Sunseeker would like your opinion on tank sizes!

[bclemens]

Manufacturing is always a balancing act, features versus size/weight.

I know if there were no restrictions everyone would have huge fresh, gray & black tanks but would you be willing to give up storage space & seat belts?

Realistically speaking...what would you consider to be adequate fresh/gray and black tanks? Also indicate if you are site or dry camping.

[windrider]

Tough question. We are a couple, male and female. Shower takes about 7 gallons for each of us. Seems the 4th shower, and after we wash a few dishes, and the 30 gallon gray tank is full, and the 30 gallon fresh water tank is empty. As for the black tank. we can go 3 or 4 days just fine when hooked up. We have a 6 gallon water heater. It all depends on how conservative you are, and we are all different.

[4st-rvr]

I believe this depends on the type of camping you prefer to do. If you’re the type that prefers resort camping with full hookups then the tank size is not so critical. A lot of people, such as ourselves, we prefer to “dry camp” and therefore it is much more of an issue. With a family of 4 it is hard to squeeze out 3 or 4 days on 30 gallons of grey water. The black water is really not an issue we can go easily a week with 30 black. With a large grey water tank it really opens up the possibilities; since we always carry extra fresh water (6.5 gal portable cans) we can easily “reload” the fresh water. Also a lot of times, if you camping near water, most campgrounds do not have sanitary hookups in the sites most near the water due to the risk of pollution. So in this case you miss out on the use of the “better” sites. For us Bigger is Better!

[jk31668]

in our case, i would opt for a larger black water tank. it seems to fill faster than the gray one

[2Susan]

2 adults and 3 children:
grey always fills faster than black. We run out of water in 3 days with no showers.

Bigger tanks (fresh, grey, black) give the user more options. You don't have to fill the fresh tank while traveling if you don't want the weight, but with smaller tanks you have a narrower range of choices - bringing separate water containers etc. I doubt an additional 10 gallons would reduce the amount of storage space (tanks after all are flat and squared off).

Things a manufacturer should do:
- Fix the problem of fresh water siphoning away as the tank is filled or while the rig is rolling down the road (see many posts on this forum)
- revise owner information so it's quite clear how increased weight of fluid impacts towing capability (see numerous posts with confusion on what their intended tow vehicle can do)
- consider "consumer ed" tips and tricks for water conservation. This could be a website page.

[2Susan]

Also NOT relating to water but to motor homes - MORE factory installed SEATBELTS.

All spots at the dinette should have a seatbelt as should all spots on the couch. I have 3 children and the odd one out on the couch (because there are only 2 spots with seatbelts at the dinette) is left out of activities or has to juggle them on their lap. All three of our children are still in carseats / booster seats.

Perhaps the market for motorhomes in the past was only retirees, but read this forum and you'll see that lots of us have little kids.

For safety, I would much prefer my children to be either front or rear facing (at the dinette) than sitting sideways (on the couch) while traveling.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by jk31668

in our case, i would opt for a larger black water tank. it seems to fill faster than the gray one

are you sure? that's basically opposite of what's normal.
what sizes are your gray/black tanks?
i know some RV's can have only a 6 gallon black tank, which, in that case, would fill faster.

[Sportracker]

I was struggling with a full grey sink tank and a 1/3 shower tank this morning in our '10 Sunseeker. Still have 2 days of camping to go. I was dreaming of a way to have a full tank with an overflow valve which would spill into the less full tank. No needd to change tank sizes then and we happy campers could manage our unique styles
That would be my $0.02.

[crocus]

We have the same issue, a basically empty shower/bathroom sink gray tank, and a full kitchen gray tank. From what I understand, the two gray tanks add up to 76 gallons, but I wish the kitchen one was 76 gallons by itself!
The black is about 40 gallons, and is plenty big enough.
The fresh water tank is only a bit over 40 gallons, and it would be nice if it was larger. 60 gallons would be great, but I wonder if that heavy of a tank might not end up on the highway. I have seen others post how their tanks are falling out of their campers as it is.

[4st-rvr]

Originally Posted by Sportracker

I was struggling with a full grey sink tank and a 1/3 shower tank this morning in our '10 Sunseeker. Still have 2 days of camping to go. I was dreaming of a way to have a full tank with an overflow valve which would spill into the less full tank. No needd to change tank sizes then and we happy campers could manage our unique styles
That would be my $0.02.

Count yourself lucky you atleast have two tanks (guessing 47 gals total) We ordered a late '10, but missed the manufacture switch over so we ended up with an '11. Forest River opted to change the grey capacity from 47 down to 23 gallons (without notifying the dealer or us). Tried to get them to fix it, even had a local dealer provide a solution, but Forest River (as the dealer said...told us to go pound sand!). Not only will we not correct this, but if YOU fix it we will void your warranty. WOW, With a family of 4, 23 gals will last a day.