[Mike Hunt]

Does any one use a ibc as a van tank?
If so how are they and how do you fit the internal baffles?
    Craig

[Ian_Giles]

The IBC tanks are fine, better if you get a brand spanking new one though, otherwise you have to be very sure that you have cleaned it out thoroughly of whatever was in there.
Baffling is easy enough by all acounts, you simply buy lengths of soil pipe, cut them to size, they don't need to be all the full height of the tank either!

The soil pipe is damned  expensive stuff
Vary the length you cut, but you do need to have them packed in there...upright of course!

Ian

[marc al]

  I use one in my van , I haven't baffled mine yet, not sure I am even going to bother, i had 800ltrs in it yesterday morning and it was fine.

[Old_Master]

i had 800ltrs in it yesterday morning and it was fine.

Did you have to perform an emergancy stop?

Dont take chances, yours or/ and  someone elses life is worth more than a few pounds.

What are you going to say to the parents, if a child steps out in front of you and you dont stop in time?

[marc al]

  Glyn

    The van drives, handles and stops fine, I just don't see the need for baffling a tank when farmers and hauliers have for years carried these about on lorries, trailers and on pick up trucks. The tank is mounted securly with the load spread evenly between the axels, I myself have children and wouldn't do it ths way if I didn't consider it safe.

[dai]

Of course if the tank was full to the top it wouldn't need baffles.
It's when it's half full you could have problems. DAI

[marc al]

  Dai

    At 800 ltrs the tank idsn't full to the top, it will hold over 1000ltrs, the time you feel the most water movement from the tank is around 350ltrs, but by then the wieght has dramatically reduced and doesn't affect the vans handling, the only side effects are a gentle rocking motion at the traffic lights.

[Old_Master]

Marc
I truly hope you never have an accident.
You are not a farmer or a haulier nor are you driving a large commercial vehicle with air breaks as a haulier would, you are driving with 800 kilograms of fluid swilling about in a standard vehicle the surge caused by the fluid you are carrying equates to a forward force close to 35 tons in a collision at only 30 mph.
 
I can asure you after 8 years of building systems that you are taking a stupid uneccesary risk, I cannot believe that a just a few pounds is worth the risk you are taking with not only your own but other road users and pedestrians lives.
Glyn

[james fortune]

  Dai

    At 800 ltrs the tank idsn't full to the top, it will hold over 1000ltrs, the time you feel the most water movement from the tank is around 350ltrs, but by then the wieght has dramatically reduced and doesn't affect the vans handling, the only side effects are a gentle rocking motion at the traffic lights.

That 350ltrs is 350Kg that will continue moving forward when you brake.
During normal braking conditions this might equate to a gentle rocking movement, however in an emergency stop situation it will feel like something is pushing you forward with great force and your stoping distance will be greatly increased.
Also if you have to make a sudden sideways movement you could find yourself loosing control and possibly rolling the van.
I would also say that if you do find yourself in an accident the police will check that you are not overloaded and i would suggest they would say that an unbaflled tank is a dangerous and unsecured load and prosecute you accordingly.
I am not having a go at you here but only trying to offer some advice, at the end of the day the decision is yours.
Jim

[Roy Harding]

Hi Craig

To baffel a ibc do the following.

You buy osma soil pipe 110m and cut in to 600m lenghts. Then you put the tank on its side, and silde in the lengths of pipe in rows untill the tank is packed as tight and you cannot get any more in, as you look in the tank it will look like a honney come effect.

Regards Roy

[Paul Coleman]

Hi Craig

To baffel a ibc do the following.

You buy osma soil pipe 110m and cut in to 600m lenghts. Then you put the tank on its side, and silde in the lengths of pipe in rows untill the tank is packed as tight and you cannot get any more in, as you look in the tank it will look like a honney come effect.

Regards Roy

That must be one massive tank then   <ducks>

[Mike Hunt]

Chears roy,
where do i get soil pipe from and how much does it cost?

[Old_Master]

where do i get soil pipe from

B&Q, Wickes, Builders Merchant.

[Mike Hunt]

Sorry for all the questions but if you answer this one i'll go away.
How much soil pipe do i need and whats stopping it from moving around?

[dai]

Craig. Measure the distance from the inside of the top of the tank to the bottom.
Each lengh of pipe will need to measure the same. Turn the tank on it's side with the filler hole in front of you. feed the pipes into the tank as you would put cigs into a packet. It will depend on where your filer hole is located, but when the pipes have reached the filler hole you will have to make  space by pushing pipe lenghs
upwards in order to push the next lengh in. When you have filled the tank with pipe lenghs, you look into the filler hole and the inside of the tank will look like a honeycomb.
When you fill the tank with water, it's movement  is resticted. It can only travel forwards, backwords or sideways within the confines of each individual pipe and the spaces in between.
when you  go into a sharp lefthand bend your van wants to carry streight on. It has to follow the front wheels though and this pushes the vans weight to the right.
Without baffling the additional weight of water moving to the right would make the van unstable, and could cause it to overturn. The same would apply to stopping in an emergancy. The additional movement of water to the front would seriously impair breaking.
The difference baffling makes, is the same as the difference between a push and a punch. I can't think of any simpler way of putting it. The amount of pipe you would need depends on the size of tank and diametre of pipe.
Hope this helps. DAi

[Roy Harding]

You need 8 x 6 meter lengths.

It is about £12.50 per length

Roy