maria_bettina
Explorer
Joined 15 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: For POP UP CAMPER owners - sealing seams on vinyl
silversand wrote: ... Caution: Seam Grip volatiles smell like he**. And, it is flammable until it dries. I applied it on our inside stitching (seems to work perfectly in our situation). You may want to consider applying to the exterior stitching. If you use this, you had better practice on stitching not associated with your camper (some scrap stitching on some vinyl). You cannot remove this stuff if you mess up the application technique. Also, the cured material will darken slightly after 4 to 5 years (unless they changed the formulation since 17 years ago). Good luck. This worked for us. Your mileage may vary. Seam Grip: here--> Great idea about practicing on something other than the pop-up vinyl first :C1.1KViews0likes0CommentsFor POP UP CAMPER owners - sealing seams on vinyl
FWC, ATC, Phoenix, etc Owners - I (unfortunately) got all lovey dovey and told my niece I would spend Tday in Oregon with them. I was crossing my fingers that rain would be minimal. Clearly my dances to the Sun God did no good. It will rain. How much? I don't know. But last time we were in the rain with the truck camper popped up, the vertical seams below the vinyl windows leaked a little. You know those seams where the stitching is in the lower corners of the windows? Here's my question - Does anyone seal those? Why don't they do that at the factory? Or is there a reason to not seal them? If you seal them, what's the best sealer to use? I was thinking a simple beeswax sealer... :h3KViews0likes6CommentsRe: Four Wheel Campers
We bought an ATC Panther (shell model) in spring 2019. For our type of traveling, I still think that was our best choice. No regrets. First, we have a Toyota Tundra with a 1550# payload. We were worried about weight, so that's why we got the shell model, which was around 700# with the extra long bed and a Fantastic Fan added. I regret not getting the furnace. A previous post said that 30 degrees is the max cold temp for a pop up TC. I say it's 40 degrees without a constant heater! We camp without hookups 95% of the time, but having an electric heater and hookups solves the "it's frigid" issue. Without shore power, we run a Little Buddy right before bed and as soon as we wake. Not ideal, that's for sure, esp at high elevation when the Little Buddy won't ignite. We upgraded our TC battery and have 3@100 watt solar panels on the roof. Having a herniated disc, popping the top up with that weight on the roof is awkward. Do-able for this 52-yr old chick, but not something I look forward to, and I usually make my teen son do it. But with that small inconvenience, we watch DVDs while camping and dont worry too much about electrical usage...when it's sunny out. We also have to look for unshaded sites and/or park so we are not shaded by trees. We chose the ATC because I wanted something I can easily drive around. We had a travel trailer but being that I usually am the only adult on trips, I didn't even want to think about towing something, finding parking with a TT, backing a TT up, and set up. Having a pop up camper is sooooo easy. We added a backup camera, and gas milage didn't suffer too much. We lost maybe 1-2 mpg with a camper on the truck. Storage is a challenge. Just bringing our bikes camping means removing the stairs from the hitch, replacing it with a tray, and lashing our bikes to the tray. Then when we get to camp, removing the bikes and locking them to a table, just so we can get in the camper door. So we don't bring bikes when out destination is more than a day's drive. Some campgrounds treat pop up TCs like tents and those rules apply. Others treat them as RVs. But in bear country, having food in the pop up is a no-no in Yosemite, for example. So we plan ahead and bring stuff in a cooler that we throw in the bear box when we get to camp. In other campgrounds, they'll let you keep food in the fridge in the TC. It just depends on the rules of the park/bears. I look at it as every choice (pop up TC, TT, tent, etc) has its pros and cons, and you gotta ask yourself what type of camping you do, what amenities can you give up and what are must-haves, then go from there. But again, really wish I had that furnace! Dang it!! Prolly TMI, but there's my experience.930Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renogy 20A MPPT Controller- electrical/amp question
3 tons wrote: Not necessarily saying your reading is wrong, but when dealing with smallish current amounts (or voltage differentials), digital meters are NOT the repositories of infinitesimal accuracy that their digital readouts might imply…It’s been my ’more often than not’ experience that, readings below whole numbers should not be viewed with absolute credibility (often rounded)…It’s at these smaller measurement levels why some dedicated VOM meters cost hundreds ($$) while less costly generics are fine for general use… 3 tons Yea, that's was where our thinking was headed. That the battery is likely fine, but the controller readings aren't as accurate as I would like or thought they'd be. We'll see! Still have to check things with a volt meter, but the "good" news is my hubby's knee is just a product of old age and nothing can fix it. So we wait til the inflammation subsides, then get back to figuring out this battery stuff and how accurate the Renogy controller display is. Thanks for the reply!616Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renogy 20A MPPT Controller- electrical/amp question
time2roll wrote: At these low draws a hand held voltmeter should have a 2amp setting to measure amps. Stop the solar and remove a battery cable and put the meter in series to measure the current being drawn out of the battery. Possibly it will read zero. Or maybe 100 mA. Post the results. Awesome reply! Very helpful. We are going to remove the battery and check that. We will also do what you suggested prior to removing the battery :B I will report back, but my hubby's knee is acting up so it might be a few days+++ before he can kneel without pain in the TC, and get that battery out of the camper. Getting old sucks. :D618Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renogy 20A MPPT Controller- electrical/amp question
StirCrazy wrote: maria_bettina wrote: StirCrazy wrote: your propane detector and any circuit boards in the camper will be drawing power. 1/2 a amp isnt much, but it is why a lot of people used to kill there batteries over the winter when the manufactures started putting parisidic load items into the rv's Steve Lwiddis wrote: Half an amp isn’t high use IMO. Smoke detector, co2 detector, entertainment center, TV booster etc. Only thing drawing power is the Renogy unit. No circuit boards, no detectors. We have a pop-up TC bare bones. so propane detector? I though all the stuff needed one of them now. No LP detector. There was a battery-operated one but we do not have LP in the camper so it's disconnected.... But it was double-A battery operated anyway, so...616Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renogy 20A MPPT Controller- electrical/amp question
StirCrazy wrote: your propane detector and any circuit boards in the camper will be drawing power. 1/2 a amp isnt much, but it is why a lot of people used to kill there batteries over the winter when the manufactures started putting parisidic load items into the rv's Steve Lwiddis wrote: Half an amp isn’t high use IMO. Smoke detector, co2 detector, entertainment center, TV booster etc. Only thing drawing power is the Renogy unit. No circuit boards, no detectors. We have a pop-up TC bare bones.616Views0likes0CommentsRe: Renogy 20A MPPT Controller- electrical/amp question
pianotuna wrote: Are the batteries being charged via the solar panels? Right now, yes. We are packing for a trip, so we didn't connect to shore power at home since the last trip about a week ago. The truck as been outside since then.616Views0likes0Comments
Groups
RV Newbies
We all start out new. Share lessons learned or first-time questions!Jun 15, 20174,026 Posts Travel Trailer Group
Prefer to camp in a travel trailer? You're not alone.Feb 18, 202544,025 Posts
