Added a compressor and tank to Toy Hauler

I could never imagine camping off-road without my generator... It has saved me too many times. Even with solar panels that I want to install sometime soon I still would have to use my generator for the first hour or so of charging to get my battery current down to a level my solar panels could use. I have to be at my 90% charge state before dark and we usually pull a pretty good bunch of current with our camping off the power grid style...

We are 99% OFF-ROAD Camping along the High Country of VA. Been wanting to start checking the high country of MD and PA... Don't have any desires to do the RV TRAVELING thing... Already visited all those places all over. I might want to go back to AZ one day on my bucket list and stay a couple of months however.

Both my hobbies (Camping and Ham Radio) uses alot of batteries haha...

My generator has its home sitting secured in the rear truck corner next to the tailgate so it is out of the way for everything... One crank and it fires up...


All the places I get to camp around us off-grid seem to have generator run time restrictions in place so I am starting to think some solar panels for a good PLAN B for that. We just don't have any dispersed camping around here on public land... Even the NATL FOREST are still doing the two hours in the morning and maybe three hours in the early evening. Some however have the 8AM to 8PM which is great for me to charge batteries each day.

My small POPUP trailer roof should let me have two 100WATT panels on one end and maybe perhaps a 240WATT panel on the rear end. These all may weigh too for me however. My roof grunts and groans now raising my 13,500 A/C unit... I know if it ever fails on me I will be installing a much lighter unit 8K size or so. A/C just not as important as it once was it seems... Pulling in cool air from the creek side is plenty cool for us now using the fantastic fan setup cracking open a window flap just right...

Perhaps I can install my panels after the roof is up and locked in place.

All part of the planning I reckon...

Roy Ken

Newer rotary compressors require very few amps . I run my pancake on a 2,000 watt vertor .

Hi Roy B.... I've been using a 120V Black and Decker 3gallon pancake compressor for some time. But I need to run the Honda 2000i generator to use it. Now that I have solar, I nearly never use the generators. At some point I'll get confident enough in my solar set up that I'll start leaving them home. So going totally 12V was the best option for me.

RoyB

I'm guessing those 120VAC compressors like to draw some AC current. I tried my house Air Compressor one time and my 2KW Honda just laughed at me hehe...

I use the Q Industries Tankless MV-50 12VDC compressor (AMAZON) for all of my trip needs... It is small enough to fit under my truck rear seat... When I use mine I just sit on the dropped tailgate of the truck and the long hose feeds all of my truck and trailer tires with ease. Clamped into the trailer batteries on the trailer tongue...

Also since it doesn't have the tank it is very safe to use to blow out my water lines when the outside temps drop below freezing...

Roy Ken
RoyB