Equiping for Mexico travel?

[PNW_Steve]

Hello Everyone,

I am in the planning stages for a fall/winter trip down the West coast of Mexico. This will be my first extended trip in my 5th wheel. Past travel was in a converted Eagle 10 bus. My new (to me) 5er is equipped very differently than my old Eagle and I am wondering if some mods may be in order.

My previous rig carried:

180 gallons fuel (7mpg towing)
220 gallons fresh water
120 gallons grey water
86 gallons black water.
8kw diesel generator

New rig:
32 gallons fuel (pickup)(13-16mpg towing)
30 gallons fresh water
Grey & black tanks unknown. They are enough to allow me to dry camp for 3-4 days as long as I can dump grey once during the stay.

Should I add auxiliary tanks in my pickup bed? Additional fresh water & fuel? I have my eye on a 100 gallon fuel tank and a 50 gallon water tank that will fit forward of my hitch.

I am also considering adding a storage rack on the back bumper for a Honda generator, additional house batteries and storage.

Am I nuts or is this a good idea?

Thanks

Steve

[reed_cundiff]

Briansue

Sorry. Have been lurking about and getting involved in varied solar fora. I get cranky enough myself when folks blithely throw out abbreviations for which I have no idea whatsoever,

PSW is a pure sine wave inverter
LFP stands for Lithium Iron Phosphate (or lithium ferrous phosphate hence LFP)

Reed and Elaine

[briansue]

PSW? Pure Sine Wave?

LFP? Lithium?

[reed_cundiff]

I posted earlier that we had real problems in Baja and Yucatan. We burned out micro-waves in both places. We also just about lost an air conditioner at at state park near Denver, CO. Our son and family came down to visit us at place on beach about 20 miles from Tulum and brought down a large battery charger. This ran the 110 AC into the battery bank and then through 2.5 kW PSW inverter to run the air conditioner.

He designed and fabricated a new solar/power system for current rig and we only run line power through the 15 amp cord to battery bank(9.6 kW of LFP) to current 4.0 kW PSW inverter. This works great for air conditioning the few times we have had to use it since we try to avoid hot areas. This is something to consider although it does require a 2.5 kW PSW or larger inverter (2.0 might work) and a good battery bank.
Reed and Elaine

[briansue]

I wanted to try to cover this a bit better so I looked up the numbers from ISB. NOTE that correct voltage does not increase AMPS - there are still some shortcomings. But if we have more stable voltage and voltage that is more closely regulated to how devices are designed to operate we may find our equipment works better and lasts longer.

VOLTAGE = Corrected

IN = OUT

85 = 103
90 = 109
95 = 115
100 = 121
110 = 121
120 = 120
135 = 121
140 = 125
145 = 130
150 = 134
155 = 139

The ISB devices cannot provide more amps than the breaker to the parking space allows. You cannot get more from the outlet than the wiring provides for. So the ISB devices have potential but cannot improve on the electricity provided. What the ISB device can do is provide better voltage. It will not make a 15amp circuit provide you with 30amps. But if the outlet is capable the ISB devices are good up to these ratings…….

4000VA @ 120VAC = 33.4 AMPS

8000VA @ 120VAC = 66.8 AMPS

I do not think there are any parks in Mexico where more than the 4000VA ISB device might be necessary.

[briansue]

I posted in another thread and thought maybe this would be of use in this thread as well.....


I had previously posted in this thread about the ISB Sola Basic Voltage Corrector. . . . http://www.isbmex.com/PDF/DOMESTICOS.pdf . . .

UPDATE: We are currently traveling along the central coast of California and have run into low voltage problems that do not allow for use of our air conditioner - and it is HOT!! We did not bring our voltage corrector because we did not think we needed it in the US. WE NEED IT!

This device can regulate both high and low voltage.

[reed_cundiff]

Had one case of stomach flu or whatever that was inspired. I would run the water through electrolysis, collect the water and hydrogen and burn it to get really pure water if that would keep me from ever getting another case of whatever it was. In other words, if you have to drink local water, then do whatever it takes to purify it. I religiously used the pills we were issued in RVN (173rd LRRP) and never got sick there. Have friends from those days who have never gotten over the bugs they picked up over there.
Reed

[Less_Stuff]

This picture shows our rented German motorhome parked with many others in
Verdun, France.

