Dai Bach Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 We are considering buying a caravan and are interested in one with a 40 ltrs (approx) onboard water tank; single axle; fixed bed and 4 berth. Can anyone help please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klyne Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 I am assuming that you are asking about UK made caravans? Twin axle caravans seem to have them as standard but single axle vans only seem to have them on the most highly spec'd ranges. Given that there are relatively few Brit caravan manufacturers now an eveing spent on their websites would provide information in depth. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Hi Dai It should be relatively easy to fit a Water Tank to the majority of Caravans. It would be worthwhile investigating weight (payload & distribution) before deciding on it's position as you will be adding around 50kg (1kg per litre of water + weight of Tank & Mountings). Fiamma do a standard 70 litre, see:- http://www.fiammastore.com/Bipot-&-Tank-Spares/Water-Tanks-and-Tank-70L or numerous other sources. or CAK Tanks have many differing sizes http://www.caktanks.com/CAK_Water_Tanks.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Having an onboard tank may seem a good idea but there are disadvantages. To fill it while parked on site will require a separate container and many people use a watering can as this allow easier filling of the tank, but then again you have to check that it is clean enough for possible drinking of the water. The other thing is when you leave the site you should empty the tank to keep your weight down. Personally I feel you are entering the realms of the problems faced by motorhomers, and is it really necessary? A portable tank is easier to fill, and keep clean and can be replaced when damaged. As far as manufacturers I kinda suspect that onboard tanks will be the preserve of vans at the upper end of the market place so maybe Hymer etc is worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony50 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 Dai Bach - 2011-07-26 2:27 PM We are considering buying a caravan and are interested in one with a 40 ltrs (approx) onboard water tank; single axle; fixed bed and 4 berth. Can anyone help please? Our Swift has an onboard tank Tony A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted August 19, 2011 Share Posted August 19, 2011 40L on board tank , from memory thats about the size of a rolaball, IF you want to carry an extra 40kg of water use that! and spend your money on a Crate of Red, Carrying so small an amount is not practicable if you are away from a mains source, one shower and its gone. We just about manage two days on 100L in our camper. Don't forget that you will need to carry a similar waste tank as well.Back in the dark ages I always carried a 25l can of guaranteed water on board mainly incase the site water was vile but also for lunch on an Autoroute parking, luckily I had an on board Whale pump so connecting up was a breeze. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie owen Posted October 28, 2011 Share Posted October 28, 2011 We have a Bessacarr with an onboard water tank and I wouldn't be without it. More sites have water on a pitch and it's so much more convenient than the aquaroll. We have a twin axle (wouldn't change that for a single axle either) 3 of our Bessacarrs (we've had 4!!) had onboard tanks, even the single axle 495, 525 and the 550 we have now. They do a fixed bed, but it's in a twin axle. Jackie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocsid Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Both our Hymers have had 45 litre on board water tanks together with provision to use an external water container[Aquaroll]. They have also a feature to transfer from the external container to the tank, or be filled manually. We like the system and rarely use anything but the internal tank. In winter it will not freeze and throughout the year avoids any animal etc contaminating our water. If there is any disadvantage we have yet to discover it; other than it must cost more to include this feature with its requirement for two pumps and the electrical change over switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 One of the main reasons we never went back to caravanning was the water hassle, dragging the aquaroll it seemed like every five minutes is just such a pain, ditto the waste. Whilst an onboard tank negates this, you folk obviously must stay at high end sites to find them with onsite water. Very rarely have we found water on any pitches, and never yet on a CL, normally tucked away up the corner of the field,hardly ideal unless you pack a long hose. I would add I do not understand the comment " problems faced by motorhomers" there are no problems we just drive to the tap every three or four days if parked up for that long, and use a small dedicated container for drinking water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie owen Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 When staying on a CL (or anywhere else without a "service" pitch,) the aquaroll easily fills the onboard water tank using the same connection on the caravan as the water hose from a tap on site. I always re-fill the aquaroll after initially filling the onboard tank so that should more water be required during darkness or rain, there is an a supply of water ready and waiting. The hose is just more conveneient. The original question was concerning a caravan with onboard water tank, motorhomes are a different breed, and one of the pros for having a motorhome and not a caravan,(though I feel there aren't many) is that you can take it to a source of water as necessary, negating the need for the aquroll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 jackie owen - 2011-10-30 3:09 PM , and one of the pros for having a motorhome and not a caravan,(though I feel there aren't many) is that you can take it to a source of water as necessary, negating the need for the aquroll. "though I feel there aren't many " can't quite see why you added that, there are very many advantages. Having had both over the years there are very many advantages of owning a Motorhome, not putting your back out heaving heavy aquarolls, and ditto your grey water, and I guess that's what the OP is thinking about. I can have a cup of tea in my hand before most vanners have even got their first corner steady wound down.. I guess if your the type that stops on one site next to a tap, and drain with no desire to go touring a caravan fits the bill though. And why on earth you would fill an onboard tank with an aquaroll I would have thought that defeats the whole idea of having an onboard tank to begin with. Oh and if your into European touring a whole new world awaits through the Aires system, denied to caravan users. