My Total Experience Camping this Weekend....
I have a 1998 Palomino Bronco on a 2006 Dodge 2500, 4X4, Diesel....
This weekend I drove up to St Johnsbury VT to participate in a Cowboy Shooting competition....250 miles each way.
I've only had this camper 1.5 years and have done extensive modifications to it.
www.rvbprecision.com
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/vehicles/palomino-bronco-tru/
Solar....The temperature got down to 31 degrees Friday and Saturday night. LOVE MY HEATER!!! I was concerned my single group 27 battery wouldn't last the night. It did. In the AM the battery monitor read 71% charge. Sun came up and my single 120w solar panel had me back up to 98% by noon. It was a very sunny day.
The next night I set the temperature a bit higher and the battery was down to 69% when I woke. A bit cloudy and by noon the battery was only up to 85%. Ran the Honda 2000i for about an hour and was at 100%
I started the weekend with a half tank of Propane (20gal tank)...Thought for sure I'd run out with the stove, waterheater, refrigerator and heater running all weekend (heater from 6pm until 8am)....I'm amazed that I still have gas in the tank.
I also have a 1000w inverter that I used for about an hour each night to charge my Apple MacBook.
The old camper was superb! Couldn'y be happier with how it worked...
Honda Generator.....couldn't get it to run early one morning. I drained all the gas and ran it dry last fall. I put fresh gas in and tried to start it. It would run for about 2 seconds and die. I'd wait half a minute and pull the cord. Same thing. But it was running for a little bit longer each time I tried. After about 20 attempts, it finally started to run for about a minute and then die. A couple more tries and it was running great. Seems some moisture might have gotten into the fuel line and froze or some gum was in the fuel line. Ran fine for the remainder of the weekend. I kept starting it just to see although I only used it for an hour on the second day.
So....If I had two batteries and two 120w panels, I'd think I could easily go the whole weekend without running the generator at all, even in 30 degree weather.
Dodge Diesel.....This is the longest trip I've taken so far with this rig. I averaged 16mpg at 70mph for the whole trip, both ways. Same exact mileage I get towing a 8000# / 24' motorcycle trailer or a smaller 4000# / 12' trailer. I get an avarage of 18-20mpg unloaded, not towing. I think wind resistance has more to do with mileage with these diesels that weight. The truck and camper performed excellent on the highway and twisty back roads. The Hellwig Big Sway bar I installed last year makes a HUGE difference. Airbags were at 70#.
This weekend I drove up to St Johnsbury VT to participate in a Cowboy Shooting competition....250 miles each way.
I've only had this camper 1.5 years and have done extensive modifications to it.
www.rvbprecision.com
http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/vehicles/palomino-bronco-tru/
Solar....The temperature got down to 31 degrees Friday and Saturday night. LOVE MY HEATER!!! I was concerned my single group 27 battery wouldn't last the night. It did. In the AM the battery monitor read 71% charge. Sun came up and my single 120w solar panel had me back up to 98% by noon. It was a very sunny day.
The next night I set the temperature a bit higher and the battery was down to 69% when I woke. A bit cloudy and by noon the battery was only up to 85%. Ran the Honda 2000i for about an hour and was at 100%
I started the weekend with a half tank of Propane (20gal tank)...Thought for sure I'd run out with the stove, waterheater, refrigerator and heater running all weekend (heater from 6pm until 8am)....I'm amazed that I still have gas in the tank.
I also have a 1000w inverter that I used for about an hour each night to charge my Apple MacBook.
The old camper was superb! Couldn'y be happier with how it worked...
Honda Generator.....couldn't get it to run early one morning. I drained all the gas and ran it dry last fall. I put fresh gas in and tried to start it. It would run for about 2 seconds and die. I'd wait half a minute and pull the cord. Same thing. But it was running for a little bit longer each time I tried. After about 20 attempts, it finally started to run for about a minute and then die. A couple more tries and it was running great. Seems some moisture might have gotten into the fuel line and froze or some gum was in the fuel line. Ran fine for the remainder of the weekend. I kept starting it just to see although I only used it for an hour on the second day.
So....If I had two batteries and two 120w panels, I'd think I could easily go the whole weekend without running the generator at all, even in 30 degree weather.
Dodge Diesel.....This is the longest trip I've taken so far with this rig. I averaged 16mpg at 70mph for the whole trip, both ways. Same exact mileage I get towing a 8000# / 24' motorcycle trailer or a smaller 4000# / 12' trailer. I get an avarage of 18-20mpg unloaded, not towing. I think wind resistance has more to do with mileage with these diesels that weight. The truck and camper performed excellent on the highway and twisty back roads. The Hellwig Big Sway bar I installed last year makes a HUGE difference. Airbags were at 70#.
