slarsen
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Joined 16 years ago
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Re: Auxiliary gas tank
My 2012 gasser holds 35 gallons, which is OK given the 8 mpg considering the regular stops for human needs. I carry a 5-gallon tank, which I seldom (actually, never) use on the road. What it gives me is a good feeling of security. I've always got another 40 miles of emergency range, should I ever actually run out. Knock on wood: I've never run out of gas in my whole life, although I've come close a few times. And then there is always that Good Sam Roadside Assistance . . .506Views0likes0CommentsRe: Refrigerator Question/Discussion
I have never boondocked, and don't plan to. But I've been all over the lower 48, and am on my 3rd set of tires in 7 years. Yes, as soon as we are leveled up and plugged in, I will plug the portable Refrig into the wall. I think this will work, bpounds. Again, thanks for your input, and that of any others who have responded. I see that Dometic just came out with a new Refrig that somewhat addresses my issues, with a section that runs on 12V. Had I known about it earlier, I might have been tempted. But despite the hassles and education process, I'm liking my solution better. I have a freezer that works really well, a refrigerator section that works really poorly but provides somewhat cool storage space, and a refrigerator that has as much or more capacity as the built-in, which cools down to useful temps in a little over an hour, recovers from an open door in minutes, and it won't freeze my wife's lettuce and then go to 60 degrees in the same day. That's all we ever really wanted: a functional, dependable refrigerator.597Views0likes0CommentsRe: Refrigerator Question/Discussion
Yeah, bpounds, that pretty much sums up my concerns, and well put. But I can disconnect the refrigerator battery from the trailer at the end of the travel day, put it on a stand-alone 120V charger, and let the built-in inverter charge the remaining battery overnight. It's a retrofitted 3-stage charger & maintainer. My hope is that the truck charger will be able to maintain sufficient charge to prevent the little refrigerator from running the 'dedicated' battery into the ground, to prevent damaging the battery from excessive discharge and leaving refrigerated goods to spoil. And hopefully, not damaging the trailer battery with overcharging. I appreciate your input. My plan has been adjusting as you've been responding.597Views0likes0CommentsRe: Refrigerator Question/Discussion
Yes, a separate dedicated battery. Why? Because wire size and length seems to be so important at 12V DC. And I don't want to run down the battery that handles the brakes, the leveling equipment and slide outs. Just wanting to be safe and responsible. Connect it together: that's what I am asking about, what with the battery right alongside the breaker box. There are heavy-duty 12V cables running from the built-in converter, which I assume are mostly for charging the battery in the front of the trailer. So if I connect to those, I'm thinking I have a pretty good connection forward to the front battery and the truck charging system, and to the converter for when connected to 120V at a campground. Or are those heavy 12V cables for something else?598Views0likes0CommentsRe: Refrigerator Question/Discussion
I just looked up in the owners manual, the trailer tow battery charge circuit is fused at 25 AMPS. That seems like sufficient power, if the voltage doesn't drop too much all the way back to the breaker box. When I'm plugged into 120V at a campground, I should be able to top off the battery overnight. I think. If the regular battery doesn't interfere with charging my refrigerator battery. Or vice-versa. This 12V to 120V ends up being surprisingly complicated. Guess when I travel, I'd better take along a 120V battery charger, just in case?598Views0likes0CommentsRefrigerator Question/Discussion
My refrigerator in my 2010 Mountaineer has always been a pain: alternately freezing or randomly going into the 60's. I've tried many fixes, none have worked. But my freezer works just fine. Anyway . . . I recently put a "dorm room" sized refrigerator in my trailer, run while traveling with a battery and an 800 watt voltage inverter. I used it once so far on a 2-1/2 hour trip and it worked great! But what about longer trips? According to my calculations, I can reasonably use this for about 5-7 hours before risking depleting the battery excessively. So I'm wondering if I couldn't tap into the 12V circuit and use the truck's power to keep the battery topped off while traveling all day. The refrigerator draws about 11-12 amps at 12V, but of course not all the time, when the refrigerator is idle it draws very little current. The location of the battery when traveling is right by the breaker box, close to the door, where 12V should be readily available. I could add a cigarette lighter 12V receptacle for convenience. That should be a reasonable power draw on the charging circuit when driving, shouldn't it? Has anyone else done this?2.9KViews0likes15CommentsRe: Water heater question
Well, thanks. Every bit of info is helpful. The switch is on the lower left, and it is the only switch. I'll look, but I don't think there is a gas switch anywhere inside. Other than lights, slide outs, canopy, the only two switches are for the water pump and heating the tanks during cold weather. I bought it new and got it very late in the year 2009. For now, I can continue to unplug a lead to the gas valve, I guess.384Views0likes0CommentsRe: Water heater question
I only see one switch. It's a 'rocker' switch. And the wire I pulled off was attached to what appears to be some kind of a solenoid, which I imagine is there to start/stop gas flow. There are two wires, which have two connectors each, attached to what looks like two identical solenoids or valves, side by side. There are no other visible wires or switches.384Views0likes0CommentsWater heater question
I have a 2010 5th wheel, made by Keystone. I turned off the water heater switch earlier this year because I drained the tank and didn't want to burn out the electric heater. I assumed the same switch would turn off any possibility of the gas heater, too, but on my way back from the Gulf, I walked by the trailer at some point and discovered the gas heat was running. On an empty tank. Maybe that has happened before and I didn't notice it. I pulled a wire loose and that stopped it instantly. I recently de-winterized it and did a shakedown local camping trip; hooked up the wire and turned the switch back on. The heater worked fine on electricity. SO . . . the question: should the gas heater work when the switch is turned off? Any thought about what is wrong, if anything? (I should note that the sheet metal around the water heater was replaced last fall, following a tire blow-up, so the heater may have been removed during replacement.)2.4KViews0likes11Comments
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