Camping off the grid

[swimmer_spe]

I have now put my 21' '75 Terry TT up on it's stands. There it will stay for the foreseeable future. It is in too rough of shape to continue to keep towing all over the land.

So, now, it sits in a campground.

The campground is off the grid. No electricity, unless by generator or by batteries. No running water, no sewage hookup...

Absolutely heaven.

So, now for my questions:

1) Electricity: How small of a generator would give me full access to the power needs of the trailer? I would keep the fridge on propane. It would be for lights and the various outlets.

2) Sewer: I plan on completely removing the shower and toilet, and the black water tank. I would like to run the kitchen sink line down and out of the trailer. I would like to run the line into the ground. Many others do that with their entire system. Since I am removing most of it, how would you suggest I protect the line from allowing bugs and other critters in?

3) Water: I would like to set up a gravity feed system from an external tank, outside the trailer. How high above the sink do I need to put it for it to have reasonable flow?

4) Hot water: It would be nice not to have to boil water to wash dishes. What systems have you built that worked?

Anything else that can make my off grid camping comfortable?

[bcbouy]

ecco temp hot water heater run off a 12 v water pump,or pump from the generator through a submersible.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Inverters are useful for many things. Dedicated adapters work well, but you need many of them. I prefer to use a pure sine wave inverter.

[Naio]

webwrangler wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

You may wish to have a smallish inverter for cell phone charging and the like.

No need for an inverter for cell phone charging. All you need is a USB cable for charging the phone, and one of these: USB charger socket

Or just get USB adapter that plugs into a cig lighter socket for 99cents including shipping, on ebay. Also often in a bin at checkout, in convenience stores.

[webwrangler]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

You may wish to have a smallish inverter for cell phone charging and the like.

No need for an inverter for cell phone charging. All you need is a USB cable for charging the phone, and one of these: USB charger socket

[TenOC]

Golden_HVAC wrote:


AS for the black tank, I would not remove it. It might be useful someday.

For the grey tank disposal, what I did was buy 30' of drain line. It has 3/8" holes spaced every couple of inches, and 4" outside diameter. Cost was nominal - like $8 per 10' section. I installed a clean out tee, so it has 10' one direction and 20' the other direction. It was buried about 15" underground, and handles all my grey water needs while living in the RV full time. Black water could have been drained into the same line, if it had been buried about 4' deep. But I did not want the smell to come back to the surface, and worried about it clogging with debris should I drain the black water into it. If you used about 60' of the drain line, and buried it around 3' deep (using a trencher or other thing like a backhoe) then you could fairly safely put the small amount of black water down that hole, and it will dissipate. Not 20 gallons a week, but the amount that a RV puts out on a weekly basis.


Fred.

Take a 55 gal drum (if purchased a used one for about $10.00) and bury it 2 or 3 feed deep (in gravel or wrap black drain lines around it) this will be you septic tank. Connect the drum to your black and gray water drain lines. Attach field lines near the top, do not need to be water tight. Use black 4" plastic drain pipe with hole in it for your field line. or you can use white PVC with holes in it. Depending on the soil 30 to 40 feet should do. If you have access to gravel bury the field line in gravel with dirt on top. if no gravel run drain pipe side-by-side to get more drainage. The field lines should not be buried more than 2' deep. You don't want the septic drain field to be buried at unnecessary depth since the absence of oxygen deep in the soil will prevent some wanted bacterial action that we need to break down and process septic effluent.

Leave your black and gray water lines open all the time and use a goodly amount of water to flush down the toilet.

This is the set up that I have used for almost 5 years full time in my TT cabin in the woods with no septic problems at all.

[jaycocreek]

1-electricity~A 1000 watt gen for just lights and battery charging. 2000 watts of using a microwave and 3000 watts for air conditioner.

2-sewer~Porta-potti and a screen over your hose from the sink drain although I have never had issues without a screen just using a garden hose for the drain.

3-Water~I have several 25 and 50 gallon water barrels and can tell you gravity feed works okay for filling the water tank but not for any kind of pressure through the lines but if you connect a RV water pump between the water container and the trailer, you get great pressure.

4- Hot water~If I don't have a water heater I always boil. It makes bad water good and poured over the dishes it sterilizes, infact Boondocking, I always boil and rarely use the hot water heater because we use creek water for most chores.

Enjoy. Boondocking is the only way to camp!

[Golden_HVAC]

I would not worry about a gravity drain water system. If the tank is 10 feet above your area that you plan on using the water, it will provide just 5 PSI to the system, and not enough pressure to get through the piping and come out the shower head.

The water pump is very energy efficient. IT will pump 2 GPM for 60 minutes using just 7 amp hours of power. In other words 120 gallons of water for 7 AH or 84 watts.

I probably would be looking at other RV's that have been scrapped, and picking up a couple more fresh water tanks. Then fill them and take them back to the camper when you are going camping.

If you want new tanks, this is one location.

Tank-Depot.com

Good luck,

Fred.

[coolmom42]

I will add, even though you don't have to worry about the frame, etc at this point---absolutely DO keep the roof in good shape! Check your caulking around all penetrations and seams. Otherwise your trailer will be rotted in a few years.

An overhead shelter would save you a lot of grief and make the trailer last longer. But any solar panels would have to be on top of it.

[westend]

1)Solar, far superior to generators in a lot of ways. Maybe a small 1000w generator for a spell of rainy days.
2)screen on the outlet.
3)Anything higher than the sink and with an adequate size pipe will have water flowing.
4)In the Summer, a tank painted black and positioned in the sun will make incredibly hot water. If you want to extend the seasons for water heating, make one of the solar collection boxes, of which there are a hundred videos on you tube. Basically, an enclosed box with pipe inside, the bottom and pipes painted black, a piece of glass or Lexan across the face that faces the sun.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Switch the lighting to LED. Add 300 watts of solar. You may wish to have a smallish inverter for cell phone charging and the like.

[rbpru]

You are basically turning your TT into a cabin in the woods. Your problems now are the same as any wilderness cabin.

I suggest a trip to the library to see how other off grid folks have done it.

[Golden_HVAC]

Solar panels.

If you will not be living in the RV in the winter, then solar panels will keep the battery full, without the noise of the generator, or maintenance.

A pair of 140 watt panels should do the trick. $229 each. Consider they will still be making power 30 years from now, that is less than $20 a year for power. And you should be able to sell these panels in 10 years for close to what you paid for them!

SunElec.com

Look for 12 volt panels and a PWM controller - 20 amp ones should be in the $35 price range.

AS for the black tank, I would not remove it. It might be useful someday.

For the grey tank disposal, what I did was buy 30' of drain line. It has 3/8" holes spaced every couple of inches, and 4" outside diameter. Cost was nominal - like $8 per 10' section. I installed a clean out tee, so it has 10' one direction and 20' the other direction. It was buried about 15" underground, and handles all my grey water needs while living in the RV full time. Black water could have been drained into the same line, if it had been buried about 4' deep. But I did not want the smell to come back to the surface, and worried about it clogging with debris should I drain the black water into it. If you used about 60' of the drain line, and buried it around 3' deep (using a trencher or other thing like a backhoe) then you could fairly safely put the small amount of black water down that hole, and it will dissipate. Not 20 gallons a week, but the amount that a RV puts out on a weekly basis.

Have fun full timing!

Fred.