Filling motorhome with fresh water
Hi. We have been caravanning for several years and have now changed to a motorhome and we will be out and about using club sites in the near future. Can anyone advise regarding the protocol for filling my motorhome with fresh water, been used to just filling
at the water points with a water hog and then connecting it up to the caravan without taking notice of how motorhomes fill up. Also any advice on what type of connections are available at sites for a hosepipe if needed.
Thanks in advance
davnangie
Comments
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Fill up at home and refill as required!
If you use it like a caravan do as you always did.
If you travel and don't stay anywhere too long see my first sentence.
Use a hose (the length is a piece of string!!) and buy a couple of different connectors.....there is no definitive list!
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Most sites have a motorhome service point at which there is a tap for fresh water. Some sites provide a hose, but not many. You will need a hose with connections for a variety of taps. Threaded connections for taps of different thread sizes. Hoselock
type connections are useful. Lidl are selling hoses tomorrow which may (or may not) be suitable. You should really have food grade hoses and I suspect theirs are not.0 -
Please don't use the hose supplied on the grey water tap of a MHSP to fill your fresh water tank! This is for washing down the mucky drain after you've emptied your grey tank.
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If we are not moving for a few days I use an aquaroll and pump the water aboard. I have an external pump and an external 12v socket. Some people use a watering can, others drive to the motorhome service point. There is no right or wrong way to do it, do
whatever you find most convenient.0 -
There is usually a long fresh water hose as well as the washing hose at the fill point. We carried our own rolled up hoselock reel as we preferred to use our own. If we were on a pitch next to the tap we would use that but stand by it as it was filling
and disconnect it if anyone wanted to use it for a caravan.0 -
Motorhome. Hose. Couple of connectors. Tap.
It really is that simple, honest.
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We are in the same situation - new motorhome after 30 years or so caravanning. No way will I be taking aquaroll or waste container; it seems contrary to the whole idea of motorhoming and, anyway, I don't have the space! So, it comes with a blue hose and also a pump hose so I can attach to a tap or pump from a container. I have bought a 10 litre plastic Jerry can for water fill and we have a collapsible bucket for waste if needed. I can also fill from a service point hose into a different tank filler on the opposite side of the vehicle.
The filler hose has a clip in hoselock style screw attachment and I have just bought a hoselock adjustable tap fitting. Hopefully one or other of these methods will work when we get to France but for this weekend it is a Club site so will probably be easier.
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We tend not to carry too much water around in the van to cut down on the weight so when we arrrive at a site we normally fill up from the motorhome service point we have a long blue hose to fill up the fresh water tank and have adaptors so that it fits on
to most taps. If we are on site for longer than a couple of days we use our aquaroll to fill up the fresh water tank this saves moving the van off pitch0 -
Motorhome. Hose. Couple of connectors. Tap.
It really is that simple, honest.
for you and i (and many others) yes, youre right....
but for those that have the stupid whale fitting......then these things wont do at all....they just dont fit.....its the whale way or no tea.
BB, just to clarify, we have a flat blue hose with whale connector which seems to be for use with a serviced pitch as it can be permanently connected. The other end has the screw tap connector (hozelock style). Are you saying that this doesn't work too well
as a simple filling hose?0 -
BB, the Autosleepers is quite well equiped as it has an open water filler point on one side and on the other it has a Whale socket. They supply a submersible pump, short hose and "block" with electrical contacts to fill from a container but they also provide
a long hose with a whale "block" with no electrical contacts and the other end has the hoselock fittings. So I guess there is a pressure reducer so that you can connect permanently to a tap and I am also assuming that there is a level switch in the tank. Can't
try it out at home because the tap is too far but we have a trial run to Cirencester Park on Sunday then a CL so I will experiment. Of course I could take the hose off of the Whale fitting and just use it as an open hose but I didn't want to start messing
around with it.0 -
The latest models certainly seem to be belt and braces with three methods of filling the fresh water tank and two hoses provided. I am sure that you are correct; it must be in response to previous problems. I will let you know how it goes.
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As recent purchasers of an AS Winchcombe, what BB says is correct. Apparently, as part of "progress" AS only fitted a whale connection for the water filling. Ridiculous, as it involved people having to cart big aquarolls with them. We were told that due to overwhelming customer pressure, they now still fit the whale system, but also a normal water filling point, where you just use a hose. Much more sensible IMHO, although for me, they could have left the whale system off altogether.