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-10-30 4:39 PM jackie owen - 2011-10-30 3:09 PM , and one of the pros for having a motorhome and not a caravan,(though I feel there aren't many) is that you can take it to a source of water as necessary, negating the need for the aquroll. "though I feel there aren't many " can't quite see why you added that, there are very many advantages. Having had both over the years there are very many advantages of owning a Motorhome, not putting your back out heaving heavy aquarolls, and ditto your grey water, and I guess that's what the OP is thinking about. I can have a cup of tea in my hand before most vanners have even got their first corner steady wound down.. I guess if your the type that stops on one site next to a tap, and drain with no desire to go touring a caravan fits the bill though. And why on earth you would fill an onboard tank with an aquaroll I would have thought that defeats the whole idea of having an onboard tank to begin with. Oh and if your into European touring a whole new world awaits through the Aires system, denied to caravan users. While I agree with everything you've said I do think you are verging on the Caravaning vs Motor homing lifestyle argument which has never been resolved, lets face it Caravaner's are different:-) They actually enjoy squatting in the middle of a field rather than travelling the open road from one destination to the next. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 Point taken, but I can never understand the blinkered points of view of some. I have been on both sides of the fence, and I know which one I prefer, and an onboard 125 litres of water is a huge plus, if I had taken the blinkered view I would have never found out about all the other very many advantages either, oh well their loss I guess.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 30, 2011 Share Posted October 30, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-10-30 6:02 PM Point taken, but I can never understand the blinkered points of view of some. I have been on both sides of the fence, and I know which one I prefer, and an onboard 125 litres of water is a huge plus, if I had taken the blinkered view I would have never found out about all the other very many advantages either, oh well their loss I guess.... As an Ex tenter, Ex Trailer-tenter, Ex caravaner I know exactly what you mean:-) but I do envy your 125l of water and have to manage on a measly 100l ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackie owen Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Sorry if I opened up a can of worms, but the replies have got very "hot" to say the least! I have a cup of tea made before my husband has unhitched the van - then if I happen to have forgotten the milk, at least I don't have to drive a motorhome around looking for a shop. I don't want to be controversal so I shan't bother with any more posts on this forum. I see that some of the replies have been adited - I wonder how rude they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I'm guessing the OP is of a certain age given his requirements, and may not have thought of the advantages of a M/home instead. You stated you thought there were not many, just trying to give an alternative view, being a tugger myself at one time.It was the Aquaroll malarky that finally pushed me in the M/home direction, and for us at least it solved so many other problems associated with a touring van, (pointless listing them ). I would say people on here do sometimes like to wind each other up, and your comment " can't see many advantages of a M/home" was almost certainly going to bring out the pro motorhomers camp like me who have done both. Don't take it too personally is all I can say. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 jackie owen - 2011-10-31 10:14 AM Sorry if I opened up a can of worms, but the replies have got very "hot" to say the least! I have a cup of tea made before my husband has unhitched the van - then if I happen to have forgotten the milk, at least I don't have to drive a motorhome around looking for a shop. I don't want to be controversal so I shan't bother with any more posts on this forum. I see that some of the replies have been adited - I wonder how rude they were. Sorry if anyone here , especially myself , have made you feel uncomfortable asking a perfectly acceptable question. There is a longstanding, some times good natured, some times good humoured too, feud between Motor homers and Caravaners both believe their choice was the right one, but what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.The edited posts have been edited by the authors to remove errors or add extra detail to the post prior to someone replying, an 'edit' does not imply that the forum moderators have considered the post objectionable..............You need to post a very objectionable post indeed for that to happen:-)For myself I am an ex Caravaner (Bessacar) but when I had one an inboard tank was the stuff of dreams, but I'm still not sure if I would want to go to the extra expense when inboard tanks take so much time and trouble to keep clean and you will end up carrying a supply of drinkable water in a Gerry-can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Our Bailey Senator Wyoming has an inboard tank and when set up we fill it by an aqua-roll and a pump system supplied with the c’van via an external power socket. Works well but that said we only use it in the winter when very cold outside as the ambient temp in the external tank is so low that the water heater struggles to give us our piping hot showers in the morning! By using the internal tank, its ambient temp approaches room temp and hot showers not a problem! On our water mixer in the shower, with a cold external tank in use we found that we had to move the adjuster well over into the “hot” as more hot