Going out for the first time

[Schilly]

We are planning on going camping this weekend for the first time with our new X 17 Z. Is it okay to have the propane tanks turned on while towing the camper? Or should that be all closed while driving? Also, the weather in Colorado has been unusual cold and rainy. Will two propane tanks be enough for two nights of camping in order to have the heat on at a decent temperature?

[ddrueckh]

I, and I believe the majority of others, keep the propane on and the fridge running while driving. A few will say it is not a good idea. Some will turn off the fridge if filling at a gas station. Two propane tanks will be enough for the weekend. I usually only go through one a season...about 4 weeks of camping. The issue you may run into is power. Will you have electric hookup or are you dry camping? If dry camping, I would suggest two batteries. The furnace really sucks juice to run the fan. If you have electric hookup, you may want to bring a small electric heater. That way you can use the electricity you are paying for to heat your trailer and not your propane. Have fun!

[UPCamper]

Originally Posted by ddrueckh

I, and I believe the majority of others, keep the propane on and the fridge running while driving. A few will say it is not a good idea. Some will turn off the fridge if filling at a gas station. Two propane tanks will be enough for the weekend. I usually only go through one a season...about 4 weeks of camping. The issue you may run into is power. Will you have electric hookup or are you dry camping? If dry camping, I would suggest two batteries. The furnace really sucks juice to run the fan. If you have electric hookup, you may want to bring a small electric heater. That way you can use the electricity you are paying for to heat your trailer and not your propane. Have fun!

X2. We always leave our tanks on as does everyone I know. 2 tanks will last a while unless it's extremely cold. Like they said above, if you are boondocking though, one battery may not be enough, especially a SRM 24. Congrats and have fun! Post some pics later.

UPC

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by ddrueckh

I, and I believe the majority of others, keep the propane on and the fridge running while driving. A few will say it is not a good idea. Some will turn off the fridge if filling at a gas station. Two propane tanks will be enough for the weekend. I usually only go through one a season...about 4 weeks of camping. The issue you may run into is power. Will you have electric hookup or are you dry camping? If dry camping, I would suggest two batteries. The furnace really sucks juice to run the fan. If you have electric hookup, you may want to bring a small electric heater. That way you can use the electricity you are paying for to heat your trailer and not your propane. Have fun!

+1 to all of this. But down here in TX, we don't worry too much about the heat draining out the propane.

I used up ONE of the two 30 lb cylinders that came full with the trailer in over a year. But then we're never without electricity, so I use a small space heater to supplement the on-board furnace.

[Schilly]

Thanks for the replies.

We won't have hookups, so i think i will get a 2nd battery. Can i get those at any NAPA or autozone or are they specific ones i need to get at a camping place?

Also, regarding the propane, i was told that the fridge takes a while to get cold. Thats why i was thinking of leaving the propane on.

thanks

[Jim-n-Ash]

We have two batteries and an 18 watt solar charger, which keeps the batteries above 12 v. for several days at a time. The solar works even when it's overcast, though we do keep moving it to face the most light. (When we are dry camping, which is most of the time, we don't use anything electrical except the lights.)

[Seann45]

Originally Posted by Schilly

Thanks for the replies.

We won't have hookups, so i think i will get a 2nd battery. Can i get those at any NAPA or autozone or are they specific ones i need to get at a camping place?

Also, regarding the propane, i was told that the fridge takes a while to get cold. Thats why i was thinking of leaving the propane on.

thanks

Get a deep cycle battery.. NOT one that has a CCA rating.. those are starting batteries and not good for boondocking.

Once you have your fridge cold it will hold temp for about 6 hours if you don't open the door.. I don't care if you drive with your propane on but PLEASE remember to shut it off before you pull up to the gas pumps.. you do not want the pilot light to come on with all those fuel vapors around.. great way to blow up your camper and ruin your trip.

[tbwill]

Originally Posted by Schilly

Thanks for the replies.

We won't have hookups, so i think i will get a 2nd battery. Can i get those at any NAPA or autozone or are they specific ones i need to get at a camping place?

