Diesel in the fresh water tank!

alwaysared

alwaysared

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My mate told me that his neighbour was selling a 54 plate Dethleffs A Class motorhome, he wasn't sure which model and she is selling it because her husband passed away last year and it's not being used. It's based on the Merc 2.5TD which looking on Google people seem to like and rate very highly. So I ask if he can arrange for me to see it, she's away for Christmas and I'm at Hereford for the New Year so it will be early in January before I can go over, but during the course of conversation he said that about 3 years ago her husband had accidently put diesel in the fresh water tank! He said they had had it flushed and had used it since then but somehow this is putting me off, would you buy it? If so what would you do to make sure the fresh water tank was suitable to use for fresh water? Changing all the pipework and tank would probably make the overall price expensive rather than a bargain.


Regards,

Del
 
if its been well flushed and theres no evidence of taint in the water id not worry overmuch, just use the gallon bottles of water from a supermarket for drinking and cooking. refill the bottles till they begin to look manky then replace with new.


its not even much of a bargaining tool.... no other buyer would know the contamination had occurred
 
I wouldn't be to concerned about the water tank several fills and drains should have cleared it if the tank has a overflow allowing it to over fill for a while should help as diesel floats on top of water and as soon as they realised their mistake they probably never pumped it thru the system. Smell and taste will tell you if more flushing is still needed
 
If it were me I’d put Milton through it if any doubts we always carry a 5 let container in kitchen for drinking etc and only use the tank water for washing dishes,showers and toilet flush ,it certainly would not deter me from buying
 
It's not the first time that someone put diesel in the fresh water tank, as they flushed it straight away I can't imagine it will have done any lasting damage.
Just smell the tank before you buy it, I'm fairly certain it will be fine.
 
hairydog said:
Replacing the pipes and the tank is totally stupid idea: they are all made of plastic - which is more or less solidified diesel in any case.
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Oh wow, i never knew that :rolleyes2:

The water tank and pipes in my motorhome must be made of something different because the water tastes fine and doesn`t smell of diesel :dance:
 
hairydog said:
Nasty stuff, Milton. You may need to flush it out with diesel to be sure you have got rid of it.
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:D

On a sightly more serious note, I have heard that Milton has some kind of detrimental effect on seals (and not the type in the Antarctic)?
 
Our old vw t5 trident had had the water tank filled with diesel by the previous owner, but had been flushed out, and was never a problem,
We used to make tea and coffee from the tank without any signs of it ever having diesel in the tank,
 
Wouldn't bother me at all, though a useful bargaining chip.

A few months back I filled up with diesel at Carentan in Normandy. I asked the cashier for permission to use the tap on the forecourt and they said oui, so I filled my onboard water tank.

Later that day I made a cuppa and spat out the first sip. It tasted of fuel. I can only assume that rather than being mains fed, the tap was supplied from an underground tank that had previously been used to store fuel. I've taken water onboard from petrol stations all over the continent from Portugal to Moscow and just about everywhere in between, and never had tainted water before.

There was an aire nearby with free water so I headed there, dumped the contents of my tank. Refilled, ran the taps through for a minute then dumped again. Refilled again and it's been fine ever since.

I appreciate that in my case the fuel was heavily diluted and not neat like yours, but it really shouldn't be a cause for concern.
 
The quantities of Milton you are all going to come into contact with I wouldn't worry about. I used to work where it was made and bottled in Bradford. That's a different ball game entirely. Then it can be nasty stuff.

If you happen to spill any on steel make sure you wash it off well or it will rapidly look 100years old.
 
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I agree, it could be a useful way of getting a good price and I wouldn't let it bother me either to be honest. I know many people do but I never drink from the tank anyway... I have a 10 litre container for that. I've cleaned out my fresh water tank a few times with puriclean and soda crystals and the like. I don't pump it through though... just fill up, go for a drive and then open the tap. I do the waste tank at the same time. Not sure if it holds true for all products but I remember being told very early on not to use the water pump or pump anything into the boiler when you've got a cleaner in the tank because some things can be a bit corrosive. That stuck with me, so I'm still careful about it. Lots of flushing should solve most things don't you think?
 
runnach said:
Ah, so that is the reason. :cool:
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A brand new plant and pipework all 316 stainless looked like it was 50 years old after 12months and that was just with the atmosphere inside the building. I kept out as much as possible. :D:D:D
 
Minisorella said:
I agree, it could be a useful way of getting a good price and I wouldn't let it bother me either to be honest. I know many people do but I never drink from the tank anyway... I have a 10 litre container for that. I've cleaned out my fresh water tank a few times with puriclean and soda crystals and the like. I don't pump it through though... just fill up, go for a drive and then open the tap. I do the waste tank at the same time. Not sure if it holds true for all products but I remember being told very early on not to use the water pump or pump anything into the boiler when you've got a cleaner in the tank because some things can be a bit corrosive. That stuck with me, so I'm still careful about it. Lots of flushing should solve most things don't you think?
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Milton and the like is basically bleach, salt and water. only 1% is sodium hypochlorite., about 15% salt which is usually added as the thickening agent, like in liquid soaps. The rest is just water. So a decent flush and you shouldn't have any problems at all.
 
Realy shouldend be that big of a problem as you said vans a Dethleffs A class so that tank should be accessible from a floor panel on the floor inside with a very large turn off cap you can get full access to the inside of the tank from there you could even fit you’re arm in to clean it if needed.
 
hairydog said:
Nasty stuff, Milton. You may need to flush it out with diesel to be sure you have got rid of it.
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It can't be all bad if used properly surely? It's still the go-to brand for sterilising babies' bottles and dummies, etc... and you know how militant Mums are when it comes to anything that might harm their little angels! :baby::idea-007:
 
Cleaning Fresh Water Tank Contamination.

Have a read here a well tested and tried solution.

Alf

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