How much water do you travel with?

[ChrisZazzara]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Dry in Fresh water and Gray.
(LONG trip 5 gallons for flushing and hand washing)

Three long flushes; 1 cup Calgon; 1 cup Laundry soap in black tank.
Our black tank never has odors unless full to the top and a power vent is open and running.

Any particular brand of laundry soap seem to work well for you? Or just something inexpensive. And liquid I would guess.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by ChrisZazzara

Any particular brand of laundry soap seem to work well for you? Or just something inexpensive. And liquid I would guess.

Asked the DW and she said, "Whatever Liquid Laundry Soap is on sale at BJ's Warehouse with a coupon; usually ALL Free."

[SaskCampers]

Interesting about all the full vs empty and mileage but no one seems to have considered the effect on payload. Our V-Lite has a max payload of 1367 so adding 40 some gallons of water reduces that below 1000lbs. Now I know we do not carry that much stuff but I would hazzard a guess some people probably come close or over it.

[ChrisZazzara]

Originally Posted by TheSasks

Interesting about all the full vs empty and mileage but no one seems to have considered the effect on payload. Our V-Lite has a max payload of 1367 so adding 40 some gallons of water reduces that below 1000lbs. Now I know we do not carry that much stuff but I would hazzard a guess some people probably come close or over it.

This is more to what I was wondering about when I first posted the question. That and the balance changes a full versus empty water tank contribute to the towed load.

Some folks are seeing this as a miles per gallon issue, but really, if any of us are truly interested in that we wouldn't be yanking loads twice the size of our gas guzzling pick up trucks in the first place.

Personally, I will tow with empty waste tanks and a small amount of fresh water for use along the way or in a pinch if I can't get water where I'm heading.

[SaskCampers]

Originally Posted by ChrisZazzara

This is more to what I was wondering about when I first posted the question. That and the balance changes a full versus empty water tank contribute to the towed load.

Some folks are seeing this as a miles per gallon issue, but really, if any of us are truly interested in that we wouldn't be yanking loads twice the size of our gas guzzling pick up trucks in the first place.

Personally, I will tow with empty waste tanks and a small amount of fresh water for use along the way or in a pinch if I can't get water where I'm heading.

That is how we travel as well. Worked well on our 6000km trip last summer and we will do it again next week when we leave for Rapid City via Hardin Montana etc.

[Labzy]

I'm new to all this.

My CCC is only 843lbs. For that reason, I weighed every single item before it went into the new trailer.
It actually was easier than it sounds, I just picked up a handful of stuff, weighed myself, subtracted, and then itemized it all in a notebook.
I figured I would only have to do it once, and now I have a good knowledge of how much everything really weighs.
Our first trip was not far away (under 3 hours) and I was unsure of the water situation there, so I decided to fill the fresh water at home.
The extra 288lbs still kept me below my CCC max by a few hundred ( I only packed about 2-250lbs of stuff)

My DH did not notice much, if any, difference when we towed it home with an empty tank.

I will probably still fill up the fresh before our trips; it is one less thing we will have to do when we get set-up, and bring us one step closer to doing the things we came camping to do.

[Labzy]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Dry in Fresh water and Gray.
(LONG trip 5 gallons for flushing and hand washing)

Three long flushes; 1 cup Calgon; 1 cup Laundry soap in black tank.
Our black tank never has odors unless full to the top and a power vent is open and running.

Hi Lou,

Do you use 'black tank' chemicals also? Or just the Calgon and laundry soap?

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Labzy

Hi Lou,

Do you use 'black tank' chemicals also? Or just the Calgon and laundry soap?

I carry a quart of RV-Digest-It and a quart of standard water treatment.

The Calgon and soap are to keep the tank clean and slippery so nothing sticks. It works best when you move the camper every few days to slosh stuff around.

When we dry camp for long periods, heavy solids tend to make a pile right under the inlet and it is hard to get ride of completely. I then call on the digest it to work its magic getting stuck on stuff to move through the pipes. The Digest it is fairly expensive and hard to find so we only use it when the flush out is slow running.

[Glenn5995]

Much of our camping is boondocking/dry camping, so unless I am absolutely positive that there is somewhere near our destination to fill our fresh water tank, I travel with our fresh water tank full plus 4 6-gallon portable containers of water. I never travel with the fresh water tank empty. I always have at least a 1/4 of a tank of fresh water. There always seems to be a need for water somewhere enroute.

I have never noticed any change in MPG, whether traveling with full tank or not. I am good with my GCWR, axle ratings and tire ratings, but am pushing (usually exceeding) my tow vehicle GVWR. As my fresh water tank is at the rear of the fifth wheel, a full fresh water tank helps keep a little lower pin weight.

[GSF63]

I have two kids and it's a lot easier to take a half tank of water for all the potty stops. The weight is a non factor with the 5er and truck we have.

[sherdep]

I tow with all 3 of my tanks empty but most of my trips are within hour and a half - been thinking about putting atleast half a tank of fresh water as a just in case for flushing or another one is the truck overheats or someone is stranded with an overheatedvehicle and I need water - I will have alot of it in the fresh water tank.
I carry bottled water for drinking.

I havent used the Calgon in the black tank as of yet but I do rinse it with a Tornado - I have been using the Camco TST Orange Single's from Walmart - 1 bottle treats 40 gallons makes it a no brainer on measuring cause one bottle does it all - Walmart.com: Camco TST Orange Singles: Automotive - Never had an issue with smell unlike the bottle that came with the camper I used once and the smell was horrible.

[Maxterra]

About 3 gallons w/ treatment chemicals in the waste tanks to keep em clean.
I've always kept maybe 1/4 tank of fresh water on board unless dry camping. Been saved by it a few times, being able to flush the toilet when somebody needed it. Nice to be able to wash up after road repair of flat tire change too. What if somebody needed a radiator refill after a boil-over?

Saved us a couple yrs ago at Bear Lake campground. Storm knocked down a tree onto the campground power line to the water well & sewer pump system. Down most of the day, and the campground was without water & bathrooms. We were fine and could even wash the dishes :-)

[jaxfl]

There is normally about 3 gallons in the black tank with chemicals, and 10 gallons in the freash tank just in case it is needed for hand washing, flushing, etc... The bottled water is for drinking and cooking and is normaly about 24-36 bottles.

[RubenZ]

I never thought about keeping water in the waste tanks. Glad I read this, I'll try to do that when I get home today.