RV Camping; Tips, tricks & repairs

[redline]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta
New or used?^ You can usually find eu3000's for around that price used on kijiji.

If you're just charging batts you can find the 2000w suitcase gens for around a grand.

Thing is these higher end gens will last forever, they sip gas and make no noticeable noise.

New, but honestly that was about 6 years ago

[redline]

Originally posted by C_Dave45

If they're Trojan T105's that's a great deal. I paid $190 each for mine. If they're "no name"....no idea.

The rule of thumb is "you can't beat Trojan T105's". That is the standard for the best RV setup.
That being said...a lot of people just buy a couple "deep cycle/marine 12 volts" at Costco, hook them in parallel, and then "return" them when they go bad.

YMMV.

that's what I have and they are great

[saunD]

In the spirit of helping out fellow RV generator users ,, here is a great guide to help you determine what size of generator you will need ... Hope this helps everyone out just a little more

http://www.norwall.com/blog/generato...le-generators/

[Supa Dexta]

Just wanted to mention a few of the things I've been up to.

Best mod of the season so far has been updating the audio - I put in a new blue tooth cd player to replace the old stock cassette unit + new speakers. What a difference, now I can stream satellite radio or music off my phone, control the volume..etc from in the bedroom or sitting outside.

I also swapped to all LED lights inside, they are the t10 style wedge bulbs, I got them off ebay for 20 or 30 dollars for the works. The brightest ones are the 12smd and the other ones have like 25 tiny smd's and are slightly less bright, so I used them in the bedroom above my head where I dont need a bright light.. Get the warm white ones and they are a great light.. Around 1watt a piece, so you can run all 20 bulbs for what one of the old bulbs used (18-20w)

I also decided to update the interior a bunch. I'll post some pics ina bit.

[Supa Dexta]

Alright, so the biggest issue was a leak in the top corner of the slide out, that I had put off dealing with for too long. So ripped it all out and rebuilt it.









Next was interior, getting rid of the ugly colours and fabric that were used in '98, and doing some more hardwood work.





went from these ugly curtain boxes



to these





and did the other stuff - ignore the mess



and the bedroom



All the harware in the kitchen and bathroom used to be gold, so I painted it, to match.. handles, lights, furnace vents, hardwood trim.. etc





And my latest gem - I made a piece of oak to match the drawer and cover the hole that used to be the big cassette player. I stained it to match and installed a new sony blue tooth cd player.



It turned out pretty good.. So thats what Ive been up to with mine.

[hedge]

^ that's nice work there.

[AndyL]

Holy swizzlesticks! Where was the leak coming from to create that mess?

[spikerS]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta


And my latest gem - I made a piece of oak to match the drawer and cover the hole that used to be the big cassette player. I stained it to match and installed a new sony blue tooth cd player.



It turned out pretty good.. So thats what Ive been up to with mine.

Which head unit is that, and how much did it run you? The current head unit in my trailer sucks balls, and I want to replace it with something better.

[Supa Dexta]

Sony...wx90 something or other? Its on future shops site.. 179$

The leak was coming right from a corner of the roof, so it spreads as it goes down.. since all these are is chip board.

The thing with campers is, you won't know you have a leak until the wall gets soft.. I opened mine this spring and it seemed musty.. and it lingered, so I knew it was more than just from sitting. So always poke around in the corners to spot soft spots, especially when buying a used one.

[nzwasp]

After reading about you guys and your 2 x 6 volt golf batteries, I feel like the trailer that we bought that has 3 x 12 volt marine batteries (running in parallel) is a bit overkill for running one 12v 2cu ft fridge all the time and a couple of lights inside.

We also have 3 solar panels to trickle charge the 3 batteries.

edit: must be 12 volt to provide 12volt power.

[spikerS]

Originally posted by nzwasp
After reading about you guys and your 2 x 6 volt golf batteries, I feel like the trailer that we bought that has 3 x 12 volt marine batteries (running in parallel) is a bit overkill for running one 12v 2cu ft fridge all the time and a couple of lights inside.

We also have 3 solar panels to trickle charge the 3 batteries.

edit: must be 12 volt to provide 12volt power.

