Yesterday we were part of a discussion on water tanks.
The question was asked "Do you travel with full tanks, or do you only fill them them you are going to need the water"
Most of us answered that we travelled with empty tanks, unless we were planning to use water, e.g. if using C.P.s the tanks would be empty.
Others said they travelled with them filled, regardless, because the van travels better with weight down low.
Opinions please.
Vic said
11:49 AM Oct 13, 2011
Some say it is better to keep them full all the time as it stops the growth of algae etc inside the tanks.
But then if you don't use them too often probably better just to flush them out with a tank cleaner/and or white vinegar or bleach suitably flushed out before refilling and use.
I always found my caravans travelled better with water in them, less bouncing around and more stable etc, but of course at the expense of fuel economy.....
_wombat_ said
11:50 AM Oct 13, 2011
if we are stayin gbush we have full tanks, if going to a CP then tanks are empty, if after the CP we intend to go bush we fill our tanks at the CP.
labrat said
12:06 PM Oct 13, 2011
G'day we just came back from two weeks at Glenbawn dam towing our caravan 1800klg with a petrol 4.5 landcruiser filling up with petrol before driving down to the dam .The twin water tanks were full 85 litres each plus two water jerry cans on the rear bar also full =210 kilos plus 5 bags of fire wood =about 50 kilos total 260klg's .We had used 79 litres getting there approx 320 klm's .When leaving the dam we filled up at the same service station and filled up at home and had used 69 litres for the same distance travelled .
So the extra weight had made a significant differance to my fuel consumption ,the time taken to go and come home was about the same just a little longer to come home as we came home on a work day and there was a bit more traffic ..
In the future I will definately take into consideration the weight of the water I will carry and make enquires if water is available at my destination ..
Cheers ..BOB..
grumpy-j said
12:39 PM Oct 13, 2011
When travelling outback, I fill both tanks up to the maximum (120lts) plus a 20 litre container because of the water quality out there as well as the lack of it.
Around Vic I just carry enough water for a cup of tea along the way.
(I hate making Arabs richer).
In caravan parks I connect direct to town supply but pass it through a duel filter system to remove any sediment, heavy metals plus some of the other nasties.
Vic said
12:55 PM Oct 13, 2011
Just out of interst, do you think that partly full tanks can make a van unstable (ie; sloshing around from side to side when going over bumps etc) or do they have baffles inside them to stop this?
ozjohn said
12:57 PM Oct 13, 2011
If we intend to do some bush camping or know the water in the caravan park we're going to say at is less than perfect then we fill the tanks. Otherwise if visiting parks with good water we travel with the both tanks half full to maintain correct weight ditribution and a good ball weight. Cheers, ozjohn.
-- Edited by ozjohn on Friday 14th of October 2011 12:54:28 PM
03_troopy said
01:50 PM Oct 13, 2011
I usually fill the 60L water tank in the rear of the camper trailer because it balances the weight of the trailer better. Compensates for the extra weight of an extended drawbar with a box fitted to it.
Happywanderer said
02:44 PM Oct 13, 2011
Thats interesting. I thought everybody would fill their tanks from home before leaving no matter where they are going so they know they have good water to start off with. Not sure how much my tank holds. Must measure it sometime. I fill before I head off and always carry a 10 litre of tap water from the house for drinking. If I run out of drinking water will buy a fresh one from the supermarket. Haven't had to yet but would fill the tank from a suitable tap in my travels I presume.
Onedodger said
04:22 PM Oct 13, 2011
We always start out with the tanks full as we mostly bush camp and fill them when we can get reasonable quality water.
We were once following a van on the Stuart highway and noticed smoke coming from same. Managed to get the driver of the rig to pull over and on inspection found that one wheel had a flat (dual axle van) and it had almost disintegrated the tyre and it was smoking, when asked if they had any water to cool down the tyre/wheel so that it could be changed the owner said no as they don't travel with water in their tanks.
I pulled alongside hooked up my hose and cooled the wheel and tyre down. This took some time as the tyre for some reason was starting to burn.
We wondered what would have happened if we did not have water in our tanks.
This is another reason we travel with water in the tanks.
Cheers Dodg.
wendyv said
05:10 PM Oct 13, 2011
Because our trips are generally of several months, and we are bound to be in areas that do not have great water, we always start out with the two 60L water tanks full. We try to use them fairly equally, by switching between the tanks after a few days of usage from one. Will conserve the "good" water in our tanks by using local water, creek water etc for things like washing up.
Dodg - do you carry a fire extinguisher?
