Just pondering… how full for travelling

[Cush]

To all those that travel with water in the tank.
is it better to be full rather than partial to avoid the sloshing effect, and would it actually make a difference?

 

[PP Bear]

Wouldn’t make any difference and always travel with it brimmed as full as possible.

 

[Googlebot]

Makes no difference for the 100l we carry.

 

[Puddleduck]

It depends on where we will be that night (and possibly the night afterwards). If on a site we will usually travel with minimum water but if staying somewhere without water on tap we will make sure we have at least a half tank. We use bottled water for drinks so tank water is for washing (ourselves and dishes) and flushing the loo.

If we are staying put for more than a couple of nights we fill the tank.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Water full, waste empty.

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[Lenny HB]

We always fill the tank when setting off tank is 160 lt never noticed any difference when driving with different levels in it.

 

[suavecarve]

Knowing where youre going and if water is readily (and freely) available on getting there means travelling with minimal to cover toilet flush and save 100 kgs for us.

 

[PP Bear]

Always full cos you don’t know when the zombie apocalypse will arrive and the need to head for them there hills, where you can dump the grey wherever you like and can dig a hole to dump the cassette dumps

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Have a 360ltr tank and mostly travel full.
If I’m going from site to site I may just have half a tank but tend to fill up whenever I can just in case.

 

[Cush]

Thanks all. I always liked to arrive as full as possible. Good to know that there is no need to consider the sloshing effect.

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[dunnah01]

Never travel with grey water coz it stinks so always end up brimming the fresh whilst at the service point, the black gets dumped whilst I'm at it aswell

 

[kevenh]

If we’re taking our pushbikes I’ll only put in 45lt of our 70lt capacity. Max capacity if no bikes.
We’re usually on a site with drinking water taps nearby & I’m still fit enough to walk about with a 20lt load
But our Motorhome is a little un. Along with the 70lt fresh water tank, we’ve only got a 40lt grey tank.
edit: tipo fixed!

 

[Cush]

Never travel with grey water coz it stinks so always end up brimming the fresh whilst at the service point, the black gets dumped whilst I'm at it aswell

Agreed dunnah01 and if you open the cab windows when driving it just sucks the smell towards you. you only do it once. Smelled worse than black waste!

 

[Cush]

If we’re taking our pushbikes I’ll only put in 45lt of our 70lt capacity. Max capacity if no bikes.
We’re usually on a site with drinking water taps nearby & I’m still fit enough to walk about with a 20lt load
But out Motorhome is a little un. Along with the 70lt fresh water tank, we’ve only got a 40lt grey tank.

I also enjoy the refill ritual when low on water. Best hack I have for that is using the end section off a domestic downspout to act as a funnel. It fits the filler opening perfectly and let’s you pour quite quickly.

 

[suavecarve]

Never travel with grey water coz it stinks so always end up brimming the fresh whilst at the service point, the black gets dumped whilst I'm at it aswell

Thats a fair to medium point which was well raised. Leave the tank open when travelling after opening.
Makes it less likely to smell and annoys some to think that grey water droplets will cause the end of the world

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[Lenny HB]

Leave the tank open when travelling after opening.

Not good practice as the as there is quite a bit of water still in the tank unless you have air suspension or hydraulic Jack's so you can tilt the van to drain the tank properly.
If I empty my tank level then tilt the van on the air another 10 - 20 Lt comes out.

 

[Lenny HB]

But out Motorhome is a little un. Along with the 70lt fresh water tank, we’ve only got a 40lt grey tank.

That would make using a van like that difficult off grid. Our last van only had a 100 Lt tank I always carried another 40 Lt in the garage.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Fill to the overflow of my 60l and by time of arrival quite a lot has sloshed out.

 

[suavecarve]

Not good practice as the as there is quite a bit of water still in the tank unless you have air suspension or hydraulic Jack's so you can tilt the van to drain the tank properly.
If I empty my tank level then tilt the van on the air another 10 - 20 Lt comes out.

I ll practice some more then

 

[jumar]

Payload...our full tank weighs 120kg...we carry adequate to get the trip started...top up as we leave for the next leg of a journey....never had problems finding fresh water....
For drinking we carry a container of water from home which is filtered, don't drink from tank... anything ever been said before on this...?

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[Puddleduck]

Payload...our full tank weighs 120kg...we carry adequate to get the trip started...top up as we leave for the next leg of a journey....never had problems finding fresh water....
For drinking we carry a container of water from home which is filtered, don't drink from tank... anything ever been said before on this...?

Pretty much what we do!!!

 

[Reallyretired]

Always full water and empty grey if possible. Of course not everywhere has facilities to fill and empty so sometimes have to drive with some grey. The sloshing about in the grey tank probably gives it a bit of a clean.

 

[chatteris]

Fill to the overflow of my 60l and by time of arrival quite a lot has sloshed out.

first time out with my bessacar i filled to brim, got to site and was down to 3/4 of tank, overflow is at front of tank and must have been loosing water everytime i braked so i fitted a one way valve to pipe so air can go in but water cant get out, so now have hatch and top of tank open and fill to brim for start of trip

 

[cyberyacht]

Full fresh plus 25L in the garage. Grey gets dumped at every opportunity. I also leave tap open but only a litre or two might drain out.

 

[PP Bear]

Full fresh plus 25L in the garage. Grey gets dumped at every opportunity. I also leave tap open but only a litre or two might drain out.

Been known to have an extra 80 lts under the bed when off grid. I reduced it to 40 lts as the norm, which is what I’ve got at the moment.

Cant have enough fresh

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[pjay]

I always carry a tin of this, saves a bit of weight....

 

[chaser]

This is where the watering can comes into its own, if we are near a tap, just nip out while Julie is doing something else and fetch a can full so we are always full.
We only have a seventy ltr tank so we have to keep an eye on it, but it will last us three days from full, but I also have four 20 ltr cans under the seat which doubles our capacity but don't use them if there is other available.
I have a short hose with a submersible pump on the end and poke the hose through the window straight into the tank.
Similar fill them with the filling hose so I don't have to lug them about.
Toying with the idea of taking them out and putting one big tank in their place, but as they are I can move them about.

 

[RobinE]

Always leave home with a full tank and fill up as and when needed. Never noticed any handling difference between full, empty or points in between. I guess there must be some hit on fuel consumption, but never noticed it.
Whilst I will empty the grey tank whenever opportunity arises, I have never had a smell problem if opportunity does not arise. But always keep the plugs in the sinks and shower drain. Maybe emptying the tank immediately after driving helps prevent build up of gunge.

 

[chaser]

Yeah that's another thing, always empty the toilet at every opportunity then we know we can last three days minimum 6 water if I use my reserve, gas and electric I can manage without but water and emptying is an absolute must .

 

[funflair]

Usually travel full as it stops a half load banging about inside the tank, we might not feel it in the van but I bet the tank feels it that aside though 360 litres of water over the rear axle helps the ride when the garage is empty.

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