Edited to say that we'd never use the whale system of filling; friends of ours had a Symbol, small PVC, and ended up having to carry an aquaroll; at first I couldn't understand why they needed one of those, and then all became clear: no filling point other than the whale system. Definitely 3 steps backwards IMHO! Glad AS have listened to their customers on that score.
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Given the apparent obsession with 'food grade' hoses, can anyone explain if the alternative method 'watering cans' are also 'food grade'? Given the short length of time the water is in the hose during transfer, does it matter?
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Given the apparent obsession with 'food grade' hoses, can anyone explain if the alternative method 'watering cans' are also 'food grade'? Given the short length of time the water is in the hose during transfer, does it matter?
Be interesting to know if there are "Food Grade" watering cans easily available, I suspect not? My thinking would be along the same lines that the problem with non-food hoses is what happens when water is in them for some time before consumption. Hardly
likely to be in a watering can for more than five minutes.David
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As recent purchasers of an AS Winchcombe, what BB says is correct. Apparently, as part of "progress" AS only fitted a whale connection for the water filling. Ridiculous, as it involved people having to cart big aquarolls with them. We were told that due
to overwhelming customer pressure, they now still fit the whale system, but also a normal water filling point, where you just use a hose. Much more sensible IMHO, although for me, they could have left the whale system off altogether.Edited to say that we'd never use the whale system of filling; friends of ours had a Symbol, small PVC, and ended up having to carry an aquaroll; at first I couldn't understand why they needed one of those, and then all became clear: no filling point other
than the whale system. Definitely 3 steps backwards IMHO! Glad AS have listened to their customers on that score.Ina
Hadn't realised you had changed your motorhome.
I am sure there will always be mixed views on the various water filling systems. We have the Whale system on our Bailey and have the choice of fill by hose or from container. Filling by hose I suspect is a little slower than a direct fill. Its handy having
the Aquaroll with us on site as it saves going backwards and forwards to the service point if we stay for more than a couple of days. If we ever changed motorhomes it would certainly be something that we would want as a feature be it via the same port or separately.
Perhaps its the caravanner in me
David
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Something for us to consider should we ever change from our AS Gatcombe! Can't help thinking that a simple solution, ie, hole, hose, tap is the best, nowadays things are just too complicated. We have no problems with this simple arrangement whatsoever, no
carrying of anything extra bar a bit of hose and two small connectors. Same with waste, tap over waste drain or a bucket. Simples! And bucket comes in handy for other things!0 -
Ina
Hadn't realised you had changed your motorhome.
I am sure there will always be mixed views on the various water filling systems. We have the Whale system on our Bailey and have the choice of fill by hose or from container. Filling by hose I suspect is a little slower than a direct fill. Its handy having
the Aquaroll with us on site as it saves going backwards and forwards to the service point if we stay for more than a couple of days. If we ever changed motorhomes it would certainly be something that we would want as a feature be it via the same port or separately.
Perhaps its the caravanner in meDavid
David
We changed last December, for various reasons. Back to a British MH!
As for water filling, as you say, different opinions on that. With our MH there are 2 options to fill it, but for a while AS only fitted the whale system, which, had that been the case on this MH, would have put us off buying it. We do carry a small container
with us, to fill on site if necessary, but I couldn't imagine having to take an aquaroll with us. Takes up valuable (wine)space
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Fill the aquaroll with wine.
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Our Aquaroll stores nicely in the shower along with our Fiamma waste container, our chairs and our insulated screen cover whilst we travel. So we don't find it particularly inconvenient. When onsite for more than a day most of its in use elsewhere.
David
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Re using food grade items I use a food grade type of Gerry can with a flexible screw in nozzle to pour into my tank when on pitch And a food grade hose to fill the tank with an assortment of fittings to suit all eventualities here & abroad. An industrial
Chemist frieme told me never to use such as a watering can. He did not elaborate but said you cannot rely on what has been used to make the plastic & some things you simply would not want to use. After all you have a very expensive food grade tank and for
perhaps just a few quod more why not use food grade accessories? They are readily available, cheap & you know what you are buying. Regards Roy0
