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Post edited 3:19 am – September 5, 2012 by Mike M

Hey All,

Did my first real dry camping trip with the Classic 190 a few weeks ago.  One of my hobbies is astronomy, and I recently attended the Stellafane convention in Springfield, VT.  http://stellafane.org/conventi…..index.html  I wasn't sure how long any of the support systems would last, so I had extra everything.  Turns out I was significantly over-prepared.  I filled the propane bottle before I left, and after 4 days of fridge and hot water it was probably still 2/3 full.  I brought 38 gallons of water (20 in the tank and three 6 gallon jugs) and wound up jettisoning two of the jugs contents before the ride home.  This was after cooking all my meals for three days and two showers.  Finally, the battery held up fine, still showing 12.2v at the end of the trip.

In addition to the extra water I brought a spare propane bottle and a spare battery.  I now know that I didn't have to do that.  It should be noted that electrical power usage was very judicious.  The only real consumption was to run the water pump on-demand.  At astronomy events, the use of white lights is strongly discouraged, if not outright enforced by threat of violence.  Thus, it is prudent to red-light your coach.  This is achieved by replacing a couple of the standard #921 bulbs in the coach lights with specialty red LED bulbs.  Although a bit pricey at $12.00 a pair, these little gems draw next to nothing for amperage and could potentialy last a lifetime. 

Here's my trailer and tow vehicle in the field: 

An image I made on one of the nights there: 

Mike M.

Eugene said:

Cool photo of the cosmos whirling about your campsite, Mike. How long was the exposure?

I also over-prepared for my first dry camping weekend, though not quite as robustly as you did. Similar results, though: Used less of everything than I expected, particularly propane and battery juice. I've replaced all my 14RB incandescent bulbs with warm white LEDs and man, does that make a difference to the little Interstate Group 24 battery. I've been toying with the idea of upgrading to a Group 27, but I can't kill this HD-24DP. What kind of battery do you have, Mike?

Thanks for taking the time to post. I appreciated the urging to reinvigorate this forum and promised I would let people know I'm reading their contributions. I'll make some more of my own after I figure out how to post images without using the Tiny Browser approach, which has stopped working for me.

Peace.

Jim

Thanks, Jim.  The photo is a 1.5hrs composite of 30 seperate three minute exposures.  The camera is a Nikon D5000, the lens was a Sigma 12-24 set @ 15mm, and the ISO was @ 800.

My unit came with an AC Delco battery, I'm not sure exactly what model.  I have added a set of leads to be able to hook up another battery in tandem for longer off-the-grid stints.  Pictures to follow.

The tiny browser works for me, but it's certainly not the most intuitive thing I've ever used.  Really, it's a little clunky is the best way to describe it, but I've found it to work better if I make sure my pictures are downsized to a maximum of 800×600.

Mike

Heading out again this weekend.  Just two nights, less than a hundred miles away.  Won't be bringing nearly as much this time.  May need the heat though.  Been skimming the upper thirties around here the past two nights.

My unit came with an AC Delco series 24 deep cycle battery.  So far it's been pretty good.  4 days dry camping and still had plenty left.  Just got back this morning from a couple of nights dry camping down in Connecticut.  Again, all was well.  Had to run the heat last night as the temps were in the upper thirties when I crawled in at about 2:00am.  I thought about clipping on the extra battery, but didn't bother.

Sue and I are big dry campers and rely on solar for refrigeration.  We have solar panels on the 14RK and the Van. We did a 56day trip and had shore power four times.

HTH;

John

Suzy-Q said:

Sue and I are big dry campers and rely on solar for refrigeration.  We have solar panels on the 14RK and the Van. We did a 56day trip and had shore power four times.

HTH;

John

56 Days…that's an awesome stretch mostly off the grid!  I'm just wondering, you said you're using solar for refrigeration?  Does your fridge operate on 12v?  Mine is only 120AC and propane.  I've found it to use miniscule amounts of propane.  I like having shore power though…microwave, toaster oven, coffee maker, electric heat, AC, TV (as in watch the news, not pull the trailer ).  With shore power I only need propane for hot water and the stove.

Mike M.

Post edited 1:29 am – September 18, 2012 by Suzy-Q

Hi Mike;

Our 14RK is the all electric model, no propane.  It came with a dorm fridge which we removed and use the space for a microwave and stow bedding below. 

We have two Dometic CF-35 12V compressor fridges that we carry in the van.  One for fridge, the other for freezer.  They are powered by an aux battery and 170W solar that is mounted on the roof rack. 

In addition to the microwave, we cook with an electric hotplate and a coffee maker powered by a 2KW inverter-genny. A 130W solar on the roof runs the LED lighting, the television(12V) and pump and charges the TT battery.  We also cook outside with a portable propane stove.  I moved the battery from the tongue and to under the dinette seat so that it is next to the converter/charger.  We use the tongue area to carry the genny. 

We run our laptops with 100W pocket inverters.

We like to keep the 7-pin connected whenever possible so all three batteries can share loads and share the solar charging.  We have never had the starting battery run down.  All three batteries are AGM.  The alternator also charges all three AGMs.

HTH;

John

Mike & Diana said:

Boy. I'd say you guys are really, "Off-The-Grid".

Pretty innovative.

I'm sure others, as I learned something.

Thanx

31 consecutive days off-grid is our max.

Mike M said:

Suzy Q, that's quite the system you have there.  I'm still glad I've got propane to work with, but I'm very interested in your solar panels.  Would you be amenable to sharing the brand and cost of those units you're using?

Thanks,

Mike

No problem sharing info. However, panel brands are meaningless as there is constant turnover, plus costs have dropped dramatically. You need to know how to size the system for dry camping and then shop for the parts.  Is that what you want to do?

Anyway, panels cost about $1 per watt and under $200 will provide a DIY solution for someone in your position.

HTH;

John