This trip covered 6 countries NO water problems at all. The motorhome had no water filter that I was aware of.

We only drink bottled water in Mexico and as yet have had no problems.

Well come to think about it we did not drink lots of water in Europe.
We did drink some.

[qtla9111]

A couple of years ago on this forum (2012), I said that if water were so bad in Mexico people would be dying left and right and everyone would be wearing diapers. I still believe that to be true.

That said, it takes time to get used to a water system. When we traveled through the U.S. and Canada we had water from many different water systems and the effects weren't always pleasant.

Recently, 400,000 people were denied water in Toledo, Ohio because of contamination. We looked around for a water filter but it is all too confusing. Bottled water, if unsafe, would be reported just like any other contamination like e-coli in beef, etc. I've never heard anything.

Here at home we drink from the well and we buy bottled water from a filter system like Windmill in the U.S. Our water is very hard and affects our coffee maker. It also makes guests feel more at ease.

Monterrey has won awards for best water in the Americas over the years. Yes, I know. It depends on the reliability of the system that delivers the water. We pay 10 pesos for a filtered 5 gallon container of water.

I guess each person has the option to make a choice of how they obtain water. There is also the least expensive way, put it in plastic soda bottles and let is set in the sun all day. It kills everything.

[briansue]

I believe it was Consumer Reports but may have been another highly respected source that did a report on bottled water. Tap water in many areas of the US tested better than bottled. In Mexico my aunt - who lived there for 35 years - said they probably just fill the bottles from the tap. You can search and Google online to learn more about bottled water. The proper system will provide better water and we have tested it as such. CR tested one of the most well known brands as having unacceptable levels of arsenic. I know water from our system is safe. I do not know that all bottled water is safe.

[John___Angela]

Less Stuff wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
Both our rigs have 1/2 micron finals followed by a UV filter. There is a charcoal filter in there to get rid of the chlorine as well. Travelled many miles in All three North American Country's with no problem. I tend to not trust bottled water.

Interesting comment, we've traveled from Japan to Russia. Alaska to Mexico and so far have had no reason not to trust bottled water.

Have you had bad experiences with bottled water?

Yes but admittedly it has been because of goofy taste. Eg. A 4 litre jug from Walmart tastes ok...open another jug and it is strange and chemically tasting. This has happened more than once. No science here, just seems somethin ain't stirin the Kool-aid. The water from my system always tastes the same...and there are no plastic bottles left over. We just spent 9 weeks travelling all over Europe (not in an RV) and refilled our water bottles hundreds of times from public fountains etc. At 2 to 3 euros per bottle that's about twenty bucks per day. Yah I know. I'm cheap. ??

[Less_Stuff]

John & Angela wrote:
Both our rigs have 1/2 micron finals followed by a UV filter. There is a charcoal filter in there to get rid of the chlorine as well. Travelled many miles in All three North American Country's with no problem. I tend to not trust bottled water.

Interesting comment, we've traveled from Japan to Russia. Alaska to Mexico and so far have had no reason not to trust bottled water.

Have you had bad experiences with bottled water?

[John___Angela]

Both our rigs have 1/2 micron finals followed by a UV filter. There is a charcoal filter in there to get rid of the chlorine as well. Travelled many miles in All three North American Country's with no problem. I tend to not trust bottled water.

[Graydon]

For an average of 20 pesos for a 5 gallon bottled water, it doesn't make sense to bother with the expense of filters, water purification and related systems. We use local tap water for the bathroom and a 5 gallon bottled water lasts us about a week. About 30 dollars per winter season.

[Graydon]

For an average of 20 pesos for a 5 gallon bottled water, it doesn't make sense to bother with the expense of filters, water purification and related systems. We use local tap water for the bathroom and a 5 gallon bottled water lasts us about a week. About 30 dollars per winter season.