Newbie motorhomer

It might depend on what system you have but my Bailey has an external pump to fill the onboard tank from a container. Logically I would have thought that would be the same for all motorhomes that have that ability to fill from an external container? 

David

Mine to has an external pump, but i never use it ,just as quick with a water can if i dont want to move to the tap

AK, i guess you are new to motorhoming? perhaps you were a caravanner previously?

of so, it may be that your first assumption is that you have to manage water in the same way 'as you always did'....

whilst some, like DK, prefer to move water from a tap to an aquaroll, then move the aquaroll to the van and then pump the water from the aquaroll into the vans water tank...

with an aquaroll being fairly small in capacity, you may find youre doing this as often as you did (or caravanners do) previously.

you may find it easier to cut out the middle man and just move the water from the tap straight into the van.

for this purpose, we use a specially designed piece of equipment called a hose 

you can carry (say) two hoses that can be joined together and we find that this will reach a tap on pretty much any site.

of course, some manufacturers have decided that all users should act like caravanners and dont give the option to stick a hose in the hole like the majority of MHers do...

its horses for courses, some like to carry extra kit like pumps and aquarolls but this all takes up unnecessary storage space. and some vans have a shortage of externally accessed locker space.

personally, two hoses seems a simple way of getting from tap to van, others prefer the aquaroll route.

neither is mandatory, unless of course your vehicle's water inlet has been designed by a caravanner....  

I would say you do if you have one of those MH's that doesn't have the large petrol type filler cap on the side. If it's got a nice filler cap then you can use a watering can. Personally I prefer two as they are easier to carry. It also means that you are not restricted to sites for filling up. Surprising where you find taps 

When I first changed to a motorhome I was determined not to use an Aquaroll or similar. However practicality won the day. We often stay on sites for 3/4 days and we use our own facilities. I find that one container full of water is enough to keep the internal tank topped up, so one trip a day. In their wisdom Bailey decided that you could only fill the tank either by a hose or an external pump, unless that is you wised to fill the tank directly in the actual motorhome through the floor. Had I not had a pumped supply I would have been happy to use a watering can to top up but with my model this is not possible unless done directly into the tank. If I have a nearby tap I can use that but that is rarely the case and I don't see the point of going backwards and forwards to the service point. So as you can see the Aquaroll is a reasonable compromise. Whether I would have purchased one to use with the motorhome had I not already had one I have no idea!!!

David

Ant Kenny - What make and model of MH do you heve?

Autotrail 700

newish or older model?

if you have an external 12v socket you can pump water from a container into the tank. if the tank has a 'normal' filler, you can also use a hose or a watering can...

i also carry a 'guttering elbow' which is very small and fits nicely into the water inlet, allowing (say) a 10 ltr container to be used for emergency top ups...

no pumping, no large aquarolls to carry....

i saw a guy at Brighton this year, he was parked only about 30 feet from the toilet block and a tap...

so....he connected the hose to the tap and filled an aquaroll stood next to his van....he then turned off the tap and then pumped the water into the van....then refilled the aquaroll and repumped the water....

repeat as necessary......

as he seemed to have a normal filler i considered suggesting he take the hose out of the aquaroll and just stick it in the filler....

but he seemed happy in his work and obviously thought i was impressed with his array of equipment....so i let him get on with it..... 

What is a non 'normal filller' arrangement? I can't imagine what it must look like. My 30 Litre m/h onboard tank is filled via a lockable petrol filler cap type of arrangement on the side of the body into which I can easily empty a 5L container in about 20 seconds.

I cannot see why all m/h wouldn't be designed like that.

 ....

i saw a guy at Brighton this year, he was parked only about 30 feet from the toilet block and a tap...

so....he connected the hose to the tap and filled an aquaroll stood next to his van....he then turned off the tap and then pumped the water into the van....then refilled the aquaroll and repumped the water....

repeat as necessary...... ...