Motorhome hose
Hi, we have just bought our first motorhome and wondered what sort of hose and connectors everyone uses to fill water tank up at service point.
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it varies, but i use a blue flat food grade hose which i cut in half and store separately. this means that for 90% of fillings, i only use half the hose which makes it much easier to drain and pack up, there is a 'hoselock' type connector between the two for the occasional ise which requires a long hose.
I have various tap fittings but the UK type std one is common all over europe, though sometimes a slightly differntly threaded one is required, i have one of these and also a 'wind up key' type one for unthreaded taps.
i havent been beaten yet ...though the smaller one i used on a Spanish site was givien to me by the camper next door.....we went on to bump into him at the next site and again later for some longterming....now a lifelong pal.....
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,Hi C,B,,,,,,,,,Most people use a hose that is cleared for use with 'potable' water food grade .The average garden hose of plastic is NOT.My choice is for one of the lay flat type that winds into a reel housing,saving space and time used ONLY for filling the water tank i carry two of these ,as being a M/homer it's easier to link them together to reach the tap than move the vehicle..A good selection of 'Hozelock' type push fit type connectors and adapters,plus the screw on fitting for 'bibcock' taps One that i also carry is the soft rubber one with a 'jubilee' clip for any others..Hope this all makes sense ,and helps you .Regards ,"Triky"
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Given the short length of time the water spends in the hose, I wonder how hazardous 'ordinary' hose is. I can understand not using it for plumbing where water may sit for a time. How often have we drunk from a garden hose as kids?
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Depends on what type of filler you have on your MH, we have a Whale Aquasource mains water hook up system with which we fill our tank, we also have a similar one that allows us to fill up from a bucket or container.
If you just have an ordinary type then just a hose of good quality will do and probably a watering can for small fill ups if staying on site for any length of time.
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Whether you need a food grade hose depends very much on whether you intend to drink the water in the tank. Some of us do, some don’t.
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We don’t drink the water from the onboard tank so are happy to use a hose if already attached to the tap but fortunately Autosleepers provide three ways of filling the tanks of which the best is the Whale aquafill system which has a valve and hose with the Motorhome. Attach hose to tap, turn on the tap and it cuts out when full. Also submersible pump which we have never used because we don’t carry a water carrier. Mostly on the continent we have found that a hose is provided so we just drive up and stick the hose in until it overflows.
The kit provided by Whale includes the standard tap screw connector but I also bought a hozelock fitting with jubilee clip which I have found useful.
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A few years back whilst abroad I watched in horror as a person using the fresh water hose provided for cleaning the inner most corners of a cassette. From then on I could never used them. Coincidentally the next time we visited the site the hose had been removed and folk were expected to use their own. Phew!
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I use hozelock garden hose because the top spec ones are indestructible. The food grade ones are a bit of a marketing myth but are lined the same way as expensive garden hoses to stop leaching of chemicals from the compounds. If you are going to drink the water then buy a quality hose i.e stay away from the cheap soft PVC ones as they do leach into the water in hot conditions and give the water a bad taste when new, this goes over time. The food grade ones and good quality ones have dual extrusion and have a nylon or polythene inner and PVC outer. Extruded PVC used to have a lot of lead in it a long time ago, lead is now banned from virtually all plastics now so this is not an issue but the phthalates content of cheap hoses does exceed recommended levels but then how much are you going to drink?
As a comparison you will get far more lead from a brass tap fitting in the water than from your hose. The levels concerned are very small.
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What ever you do please don`t use the longer waste hose that's on any motorhome service point on club sites. Some people tend to push the hose up the waste outlet to give the tank a flush out & I`ve seen others then using it to fill the fresh water tank. I use a normal garden hose never had a problem.
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I always wondered why the waste points in some sites say "Water not for Drinking" it never occurred to me that people may actually use the tank cleaning hose to fill water supply. I cringe just using it after others and wash hands immediatly.
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Garden hose about 4 metres long does about 95% of my filling and I carry a 20 metre garden hose as a back up - but have only used it a few times in five years.
This selection of Hozelock (or similar cheaper from B&Q) connections have not let me down in the UK and abroad - you'll probably need more of B because you'll leave one of them connected to the tap at least once a year -
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Carrierbag, I have a panel van conversion by Autocruise and have a simple 2 to 3 metre clear hose with the Hoselock push on connectors. Its cheap enough to buy, easy enough to carry, and no problem to keep clean with a "Pull Through". Since they are so cheap they are easy enough to replace yearly or more often if required.
While the 'vans pitched up on site I just use a watering can to top up 2.5 gallons at a time -- my daily exercise
And I have used the onboard water tank for all purposes since Moses opened his first site !!
But as has already been pointed out NEVER NEVER EVER use a hose thats already attached to a standpipe or service point -- some people have appalling habits
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Firstly Carrierbag, welcome to the world of Motorhoming. I hope you have many happy travels!
My first campervan was already getting on a bit when I bought it. It had an onboard water tank, except it wasn't accessible as it was somewhere underneath the van. I used ordinary garden hose to fill it, and used water purification tablets. Happily used the water for washing, cooking and boiled water for tea. However, once my daughter came along I got a bit more conscious of possible bacteria breeding in water retained in the hose, system etc. Then I changed to a motorhome with a much more accessible water tank. Cleaned out using Aquapure (I think that's what its called) at the start of each season, used a food grade hose, used water purification tablets and only used the water for washing! Possibly overkill given we weren't drinking the water ;-) Guess its what you are most comfortable with. Just make sure you don't dangle the hose ends on the floor and I always let the water run through the hose for a bit to rinse away any old water residue.
However, on our last camping trip I bought a couple of flat water containers (5l and 10l) and used those to fill the tank from inside the van. Wish I'd thought of that years ago so that I didn't keep moving the van just to get fresh water and then have to level up again etc! Having just discovered this handy trick, the van is being sold and we are moving over to the world of caravans and aquarolls ;-)
Happy camping!
Daisy2
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I use a 12m long food grade hose which is cut into a 4m section and 8m section. I have a collection of Hoselock connectors just like in Keith & Margaret's excellent post although I don't use 'E' on my current van. I have a cheap set which is good for spraying water over my trousers! I never wear light coloured trousers when filling the tank or emptying the waste as water can go anywhere - usually for maximum embarrassment.
I also carry a 5l food grade container.
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I understand completely what you are saying but people have also been observed sticking their cassette under the fresh water tap to rinse it out and holding it right up to the tap outlet. Sometimes camping and hygiene are incompatible.
Given that we don’t drink the water I am generally happy to fill using the hose provided. 100 litres is a significant dilution of any contaminants present. I guess some people might wipe the end of the hose with disinfectant before using.
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