Whale water filling (1 Viewer)

[Boris7]

recently bought our first MH, have to say I hate the blooming whale filler with a passion.

connected to a hose for over 2 hours, got practically no water into the tank.

called whale, lovely lady but not much help.

MH came with a new mains connector but it ain’t working for me.

how On earth does it work?

is there any reason I can’t cobbler up a simple connection and by pass the whale connector?

 

[Pausim]

As a top up on a longer stay a roller barrel and submersible pump is fine but for a big fill up you want a free flowing hose and a hole to pour it into.

 

[Mike Rivers]

Well I must be alone. I find the Whale system really convenient for our needs. We tend to use site facilities eg showers, toilets and washing up as see no point in giving yourself more work. With this in mind 3 10 litre Jerry cans give us adequate water supply for cooking, cups of tea and washing your hands/face. Rather than faffing around with hoses etc we simply stick the pump end in the Jerry can and ‘fill internal tank’. And if I want more water well then it’s a tad more effort but at my time of life (67) I need some motivation for a bit of exercise and a walk to the drinking water tap is fine. Actually find it a brilliant system. Bailey have been making motorhomes now for years people and are not recent ‘caravan converts’ so I’m sure if there was negative feedback year upon year it wouldn’t be beyond them to design a different system!!

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[Dagraton]

Me again - new to the forum and new to the Bailey Autograph 745. Yes, the 'Fill tank' option on the control panel has always been activated when filling the tank. With modest water pressure at the tap, it can take 15 minutes or more to fill the tank with 100 litres. I've noted DangerMousy's suggestion and will give this a try. However, this is only part of the problem. More fundamentally, I just don't see the point of the 'Whale' connection unless, maybe, you have set up base camp for quite a few days and are happy to buy an Aquaroll type system and find somewhere to store it. But then, why not just use any large water container and a funnel in a conventional water filling neck? Also, on most campsites, you still have to move to empty the grey water.

 

[Gerby]

I have the Bailey Autograph (2017 model), it has the whale system fitted but as per the majority of MHomers I just stick the hose connection on, turn on tap and fill the tank, no solenoids, no sticking valves and never taken more than 5 minutes to bang in 90 litres.

I do have a pump in a cupboard somewhere (I remember being given it when we got the MH and shoving it into a corner somewhere) and in the unlikely event of me parking up for a period of time that means I need to top the tank up before leaving for my next destination I may even look for the pump (though only if I can borrow a water container from someone).

The Whale system as put on the Bailey is neither a good or bad thing in my experience though may be useful one day so happy to leave it where it is happily doing absolutely nothing other than acting as a glorified hose connection (and in my experience it has not had any detrimental affect on flow rate from the tap)

 

[Dagraton]

Me again - new to the forum and new to a Bailey Autograph 745. We have just returned from the first extended trip in this motorhome, a three week tour in Scotland, and my view about the Whale filling system is confirmed. For me/us at least, it's pointless and has distinct disadvantages compared with a standard filling neck for fresh water. As mentioned by others, it probably comes down to how you travel. If the motorhome is used more as caravans tend to be used - travelling to some base and staying there for a few days, or weeks, I can see it might make some sense and more so if you are on a 'fully serviced' pitch with a fresh water supply and grey water drainage but this is rare and I don't want to start messing around with an Aquaroll system or similar. For us and probably for most motorhomers, we tour, staying a night or two at different places and using the motorhome service points for fresh water supply and grey water drainage when the Whale system becomes tiresome. Apart from anything else, it is always slow to fill and I have now abandoned the Whale connection entirely and fill the fresh water tank direct via the floor hatch. While I'm moaning, I used to own an older motorhome which had a large diameter drain pipe for grey water and the grey water tank could be emptied when full in a minute or so. The small diameter pipes which now seem commonplace restrict the flow and emptying the grey water tank also becomes a chore - waiting as the water trickles out as the queue for the service point gets longer.
Please, if anyone from the design team at Bailey is reading this, for motorhomes, consider -
- Replacing the Whale connection with a standard filling neck.
- Designing the fresh water filling pipework so that either a Whale connection or a standard filling neck can be used.
- Fitting two filling necks - one standard, one a Whale connection.
- Using larger diameter pipework for grey water drainage.
I rest my case. On a more positive note, we like this Bailey motorhome in almost all other respects and apart from some very mixed weather, the trip to Scotland was great.

