Water Tank ; How much when travelling between stops

oilrag

oilrag

Joined
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Autotrail Chieftain
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Since 1983 motorhoming ,got the bug in a T2 in 76.
Hello ,just a straw poll type question
How much water do you carry when driving ?

50% or more
Just a little (to save fuel consumption.)

On a recent (sept) big carp fishing trip to central france i carried around 30 litres driving from caen to the venue ,my unit responded with almost a 5mpg bonus over a full water tank .
 
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As little as possible to help the payload. Maybe a few litres.
That water, and your fuel needs accelerating up to speed so uses fuel.
 
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Around 20ltrs if I know the next site has water. I will fill tank to 50% if I am wild camping or just travelling a fair distance as we will use the toilet and wash up enroute.

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I drive with a full tank. The difference between carrying a small amount and a full tank is probably about 3% of overall weight so negligible. I’ve tried with full and empty water tank and I’ve never got anywhere near 5mpg, in fact, I’ve never noticed any difference.
 
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Full when leaving home. Between sites depends on how much we have, not less than 40%, how easy the fill is in the site we are leaving and how easy it might be in site we are going to. Going home, happy with 20% for use of loo, cup of coffee etc whilst on the road.
 
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If we are travelling to a site where we know there is water, then it can be as little as enough to make a couple of brews.
If we are touring abroad, then we keep the tank as full as possible in case water is not available when we arrive.
 
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Always full.. and always empty grey and black waste before setting off .

the next stop may not have any or the bourne requires a 2€ coin which we may not have.. also, less fuss when you arrive... park up , kettle on .

Same with diesel, start off full, never go below 1/2 tank .. especially in France where fuel stations are less frequent than UK

weight of water and fuel make no discernible difference in MPG..

it's your right foot that can make a huge difference... accelerate gradually, steady cruising speed , depending on road 55 - 60 .. always try to anticipate and slow down approaching roundabouts, rather than braking at the least moment..

when learning to drive, I remember my dad telling me , drive like you have a glass of acid on the dashboard.... never forgot that..
 
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scotjimland said:
Always full.. and always empty grey and black waste before setting off .

the next stop may not have any or the bourne requires a 2€ coin which we may not have.. also, less fuss when you arrive... park up , kettle on .

Same with diesel, start off full, never go below 1/2 tank .. especially in France where fuel stations are less frequent than UK
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Ditto.

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Can't say I've ever noticed any difference in mpg , I fill the tank when it's near empty and not again till its near empty again . On some vans I've clearly noticed a difference in driving if I've filled water, diesel and gas at the Same time. But I think it depends on the van
 
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Too often we've arrived at a stop and the fresh water tap is either broken, or really undesirable. If the tap is right next to the chemi point, I'd prefer the option to give dysentery a miss. So we tend to travel with at least half a tank of fresh, often full.

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Start with 75% full and put 10 litres in every other day.
 
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Stoosal said:
I drive with a full tank. The difference between carrying a small amount and a full tank is probably about 3% of overall weight so negligible. I’ve tried with full and empty water tank and I’ve never got anywhere near 5mpg, in fact, I’ve never noticed any difference.
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Ditto,tried driving empty but no difference in MPG so we always have water and if we get to our destination the water is awkward to fill or a queue we don't have a problem
 
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I know someone that on their first trip abroad with the new van drove from a site with full 370ltr water up and down mountains through Switzerland for most of the day only to arrive on site to find the only obstacle on their pitch to avoid was a big 4 tap water point😂😂
 
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Many of the modern Hymers have a tap that drains the tank down to about 25 litres for travel.

Unless there is a specific reason, I usually travel with the 'travel load' of 25 litres.

I made the mistake of travelling with a full load of 100 Litres last year.
The extra 100kg of weight when going over speed bumps made the plastic tank flex.

This then caused the rod to the drain plug to disengage, it took all my skills of being a gynaecological contortionist to get the rod back into the drain tap.

Next time I need more than 25l of water I'll take a plastic jerry can!

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It depends on where we are going. If we are on a weekend rally I take 90 litres (30 litres per night plus a n9ght). Most rally fields are set up for tuggers so difficult to get to in the motorhome. When we set off on a trip I work on a 4 night cycle. Three nights at pubs with no facilities and the 4th at a site to empty black and grey and fill up with fresh water.
It also depends on how your tanks are mounted. On top 9f the chassis will take the weight better that underslung.
Travelling to Spain through France in January, full to the brim.
 
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Coastal Cruiser. said:
Luckily I have Steve, wouldn’t fancy driving this without one, especially as we seem to do Switzerland every trip now😳😳
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We’ll Mark, it’s the one thing that I could kick myself for, for not adding it to the options list🤦‍♂️ They are not exactly a light piece of equipment are they and I was thinking about payload at the time and trying to weigh (no pun intended) it all up. My bad. 😬
 
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oilrag said:
Hello ,just a straw poll type question
How much water do you carry when driving ?

50% or more
Just a little (to save fuel consumption.)

On a recent (sept) big carp fishing trip to central france i carried around 30 litres driving from caen to the venue ,my unit responded with almost a 5mpg bonus over a full water tank .
Click to expand...
Always fill up fresh, 120ltrs and empty grey when leaving a site. Want to be ready for the next one.
 
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