Battery-generator-charging upgrades?
This year will be our longest boondocking trip to date 7-10 days and want to upgrade our camper for this trip. I'd appreciate some suggestions and feedback to make sure we spend our limited budget wis...
Forum Discussion
Thank you for the fast and helpful replies.
Here is a little more info related to what you guys posted.
1. We've gone up to 10 days on our black tanks. We are older, let the kids we take use the CG except for emergencies. Mostly for us it is early am, late night, middle of the night....yeah go ahead and laugh, LOL.
2. Fresh water tank. We made it right at 10 days and were spitting the last day. We take a couple of aquatainers for fresh spring water from home. They are for coffee, cocoa, tea, cooking, etc. The house water is for very minor dishes (usually a spoon, knife, etc), hand washing, brushing teeth, toilet... We make a trip to the CG sinks with all dishes in a tub to wash after a meal. We use a lot of paper, but not always. Cooking utensils and silverware mostly need washed.
3. Having aquatainers, if we run out of fresh water, I *could* manage a jug or two reload of the tank if needed.
4. Our fridge is RM2652 and has a shutoff for the door heater and a "propane only" switch option. No fans internal or external. We keep freeze pops in the freezer, which are a nice treat and helps the thermal mass stay cold. HOWEVER- It could be quite a bit warmer in the camper than usual, using the A/C only enough not to burst into flames (!) LOL.
5. Hood fan....PLEASE offer a low draw and QUIET replacement!!! We have to replace it anyways, sounds like a Cessna flying over.
6. LED lights. Have a couple of tricky ones left. Fridge inside light, stove hood light, some odd shaped chandelier lights over the table. Suggestions? On a side note, the ones I replaced in all the overhead lights are still working GREAT!
7. Fans? I'm thinking about getting some DC powered fans. I am thinking it would be better to run on the large GC2's rather than D battery types, right? I can add 12v plugs wherever. We only have the bathroom vent on the opposite end of the camper from our bed, plus the "Cessna fan" over the stove.
I'm thinking a fan for a breeze vs A/C and generator- except for "emergencies" as I do have some health issues that are behaving at the moment but overheating is rough. I've been known to sit in a vehicle's A/C on Nader days, but hopefully that is behind us now.
8. Generator enclosure? It is rated at something like 58db at 25ft, but I try to be courteous to other campers and not really keen on idling the diesel, either. Likely our first coffee will be from the prior night, reheated in a kettle on the stove...unless the neighbors' gennys start up.
9. Monitoring batteries. I'm thinking about something like this: bayite DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Meter Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with 100A Current Shunt
Don't want to spend a bunch on monitoring command centers, as this won't be that common, but don't want to get surprised with flat battery and warm fridge in the am, either.
10. Battery charging....what is the "fastest" charging I can do for the GC2s? I was looking for the Costco 6v but I couldn't find it online. Likely either those or the Trojans. What is the maximum amps I could use to charge them? Do I need to go with 75 amp charger, or is 55 max, or what???
Sorry for the machine gun questions, but many of you already do this and have worked out the options already :)
Thanks!
Here is a little more info related to what you guys posted.
1. We've gone up to 10 days on our black tanks. We are older, let the kids we take use the CG except for emergencies. Mostly for us it is early am, late night, middle of the night....yeah go ahead and laugh, LOL.
2. Fresh water tank. We made it right at 10 days and were spitting the last day. We take a couple of aquatainers for fresh spring water from home. They are for coffee, cocoa, tea, cooking, etc. The house water is for very minor dishes (usually a spoon, knife, etc), hand washing, brushing teeth, toilet... We make a trip to the CG sinks with all dishes in a tub to wash after a meal. We use a lot of paper, but not always. Cooking utensils and silverware mostly need washed.
3. Having aquatainers, if we run out of fresh water, I *could* manage a jug or two reload of the tank if needed.
4. Our fridge is RM2652 and has a shutoff for the door heater and a "propane only" switch option. No fans internal or external. We keep freeze pops in the freezer, which are a nice treat and helps the thermal mass stay cold. HOWEVER- It could be quite a bit warmer in the camper than usual, using the A/C only enough not to burst into flames (!) LOL.
5. Hood fan....PLEASE offer a low draw and QUIET replacement!!! We have to replace it anyways, sounds like a Cessna flying over.
6. LED lights. Have a couple of tricky ones left. Fridge inside light, stove hood light, some odd shaped chandelier lights over the table. Suggestions? On a side note, the ones I replaced in all the overhead lights are still working GREAT!
7. Fans? I'm thinking about getting some DC powered fans. I am thinking it would be better to run on the large GC2's rather than D battery types, right? I can add 12v plugs wherever. We only have the bathroom vent on the opposite end of the camper from our bed, plus the "Cessna fan" over the stove.
I'm thinking a fan for a breeze vs A/C and generator- except for "emergencies" as I do have some health issues that are behaving at the moment but overheating is rough. I've been known to sit in a vehicle's A/C on Nader days, but hopefully that is behind us now.
8. Generator enclosure? It is rated at something like 58db at 25ft, but I try to be courteous to other campers and not really keen on idling the diesel, either. Likely our first coffee will be from the prior night, reheated in a kettle on the stove...unless the neighbors' gennys start up.
9. Monitoring batteries. I'm thinking about something like this: bayite DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Meter Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with 100A Current Shunt
Don't want to spend a bunch on monitoring command centers, as this won't be that common, but don't want to get surprised with flat battery and warm fridge in the am, either.
10. Battery charging....what is the "fastest" charging I can do for the GC2s? I was looking for the Costco 6v but I couldn't find it online. Likely either those or the Trojans. What is the maximum amps I could use to charge them? Do I need to go with 75 amp charger, or is 55 max, or what???
Sorry for the machine gun questions, but many of you already do this and have worked out the options already :)
Thanks!
