Doing without propane

Brownleaf wrote:
Im going to attempt to refurbish the tank and in the process will discover how deep that rust is. First I am going to have my Onan taken it out as it is not cost effective to repair it. Doug

Have you figured out how to remove the tank for refurbishment? On my Class B it is underneath and I have not yet determined where the mounts are. I will take it to a Cummins Truck service place for them to look at once all the snow and salt are gone. They may be able to figure out how to remove it and if they can get a replacement tank. I will do my best to wire brush the rust and apply coats of rustoleum, thinking that will help it last until it is replaced..

Following a youtube pres. I will just refurbish with it attached. Doug

valhalla360 wrote:

ajriding wrote:
No, solar panels will not compromise your roof, not any more than sitting on a chair will compromise the chair, even less in this example.
You will need a hole or entrance through the roof, so that is a compromise, but you already have a lot of holes for vents. The Fridge vent is a hole you can use if needed too.
The weight of a panel is nothing on a roof.

I hear people say this but the most common end of life issue for RVs is roof leaks causing rot.

In theory if you are religious about it, it can be OK but it adds more holes and more places you can miss a leak. Back in real life, yes, it increases the chances of leaks.

Honestly, I would love if they switched to mini-split air/con units and wall mount vents, so you could largely eliminate roof penetrations. That would eliminate a lot of roof leaks.

I mean... who knows what he is asking about "compromise the roof"? I was thinking he was concerned about the weight, and that is just a silly question, so maybe he was talking about a bunch of screws being drilled into it. This is why to use the VHB tape. His description was too vague to go too far with advice.

valhalla360 wrote:
If you are boondocking, likely nothing that will be simpler and cheaper than just fixing the propane tank problem.

If you are in a formal campground with power and it's not really cold, a space heater carefully set up, it an option.

Even if it is really cold if you've got a 50A hookup then electric is fine. I've been using 3x '1500'W heaters (really just over 1kw each) to heat my 34' trailer this winter, barely used any propane at all even though we had the third longest string of snow on the ground in recorded history (31 days) and temps as low as -5F. I did have to wire an extra outlet to run the 3rd heater as all of the non-dedicated outlets were only on 2 strings in my trailer.

afidel, are you insinuating that a 30 A hook-up is insufficient? My cord is a 30 amp. Doug

Brownleaf wrote:
afidel, are you insinuating that a 30 A hook-up is insufficient? My cord is a 30 amp. Doug

Depends how well insulated your RV is and how cold it is outside.

A 1500W electric heater puts out around 5000BTU/hr, and you can run 2 of them on a 30A circuit (assuming your outlets are on separate 15A breakers), so you'll get around 10,000BTU/hr of heating from those 2 heaters.

In 50 degree weather, one 1500W heater kept my 30 foot Class C comfortable, but below that I had to use the propane heater (which was rated at 30,000 BTU/hr). I don't know how well it would have done with 2 1500W heaters, but am guessing it would have been good to 40 degrees?

Keep in mind that with 3000W of heaters running, you're consuming pretty much all the power that 30A circuit can provide, so you can't run any other high drain devices, like a microwave, electric water heater, etc. Even your power converter might be too much load if the batteries are low on charge - a 60A charger will use around 6A of 120VAC to charge the batteries.

In sub-freezing temps I run 3 heaters in my Pop-up. My 30 AMP has a 15, and a 20 for AC. I also run a 12 G cord to the post. The quietest heater plugs into that cord. The next quiet plugs into a short cord from AC plug, with 2 duplex outlets in a box. Also powers the mattress pad, and CPAP
3rd sets next to coffee maker, so wife can remember it is plugged in with other loads

Thanks to both, which specfic 1500 heater do you use? doug

Brownleaf,

If using 1500 watt heaters it is a wise idea to replace the "junk" stab connector outlets in the unit.

It is best to not exceed 24 amps on a 30 amp service. That works out to 2880 watts @ 120 volts.

Power changes by the square of the voltage.

I added two auxiliary shore power cords, one at 15 amps and the other at 20.

Brownleaf wrote:
Thanks to both, which specfic 1500 heater do you use? doug

They’re all basically the same, just different shapes and/or fans.
No point in spending more than what a milk house heater costs, on your budget.