Dreamcaster51 said
07:05 PM Oct 13, 2011
We always travel with full tanks. What happens If you find a brilliant place to stop for a couple of nights and you dont have water? What happens if you breakdown and have to spend a couple of days on the side of tne road? We keep ours full even in parks. It will not be the first time a water pipe burst in the park and they advise no water for two days, has happened twice in two years up here in Lake Placid. You never know
jonathan said
07:15 PM Oct 13, 2011
.. I always try to travel with Water Tanks as full as possible .. including spare jerries. Lets not forget though that I am full-time on the road .. and to me, water is my most important commodity ..
Jon
Bent Axle Bob said
09:39 PM Oct 13, 2011
I always travel with water on board , regardless of where I am, And I make sure that I do not carry water in only one tank.2 tanks or cans to guard against damaged containers andlost water. That happened to me a number of years back travelling from Townsville to Perth.
justcruisin01 said
11:41 PM Oct 13, 2011
Water is the life line, allways leave home with a tank full, if in a park do the same as we free camp when possibile.
Also handy for the car if required, maybe just to get to help point, just never know what may happen.
_wombat_ said
09:38 AM Oct 14, 2011
Something you guys maybe interested in is a 'four way tap conector' (c pic) you get them from Bunnings, very handy at those taps that have the tap handle removed.
We do NOT use the water from these taps for drinking, only for showers.
-- Edited by _wombat_ on Friday 14th of October 2011 09:39:39 AM
each of the four have differant sizes to fit differant taps, just find the right size and attach to the top of the tap and turn it on, don't forget to turn it off again after use.
Gerty Dancer said
11:40 AM Oct 14, 2011
Dreamcaster51 wrote:
We always travel with full tanks. What happens If you find a brilliant place to stop for a couple of nights and you dont have water? What happens if you breakdown and have to spend a couple of days on the side of tne road? We keep ours full even in parks. It will not be the first time a water pipe burst in the park and they advise no water for two days, has happened twice in two years up here in Lake Placid. You never know
Yes we do this for the same reason. Plus we like to take good water from home, and have enough that we only need to re-fill if the water's alright.
Vic said
12:27 PM Oct 14, 2011
Vic wrote:
Just out of interst, do you think that partly full tanks can make a van unstable (ie; sloshing around from side to side when going over bumps etc) or do they have baffles inside them to stop this?
????????????????
Gerty Dancer said
01:14 PM Oct 14, 2011
Vic wrote:
Vic wrote:
Just out of interst, do you think that partly full tanks can make a van unstable (ie; sloshing around from side to side when going over bumps etc) or do they have baffles inside them to stop this?
????????????????
We dont know either Vic, have tried to keep tanks full just in case.
Vic said
02:03 PM Oct 14, 2011
I was hoping Ozjohn might comment Gerty, but I think he missed the first post. Someone will know hopefully, plenty do it so can't be too much of a problem (they might start full but as they use it between fills would be partly empty at least).
Like that tap gadget Wombat, would come in handy and not too big to carry/store etc.
Ma said
03:27 PM Oct 14, 2011
We have travelled both ways and haven't really noticed any difference.
I guess it all depends on how your tanks are made. Whether they have baffles or equalizer thingys in them.
Sorry can't be more helpful
We usually have full tanks most of the time though as we free camp 94% of the time
Rip and Rosie said
05:45 PM Oct 14, 2011
When we were discussing this, (before I posted), one fellow asked whether we stored the van with full tanks.
His position on it was it kept the tanks cleaner if you store them full, and flush and refill before a trip.
We store them empty, but now wonder what others do
Ma said
06:22 PM Oct 14, 2011
We store our van with full tanks Rosie, but that's not really any indication regarding purity of water as we travel very regularly the water isn't sitting in them long enough to have to flush and refill before the next trip.
_wombat_ said
06:26 PM Oct 14, 2011
Vic wrote:
I was hoping Ozjohn might comment Gerty, but I think he missed the first post. Someone will know hopefully, plenty do it so can't be too much of a problem (they might start full but as they use it between fills would be partly empty at least).
Like that tap gadget Wombat, would come in handy and not too big to carry/store etc.
Vic, I was just in Bunnings and they sell for $10.41AUD
Vic said
10:36 PM Oct 14, 2011
Thanks Wombat, I'll have a look next time i'm in there.
In regards to tank water, I usually drain mine (clean tap water) on the lawn either at home or a park nearest home when I leave. Leave mine empty with the tap open to allow some ventilation for a few days. Draining before your final leg and leaving the tap open also allows remaining water to shake out. I give a flush and fill before I take off for my next trip.
Yesterday we were part of a discussion on water tanks.
The question was asked "Do you travel with full tanks, or do you only fill them them you are going to need the water"
Most of us answered that we travelled with empty tanks, unless we were planning to use water, e.g. if using C.P.s the tanks would be empty.
Others said they travelled with them filled, regardless, because the van travels better with weight down low.
Opinions please.
