Water tank won’t fill

We had a similar experience last year, after the van has been laid up during the first lockdown.  Two events have to occur for the Whale inlet to allow water into the tank. 

Firstly the tank has to have capacity to take onboard water and this is sensed by a float switch within the tank, not by the level indicators. If the tank is anything other than full then the switch closes and puts 12V onto the solenoid valve at the inlet. This actuates the solenoid (the second event) which opens the valve and allows water to pass from the filler into the tank.

For this sequence to occur the habitation power system needs to be switched on, but it sounds like you did that. You don’t need the pump in the van to be switched on. You mentioned the pump stopping but it has no part to play in the filling process. The only time that a pump is involved is if you’re using a separate Whale submersible pump outside the van to get water into the van filler from a container. From what you’ve said it sounds that you’re using a hose connected to a mains water tap.

The first thing to check is the functioning of the solenoid valve. I don’t know where yours is located (a Nuevo owner will be along to tell you) but mine is behind a back panel of the kitchen cabinet closest to the filling point. The panel was easily removed by releasing two screws on each side of it. As others have suggested, check that the strainer filter on the valve isn’t blocked with limescale. 

The next stage requires you to have a multimeter. Using the meter check to see if you have 12V (dc) across the two connectors on the solenoid. If you have, then switch the power off to confirm it goes to zero. Switch the power back on and if you have the 12V again then you’ve established that the solenoid valve has failed and is not actuating to open the valve.  

If, however, you measured no 12Vdc at all across the solenoid then it suggests the float switch is at fault. This was the case for me.  I thought it might be stuck given the long layup of the van and that filling the tank via a different route might unstick it. 

I was able to fill the tank through the separate gravity fill inlet our van has, but you could use the drain valve route suggested by others. You may struggle to fill the tank enough to lift the float switch off its stuck position, in which case get as much water in as you can then rock the van to get it sloshing around the tank.
In my case I filled the tank full, then emptied it and found this had freed the float, allowing the water to enter the Whale filler.

There’s no denying that the Whale filler adds complexity to what should be a simple task of putting water into the tank. People either love or hate the Whale system, as evidenced by a raft of posts on the subject here on the forum. It’s no coincidence that AS now fit both a Whale filler and a straightforward gravity filler to their vans and you may decide the best way forward is to retrofit the latter, as we did.

Once you’ve resolved the issue of getting water INTO the tank, you would be well advised to consider how your van gets water OUT OF the tank and delivers it to the hot and cold water system. On your 2013 Nuevo the chances are there is submersible pump in the tank that delivers water throughout the van. If it goes faulty then you may have to drop the tank to replace it, which could be a problem if you’re touring. Many owners, me included, have fitted an alternative pump instead. This bypasses the in-tank Whale pump, and is easily accessible within the van in the event of a fault. I won’t overload you further but the subject is covered comprehensively on here, simply enter “Shurflo” into the search box and you’ll find much of it.

Let us know how you get on and just ask if you get stuck.

Tim