some experienced full timers have had their equipment a long time.any regrets?what would you upgrade to today have a 2003 37 ft carriage cari lite 50 amp service.and what is a in bed quiet jenny?/

A Yamaha EF3000iSEB Inverter Generator with remote start would be a good and quite choice if you are going to leave it in the bed of the truck.

barney bugle wrote:some experienced full timers have had their equipment a long time.any regrets?what would you upgrade to today have a 2003 37 ft carriage cari lite 50 amp service.and what is a in bed quiet jenny?/If you want a quiet generator, that you can lift - the 2,000 watt Honda's are only about 50 pounds, and get reasonable fuel mileage. You can pair two of them to get 4,000 watts (though actually the 2000 watt rating is only for 30 mintes, and 1,600 for hours on end). Mayberrys.com has them for about $850?Most full timers carry a 50 to 30 amp adapter, and a 30 to 15 amp adapter, so they can plug in at a friend's home. I have a 30 amp RV and carry a 30 - 15 as well as a 50 to 30 adapter, to plug in when there is only a 50 amp working receptical. I have a inverter, I would recommend a 150 - 300 watt inverter. They are the most energy efficient, as a 1,000+ watt inverter will have much larger capacitors, and they consume more power to run a 100 watt TV and the satelitte system. Then you can run a TV set without needing a generator running or making any noise. And who wants to go out to the pickup and turn offf the generator at midnight after watching the news and weather program.Some of the most scenic campgrounds have "generator hours" that might end as early as 4 pm. If you want to start out the morning with coffee, before starting the generator, I would suggest hot water from the stove, 3 coffee cups, and a Mr. Coffee filter holder. Put in a filter, add 2 Tbs coffee, and put on cup #1, pour in a little water. Move to cup #2, and 1 Tbs coffee. Add more water. Move to cup 3 (don't drink the very strong drippings) Then move back to 1 or #2 of you want more, and add a little more coffee then hot water.I typically make toast in the broiler of my oven. Usually butter it first, then broil, then eat. Stays very moist. Want to conserve water while dry camping? You can do dishes in a dishpan, then toss that out on any thirsty grass (unless in a National Park) to save space in the grey tank. Sometimes I would refill a 1 gallon jug, and use it to flush the toilet at night. You can use shower water for the same thing. Saves fresh water and grey space. Also because you "Need" or rather should fill the black tank to about 1/2 full or more to carry out the black stuff from the bottom of the tank when dumping, it helps to add all that extra grey wate to the tank. Find that your "Black tank" is at 50% or 75% full after the second flush? Yes it happens. The tank is not full, but a tiny peice of TP has stuck to the sensors, and now it will readfull all the time. Ignore it. I have never used special TP, just the regular 4 pack of 12 roll TP from Costco. With enough water at each dump, everything comes out. I also carry along a couple of 7.5 gallon blue jugs, and will fill those while out sightseeing, to bring back water to the RV, and refill the fresh water tank. I can use a syphion, and hang it from the ladder with a tie down strap, and syphion the water from the jug to the fresh water tank in about 10 minutes. Some have set up a 50 gallon fresh water tank in the back of the tow vehicle, and then transfer the water with a 12 volt pump. I have not gone that far, but that is a plan for a full time rig. Mostly I liked spending 2 weeks in a BLM camping area, then move on to someplace else, usuallly spending a day in town refilling the batteries, fresh tank, dump the others, and do laundry. Have fun camping!FreeCampgrounds.comFred.

I would prefer one yamaha EF2400iS at 75 lbs. myself. less money, less weight, less maintenance, assuming that 2400 will work. I am guessing that if needed, a smaller one could be paired with that?bumpy

Bumpyroad wrote:I would prefer one yamaha EF2400iS at 75 lbs. myself. less money, less weight, less maintenance, assuming that 2400 will work. I am guessing that if needed, a smaller one could be paired with that?bumpyBumpy,No way to pair a smaller genny unless you are running separate circuits with the two generators. The 2400 is supposed to run "most" new efficient ACs but the OP has an older carriage and I doubt his will run on the 2400.

greende wrote:Bumpyroad wrote:I would prefer one yamaha EF2400iS at 75 lbs. myself. less money, less weight, less maintenance, assuming that 2400 will work. I am guessing that if needed, a smaller one could be paired with that?bumpyBumpy,No way to pair a smaller genny unless you are running separate circuits with the two generators. The 2400 is supposed to run "most" new efficient ACs but the OP has an older carriage and I doubt his will run on the 2400.thanks, since the OP is evidently just going to leave this in the TV bed, I would just get a 4,000 to start with and be done with it. as a full timer get it right the first time?bumpy

just starting out full timing with no generator,or inverter.

time2roll
Nomad
Sep 02, 2013
Scott16 wrote:
smkettner wrote:
First thing would be 200+ watts of solar power. If I need air 24/7 I am looking for hookups.

