You have to go up and fill a barrel full of water.Then you have to pump it into the on board tank.Then you have to go back up and fill the first barrel again and then repeat...er its a no no for me, not only that if your moving from one campsite to another it would be wise to empty it not only for the weight but could make the van unstable if full when towing..
Down to personal choice I suppose but I quite like the onboard tank. If you use the caravan shower it means you are less likely to run out of water midway through the shower. Before someone uses the shower I switch to whichever tank is full.
It is also means that if the aquaroll or whatever tank you predominately use runs dry you have a back up supply so you don't have to go off right away to fill up, handy when it's raining.
Not a great hassle to empty it either, just open a valve. I try and judge it so there is not a lot in the onboard tank by the time we are ready to go. Also means if you want a quick getaway you can pack up your aquaroll the night before, leave enough water in onboard tank for tea/coffee, washing in the morning, then open the drain valve and off you go.
I find it handy but it's not something that would make or break a purchase.
I would have one every time wouldn't be without it, as you should always have a back up...
A few years back, upmarket vans had an 80 litre underslung tank which was excellent, usually with their own submersible pump, which also allowed the toilet to be flushed without having to fill up the toilet tank, as now.
Today is more usual to fit a 30 litre under a bunk - its a shame the capacity doesn't match the Aquaroll though.
This provides a convenient means of carrying small quantities while travelling. Also the drain tap is within the van rather than under it.
Remember that a valve to changeover from AR to onboard will be required, though this is very simple plumbing (and even electric valves are easily fitted).
If you have a mover fitted you will probably have to go for the bunk version, since underslung is fitted between the axles
To be honest the last 3 vans have had them fitted and only used it once.
I think they are a good idea, as said above when taking a shower. But i usally pitch on super pitch with hose direct to water, so have 24 seven supply.
Even Cs have this option sometimes.
If in a field i fill 2 aquarolls up and just use them.
Would i buy one if not fitted, No i don't think i would.
Down to the user on what is best for them.
Reading the post's above regarding the shower, I would have thought that the shower water comes from the hot water tank which is smaller than the onboard cold water tank so I can't see it possible to be able to spend longer in the shower. Can someone enlighten me please regarding the above as I know nothing about onbard water tanks so just a general query.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 17/2/2017
Reading the post's above regarding the shower, I would have thought that the shower water comes from the hot water tank which is smaller than the onboard cold water tank so I can't see it possible to be able to spend longer in the shower. Can someone enlighten me please regarding the above as I know nothing about onbard water tanks so just a general query.
You're quite correct, shower water does come from the hot water tank but the water in that tank comes from either your aquaroll or onboard tank and if that runs empty while your in the shower then you are out of there quicker than you expected. Having the two options means you can select the water source from which ever one is full before going in the shower or at the very worst switch over mid shower.
the hot water comes from the hot water boiler in the same way as any other caravan, so limited by the size of that, the only difference is that with an on board tank, as in our case we have 60 litres under our bed plus both barrels outside, making us have access to 120 litres of cold water, which means that we put the temp up to full on the boiler and can then dilute the hot to a suitable temp,
with our caravan (elddis) we cant choose to use either on board or barrels, we have to pump the water in before it can be used, which is a pain when on a rally as it uses a lot of power to pump the water twice, however when we can get close enough to a pitch with a tap we use the whale pipe to plug in directly fill up and then remove allowing others to use that tap, in the winter this is great as no worries then of the external pump freezing up.
Many thanks 'artel' and 'marg6' for the reply in connection with my previous post. It makes sense what you both say but when the hot water is flowing through the shower head, there may be more cold water available from an onbard tank compared to an exterior water barrel but surely when the hot water tank is being replenished by cold water the hot water temperature slowly drops so it still only allows the same time showering whether it be one exterior water barrel or connected to a cold water mains supply.
Just trying to work this out to see if there is any benefit of having an onboard water tank because in respect of the above and having another tank to sterilise I can't really see much benefit of having one which is basically what the OP was asking.
In cold weather the temperature of the water in the onboard tank is considerably higher than the water in the auquaroll so it takes less time to heat up the water.
saxo1
Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 17/2/2017
In cold weather the temperature of the water in the onboard tank is considerably higher than the water in the auquaroll so it takes less time to heat up the water.
saxo1
Plus, in really cold weather you do t have the potential problem of your external water container freezing and leaving you with no water supply. In freezing temperatures I only used the onboard tank.
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 17/2/2017
Many thanks 'artel' and 'marg6' for the reply in connection with my previous post. It makes sense what you both say but when the hot water is flowing through the shower head, there may be more cold water available from an onbard tank compared to an exterior water barrel but surely when the hot water tank is being replenished by cold water the hot water temperature slowly drops so it still only allows the same time showering whether it be one exterior water barrel or connected to a cold water mains supply.
Just trying to work this out to see if there is any benefit of having an onboard water tank because in respect of the above and having another tank to sterilise I can't really see much benefit of having one which is basically what the OP was asking.
Again you are correct in what you are saying, having two sources is not going to give you twice as much hot water, I doubt if the water heater has the ability to heat that amount of water in such a short time. The main advantage as I see it is that with the two containers you have the ability to switch to the full one thus ensuring you have a shower without running out of water. Not necessarily a longer shower but a less inconvenienced one. As I said in my first post I find an onboard tank handy but it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me personally.
Okay, so the real advantage of an onboard water tank then is for caravanners who venture out during winter as the internal onboard water tank won't freeze the same as an external barrel if the temperature plummets to freezing. We don't venture out in the winter months so an onboard tank for us would take up valuable storage space so from a personal perspective I wouldn't find one much of an advantage really so it's merely down to a matter of choice.
you say it would take up storage space, but for us we would be able to get away with only one water barrel, (we do take 2 as storage isn't a problem) the other advantage is that we can leave minimal water in the tank so when traveling we can stop and make a cuppa and use the bathroom etc etc, and like a few years ago when the m62 came to a stop for 5 hrs we brewed up for the cars sat waiting around us too!
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Topic: on board water tank