water was required to mix with the very cold water. In marked contrast, in winter, using the internal tank, less hot water is required and so the hot water lasts longer, therefore longer showers, which for us is what we want. We did have one problem tho’, when not using the internal tank in mild weather, we found that the internal tank was filling when the external pump was used. I had assumed there was a valve in the internal pump to prevent this, but apparently not. So the fitting of a simple manual valve in the line prevented this. It also gave us a tad more pressure for our hot showers as the water was not being diverted into the internal tank. But that said – as we are year round users of our caravan – an internal tank for us is a very real advantage. As for what is best C’van or MH – Personally I have a cvan but intend to have a MH when the personal circumstances suit. Tho, the disadvantages voiced to me by many tourers in motorhomes do make me consider a good touring caravan or 5th wheeler may be the best option. The main gripe from the MH’s when they do express a view is the noise when travelling. One chap said that whatever he did all the cupboards and the contents behind him drove him nuts! Many state that having to pack away to simply go out is an issue as well. Obviously not if your aim is to be constantly on the move, but that is not want we personally want to do. Our aim will be to spend a week or two in each place we visit, on a nice site so we can explore. Towing a small car behind a Motorhome is just not attractive to us. But it is all about personal choice – some of us prefer the relaxation of “sitting in a field” rather than spending all that time on the road on a never ending journey from a to b. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 I think I need a bit of help on this one. On caravans without a water tank the water is generally pressurised by the submersible pump in the aquaroll, and the pump is activated by electric contacts in the taps On a motorhome the water is pressurised by a pump adjacent to the tank, and is activated by the pressure drop when you open a tap. To fit an internal tank is probably not a problem on most caravans, and it is probably not beyond most of us the cut into the cold water pipe and connect our internal tank to the system., but what about the pump? Do we have to install a submersible pump into our tank and connect it to the electric supply from the tap contacts?, and how do we stop it from pumping the water from our internal tank out through the external filler? Alternatively, do we fit an external pump which can wire up from the batteries, and change all the taps to the none contact type, which may not always be possible with those taps that fold down under the sink cover. I don't think this is an easy modification. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted November 3, 2011 Share Posted November 3, 2011 It can be done - these firms are able to help, but the specifics of how to do it will depende upon what caravan you have and you have in place already. http://www.tek-tanks.com/vehicles/rv-caravan/ http://www.caktanks.co.uk/ Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Before we saw "The Light" :D , we had a small Hobby caravan with an internal 45lt tank a real boon when winter camping. Only problem we found was due to the overflow arrangement you could only travel with it about 30-40% full any more and you would loose it out the overflow, just made sure we topped up when entering a site. Also still needed to carry an aquaroll as well as a few long hoses for filling on site. Despite the short comings in a caravan if we ever went back to a caravan wouldn't consider a van without an inboard tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham derby Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 I have one on my Lunar Delta and could realy do without it. I fetch a rollerball 40l of water then have to use the pump to fill the tank, so far so good , but then i have to use the pump again to supply the tap, shower etc. My point is that for every 40L, you have to use the battery to pump 80L if you are not on electrics this hammers the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 I don't believe battery use is much of a problem, a couple of amps for 3-4 minutes to pump from the Aquaroll is hardly caning the battery, if your water usage is sensible with 2 people having a shower every day you should only be using 25-30 Lt a day. Certainly never gave us any problems & we rarely used hook-ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-11-29 1:22 PM I don't believe battery use is much of a problem, a couple of amps for 3-4 minutes to pump from the Aquaroll is hardly caning the battery, if your water usage is sensible with 2 people having a shower every day you should only be using 25-30 Lt a day. Certainly never gave us any problems & we rarely used hook-ups. I think the guy is making the point he has to effectively do it twice, once to fill the onboard tank and once to draw water from the tank. If that involves running a submersible aquaroll type pump to make the first fill into the onboard tank which I assume would need to be continuous in order to fill the onboard tank, that seems a crap idea and would impact on battery and pump life I would have thought. But I have got another idea which I will post when I have given it more thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ocsid Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Whilst accepting that the water has to be lifted once and then pumped once I was taken aback that there could be any real concern about the drain on the battery filling the water tank from an Aquaroll. So I thought it worth looking at what sort of energy drain is actually involved. Pump used for assessment; Reich 15 litre, 18Watt pump. Details found here: http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/caravan/water/reich_pumps.aspx Assume it empties the 40 litres in 3 minutes, its maximum draw can only be 1.5 Amps Thus the energy use to do this is 3/60 X 1.6 =0.075Ah, This is less than one thousandth of an 85Ah batteries capacity, which I suggest should hardly give concern even if done a number of times. Whew, no need to manhandle the Aquaroll up to a funnel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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