I am confused...

You have 3 of the 18v batteries, or do you have 3 of the 6v batteries to make 18v?

I don't know a lot about electrical, but will the fridge and stereo and such work off of 18v?

[ExtraSlow]

you can run three 12v in parallel to provide 12v total, that must be your setup. I don't think that's a common way to set it up, I always hear about putting the 2 6v batts in series as the "good" way to do it.

I run a single 12v, and my fridge runs off propane or shore power, not the batts, so what do I know.

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by spikers


I am confused...

You have 3 of the 18v batteries, or do you have 3 of the 6v batteries to make 18v?

I don't know a lot about electrical, but will the fridge and stereo and such work off of 18v?

I have 3 x 12v.

Also have 3 ways to charge it - a mobile solar array
Battery charger
and a Gas generator.

I think the people I bought from liked to go for 2 weeks to middle of nowhere. I think I can run my one fridge for 5 days straight without charging the batteries, now that might not be very good for the batteries.

The thing that bugs me a little bit is that there are 110v outlets in the trailer but I cant use them because there is no inverter in the trailer - they had 3 past inverters which all failed. This would be a situation if I was at an unserviced campground.

[Supa Dexta]

Mine came with 2x12v, and again no 120v unless on generator.

And the fridge needs 12v for the igniter for the propane, not many will run off of 12v alone, I hardly ever see them. Heres a thread on them - http://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5723

Generally a fridge will use about 1 pound of propane a day.. I have 2 - 30lb tanks.

I know my cousin uses one of those power packs from canadian tire to power 120 in his camp (1800w maybe?).. he can run quite a while without the generator, with led lights, even new tv's only use 100w or something, so his kids can watch tv all evening. Then if you're using the microwave or coffee pot..etc for breakfast it charges the power pack.


Since I had wood stain left over, I started going over some things.. It got out of hand and next thing I knew I was doing everything!

The wood has dried out and faded over the years, so this is really bringing it back.. Im even doing the free standing table and chair set.. Ill post some comparison pics.

new stain on left vs faded on the right -

[ExtraSlow]

Hey this question may belong here. The 30 lb tanks on my trailer have expired. Where is the best place to get them re-certified and how much does it cost? Currently I'm just running on a single 20lb tank that I carry in the truck, and that would last me a week or more. I figure the fridge and furnace use about 1.5 lbs per day for summer camping.

Still, it came with 2x30lb, s I ought to keep it that way for resale.

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by ExtraSlow
Hey this question may belong here. The 30 lb tanks on my trailer have expired. Where is the best place to get them re-certified and how much does it cost? Currently I'm just running on a single 20lb tank that I carry in the truck, and that would last me a week or more. I figure the fridge and furnace use about 1.5 lbs per day for summer camping.

Still, it came with 2x30lb, s I ought to keep it that way for resale.

It costs about the same to re-certify as it does for new ones. Go to Costco. I picked up mine for $80 for the pair. The RV place wanted $89 EACH!!!

[nzwasp]

So while transporting our trailer from the previous owner to our driveway I think something came loose and now our brake/signal lights are running off the trailer battery. Not sure how a shaken loose cable can cause that.

Anyway I looked at the wiring and nothing is labelled and its a bit of a mess, can anyone recommend me a place (maybe that hobo place) to get the problem fixed and if possible everything labelled properly.

I also want to get the old lights replaced with led lights but i reckon I could do that myself.

[Cos]

.

[Supa Dexta]

Originally posted by nzwasp
So while transporting our trailer from the previous owner to our driveway I think something came loose and now our brake/signal lights are running off the trailer battery. Not sure how a shaken loose cable can cause that.

Anyway I looked at the wiring and nothing is labelled and its a bit of a mess, can anyone recommend me a place (maybe that hobo place) to get the problem fixed and if possible everything labelled properly.

I also want to get the old lights replaced with led lights but i reckon I could do that myself.

What does this mean exactly? Your lights are staying on after you unplug from the tow vehicle?

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by Supa Dexta


What does this mean exactly? Your lights are staying on after you unplug from the tow vehicle?

yes exactly