Driving With Full Water Tanks

[olley]

Think you mean litres,,BUSBY.

SM has an RV so he does mean Gallons.
The Dottie's beat me to it

 

[dunnah01]

There's enough other things to give anxiety when touring so always travel with full fresh water.

 

[Scotch mist]

And if 215kilos (ish) took it over the plated allowed weight by I think the 5% margin it could possibly reduce your vehicle insurance to 3rd Party although there is some doubt by some that happens. My take is that insurance companies do not try wriggle out of anything when paying out - not!

you Are making assumptions & giving me advice that isn’t relevant , I have 1.2 ton payload

 

[peterc10]

Or to empty presumably so you potentially may have full tanks of both fresh and waste water - in our case that would be 320 kilos. That a lot of wine I cannot take back with me!

We always empty when we fill. No need to have both full.

 

[Scotch mist]

as far as I know, it doesn't actually say never travel with full tanks. I think the 20L thing is just so they only have to include 20L of water in the MIRO calculation

that’s a fair point ,I’ll need to look at the manual again although it wouldn’t stop me travelling full

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[pandas]

you Are making assumptions & giving me advice that isn’t relevant , I have 1.2 ton payload

Sorry if you thought that was a personal piece of advice - it wasn’t and wasn’t my intention which is why I said ‘potentially’.

 

[Badknee]

And if 215kilos (ish) took it over the plated allowed weight by I think the 5% margin it could possibly reduce your vehicle insurance to 3rd Party although there is some doubt by some that happens. My take is that insurance companies do not try wriggle out of anything when paying out - not!

If weighed you are allowed to dump the water. We travel full.

 

[pandas]

We always empty when we fill. No need to have both full.

I have been on sites where water has been readily available therefore topped up with water but no facility to empty grey waste. Illegal in some EU countries on the road side and roadside gutters.

 

[Skez]

Always travel full. Find the van actually handles better. Not worried about the weight as we have plenty of payload. Fresh water is like liquid gold if you avoid campsites like we do!

 

[Scotch mist]

Sorry if you thought that was a personal piece of advice - it wasn’t and wasn’t my intention which is why I said ‘potentially’.

As you quoted my post & referred to 215 L of water yes I thought you were referring to me
but thanks for your apology

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[pandas]

If weighed you are allowed to dump the water. We travel full.

Hmm so you ran into the back of somebody because you didn’t stop in time, therefore the weight was a potential contributor but that doesn’t matter because you can then empty the water to reduce it after the accident.

 

[Jo662]

We always travel with our water tank full(120 litres) as we never plan to far ahead so want the option of stopping anywhere we see and it may not have water available.
Always fill water tanks and empty waste when you get the opportunity.

 

[Badknee]

Hmm so you ran into the back of somebody because you didn’t stop in time, therefore the weight was a potential contributor but that doesn’t matter because you can then empty the water to reduce it after the accident.

Don’t try to twist my words!
If you get pulled and have to visit a weighbridge and are found to be overweight you are allowed to dump your fresh water tank contents.

 

[Scotch mist]

Hmm so you ran into the back of somebody because you didn’t stop in time, therefore the weight was a potential contributor but that doesn’t matter because you can then empty the water to reduce it after the accident.

WOW , can’t help but think you are out trolling this morning, chill

 

[pandas]

Don’t try to twist my words!
If you get pulled and have to visit a weighbridge and are found to be overweight you are allowed to dump your fresh water tank contents.

Wouldn’t dream of it, more like you didn’t make yourself clear in your post so no apology to you chum

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[Clarky]

I think the amount of water carried is very dependent on the registered weight of the van. So many rated at 3500kg have minimal payloads, some well overweight by the time they are packed for a trip.
In our case we are registered at 4500kg and have loads of spare payload even with water, fuel and gas tanks full.
I hate arriving at a site/aire and then, having found the ideal pitch, have to go and fill up allowing some French bloke to nick my favoured pitch.
Fill what should be filled and empty what should be empty at every opportunity.

