Truck Camper with Built in Genset?
I'm considering swapping my TT for a truck camper. However having a Gen Set is important to us. Do they make a truck camper with a gen set? maybe one that runs on propane and enough power to run th...
Forum Discussion
Everyone's need for a genset is different, much of that probably determined by location. In the South, a genset for running the AC is important. The Pacific North West the AC isn't as critical so a genset is less important.
This idea is based on the idea that you live in an area where the AC is not critical and only occasionally used (perhaps while getting lunch during a rest stop).
If I was in the market for a new camper and I had to decide if I wanted to tick the generator box on the Purchase Order for a ~$3k fee, here would be my thoughts... What could I do differently for that amount of money and get something better?
My first idea would be to go with a super efficient AC unit with soft-start. Get two 100AH LiFePO4 batteries, 400w of solar and a good inverter capable of running the AC for ~30 minutes on battery power. Then my next move would be to look for an oversized alternator for the truck and rewiring the umbilical (or adding an additional one) with a DC to DC charger capable of moving enough juice to charge the batteries from 50% to full in an hour.
Get a remote start for the truck and now you have what I think is the ideal setup for the pacific Northwest. You can run the AC for a half hour without any genset while grabbing some lunch. You can run the coffee maker in the morning on battery power (for those that prefer their electric one) and you have plenty of power for typical small draw items during the day. Presumably if you really had to, you could run the AC longer with the truck idling. All of this without the need for a heavy, noisey generator that sucks propane.
Now, the naysayers I'm sure will complain about idling your truck for long periods of time. As I said at the beginning of my post, different locations have different needs. If you have to run your AC 8 hours a day for your camping experience, obviously you don't want to idle your truck for 8 hours a day for days on end. But in areas where AC is seldom used, I think this would be the way to go if you could overcome the technical challenges to implement it.
This idea is based on the idea that you live in an area where the AC is not critical and only occasionally used (perhaps while getting lunch during a rest stop).
If I was in the market for a new camper and I had to decide if I wanted to tick the generator box on the Purchase Order for a ~$3k fee, here would be my thoughts... What could I do differently for that amount of money and get something better?
My first idea would be to go with a super efficient AC unit with soft-start. Get two 100AH LiFePO4 batteries, 400w of solar and a good inverter capable of running the AC for ~30 minutes on battery power. Then my next move would be to look for an oversized alternator for the truck and rewiring the umbilical (or adding an additional one) with a DC to DC charger capable of moving enough juice to charge the batteries from 50% to full in an hour.
Get a remote start for the truck and now you have what I think is the ideal setup for the pacific Northwest. You can run the AC for a half hour without any genset while grabbing some lunch. You can run the coffee maker in the morning on battery power (for those that prefer their electric one) and you have plenty of power for typical small draw items during the day. Presumably if you really had to, you could run the AC longer with the truck idling. All of this without the need for a heavy, noisey generator that sucks propane.
Now, the naysayers I'm sure will complain about idling your truck for long periods of time. As I said at the beginning of my post, different locations have different needs. If you have to run your AC 8 hours a day for your camping experience, obviously you don't want to idle your truck for 8 hours a day for days on end. But in areas where AC is seldom used, I think this would be the way to go if you could overcome the technical challenges to implement it.
