Bailey with onboard water tank/pressure vessel
I may be being a bit thick but what is the point of an inboard tank? I'm sure there must be a good reason but I can't think of one. Also why don't caravans have a pressure vessel as on some yachts? Work really well in a similar environment (other than it floats!)
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I expect that the chap on an adjacent pitch to me at Southport would have liked one when temperatures were down to -14c at night not above freezing all day and his aquaroll that was around half full froze solid with his pump inside!
I think that was around 7 years ago?
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With old caravan, like many others seem to, we would have 2 water barrels on the go to avoid the "running out at inconvenient time" situations.
Now we have onboard tank, we only take one barrel and first top up onboard tank from it, and then re-fill barrel. Same result but one less barrel to cart around.
We have also put around 10 litres into on board tank and thus had some water for overnight stops on way to holidays.
And yes I am aware what it would have weighed - however also happy with tow car and payload for caravan!
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we have had onboard tanks for the last two vans over 13 years, but our latest van has a underfloor 40 litre tank and even in the recent hot weather the water came out cool. Winter is ok too and we did'nt have any freezing either, together with the aqua roll we have 80 litres of cold water, which is good as my OH still thinks she is on mains water lol
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Our Bailey Barcelona does have a pressure vessel - or accumulator and it is there, as you say, to smooth out the flow, just as it does on boats. Only difference is that the caravan version is a small plastic cylinder whereas those fitted on yachts are usually quite large and made of steel. As for the need for an inboard tank, I wouldn't like to be without it - particularly in winter and also for when the water invariably runs out half way through a shower! Flick of a switch and it's back on again.
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Yes. We have an onboard pump, the accumulator is fitted just after the pump. All the water goes through it then to the HW tank.
We also have an onboard tank, which can be used, or bypassed, as desired, everything is controlled by 2 manual valves which are set according to where we wish to draw water from.
If you are interested in this sort of set up, I can post a schematic diagram.
Our accumulator is a Fiamma one.
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I can understand an onboard tank for winter use but otherwise I have never understood the need. If extra capacity is needed why not just have another aquaroll? A fixed tank takes up a lot of room unless it is under slung which is unusual. Also, you cannot travel with water in an onboard tank.
The Bailey removable onboard tank (25 litre Fiamma) was completely useless. Too heavy to lift into place and could not be filled when fixed without extensive valving change. I believe they dropped it on recent models.
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There is a huge amount of wasted space in my Bailey under the front seats. That's where the water tank is, but I would not be using the space for anything else.
Is it not the case anyway that a woman's showering needs will always expand to slightly exceed the amount of water available.
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Current onboard tanks seem to be under the seat, but ours (2008 Sterling) is under the floor and is insulated. We can therefor still use the space under the seat.
We. always wash up in the van, and often use our own shower, so do get through a fair bit of water.
If we are just on an overnight stop, we may just use the Aquaroll, but for 2 days plus we pump water into the van tank, and then refill the Aquaroll, thus giving us 80 litres and removing the need to go out when it is wet or dark to refill. Tipping waste water is quick, refilling takes time.
No space for a second Aquaroll in the car, so having the onboard tank is excellent.
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Like KjellNN, we use our onboard tank all the time except for overnight stops which, for us, are fairly rare. Onboard tank plus full Aquaroll lasts us a full day, including showering and I just find it so convenient to have that extra capacity without the hassle of having to carry an additional aquaroll. Our tank is right at the front of the front seat, occupying what would otherwise be wasted or difficult to access, space, so it's not exactly wasting space. Switching over from one to the other is via a three position rocker switch on the main control panel, so it couldn't be easier to switch over.
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I'll maybe give it a try using the on-board tank next time then, ours is controlled by manual valves rather than a switch. A diagram of the accumulator would be much appreciated as I think that would be a "nice thing to have". Thanks again to all for advice
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Hello, I have attached the diagram showing the water system in our Swift caravan. This diagram also includes changing the 3-way valve with two stop valves.
As can be seen the accumulator is fitted immediately after the pump thereby damping the pulsing and reducing noise from the pump. To maximise the pressure to the shower it is a good idea to limit the number of 90 deg bends in the system, where possible bend the pipes to fit instead.
Hope this helps!
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