# Losing water



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Dumb question of the day again.

We are away at the moment and when we can we fill up with water if it's easy as you never know how easy it will be at the next aire.

Our fresh water tank has an over flow as I assume they all do. Often when we arrive particularly I it's been a steep twisty journey we have lost quite a bit of water. On o e alpine trip it wad nearly half a tank.

Not a big issue but am I missing something? Is there a way to close the overflow or has anyone devised a way of preventing this?

Thanks


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Dumb*

Not a Dumb Question, maybe a poorly fitted overflow.

Had two vans, never lost any water when full and travelling.

It is not syphoning somehow is it?

I would need to see the tank and the overflow to give a better opinion.

Anyone with a similar van to BarryD?

TM


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

sounds to me as if the overflow is on a lower level than the top of the tank, or there is not a loop in it.shall rephrase that, the overflow pipe should go up before it goes down to below the floor level, this will stop that happening. :wink: 
Are you sure it is the overflow leaking and not a leaking filler cap.or a leaking filler hose or even the tank.have you checked the top of the tank, have a look while you fill it and see if the inspection cap leaks. 8O 8O 

cabby


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

Unless you have a hole half way up the tank - in which case it would presumably leak when static - I would also suspect a siphoning problem.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Hmm. Thanks chaps. Never any sign of water around the tank so will have a proper look tomorrow. It doesn't leek when static.

Even if the pipe is syphoning should it really loose so much? Then again if it's getting sloshed about perhaps.

I just assumed it was the way it was but clearly not


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## Morphology (Jul 23, 2010)

What's your overflow like?

Mine has a vertical tube inside the tank which fits into the drain point in the sump and rises up to a couple of inches below a big red inspection screw cover.

It can't syphon, but as water sloshes around it can slop over the top of the overflow and out onto the road (presumably the MH Police will think I'm dribbling out my Grey water, which I'm not, but that's for another topic...!)

I used to lose loads just driving along so my solution was to stick a bung in the top of the overflow if I want to make sure I hang on to absolutely all the water. Works fine.

All I have to remember is to remove it before filling the tank.


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

I found when I filled up and let the overflow run when we first had the van it would run for ages. 

The cause was the overflow pipe inside the tank was to long and like you once the syphon started it would empty half the tank. 

Cut the pipe back very short and cured the problem. 

Andy


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks again. I've had a proper look and no leaks out of the tank or inspection hole. The over flow is basically a hole in the side of the tank and on the outside a jointed blue hose goes down and out of the van. Ther is no flexibility to move the hose outside higher than the tank so I can only assume it's syphining or just sloshing out of there on twisty and hilly routes.

I think there are two causes of action. Stick a small cork in the hole on the inside o the tank or chop the drain hose and fit a tap to open and close. The latter is beyond my capabilities or to be honest more than I can be bothered with right now.

If I stick a cork in it and fill up will the water just spray back out of the filler when full or am I asking for trouble? If I have to mess on taking the dinette seat off every time and putting my hand in the tank I don't think it's worth the bother.

Seems like a kontiki design Fault to me.


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## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

Would you be able to attach a new piece of hose to the end of the current overflow pipe so that it's outlet is raised up to be higher than it is now?


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Thanks

there is a tap on the lower drain hose for emptying the tank. It's like a lever that's either open or closed. I presume these are available. All I would need to do is chop the overflow pipe, insert thr tap and remeber to close it when we set off.

Kak tanks?


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## jud (Aug 15, 2009)

:idea: hi barryd. we have had 5 m/h and never lost water through the over flow while en-route BUT when filling up with a good fast water pressure then your indication is when it starts to over flow its full and like i said if the water is going fast the over flow carries on syphoning till the tank is half way down . another time it happens is when we fill up and the aire is on a slope . this happened with 2 autotrails if i turn the tap down when nearly full and the overflow trickles out no problem . jud :wink:


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## zulurita (May 9, 2005)

When we got our current autotrail mh it did just the same.

we were really fed up when we paid for water and then lost half of it on a journey!!

I put a cork in the end of the pipe and all was fine.

I told our dealer on the next service and they put a tap on (perhaps not the correct one as it was like the yellow tap for draining the hot water tank).

However the first time we filled up in France at a Borne the water poured out of this tap as the tank was obviously full.

So this was no good! I took it off and went back to my cork! Yes I have to be carefull when filling with a hose as water can spurt out but I am used to it now. At least I don't lose water when travelling.

I might add before anyone says it. I did try only filling to 50% or 75% but still lost water!

On the whole I try not to travel with a full tank but sometimes when filling at Bornes you have no choice as they dispense a fixed amount.


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

The over flow is basically a hole in the side of the tank and on the outside a jointed blue hose goes down and out of the van.

The ideal solution would be to replace the existing overflow pipe with one that goes from the hole in the side of the tank up for a couple of inches then down.

Or better still, can you insert a flexible hose to make a raised loop between the outlet hole and the pipe that goes down and out.this would be your best answer.
if you block off the overflow the pressure will force something else to give way. :wink: :wink: 


cabby


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## Wizzo (Dec 3, 2007)

Our friends have a Swift with the same problem. They put a cork in the overflow and it works fine. When filling either one of them watches the tank level from inside the van or they just fill till it comes out of the filler hole. They have had this 'mod' for the last four years and no problems.

JohnW


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## dally1 (Jul 1, 2010)

There is one other possibility. It's possible that your tank has collapsed as ours did.

Ours is an Autotrail and they are fitted with the semi flexible poly tank. 1st time we filled it till it overflowed, it then kept on losing water through the overflow. This was the result of the tank being blown up by the filling action of the water followed by the tank contracting to it's collapsed position and venting the water through the overflow.

I contacted Autotrail who diagnosed the problem, they sent me some rigid infills which I fitted and have had no problem since.

Easy to fit. Hope this helps.


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