I have put my foot down and finally got approval to buy a camper.  I am tired of packing for camping.  I am tired of loading random bins into the truck to go camping, but mostly I am sick of tents, I am sick of sticky small tents haha. 

 

I have been looking into used Truck bed campers of the Popup variety.   We do a lot of off the beaten road camping so a large camper isn't going to happen.  We also have goals of getting a horse trailer at some point and going places to ride for a weekend. 

 

So that leaves me with the popup slide in style.  Am I off base here?   We have ~$2000-$3000 budget for this.  I have been looking on Craigslist for a few weeks now and spotted a few that would work, anywhere from $700-$5000.   Most have good roofs and canvas, but beyond that I am not sure what I am looking for.  Anything I should be looking for?  Any brands that I should be avoiding?

yea I think so.  

My old 76 Dodge motorhome was fairly basic. 12V lighting, water pump, AM/FM radio, and propane radiant heater, water heater, fridge, cook stove. That was a wonderful RV house battery would go for nearly a week with light duty lighting inside. Propane wise I've manage to survive in 0*F winters and two 20# propane bottles would barely get me a week.

The new Jayco is more power hungry. Everything is electronic. From just putting LEDs in the bath room that was a huge power saver.

 

Aright,

 

Need some brain picking help. 

 

The power converter in the camper does 120v --> 12v to power the internal lights, and powers the 120v plugs in the camper.  I have also ordered a 12v to usb plug with volt meter so I can see battery levels and charge phones / USB items.

 

However if I am running on 12v power the converter does not invert power back to 120v, so the 120v plugs won't work.

 

 

I have ordered a battery box, a power disconnect switch to allow for alternator charging of the battery, then disconnect so power cannot be run off the vehicle batteries when sitting.  so I am going to isolate one group 31 deep cycle battery for the camper.  

 

Do I bother running a 12v --> 120v inverter?  I have a large inverter in the truck already that is wired to the batteries under the hood.  I don't really use it ever, but it would be really easy to move it into the camper, hardest part would be figuring out how to run the wiring and where to put the inverter.  

 

so what do you say, should I bother installing my inverter into the camper, or would that just promote energy wasting items?  I suppose if I really need 120v power in the woods I can start the truck and run whatever off the inverter in the cab........

 

Dunno.

Edited February 4, 20169 yr by Me78569

How about one of those little quiet harbor freight generators for $400?  Gas is cheap.

Edited February 4, 20169 yr by CSM

Don't rain on my techie / modding parade by suggesting the easiest, cheapest, and most robust solution

30 minutes ago, Me78569 said:

Don't rain on my techie / modding parade by suggesting the easiest, cheapest, and most robust solution

prac·ti·cal

ˈpraktək(ə)l/

adjective

 

1. 1.

   of or concerned with the actual doing or use of something rather than with theory and ideas.

 

 

 

I will take that as a compliment.  

Since we are rube goldberging the heck out of this... What about solar panels wired into a charger for the batteries as well? 

Solar WILL happen,  that's stage 2 haha gotta get the accountants approval.

 

Think I am gnna skip the inverter in the camper.  only thing I really need to power when I am not hooked up is random cell phone charge or other 12v stuff.

Like my cheap harbor freight solar panel controller has one USB ports and the Harbor freight 1200w has one USB port.

 

I am kinda dumb when it comes to solar, 

 

Need a control to prevent over charge, 

Need a panel to collect solar,

and 2 wires to connect the 2?  

 

Anything else?

6 hours ago, Me78569 said:

I am kinda dumb when it comes to solar, 

Yes. Just like you need a voltage regulator for your alternator.

6 hours ago, Me78569 said:

Need a panel to collect solar,

Yes. Consider your size and weight. They are glass faced so make sure you con sider where it going to be stored.

6 hours ago, Me78569 said:

and 2 wires to connect the 2?

Yes. Positive and Negative from the solar panel(s) to the solar controller then another pair of positive and negative from the solar controller to the batteries.

Consider your voltage loss in distance too. So your distance of cable will have to be considered. Like here at the house I've got eight 50w panels for a total of 400w = 26.8 Volts DC x 14.9 Amp DC pretty light duty. But the run from the pole to the garage is about 120 feet and requires 2 ought cable. So if the panels have 26.8 the far end will be 26.4 volts at 120 feet.

http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

The black box on the right is my solar controller, above is the main breaker to the batteries. White large box is the master feed breaker to the inverter. (200 Amp DC).

As for solar size it about how fast you can recharge the batteries. There is panels out now that for a single panel you can get 300 watts. Matter of fact I'm pulling the eight 50w panels soon to upgrade to four 265w panels (1,060 watts). Need better recharge rate in the winter time.

