Changing from caravan to motorhome
After 30years of caravanning we are about to buy our first (and probably last at our age!) motorhome! We have already decided it is the practical thing to do and can't wait to get out and about and explore more of this island and also abroad. We are getting a Bailey Approach Autograph 625 (2016) and my question is not about the change, but practical things such as- is it ok to drive about with water and waste water in the respective on-board tank?. Obviously one aspect of touring is the ability to have many shorter stays either en-route or throughout the holiday, and so i would like to keep at least a day or two's worth of water on board without having to empty/ refill at each site. (Same goes for the toilet!) I do expect the performance to be affected by the extra weight but what about stability / safety on the road and noise of water sloshing about? (Don't want to be carrying aquarolls any more with all that filling etc!!)
I'm sure we will have many more questions as time goes on, and if there are any links to previous discussions, then they would be most welcome.
Thanks everyone! 
Colin & Elaine
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We always travel with water in at least one tank and usually in the toilet flush and cassette as well. We also have an underslung gas tank and obviously that always has liquid gas in it. These are commercial vehicles and unlikely to become unstable due to water in the tanks. If you remain within your GVW then performance should not be affected. Only you know how close you are to your max payload.
One of the main advantages of a MH is the ability to get in and go and have your self contained mobile home with you ready for use. Constantly faffing around with tanks would negate that benefit. Some MH-ers wild camp almost all the time and hardly go near a site so they obviously travel with fluids in tanks.
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Welcome to the Dark Side, Colin / Elaine.
I'm not going to try teaching you to suck eggs but the thing to look out for is your Loading. Some 'vans have a Mass In Running Order [ miro ] such that you can be getting close to your limit before you fill your tanks - shocking I know but manufacturers don't care -- to them a sale is a sale once it's off their forecourt
.If you are like me then sterilize the water works, half fill with fresh and go for a quickish drive down some windy lanes to splash it all about, empty and refill with nice fresh water and you are ready for anything.
Just one further, vital point ---- Have fun
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Our last vehicle was a Bailey 625 SE, loved the vehicle which had a good payload so we usually travelled with around 40 ltrs on board but on occasion have travelled with an almost full tank of fresh. Always emptied waste water before leaving a site, same with toilet waste. Stability of the vehicle was never affected, just watch how you load it, although it has a good payload be mindful of the rear axle weight, especially if carrying bikes on the rear.
Its a different way of touring and takes awhile to get used to it but once achieved you will enjoy it.
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It makes sense to travel with some water, how much depends on available payload. Howver I can see little point in travelling with waste and I prefer to dump both grey and black before I move on.
The first motorhome I had in fact demanded that the grey was dumped otherwise the wast full alarm kept triggering as water sloshed around in the tank.
I have never noticed any bad effects in handling from carrying water but one thing I always do is turn off both the gas and the water pump before moving off.
peedee
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If you are staying on standard sites I can't see much point in lugging a tank full of water around. We let ours run down on site and travel with about 25 litres. There is even a position on the fresh water drain valve that will leave that amount in. However, it is easy enough to arrive at it, or there abouts with usage. We always empty the grey waste, but not always the black if nowhere near full. We turn off the water pump but leave the gas on, It is safe to do this with our system as it will turn off in the case of an accident. This allows the fridge to auto switch over if we stop on route. Otherwise, I either have to take the fridge off automatic or switch the gas on if we stop for more than 15 minutes. The fridge gets upset if it can't find the gas.😂
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You can of course travel with water in the fresh water tank (subject to payload considerations) and when I have done that I have not noticed any change in driving. Agree with others waste water, always dispose of before leaving a site. I previously had an Approach 740 SE and if the water filling system is the same there is no easy way of filling the tank without either using the supplied hose at a service point or a serviced pitch. It does have provision for refilling from an Aquaroll. The tank can be topped up via the access point in the floor but that can be messy.
Re other discussions have a look at the Motorhome section, you will need to scroll down to find the various subjects being discussed.
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It’s a good idea to weigh the motorhome fully loaded, both axles. If you can find a public weighbridge they usually don’t charge unless you want a ticket issued. With the tanks full and all passengers on board you will then know if you have any margin on payload and it will give you important information for tyre pressures (check the axle loads against the tyre manufacturers data for your tyres).
If you want to be self sufficient then you will need to fill the tanks before departure but if stopping at sites you can top up as required.
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Happiness is a full fresh tank.
I always work on the principle that a full tank can't slop the contents around. Unlike yacht tanks, there are seldom baffles in MH tanks.0 -
i think the larger the tanks the more comsideration the manufacturer has to give to 'baffling'...
our swifts had basic 'flat boxes' for tanks with no baffles nad water could slop about.
our last two vans had tanks between the floors and shaped to 'interconnect' with each other thus meaning more complicated (less open/boxy) tanks which prevent water from sloshing about..
much larger vans can have tanks of 300 ltr or more and some sort of design to break up the tanks into multiple smaller parts will probably be employed.
we always have plenty of water on board as we dont necessarily know where we are going to stay, especially when not in the UK.
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