But then if you don't use them too often probably better just to flush them out with a tank cleaner/and or white vinegar or bleach suitably flushed out before refilling and use.
I always found my caravans travelled better with water in them, less bouncing around and more stable etc, but of course at the expense of fuel economy.....
if we are stayin gbush we have full tanks, if going to a CP then tanks are empty, if after the CP we intend to go bush we fill our tanks at the CP.
So the extra weight had made a significant differance to my fuel consumption ,the time taken to go and come home was about the same just a little longer to come home as we came home on a work day and there was a bit more traffic ..
In the future I will definately take into consideration the weight of the water I will carry and make enquires if water is available at my destination ..
Cheers ..BOB..
When travelling outback, I fill both tanks up to the maximum (120lts) plus a 20 litre container because of the water quality out there as well as the lack of it.
Around Vic I just carry enough water for a cup of tea along the way.
(I hate making Arabs richer).
In caravan parks I connect direct to town supply but pass it through a duel filter system to remove any sediment, heavy metals plus some of the other nasties.
If we intend to do some bush camping or know the water in the caravan park we're going to say at is less than perfect then we fill the tanks.
Otherwise if visiting parks with good water we travel with the both tanks half full to maintain correct weight ditribution and a good ball weight.
Cheers, ozjohn.
-- Edited by ozjohn on Friday 14th of October 2011 12:54:28 PM
I usually fill the 60L water tank in the rear of the camper trailer because it balances the weight of the trailer better. Compensates for the extra weight of an extended drawbar with a box fitted to it.
Not sure how much my tank holds. Must measure it sometime. I fill before I head off and always carry a 10 litre of tap water from the house for drinking. If I run out of drinking water will buy a fresh one from the supermarket. Haven't had to yet but would fill the tank from a suitable tap in my travels I presume.
We always start out with the tanks full as we mostly bush camp and fill them when we can get reasonable quality water.
We were once following a van on the Stuart highway and noticed smoke coming from same. Managed to get the driver of the rig to pull over and on inspection found that one wheel had a flat (dual axle van) and it had almost disintegrated the tyre and it was smoking, when asked if they had any water to cool down the tyre/wheel so that it could be changed the owner said no as they don't travel with water in their tanks.
I pulled alongside hooked up my hose and cooled the wheel and tyre down. This took some time as the tyre for some reason was starting to burn.
We wondered what would have happened if we did not have water in our tanks.
This is another reason we travel with water in the tanks.
Cheers Dodg.
We try to use them fairly equally, by switching between the tanks after a few days of usage from one.
Will conserve the "good" water in our tanks by using local water, creek water etc for things like washing up.
Dodg - do you carry a fire extinguisher?
If you find a brilliant place to stop for a couple of nights and you dont have water? What happens if you breakdown and have to spend a couple of days on the side of tne road?
We keep ours full even in parks. It will not be the first time a water pipe burst in the park and they advise no water for two days, has happened twice in two years up here in Lake Placid. You never know
.. I always try to travel with Water Tanks as full as possible .. including spare jerries. Lets not forget though that I am full-time on the road .. and to me, water is my most important commodity ..
Jon
Water is the life line, allways leave home with a tank full, if in a park do the same as we free camp when possibile.
Also handy for the car if required, maybe just to get to help point, just never know what may happen.
Something you guys maybe interested in is a 'four way tap conector' (c pic) you get them from Bunnings, very handy at those taps that have the tap handle removed.
We do NOT use the water from these taps for drinking, only for showers.
-- Edited by _wombat_ on Friday 14th of October 2011 09:39:39 AM
each of the four have differant sizes to fit differant taps, just find the right size and attach to the top of the tap and turn it on, don't forget to turn it off again after use.
Yes we do this for the same reason. Plus we like to take good water from home, and have enough that we only need to re-fill if the water's alright.
????????????????
We dont know either Vic, have tried to keep tanks full just in case.
Like that tap gadget Wombat, would come in handy and not too big to carry/store etc.
We have travelled both ways and haven't really noticed any difference.
I guess it all depends on how your tanks are made. Whether they have baffles or equalizer thingys in them.
Sorry can't be more helpful
We usually have full tanks most of the time though as we free camp 94% of the time
His position on it was it kept the tanks cleaner if you store them full, and flush and refill before a trip.
We store them empty, but now wonder what others do
We store our van with full tanks Rosie, but that's not really any indication regarding purity of water as we travel very regularly the water isn't sitting in them long enough to have to flush and refill before the next trip.
Vic, I was just in Bunnings and they sell for $10.41AUD
In regards to tank water, I usually drain mine (clean tap water) on the lawn either at home or a park nearest home when I leave. Leave mine empty with the tap open to allow some ventilation for a few days. Draining before your final leg and leaving the tap open also allows remaining water to shake out. I give a flush and fill before I take off for my next trip.