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[Solwaybuggier]

For those who hate the Whale filling system- we had a 2013 Bailey, and at that time they came with the submersible pump included. (I believe you now have to pay for them extra?). We found it filled the tank way quicker than using the hosepipe - so much so that it would have been quicker to use a bucket to use as a “reservoir“ from the tap, and use the submersible pump in the bucket to then fill the water tank! Might take a bit of adjustment to get the flow into the bucket right.
In practice, and particularly on aires/Stellplaetze where you may get a limited time to fill up to 100 litres, we tended to open the floor hatch and unscrew the top cap of the water tank, feeding a hose in through the window.
We loathed the Whale filling system, and the slow grey waste drain.

 

[Jonno1103]

We have the whale system, even the BBQ & EHU sliding covers have whale on them, heating & hot water. On our van it's a purely manual operation... shove in the hose and turn on the tap.

The only thing i've done is cobble together a small length of 16mm clear hose which fits into the filler gully and attached one end to a hozelock connector, our hose has another with a valve in so the water can be turned on then attached to the van.

If I want to use the Aquaroll & pump I do what I've always done. 12v plug into the tv socket, submerge pump into said barrel and flip the switch.

 

[Doc5129]

Hi Folks

Newbie post (pick up our first motorhome tomorrow!). Used to have a caravan and am familiar with connecting caravan to water supply (on a super pitch), via an aquaroll with a ballcock arrangement. But my research suggests this isn't the done thing on a motorhome? Rather I fill up my 140L tank, either at home or at a service point at the site? So what happens when the water runs out after 2-3 days? I have to drive from the pitch back to the service point to refill? Seems a bit of a faff? It would be good if (on a super pitch) I could permanently connect a pipe to the motorhome somehow. Is this not really the done thing? I assume I also have to drive to the "service point" to enter the grey waste every so often as well?

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[Pausim]

Hi Folks

Newbie post (pick up our first motorhome tomorrow!). Used to have a caravan and am familiar with connecting caravan to water supply (on a super pitch), via an aquaroll with a ballcock arrangement. But my research suggests this isn't the done thing on a motorhome? Rather I fill up my 140L tank, either at home or at a service point at the site? So what happens when the water runs out after 2-3 days? I have to drive from the pitch back to the service point to refill? Seems a bit of a faff? It would be good if (on a super pitch) I could permanently connect a pipe to the motorhome somehow. Is this not really the done thing? I assume I also have to drive to the "service point" to enter the grey waste every so often as well?

If I am on a super pitch I get the hose out after a few days and fill up again. I may leave the hose connected if it is not in the way. I pipe the grey waste directly into the super pitch drain and leave the drain valve open. On a standard pitch I fill up on arrival and if staying longer than my water lasts I get out my 50 litre roll along barrel, I have a small pump to transfer the water into the main tank. A filler cap with a Hozelock type connection is a very useful accessory for all filling. I have a wheeled grey water tank if I need to drain off before moving on. Some sites, particularly CLs and CSs ask you to put the grey water in a hedge, they don’t want their cess pits filled up with grey water when they have to pay for pump outs. I pipe directly to the hedge if near enough or use the wheeled tank if not. I have a set of expandable drain pipes which are very handy.

Amazon product ASIN B01HTA3CN0Check you have the right size for your filler.

Colapz Flexi-Waste Pipe Kit - The Caravan Accessory Store

The Colapz Flexi-Waste pipe kit is perfect for use for your caravan or motorhome when on a serviced pitch. The waste pipe kit contains four flex

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[Doc5129]

thanks. I still have my old Aquaroll and grey water collector, so some useful hints there. Just need to get myself the waste pipe kit and the hozelock filler cap

Cheers