Today's RV time?

[dragoneggs]

In the spirit of a few other thread titles, I start this one because I recently purchased a used Class C RV. So many people are jumping into or spending more time in their RV's because in part... the pandemic. But also to see the USA!

I was going stir crazy around xmas, and after my son and DIL bought an RV this past fall, We decided to take our savings earmarked for a boat and buy a Winnebago View.

Because the market is so hot, we ended up flying to San Diego from Seattle one way to find our 'home away from home' RV and drove it back about 1300mi for its maiden (to us) voyage. What a blast to jump in an empty RV and start figuring out how you want to outfit 'her'. After almost 5 months, we have put about 6K visting the west most states while working remotely. Yes, these things are fun if you are game.

Also making lots of mods... such as solar power and lithium batteries. If anyone else wants to share share their RV adventures and mods... please dive in. Here are a few photos from the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, a BLM site at Lake Havasu, and a peek at my solar panel install.

 

[ronjhall]

In the spirit of a few other thread titles, I start this one because I recently purchased a used Class C RV. So many people are jumping into or spending more time in their RV's because in part... the pandemic. But also to see the USA!

I was going stir crazy around xmas, and after my son and DIL bought an RV this past fall, We decided to take our savings earmarked for a boat and buy a Winnebago View.

Because the market is so hot, we ended up flying to San Diego from Seattle one way to find our 'home away from home' RV and drove it back about 1300mi on its . After almost 5 months, we have put about 6K visting the west most states while working remotely. These things are fun.

Also making lots of mods... such as solar power and lithium batteries. If anyone else wants to share share their RV adventures and mods... please dive in. Here are a few photos from the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, a BLM site at Lake Havasu, and a peek at my solar panel install.

My wife and I travel the southwest with our 35' Super C for 12 years. Lots of great places to visit. We also got to meet many TBN members during those trips.

 

[square1]

Slowly doing a build out of a T350 Ford Transit high roof extended. Trying to keep it simple but accommodating, yet able to convert relatively quickly back to the cargo van it was

Visited the geographic center of the continental United States during a shake down voyage in early April.

And of course, Living in a Van Down by the River. The mighty Mississippi

 

[Frankenkubota]

I owned a 36 ft diesel pusher for.......3 weeks. I bought it used. Turns out someone else had been looking at it. I Sold it to them for what I paid, plus tax. Serious buyers remorse.

I've just spent 13 months in a 24 ft, 20 year old, smelly, rotten, POS Shasta 5th wheel camper. I could go on and on but let's just say, these things are not meant to be lived in full time, not for me anyway.

There is an old joke about tiny tiny European bathrooms and how, under certain conditions, a male not being able to turnaround! My bathroom is smaller.

Great time to build your bucket list house. Historic rainfall, china virus and materials up 300%! Other than that Mr President, how did you like The Play?

I Just passed 2 big building inspections so i'm into the house soon. I'm not sure if I will sell the camper or burn it. I would much rather burn it but disposing of its remains could be expensive!

Who wants to buy a stinky, rotten, evil, beat up camper?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

You gotta work on your salesmanship Franken,

Call it "rustic", "rugged" or "spartan". Let's see, "cozy" that's another one the realtors like to use, and "ready for your remodeling ideas".

I think it would be easier to dispose of before you burn it. Way too much stuff will be falling out of it and flying off on the highway if you burn it before hauling it to the dump.

 

[ponytug]

Love to hear about solar / lithium. I have been looking at Nissan Leaf batteries / battery packs and thinking about a 48V replacement system for the RV, vs going whole hog and just putting in a whole 20kWh Nissan battery pack to backup the RV, and house, when needed.

We have a Renegade toterhome which I love. Easy to drive, easy to service Cat 3126, and turns easily (as in U-turn in three lanes).

All the best,

Peter

 

[oosik]

My RV is now my Taco Wagon( Ram 2500 Power Wagon ). Rear seat folds flat and with an air mattress - it's not that bad. Allows me to go places and camp where there is no competition. I've had my days with pull trailers and fifth wheel. Besides it's just me and Brownie now. Limited spaces - limited problems. More time to enjoy the outdoors.

 

[LittleBill21]

I also got a class c this summer, been on it for weeks getting it ready. I was going to go lithium but I don't think it makes sense for non full time. I guess we will see

 

[dragoneggs]

On Solar... my RV now has a modest 520W of monocrystalline panels on the roof. I removed the two OEM 100w flexible panels because of the degradation of the fiberglass under them due to the direct contact and heat. The new rigid panels are stood off the roof allowing some breathing room under them.

For the energy storage... I removed the two lead-acid coach batteries and swapped them for two 100amp-hour, LiFePO4 (lithium) batteries. This more than doubled my storage capacity since you can run your lithiums down to near zero unlike a lead acid where you start damaging it below 50% SOC (state of charge). The batteries have a built in BMS (Battery Monitor System) but I decided to add a app driven BIM (Battery Information Monitor). This allows me to easily know the state of the battery and i can quickly understand what is the current draw in real time for anything I am powering in the RV. This also will estimate days/hours of battery life and will update as my power usage changes.

A few other 'tweaks'... I swapped out the convertor for one that is lithium compatible. OEM unit would have sufficed but this allows me to fully charge the batteries from shore power or the on board diesel generator.

For best 'communication' between the new lithium batteries and the chassis battery and alternator I added two components. The first, is a Amp-L-Start that allows the lithium batteries to keep the chassis lead acid battery topped off without over charging. Note that Lithium batteries have a slightly higher voltage. The other component is a DC-DC charger that protects the alternator from damage as the Lithium batteries will suck as much current as they can and have the potential to burn up a standard sized alternator.

Been a fun project and I'm very happy with the results so far... will allow me to go unplugged much longer and I won't have to run the generator as much making for quieter camping.

 

[ponytug]

I would love to learn more of the details of your conversion. (He says, selfishly.)

All the best, Peter