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Subject Topic: weighbridge shocker!
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Personscrufts
28/7/2015 at 11:26am
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I decided to weigh my caravan on a public weighbridge and serached around for price which varied between a fiver and twenty quid (ouch)
Outfit is a Kia Sorento and a coachman amara 640/6
In the caravan is a half full 6kg gas cylinder, bedding,wastemaster,aquaroll, beauclaire and five plastic chairs. I have a cupboard with crockery in it and pots and pans.
Went on the weighbridge, turened off the engine and went to pay. Got my ticket and total weight is 3930kg
Put the caravan back in storage and went back to weighbridge -operator told me figure was 2170kg (didn't give me a ticket or charge me)
End result is a caravan weighing 1760kg but MTPLM is 1715kg so I am already 45kg overweight!
Allowing 30kg for motormover I cannot see how I am overweight as cylinders are normally incorporated in the MIRO. My personal payload should be 160kg so allowing for motormover I should have 130kg to play with?
Am I missing something here becasue we havent even packed in clothes!


Personkazo2014
28/7/2015 at 11:35am
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I suggest you remove everything from the caravan and then put it back on the weighbridge, then compare this to what the vin plate states


PersonRob and Tina
28/7/2015 at 1:29pm
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The motormover may be over 30kg, then you have the leisure battery and hook up lead which all add to the weight you are carrying. There's also the weight of food and fridge contents to think about. I suppose the only thing you could do is to empty everything out and get the empty caravan weighed so that you have a starting point before you start adding to the weight.

Rob


PersonMotobiman
28/7/2015 at 4:29pm
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And depending on the types of weighbridge you could have plus or minus 100kgs on that supposed actual weight.

I had the same thing with my Knaus (1500kgs Max) - 1510 kgs with basics loaded but no food or clothes.

Just assumed 100kgs scale variation and got on with it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/weighing-vehicles-for-enforcement-consolidated-code-of-practice/consolidated-code-of-practice-enforcement-weighing-of-vehicles


Personpencamper
28/7/2015 at 6:55pm
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Quote: Originally posted by Motobiman on 28/7/2015
And depending on the types of weighbridge you could have plus or minus 100kgs on that supposed actual weight.

I had the same thing with my Knaus (1500kgs Max) - 1510 kgs with basics loaded but no food or clothes.

Just assumed 100kgs scale variation and got on with it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/weighing-vehicles-for-enforcement-consolidated-code-of-practice/consolidated-code-of-practice-enforcement-weighing-of-vehicles



Most weigh bridges are to the nearest 10 kgs not 100kgs ?
I think if you went to a weigh bridge that is 100 kgs over or under it wouldn't be worth going with a caravan as most have a payload of around 200kgs !!
I took my swift to the local weigh bridge and was also surprised how heavy it was but have since read that the basic weight of the vann could be wrong it doesn't include gas/ battery or motor mover.


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PersonMotobiman
28/7/2015 at 7:30pm
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The standards for public weighbridges were in the link I gave above and the best is plus or minus 50kgs and you have no way of knowing if they are plus or minus.

None are accurate to 10 kgs and it may be special purpose weigh scales you are thinking of.

So for your caravan you have to take the limits shown for the relevant weighing equipment into account and be sensible about it.

An apparent weight of 1600kgs could be anywhere between 1550 and 1650 if the scale is accurate to 50kgs.

In my case the accuracy of the public dynamic axle weigher was 150kgs and I was happy with 1510 for a 1500 max.


Post last edited on 28/07/2015 19:39:58

Post last edited on 28/07/2015 19:41:19


Personscrufts
28/7/2015 at 8:54pm
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Interesting link Motobiman - thank you
Had a look in CC handbook which says "Although regularly checked weighbridges may give varying results as they are calibrated for much heavier vehicles".
the weighbridge I used was one where you drove up the ramp as opposed to some I've seen which weigh each axle and are supposedly more accurate. I can honestly say that we don't have shed loads of junk in the caravan -the heaviest bits I could find where five plastic chairs at 15kg total and the beauclaire at 12kg. Nose weight is good and weight (what there is in loose stuff is evenly distributed and we don't have anwning. Food we normally do a "click and collect" from the nearest tesco.If I get the chance I'm going to see if I can get access to something more accurate for weighing the 'van e.g. one of those portable devices or similar.


