[Richard]

Jon, the pickup may be mounted in the sump, I don't know for sure. I always assumed the major reason for the sump was to give water somewhere to accumulate, therefore the drain petcock.

[Hotrodhornet]

Jon, the pickup may be mounted in the sump, I don't know for sure. I always assumed the major reason for the sump was to give water somewhere to accumulate, therefore the drain petcock.

The Pick up is definatly in the sump, on mine it looks to be a 1" pipe going to the bottom of the sump

[Richard]

Thanks Paul ! That is good info.

And since my sump is on the right hand side, I won't worry about running out of fuel on green white checker in the fourth turn.

[ccjohnson]

Richard, Water should be caught in the fuel system water separators. Sump drain is just to drain tank for removal instead of having to syphon. IMHO

[Hotrodhornet]

Richard, Water should be caught in the fuel system water separators.  Sump drain is just to drain tank for removal instead of having to syphon.   IMHO

I agree with this, the pick up is close to the bottom of the tank. 
I think the sump would help some with a low fuel situation but any water is probably going to get sucked up and end up in a filter

[dkarb]

Now I'm confused.  I was told by the people at the Newell factory that the fuel tank sump was there to collect water over time from the fuel tank.  They stated that draining the sump on a regular basis was a very important maintenance item and they have seen many tanks rust from the inside out in the sump area from water being present for too long.  But that doesn't make sense if the pickup hose is at the bottom of the sump!

[Hotrodhornet]

Now I'm confused.  I was told by the people at the Newell factory that the fuel tank sump was there to collect water over time from the fuel tank.  They stated that draining the sump on a regular basis was a very important maintenance item and they have seen many tanks rust from the inside out in the sump area from water being present for too long.  But that doesn't make sense if the pickup hose is at the bottom of the sump!

Maybe if they get water in them and sit around for awhile, my pick up is pretty close to the bottom and I can't see it staying there long if used on a regular basis. Always buy fuel from a retailer that sells a lot of fuel. I would not fuel from a small store off the beaten path unless it is a emergency. 
I regularly buy diesel from Walmart as they are usually 10 or more cents cheaper that anywhere close. 
I always go in and buy a gift card also as that knocks a little off the price.

[dkarb]

Thanks Paul.  That makes sense.  Probably not necessary to drain the sump if you use it regularly but if in storage for a long period especially without a full tank it's a way to drain any water out that's collected.

[Mageeacres]

Great job on the tank fix. My lesson learned story….. Once just after I purchased our 1980 coach, I was parked on a farm road out in the countryside visiting with dear friends. The driver side was off the road about 3 ft so to allow some traffic to pass as needed. The fuel gauge showed about 3/8 of a tank but actually I had just shy of 1/4 of a tank)… (5 inches on the stick, measured in manual mode) (yes I have a 20 inch fuel stick I check the fuel level with in all three tanks, fuel hack learned as a youngster as our old diesel tractor never had a working fuel gauge and we always used a stick). Ok so the funny part was , at the angle I was sitting the driver side showed about 8 inches on the stick and the passenger side was almost at zero. Well we didn’t realize this until the engine stopped. I was out of fuel… at least that’s what the coach thought even though it showed almost half full on the gauge!! Lesson learned from where the fuel pickup is on the extreme right side of the coach and no fuel. It was a quick fix, my buddy pulled me back to the center of the road with the tank level and she started right up with starting fluid. I was definitely embarrassed… Lesson learned. (My main 190 gallon tank can be filled from either side of the coach). But I don’t know if there’s a sump there or not.