Hi Everyone, I'm new to this forum, but have been caravanning for a number of years. Anyone willing to give me their opinion on this issue?. I own a Fendt caravan (very nice) with an onboard water tank. Now this water supply arrangement is somewhat new to me. I fail to see the point in filling an aquaroll, to fill the on-board tank, to fill the sink. There is no filter in the system, so you have to fill the kettle separately. Do I really need this hassle??. I am tempted to remove the on-board tank, gain more locker space, forget the fancy sensors that let you know when the tank is empty, and replace them all with a whale or carver system. But - the caravan is only two years old, so do I infringe upon the warranty by making the change? Personally I cannot see any advantage in the present arrangement, apart from wearing me out - unless of course, someone knows differently. Brian.f
Welcome to the world of German caravans. I too have just purchased a german van (although mines a little older than yours by about 15 years) anyway , the purpose of the tank is that you are able to use the caravan through the winter months without the water tank freezing up !!!! I agree with you though that it does seem a little long winded just to fill the kettle !!
When the winter thrill is going chill, stick to summer !
Hi, we have an adria with onboard tank, We now fill the tank on arrival to the site with a small hose (as motorhomes do) then use a watering can to top up as and when needed, We do have a filter installed in the system, Which could be fitted by any DIY'er or you could use aquatab's? Our system holds 60l plus the hot water holds 15 so its a lot quicker than using a aquaroll
------------- Doing as little as possible for as much as possible...
I have a British caravan with a 25 litre inboard tank as well as the usual exterior ones. We travel with the inboard filled and use it for lunchtime stops for coffee or making soup. We also find it handy for a quick cuppa when we arrive on site. Saves having to do everything at once before enjoying a brew.
We have an aquaroll, but the model of our caravan from the year before had an onboard tank. We use purification powder to clean the water system from time to time and then just use the water from the aquaroll for tea. It is boiled. I think we live with the perception that mains water tumbles down from a mountain stream into the reservoir and then passes down a perfectly pristine system to our tap. It wasn't long ago that not far from where I live there was an episode where people suffered a bug from the mains water supply. (Clostridium, I think it was called).
If we lived in the third world water from an aquaroll would seem like a luxury.
Does anyone fill their tanks, purify, empty, wash out and then refill with fresh water and ACTUALLY drink this water without boiling it, our is it too dodgy to drink un boiled ???
I've drunk the water from our motorcaravan tanks for the last eight years.
We clean the tank in spring, then use it for the holiday, sometimes drain it when we get back, sometimes not, then just re-fill it next time we go out.
We all drink the tap water, we clean our teeth, we cook with it, and there isn't a filter in the system. So far we've been fine on all British, French and Belgium campsites. (and our garden tap)
I drain down in winter, then purify and re-fill again next year.
Hey! haven't we all wandered from the point. I'm not bothered about what comes out of the tap - we wouldn't drink that anyway. My point is that it seems a lot of hassle to keep changing water from one container to another. The Carver/Whale system simply means connecting up the aquaroll and using it until its empty. With the onboard tank I am making frequent visits outside to transfer water into the caravan. I take the point about winter caravanning, but surely, there the luxury ends. Has anyone attempted to remove an onboard tank and found it an advantage?? brian.f
Hi Brian, I do not understand why you have to go outside to "change water from one tank to the other". We have the inside tank and a series of valves under the sink. By manipulating the valves, we decide whether we are drawing water from the inside tank or the outside one. We also change the contents from the exterior tank to the interior one with these valves.
Apart from intially filling the exterior tank, all other tank operations are done from inside the van.
Quote: Originally posted by siagogoold on 01/7/2007
Hi Lobey, I just spent the last five minutes watching your little green worm popping up, it's fascinating innit. sad or what !!!
Thanks everyone, I've decided to take the inboard out and replace with a British carver system. I rang the dealer who said they had had requests from some owners to replace the inboard tank with one larger to save trundling around the site with a aquaroll. I thought the Germans thought of everything. brian.f
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Topic: onboard water tanks
