Joe_Rochelle
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Re: RV Solar Panels
10forty2 wrote: Curious...for those who dry camp a lot, are you using the solar panels to power the house instead of the house batteries? I would have thought the regular house batteries would run the coach and the solar panels would keep the batteries charged..similar to plugging in to shore power. If so, then why is some much wattage required for the solar panels? I admit to not being up on solar usage, nor do I dry camp, so I'm honestly asking in case I decide to do either! It goes pretty much as you imagine. Generally, you set up your battery banks with enough batteries to handle your required daily load. Then you want to make sure that you can put enough amp hours back into the battery before the sun drops too far. The process of charging batteries is very lossy. That is there will be a voltage drop from the panels to the charger. The charger will lose a bit more converting the voltage to the correct voltage for the batteries, etc. The sun will also not hit the panels full on for the whole day and probably not at the exact angle etc, so you won't really get the full output of the panels either. So, you try to size the system such that in real life, you can keep your batteries charged (in winter when the day is short). It's a complicated topic with lots of choices to be made at all levels. joe866Views0likes0CommentsRe: Wi fi Antenna to pull in signal in camp grounds
Check out Wifiranger.com They have products that do just this. There is an external antenna that mounts on your RV. A good rule of thumb is the higher the better for these things. Also, there are some blogs that cover this. Another product is presented by "We're the Russos" http://weretherussos.com/extend-wifi-range-wifi-booster-repeater/ joe379Views0likes0CommentsRe: Jacuzzi
Well, the filled weight of a 3 person Jacuzzi is almost 3000lbs, so wherever you put it, better be able to support the weight without damaging the frame. IOW, you probably don't want it on a slide. A toyhauler garage maybe. Drainage will be an issue. You can't just dump that much water on the ground. I would vote for some sort of portable outdoor model myself. joe250Views0likes0CommentsRe: How many fire extinguishers on-board?
This thread has sure made me think a bit. It turns out that in our trailer, the only source of fire is at the stove/furnace/fridge center which, ironically is located between the bedroom and the door. So, if a fire were to break out, odds are that we would be SOL at accessing the fire extinguisher. I think a fire extinguisher near the escape window would be a good idea. :) personally, I don't think I need more than that. If I make it out alive, I have insurance for the stuff. It's the making it out alive part that I am concerned with. joe326Views0likes0CommentsRe: Traveling in a 5th wheel while driving.
I would claim that it's not a real wise idea no matter how you figure it. Driving is fairly dangerous in the best of cases. Being in a trailer just makes it worse. In the trailer, the furniture isn't anchored to the floor, there are no seat belts, and the furniture isn't oriented appropriately. This means that in a hard stop, let alone a crash, an occupant of the trailer (who would have no way of anticipating this) is likely to become a missile themselves, at the very least fall over. I don't know about you, but I don't bounce so well these days. Add to that, the many things that can happen to a trailer and I personally don't think it would be worth it. You might consider a class A where the couches are mounted and have seat belts. That would at least be safer. joe486Views0likes0CommentsRe: Newbie Looking for a New 5ver
The GVWR is truck + payload. What you are really interested in is the GCVWR which is truck + payload/towable. With that truck the GCVR is 23500 according to the website. So, 23500 - 8280 = 15220 as the weight of your trailer. However, don't forget the weight of passengers etc. Still, you can find some pretty respectable trailers in that weight range. Also keep in mind that you are unlikely to max out the weight of your trailer under normal camping conditions, but you should check that out too. :) joe46Views0likes0Comments
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