PersonGrampian91
28/7/2015 at 11:46pm
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I remember reading a similar issue in one of the caravan magazines, brand new caravan weight very close to its gross weight before they even added anything else.

My handbook states +/- 5% so a possible extra 60kg on a 1200kg van.

But thats only the average, from what i gather that weigh the first x amount of caravans and average the weight for the handbook. Its possible that one can weigh more than the heaviest they test weighed.


PersonSkoda Bob
29/7/2015 at 12:04am
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Your going to have Bessie, waving her spread sheet around shortly


Personpencamper
29/7/2015 at 6:45am
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My mistake then
I think I'm getting mixed up with actual weight increments.
They measure to the nearest 10 kgs
So my swift weighed 1290kgs on the bridge so it could be 1240-1340kgs.
I have weighed everything I can seperatly and got a figure of 1270kgs working on the Miro of the van so feel it's about right.

If you get pulled and weighed by the police or VOSA ? How accurate are there equipment ?

Interesting topic this and good info thanks.


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PersonMotobiman
29/7/2015 at 7:37am
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It would be the DVSA rather than the police I think.

The DVSA would use the same roadside weighign equipment they use for heavy commercial vehicles with the same accuracy limits.


Personkatycymru
29/7/2015 at 1:17pm
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Was thinking about taking my TT for a weigh, probably won't bother now.

Public weighbridges in South Wales I found are mostly on quarries, so guessing they're used to measuring if a load is 44,000 kgs or over, making my 500kg very much small fry.



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Personscrufts
29/7/2015 at 2:09pm
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Thinking about what we normally carry, we are quite light in comparison to some caravans we see that represent a tardis! I read somewhere that from a roadside check conducted over a number of days, 82% of caravans where found to be overweight. (I didn't say what happened to them afterwards). Apparently some mobile DVSA units have portable scales that are calibrated frequently and measure the weight under each wheel.
Something like this looks interesting:

http://www.horizonleisure.co.uk/accessories/reich-portable-caravan-weight-control-1500kg.html

£163 - ouch

What I will try perhaps is stripping everything down to bare bones, leaving spare tyre and batter on and try again, but =/- 50kg defeats the object a bit. I wonder if there is somewhere where you can hire some scales like the ones I've posted the link to?


PersonMotobiman
29/7/2015 at 4:27pm
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The DVSA site I linked to tells you the accuracy of the various types of scales they use for enforcement purposes.

The portable scales are only good for + - 100kgs and the best is the fixed axle weighed at + - 50kgs so it's anyone's guess as to what they can and can't do.

It certainly appears to me that if you weigh your caravan at a public weighscale and using the accuracy shown on the DVSA website that's the best you can do.

Mine was 1510 kgs on a public axle weighed using the dynamic mode so could be + - 150kgs and that's good enough for me.

It's onty the weight of two people FHS.


Persondarthillcat
29/7/2015 at 5:39pm
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Ok lets shed some light on this I am a Public weighbridge accredited operator, the weighbridge we have is accurate + or - 20kg so if your van weighs 1211 kg the scales will read 1220kg if the van weighs 1210kg the scales will read 1200kg, my bridge is calibrated each year and is tested across the full range from 20kg up to 50 tonne,it only gets a certificate if the weights are accurate.

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PersonMotobiman
29/7/2015 at 5:53pm
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So the DVSA website is nonsense and your truck could be under weight on one and over on another.

Must be an awful lot of challenged tickets.

Glad we got that sorted.

PS what you describe is tolerance not accuracy.

Post last edited on 29/07/2015 18:10:50



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