Then a small ~300w inverter to charge the small stuff and run the satellite, tv. Large inverter (1500+ watts) really need four batteries. So it gets to be quite a jump to go "all in" with some of this stuff.

If you need a portable air compressor.
You can get a small portable 110 volt Black and Decker unit at sears. You do need a portable Generator to plug into.
Just information for you.
Scott
I actually have an 1800 watt inverter that runs the home compressor just fine. On the road I have an MV-50 12v compressor that has served me very well.
Veebyes
Explorer II
Sep 02, 2013
Not FT but what I call extended traveler here. Each trip is a minimum of 2 months.

First priority is as much amperage battery bank as possible. We have a single 4D AGM battery. About 220AH.

Next is a genny to charge it. The Honda 2000 works just fine for this.

Power use management is done with an inverter/charger, just like boats. No converter.

Battery charging is done when there is the most demand for power such as mealtimes, breakfast & dinner. The inverter takes care of light late night loads such as the TV. The fridge stays on propane when drycamping & the water heater is only turned on maybe 1/2 hour before needing it for showers. No point is leaving it on 24hrs when dry camping.
cabanaman
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
Carried my generator for two years and never used it.Left it in storage for this year and needed it twice!! I did use my 2000 watt inverter instead.Ran everything but the a/c and worked out well.
Scott16
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
smkettner wrote:
First thing would be 200+ watts of solar power. If I need air 24/7 I am looking for hookups.

Then a small ~300w inverter to charge the small stuff and run the satellite, tv. Large inverter (1500+ watts) really need four batteries. So it gets to be quite a jump to go "all in" with some of this stuff.

If you need a portable air compressor.
You can get a small portable 110 volt Black and Decker unit at sears. You do need a portable Generator to plug into.
Just information for you.
Scott
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 02, 2013
willutfid wrote:
Hey, Old-Biscuit, approx how much did this set-up run you?

Roughly 7 yrs. ago
Gen/box---installed was $3900

The extra receptacle on 5'vr front was $500 (receptacle, wiring, panel, breakers)....no labor I work on my stuff for free.

Think the same set up for gen/box is closer to $5000-5500 now.

If I had it to do over.......still would do the same.
willutfid
Explorer
Sep 02, 2013
Hey, Old-Biscuit, approx how much did this set-up run you?
time2roll
Nomad
Sep 01, 2013
First thing would be 200+ watts of solar power. If I need air 24/7 I am looking for hookups.

Then a small ~300w inverter to charge the small stuff and run the satellite, tv. Large inverter (1500+ watts) really need four batteries. So it gets to be quite a jump to go "all in" with some of this stuff.
Bumpyroad
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013
rhartman911 wrote:
My daughter has an onbord generator and just brags about how nice it is just to push a button and not have to go outside but it will go out someday and then I will ask her how much she loves it when they are forking out the MONEY

that convenience is priceless, IMHO.
bumpy
barney_bugle
Explorer
Sep 01, 2013
Thanks for all the info guys ,Lots think about.am heading south to see more of your beautiful country in october and will check around for prices then . many thanks.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Sep 01, 2013
When we decided to go FT......I wanted a simple generator set up.
What do I mean by simple?
Doesn't take up any storage room that I would regret losing and one I didn't have to move/strap down/relocate
Self container....own battery/fuel tank
Enclosed/weather proof
And 'quiet'

Decided that I wanted an in-bed generator so I got one of these.....LINK

It sits in front bed area that I had no plans on using for anything else (no loss of storage)
It has it's own battery/fuel tank (charge line from my truck battery)
It is fully enclosed (rain/sleet/wind/snow....no problem)
And with the design of the exhaust it is really pretty dang quiet.

Plugs into a receptacle I added to front of fiver and will run everything in rig........30A so load management is used (common sense)
The additional receptacle up front comes in real handy.

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just starting out full timing with no generator,or inverter.

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