Travel with water in tanks.

6

6894

Joined
Jul 9, 2024
Posts
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Funster No
104,442
MH
Elddis 194
Hi all,
Can anyone confirm as to wether it is safe to travel with tank full of half full? I'm wondering if the tank is constructed to withstand the forces and the weight of all that swishing water. Or should I be travelling empty and filling up at sites? It's an Elddis 194 btw.
I have looked at the Elddis website and there is a recommendation not to travel with water, but no reason given as to why. It just seems a bit daft if we're traveling for a few days without using designated sites.
Many thanks.
 
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6894 said:
Hi all,
Can anyone confirm as to wether it is safe to travel with tank full of half full? I'm wondering if the tank is constructed to withstand the forces and the weight of all that swishing water. Or should I be travelling empty and filling up at sites? It's an Elddis 194 btw.
I have looked at the Elddis website and there is a recommendation not to travel with water, but no reason given as to why. It just seems a bit daft if we're traveling for a few days without using designated sites.
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
We used our motorhome mainly for going to music festivals and did a couple of wild camping jaunts. We always travelled with a full tank of water going and empty tanks returning. I did notice the difference in the handling of the vehicle though. We didn't have much of a payload, camping chairs, an awning, beer, wine and food and a few other necessities.
 
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Hedgewitch said:
OK, "bear with occasionally small brain" here, so be gentle with me: is fred_jb saying that a company as experienced as Hymer (and perhaps other major motorhome manufacturers) are expressly going against the advice given by the chassis manufacturer?

I am currently looking at a van from the Pilote Group (who have been very successfully making motorhomes for 50 years or so . . .) which has a 110 L water tank on one side, and on the other side:
a Truma heater (16kg)
space for two 13kg gas (25kg each = 50kg when full)
two 110 Ah AGM batteries (approximately 30 kg each = 60kg)

Seems pretty well balanced to me . . .
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Why would chassis manufacturers be giving advice about water tanks, since they do not know anything about the tanks a MH converter may fit?
 
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The POPs said:
Personal opinion

1 LT of Water equals 1 KG
Fill your water tank and do your figures + full tank of fuel.
My case with a a 4.2 ton Carthago and Fiat Ducato 150 Multi Jet Deisel 2.3
Full tank of water equals gutless wonder
Small amount of water and my buss flies.
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As a matter of principle, do you refuse to carry passengers?

A full (150 litre?) tank of water represents 3.5% of your GVW. If I were you, I’d be getting a garage to check over my engine if it suffers with such a small variation in weight.

Ian
 
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I'd never thought about it until I read a few posts on Fun. For 25+ years I've only toured abroad and I still always travel with a full tank. Fully loaded I'm 2880kg (vs MAM of 3030kg) on a weighbridge and never noticed any difference in handling. I don't record fuel purchases and really don't care if it reduces my mpg by 3, 4 or 5 miles as the cost is what it is......... As for reduced range I've never had difficulty finding a filling station.
 
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JJ said:
No water... no life.

I fill as often as possible...

JJ :cool:
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Hi I have been informed by an MOT manager that has had several motorhomes and he has been stopped and told to follow the police to a site to be weighed. He said they allow a percentage over for water.
 
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allanr said:
Hi I have been informed by an MOT manager that has had several motorhomes and he has been stopped and told to follow the police to a site to be weighed. He said they allow a percentage over for water.
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No he hasn't otherwise it would be all over X (fka Twitter)
 
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Did they secretly open their taps on the way..

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6894 said:
Hi all,
Can anyone confirm as to wether it is safe to travel with tank full of half full? I'm wondering if the tank is constructed to withstand the forces and the weight of all that swishing water. Or should I be travelling empty and filling up at sites? It's an Elddis 194 btw.
I have looked at the Elddis website and there is a recommendation not to travel with water, but no reason given as to why. It just seems a bit daft if we're traveling for a few days without using designated sites.
Many thanks.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Hi as some of the other Motorhome Funsters. Have said it’s all about payload and whether your tank is up to travelling with a full tank. Fill your water tank and petrol up fully load the Motorhome as going away and take it to a weighbridge. Weigh front and back axle and total weight
Make sure you are not exceeding any if you are don’t do it 😡😳
Not only are you driving an unsafe vehicle but you are now not insured as it’s not complying with the vehicle specifications which some do not realise.🫣 Personally I travel with only 20 litres as specified and fill up when I get to my destination. Hope this helps
 
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Wheelnut said:
Not only are you driving an unsafe vehicle but you are now not insured as it’s not complying with the vehicle specifications which some do not realise.
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I don't say it never happens but would an insurer arrange to weigh a vehicle for which there's a claim? And how would they know it was still the same weight that it was at the time of the claim event? In pics I've seen of serious collisions some motorhomes tend to have virtually disintegrated, spreading contents along the road - bicycles, BBQ, TV, beds, gas cylinders, garage contents, bursting fuel and water tanks, etc.
It's my understanding that an insurer would decline a claim only if the overweight was a significant factor in the cause of the event leading to a claim.
The payload/overweight/invalidating insurance topic crops up quite often on here so it would be interesting to get an official comment from an insurer (unless you are one), but I'm pretty sure that they would say it depends upon the facts in each claim..
 
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Upvote 0
The POPs said:
Personal opinion

1 LT of Water equals 1 KG
Fill your water tank and do your figures + full tank of fuel.
My case with a a 4.2 ton Carthago and Fiat Ducato 150 Multi Jet Deisel 2.3
Full tank of water equals gutless wonder
Small amount of water and my buss flies.
Click to expand...
Never notice the différance in our last Hymer that was 4.5t with the 150hp engine. New van has the 2.2 180 engine only ever driven it with a full tank & it flies.

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Lenny HB said:
Never notice the différance in our last Hymer that was 4.5t with the 150hp engine. New van has the 2.2 180 engine only ever driven it with a full tank & it flies.
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The key point being "you haven't noticed". But it would be faster with an empty tank. Fact. 😂
 
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gpat said:
The key point being "you haven't noticed". But it would be faster with an empty tank. Fact. 😂
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I’m not sure about that, I think that it’d take longer to reach its top speed but I don’t think that it’d be any slower. 🤔

Ian
 
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True. But it would be faster in the sense that it would accelerate faster which is what matters more than top speed in the real world.
 
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bigtwin said:
I’m not sure about that, I think that it’d take longer to reach its top speed but I don’t think that it’d be any slower. 🤔

Ian
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You don't see many formula 10cars with 100l water tanks strapped to them.

Would it have a lower top speed. That's a good question. I think it would as too speed is governed by the available power. Some of the power would be used by overcoming the extra weight. .. .I think.
 
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Bramidan said:
Accelerate faster? Are you flooring a motorhome?
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For any given throttle opening a more heavily loaded vehicle will accelerate slower than the same vehicle with less load, no need to floor it to see the difference.

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