What will I run out of first?

[rvit]

I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit(haven't even picked it up yet) but I'm told that my tanks are small in the 22' Pleasure Way Pursuit. Fresh 29, gray 27, black 23. Propane is 18 gallons (80%). Can anyone give me an idea of how long those numbers might last a 60 year old couple on a 3 day excursion without camping? And which is most likely to be the culprit that makes us seek a dump/fill? I realize the variables involved, just looking for a general idea since we know nothing as we plunge head first into this.

[tenbear]

rvit wrote:
Thanks for all the great info! My unit will have 2 house batteries. Don't they charge when the engine is running or by generator. I don't understand the concern over batteries.

With 2 house batteries you will probably have a capacity of ~200AH of which you should not use more than about 50%. Your refrig will use 15-20AH per day. Incandescent lights will use about 1.5AH for each bulb each hour, LEDs use a lot less power. Ceiling fans about 3 or more per hour. Water pump, 6-7 each hour, furnace about the same, or more.

Your generator will charge the battery but depending on your converter, it may be very slow.

With no furnace, short showers, minimum use of fans and turning off lights when not needed you should be ok for 3 days

[Allworth]

Batteries charge well when plugged in or running a generator. They charge very, very slowly off the truck because the wire size involved limits the charge current.

Two batteries are much better than one and if you are going to park "off the grid" often you might want to look into a solar system. Expensive in sizes large enough to really maintain your batteries, but maybe worth it. I have never really checked since we spend most time with full hookups, but there is plenty of info out there.

[Dick_B]

We have three tanks; black, shower and kitchen. The shower tank fills up much faster than the other two. The price of keeping clean!

[midnightsadie]

parking any where ,try cracker barrel and wal marts ,also churchs. had a great evening meal at a church one time ,they were very nice people, even ran a cord for us to plug in, if your not usung your lights turn them off , in a rv, you have to conserve.

[rfryer]

I wouldn’t run out of any of it in 3 days and I have a small TT with less capacity than yours. I dry camp and typically I run out of battery power first, then fresh water, then gray tank, black tank and propane. If you have electric HU’s, then you don’t have an issue with the battery, if you take long showers you do with the fresh and gray water and so on. It all depends on how frugal you are with your resources.

[fla-gypsy]

If you are using all the facilities you will run out of freshwater first

[Jim-Linda]

Batteries power everything you "turn on" if you are not hooked up to 120vac, water pump, lights, etc. In addition, your propane alarm is probably 12vdc. Charging from your vehicle depends on wire size from tow to towed, how long you drive, battery condition, etc.

Try "living" in your driveway for 3 days doing what you would be doing on the road and then check batteries. I will "assume" you have a DVM, if not, I would get one.

Good Luck

Jim

[rvit]

Ok obviously "without camping" was the wrong choice of words. Without using a campground or RV park is what I meant. We will mostly be taking 3 day trips to different warm weather events and places. Hoping to park wherever we can, but will surely visit CGs to dump/fill or have a more thorough shower.

Thanks for all the great info! My unit will have 2 house batteries. Don't they charge when the engine is running or by generator. I don't understand the concern over batteries.

[wa8yxm]

I will make it worse.. The gauges on the black and gray tanks... Basically do not work past the first use.. Wife and I, before she passed, Black and both gray's (Gray and wash) are 36 gallon, Fresh is 80.. We usually went half a week (Sunday=wed=Sun) without dumping, However on occasion we went 8 days. (Paper plates, using "public" facilities as much as possible) the schedule was based on other factors by the way, at the time we had no car so we changed campgrounds and went to church on SUNDAY, usually dumping on the way out of the non-full hookup CG. And on Wed we had Choir Practice.

Now I have a car. but alas no wife, So I go 1-2 weeks (one week where I am now, then later today I move to the other CG where I am parked for 2 weeks, Dump when I get there, Dump before I leave.. (Easier than the dump station here).

However as to the que$tion what will I run out of Fir$t.. Why money of cour$e.

[Sprink-Fitter]

rvit wrote:
I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit(haven't even picked it up yet) but I'm told that my tanks are small in the 22' Pleasure Way Pursuit. Fresh 29, gray 27, black 23. Propane is 18 gallons (80%). Can anyone give me an idea of how long those numbers might last a 60 year old couple on a 3 day excursion without camping? And which is most likely to be the culprit that makes us seek a dump/fill? I realize the variables involved, just looking for a general idea since we know nothing as we plunge head first into this.

Without camping they will last forever.

[HappyKayakers]

Fizz wrote:
Like others have said.
Go easy on the showers and use dish water to flush the toilet. Do dishes in a basin and save the water in a pail.
Never pass up a chance to dump grey/black water.
You can cook and run the fridge for weeks. Heat will kill the tank in a few days.

Be careful about dumping the black tank too frequently. That tank has solids in it and needs to be over half full to move all those solids out of the tank. If you dump at 1/4 full, you'll likely leave 'stuff' in the tank to harden and cause problems in the future.

[robsouth]

First, define "not camping". What are you planning to use? Are you sleeping in the camper? Are you bathing in the camper? Are you cooking in the camper? If you are just driving around and not doing any of those things, you gasoline tank will run out first.

[mbopp]

Welcome to the forum.

DW & I can go a week w/o filling the 30 gallon black tank.

"Navy" showers are the rule but you'll run out of battery or fill the gray tank long before the black tank is full. My guess is that you'll have a standard Group 24 battery in the TT and you'll get maybe 2 nights out of it. You can extend your water usage by using the campground showers if available. Dish washing is another big water user, paper plates can go a long way to cutting that down.

18 gallons of propane? Or do you mean a single 20# tank? Unless you're winter camping and running the furnace a single 20# tank should last you at least a few weeks of continuous camping.

[Fizz]

Like others have said.
Go easy on the showers and use dish water to flush the toilet. Do dishes in a basin and save the water in a pail.
Never pass up a chance to dump grey/black water.
You can cook and run the fridge for weeks. Heat will kill the tank in a few days.