while on your trip to keep the interior temperature at 64 degrees F or above. Once that water goes down the drain or the toilet into the waste tanks it is now again in danger of freezing and doing this requires that you add anti-freeze to your black and grey tank. At the end of your trip OR if you decide that you cannot keep your fan heated inside all of the time you are away - YOU MUST WINTERIZE to prevent your tanks, pipes and valves from freezing.  If you put your tanks in Winter Mode DRAIN your outside fresh water tank. Any water in there WILL freeze.

The valves are shown here in WINTER MODE. Here is a close up - 

The two valves now CROSS the pipes and are pointing to the front of the van. When the valves are set AS YOU SEE ABOVE your two tanks are in WINTER MODE. What is happening here is that you have now SHUT OFF ALL WATER COMING FROM THE EXTERIOR TANK and you have now CHANGED THE FLOW OF WATER COMING FROM THE INTERIOR TANK SO THAT IT NOW WILL FLOW DIRECTLY INTO THE WATER PUMP AND PIPES (and not your exterior tank) going off to your faucet or toilet or shower or hot water tank. Let's say that again - no water comes from the outside front tank. That tank is now shut off from the system. Water now comes from the inside back tank and goes into the water lines directly.

If we are traveling in the Fall we will fill the rear tank only and place the water system in Winter Mode. This way, if it gets cold at night, we have less of a chance that the whole water system will be effected by the cold. If we are in the Roadtrek and it is getting colder at night, we have the furnace or the heat pump on and the inside is heated. During the day it will go well above freezing and there will not be a problem. We did this once in a campground because we heard that the temperatures at night would go below freezing. It was over 50 during the day. We quickly drained the front tank and set the system to Winter Mode and we were fine.

If you are traveling in freezing weather with the system in Winter Mode, you do not have to be concerned about the hot water tank water freezing. This tank is inside your Roadtrek and is insulated with two inches of foam. There is only 15% surface of the tank not insulated and Roadtrek assures that it has been tested way below zero F and will be fine - as long as you have the cabin heated. 

Remember in WINTER MODE you need to keep the inside of the van heated. I cannot say that enough. There is no magic here. If the inside of the van goes below freezing the water in the system will freeze. AND water going into the waste tanks will freeze unless you add antifreeze to BOTH waste tanks. The waste tanks are OUTSIDE - whether there is heat on inside the van or not, if it is freezing outside and there is any water in either of the waste tanks, the water will freeze.

There is one other thing to be aware of if traveling in freezing weather in Winter Mode. There are two other valves that you need to shut off - the water valves on the pipes that come from the water system and go outside to the outside shower. Once you shut these two inside valves off, go outside to the shower faucet and open both handles to let any water in the faucet and pipes drain out - then close the outside shower handles. If it is freezing outside, the outside shower faucet and pipes will freeze if there is water in it. These two valves are located in this same compartment way in the back on the top at the van wall.

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To keep all of this straight we made up small cards and attached them to the inside of the cabinet door. With the cards, we know at a glance which way the valves have to be for what. Each card on the opposite side has what happens when the valve handle is moved the other way. The cards are flipped when the valves are moved and are attached back down with "fun-tack" putty that holds them in place.

SUMMARY CHART: 

BLACK VALVE                 RED VALVE                                               RESULT

UP                                       UP                                      Summer Mode - Water from both tanks

ACROSS  (RIGHT)            ACROSS (RIGHT)            Winter Mode - Water ONLY from BACK

ACROSS (RIGHT)             UP                                      Water comes ONLY from FRONT tank

UP                                       ACROSS (RIGHT)             DO NOT DO THIS*

*Let me explain why Black UP and Red ACROSS will be a problem. Essentially you are sending water from the back tank into the front tank and the front tank is closed and not sending water into the system. Water will try to be drawn from the interior tank but the water there is flowing into the exterior tank while at the same time the pump is trying to draw water from the interior tank. Basically a mess. If this confuses you don't worry,  it confuses me too.

TROUBLESHOOTING

What happens when the RED handle is turned? 

You are selecting from which tank the water will be drawn into the water pump.

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What happens when the BLACK handle is turned?

You are changing the flow of water from the interior tank either into the exterior tank or "isolating" the exterior tank from the system and allowing the water from the interior tank to flow directly into the water pump.

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My back tank never empties. My front tank is working and is emptying. What is wrong?

The black valve is turned across the pipe and needs to be moved to the UP position. RED UP - BLACK UP

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The water in my front tank is not being used. Water only comes from the back tank. What is wrong?

The system is in winter mode. Move the Red valve to the UP position.

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No water is coming from any tank and I know the tanks are full. What is wrong?

Look at the valves - are the valves set to black up and red across - you have the setting that is shown as a problem in the chart above. Turn our black handle UP and your red handle UP. Water should then flow from both tanks as explained. IF it does not - there may be a clog in the pipes or a problem with the water pump. This may require a service technician to fix.

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Which tank monitor lights correspond to which tank? 

Front exterior tank is FRESH 1.

Back interior tank is FRESH 2.

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Hopefully, I have demystified Summer Mode and Winter Mode for you. I have to tell you that all of this confuses me also. I have had a lot of help from Meryl figuring this out. She is good at puzzles and she is the one who unlocked the mysteries of the two tanks. 

None of this applies if you have a Sprinter Roadtrek or a 170. These have only one water tank and there are none of the valves that I have been talking about. 

BASIC INSTRUCTION - FOLLOW THE PHOTOS AND YOU WILL SET TO EITHER MODE WITHOUT A PROBLEM.

 

Thanks to one of our great readers, Nick,  I have been able to add to this article details about the location of the Summer/Winter Mode valves in the ROADTREK CHEVY 210 model.  Nick, was very gracious to respond to my request for him to take photos of the location of and the valves for summer/winter mode setting in his 210.  These photos are credited to Nick:

Here are the two cabinets past the kitchen cabinets in the 210 on the driver's side. In the cabinet closest to the front of the van, which is labeled "Cabinet A", is where you will find the valves - and the water pump - in the Roadtrek 210. 

The cabinet door pulls down to open:

And inside are the valves! 

The red handle valve and the small black valve are the same as in the 190 and will be set exactly the same as described in this article above!

 

(As an aside you can see the water pump filter on the right.)