For an RV. my cheapy Harbor freight 45w  panel set and solar control is more than enough power to take care of a a old school 13" CRT TV, DVD player and all the other 12V RV stuff I got on board like water heater and fridge. So that controller is 45w = 13.2 VDC x 3.4 Amps DC. It stops right about 13.2 volts typically. So a good quality 100w panel would be killer. 100w = 14.0 VDC x 7.1 Amps DC nice mellow charge rate.

Edited February 4, 20169 yr by Mopar1973Man

My landlady has a panel somehow mounted to the roof of her slide in camper. I could take a photo if you're interested 

Hey Mountain Mikey, would it do me any good to go with the cheaper solar panel? Ilike the ones that are flexible to mold to my roof. They are not the multicrystal type like you have. I think they are called Amorphious type panels. maybe would not need a charge controller if they put out less amps and could just use a nighttime sensor to shut them down at night?

Edited February 4, 20169 yr by JAG1

I can't understand why anyone would mount solar panel on the roof of the RV? Then that means you have to park in the sunny area for the solar panel to work meaning the interior of the RV will be hot during the summer. The gent that cuts my hair did this exact same mistake. Now he complains on how poor the panels work. No duh... Parking in the shade of a tree to keep the RV cooler now the solar panel is worthless.

This is why I went to free standing you can park in the shade with the RV stays cooler and put the panels in the sun.

Edited February 5, 20169 yr by Mopar1973Man

Bbbut aren't amorphious panels supposed to work in the shade? Yes less electrons going to the battery but you don't have that thing where when part of the panel is shaded the rest goes out. Plus they work better on a cloudy day.

I ask all this mike because I'm thinking about doing almost the entire roof would bendable panels to make up for the inefficiency and they are cheap too.

No validity at all here? 

i have two 100w solar panals on my 5'er one roof mounted one mobile. they charge 2 6V golf cart batteries.

my TV is a 19" led from walmart Elament that just to happened to be 12V. even though it comes with a 110 cord it converts to 12V so i made an adapter to a cigarette lighter, that and a 12V portable dvd player with video out works great to keep the wife n kids occupied during the rain events out camping.

changing all the lights to LED was a GREAT saver of batteries. with this setup i can run about a week with no generator use unless using the microwave. we have AC but never use it. and the heater we use a big buddy heater hooked to the trailers tanks. it's a lot better then the on board furnace.

Let's say the big panel 400w array in the yard on a overcast day. I'm lucky if I charge at 3-5 Amps @ 26.4 VDC.

Best is 15.1 Amps @ 26.4 Volts for 400 watts.

51 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I can't understand why anyone would mount solar panel on the roof of the RV? Then that means you have to park in the sunny area for the solar panel to work meaning the interior of the RV will be hot during the summer. The gent that cuts my hair did this exact same mistake. Now he complains on how poor the panels work. No duh... Parking in the shade of a tree to keep the RV cooler now the solar panel is worthless.

This is why I went to free standing you can park in the shade with the RV stays cooler and put the panels in the sun.

Mike-That's why you make the big buck$$ and I do a lot of reading!

Just now, Royal Squire said:

Mike-That's why you make the big buck$$ and I do a lot of reading!

Dream on... 

Just ordered a 6000 btu blue-flame heater, the old heater in the camper needed 12v to run which doesn't fit our needs at all.  

 

This will open up a bunch of storage space.  we don't need to have the camper at 65*f, more so it is for keeping it liveable regardless of the temp outside.

Edited February 5, 20169 yr by Me78569

Well I may have jumped the gun a little early on the heater,  I am glad I pulled out the factory heater, but it appears that I might have trouble finding a good spot for the replacement one I got, go big or go home doesn't work well in this case. 

 

I have cut out a cardboard box to the same size as the heater so I will try and see if I can fit it, but I might end up selling this 6000BTU unit and going with a Wave 3 unit which is 11"x10x3  vs the 18x14x5 for the 6000 btu unit.  

 

Anyone need a 6000 BTU unit haha?

 

I got the radio replaced last night with a newer model I had in the BMW.  Nice to have tunes in it. Next I am looking at the fridge,  need to look into how much propane it uses and decide if I will ever use it.

 

Water pump has been ordered to replace the broken one and I have started to tear into the wiring.  

 

I have added 2 buses for 12v and neg to make the wiring a lot nicer in the cabinet.  all new wires for the existing stuff is in place and I will be able to add the other items neatly now.  

 

Items ordered:

-high quality ratchet straps

-water pump

- usb / voltage gauge / cig outlet

- LED lights for inside

- Battery Box 

- Battery isolator

- 7 pin trailer wiring plug to run to battery

- 6000 btu heater that may not fit well haha

 

Still need:

- group 31 Deep cycle

- maybe a WAVE 3 heater to replace the other heater.

Edited February 5, 20169 yr by Me78569