Community Forums

Rookie RVer · 08-14-2014, 06:15 PM

Hey folks, see my name is "Rookie" so here goes. when traveling from site to site do you guys travel with water in the tank or wait until you arrive and use the hook ups? It seems to me that the beauty of a Class A is to be able to stop at a site, set up and spend the night without worrying about hook ups. So, full tanks or not? That is my question today. Thanks!@!

osok · 08-14-2014, 06:24 PM

Welcome to iRV2 forum. The only time I travel with full tank is if water will not be available at destination. All the water adds a lot of weight and for me no reason to have. Lighten up the load and maybe help a little on mpg. Usually I travel with about 1/4 tank.

Skip426 · 08-14-2014, 06:26 PM

Welcome to iRV2.
I always have a good amount of fresh on board, depending on use, showers etc, and particularly if I've hooked to park water , I'll dump before hitting the road. If your showering using park water and not dumping your adding weight and some MH's can't stand too much extra weight.

Bigd9 · 08-14-2014, 06:32 PM

We travel with full water tank. Got stuck on the road when there was an accident up in front of us once, and having the water sure made things better. We just cooked dinner, washed dishes, and I even took a shower waiting for the traffic to start moving again.

PyrateSilly · 08-14-2014, 06:36 PM

Our water tank is 100 gallons .... travel with it full? Usually not, usually only 25 to 50 gallons in there when traveling. We've been places where the park's water shuts down for various reasons or we've stopped at a rest area, welcome center or any place other than a campground and having that water in that tank sure is nice.

TwelveVolt · 08-14-2014, 06:42 PM

We leave the campground with at least 1/2 tank of fresh to handle a breakdown or other delay. It is also nice to arrive late at a campground and not have to bother with hoses in the dark.

Pigman1 · 08-14-2014, 06:53 PM

Another vote for full tank. We bought the rig so we weren't tied to a hose and plug and we travel that way. We never plan overnight stops and very rarely use RV parks. On a 10 day trip to Alaska we stop at one Famcamp in North Dakota. All other stops are truck stops, rest areas or wide spots in the road. Never a problem with the self contained setup.

Gary RVRoamer · 08-14-2014, 06:58 PM

We generally have a 1/2 tank (about 50 gal), just in case we end up somewhere with no water available. 1/4 is probably a minimum for us, to provide water for use while enroute.

An extra 25 or so gallons of water is insignificant weight in my 33,000 lb coach.

sailwing2003 · 08-14-2014, 07:43 PM

We always carry water, nice to not have to hook up. Really nice not to worry about a breakdown, or change of plans. You can never know when you might need to get towed a repair service center, on a Friday, and then wait for service on Monday. We always want to be comfortable, and that matters way more than carrying 800# pounds of water. A hot shower anytime, anywhere, and for a number of days is important.

akadeadeye · 08-14-2014, 07:55 PM

We always travel with 1/2 to 3/4 tank because you will run into places with "bad water" either in taste, color, or smell. If that is the case we will just use "on board" water until we get to a place where the water is better. One of the reasons of having a big rig is to be as self sufficient as possible.

I will gladly pay the extra two or three dollars per fuel tank (if even that), in order to have good water.

Don

ernest917 · 08-14-2014, 07:55 PM

We travel with not more than 1/2 tank or less.... So we can flush while on the road.... Water weight a tad over 8 lbs a gallon so I don't want to be traveling with an extra 800 lbs.... Will hurt MPG as well as adding a lot of extra weight to your total weight....

nothermark · 08-14-2014, 08:13 PM

For the folks with smaller tanks the issue is partly the size of the tank. We run close to full because we only have 40 gal of fresh. Dump black and gray on the way out so that is all the water weight. OTOH if we had a bigger rig we would probably stick with around that amount unless we expected a problem. We also carry a couple of jugs of drinking water so we can easily do an overnight with what we carry and a couple if we start worrying about it.

Rookie RVer · 08-14-2014, 08:19 PM

Thanks all! This is so full of information and I am grateful. We will establish our routine but it will include at least about 50 gal. keep the rubber side down.

MRUSA14 · 08-14-2014, 08:19 PM

I agree with Northermark. I can hold 100 gallons which can last me for a week or more. I don't need to carry that much and generally carry about 40 gallons, which will last me several days. Unless of course I know I am going somewhere where hookups will not be available, in which case I fill the water tank.