Richard.

 

[tonyidle]

Any decision to travel with tank full should be based on a weighbridge check. I travel with 220L and MAM is 5.4T.

 

[Badknee]

Wouldn’t dream of it, more like you didn’t make yourself clear in your post so no apology to you chum

You are not and never likely to be my chum!

 

[Badknee]

WOW , can’t help but think you are out trolling this morning, chill

I think so too.

 

[pandas]

WOW , can’t help but think you are out trolling this morning, chill

It raining here!

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[pwilmo]

Hi there, using French overloaded motorhomes is not a very good guideline.
Holiday time for the French is a national motorhome/camping pastime, hence all the aires everywhere.
Nearly all own a motorhome, though favouring the smaller..no matter what size family.
French people have a big say in their country and actively enjoy public power.
Cosequently they do as they like, they overload, vans you might never expect to see road worthy, lots with green all over them.
Maintenance for the french is low priority, if it starts and moves, then use it!.
This is a generalisation and a personal observation based on my meeting hundreds of french motorhomers, they're friendly generous and never met a bad one yet.
Personally I think it's a way of life we have abandoned by all our sensible Health and Safety, Road Laws and Guidelines.(frenchies ignore them anyway)
Please don't use this post as a base for an argument..it's purely a personal opinion and it's not meant to hijack the original post of whether to travel full tank or not.
I always travel with a full tank, stops it sloshing about.

 

[Peppadog]

funnily enough my new MoHo says never drive with anymore than 20lts in water tank
BUT I would always have driven with full tank & I suppose I will continue, all 215lts of it
i think if you had an accident with a bit of g force the tank could move forward & potentially
make the MoHo a write off

I also tend to travel with the fresh water tank at least half full. I try to always empty the grey tank though.

I suspect the water tank moving in an accident with a bit of g force would be a minor problem compared to the furniture and fittings going through the windscreen

 

[CazPaul]

It’s incredible that a bit of water could cause so much bad feeling, just weigh the van overall and each axle then decide yourself.

We travel full because we have loads of payload to allow this.

 

[dulvil]

Always leave with a full water tank, saves faffing around looking for water elsewhere.
If you want to save weight 1/2 fill fuel tank and 1/2 fill washer bottle

 

[Silver-Fox]

This making interesting reading, particularly as the handbook for our MoHo says never to drive with water in either of the tanks, and particularly mentions instability. We've also been warned by many of our French Mo-Hoing friends that the French Police are hotting up on overweight MoHos, hence why I was surprised to see people setting off with full tanks.

Theres my problem I didn’t read the handbook

I always leave full of water and full fuel tank.
Gloucestershire/Welsh water is hard to come by out on the road

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[DuxDeluxe]

It’s incredible that a bit of water could cause so much bad feeling, just weigh the van overall and each axle then decide yourself.

We travel full because we have loads of payload to allow this.

Same here. I always try to set off with full water (240litres) full fuel (100+ litres) and full gas (55 litres). Am I worried about being overweight or unsafe? No.

 

[SmithsInFrance]

We never top up the water tank from a tap that's near to a black waste dump and might have been used to swill someone's cassette so we leave home with a full tank and top up where it's 'safe' lol

 

[busby]

Always leave with a full water tank, saves faffing around looking for water elsewhere.
If you want to save weight 1/2 fill fuel tank and 1/2 fill washer bottle

Or go on a diet..BUSBY,,

 

[Lenny HB]

Alway travel with a full 160 Lt tank never know where we will be able to fill up next. We have a 24+350kg payload and loaded up for 6 weeks have about 300kg spare.

In France nearly all Motorhomes are 3500kg regardless of the weight.

Haven't got a clue why that came out like that.
Was supposed to say 1350kg payload.

 

[SuperMike]

Think you mean litres,,BUSBY.

Nope sorry, it’s Imperial Gallons.

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