Also, regarding the propane, i was told that the fridge takes a while to get cold. Thats why i was thinking of leaving the propane on.

thanks

If you plan on camping in places without hookups on a regular basis, I would consider biting the bullet and buying a small generator. You could try this one from Costco http://www.costco.com/Smarter-Tools-...100121916.html It has the same engine as the Yamaha and would save you $300-400 from buying a Honda or Yamaha. I have a Yamaha generator and wouldn't be without it.

[Jmooney]

Originally Posted by Schilly

We are planning on going camping this weekend for the first time with our new X 17 Z. Is it okay to have the propane tanks turned on while towing the camper? Or should that be all closed while driving? Also, the weather in Colorado has been unusual cold and rainy. Will two propane tanks be enough for two nights of camping in order to have the heat on at a decent temperature?

For your first time out and dry camping, you need to be careful about power consumption. The furnace blower will take a huge toll on the battery.

Be prepared to conserve power during the day time.

Adding a second battery is a good idea, but not a casual thing to do. Batteries need to match in size and type. Do some internet research or JOF article search.

Where in Colorado are you going?

Ps: congrats and welcome from Aurora Colorado

[Snake Plissken]

Originally Posted by Schilly

Thanks for the replies.

We won't have hookups, so i think i will get a 2nd battery. Can i get those at any NAPA or autozone or are they specific ones i need to get at a camping place?

Also, regarding the propane, i was told that the fridge takes a while to get cold. Thats why i was thinking of leaving the propane on.

thanks

The trick is to have it cold before you leave.

[Hattie]

Originally Posted by Jmooney

For your first time out and dry camping, you need to be careful about power consumption. The furnace blower will take a huge toll on the battery.

On our first boondock to the beach (weekend in November), it was cold, damp, and even rained a tad. We ran the heater and had more lights on than planned when it was storming ~ and we ran the batteries so far down that the alarm went off at 5am on a very cold Sunday morning! I can laugh now, but at the time it was pretty scary - as the alarm blared, the dog launched herself unsuccessfully onto the bed. Groggy, I scrambled to get her leashed and us out of the TT while DH tried to figure-out what happened. Once he figured it all out, we realized we couldn't brew coffee, make breakfast, or run any hot water. Seemed like the only logical thing to do was pack-up and head home ... hungry and dirty, we were on the road by 8am ~ and you just can't pull a TT into a McDonalds parking lot for a cuppa! We survived, and now recall it as "what an experience". Lesson learned?? Conserve power if you don't have a generator, and buy one or two for the future!

[Novanorm]

A fridge stays colder longer if it is filled. An empty fridge is really hard to keep cold. If you load up the fridge and have it on it will stay cold longer. When you get on the road and turn the fridge off, put a couple of frozen plastic water bottles (no more than 3/4 full) in the fridge. The ice bottles will keep the fridge cold longer and give you something cold to drink at your destination.

[RoyBraddy]

Too bad you didn't get a chance to try this out sitting your driveway or behind the house.

We did several nights in our CAMP BACKYARD and tried not to cheat haha...

Also note where the closest WALMART and LOWES is located near the campground. You can get just about anything you will need or forgot to bring along with you from those two stores.

My small fridge is also 12VDC so what we do is turn it ON about a couple of hours away from the camp ground. It sometimes can take as much as 4-5 hours to get cold when first started up. I'm not a big fan to run the propane when in travel mode...

We also usually stock-up at the closest WALMART that has food just before we hit the camp ground. This is where we will most likely come back to to keep going the few days at the camp site.

We run out of ICE first. I carry one of the large 5-day ICE Chest and fill it up with ICE before we leave. I store meats and thing inside a small plastic container with a lid on it inside the the ICE CHEST sitting in top of the melting ICE.. This keep things from getting water logged...

Most non electric places we go have a close-by bath room facility with a water spigot there. This is where we get our fresh water from. I carry a couple of 5-gallon water jeri-cans and a folding cart to use if it isn't too far away from where we are camping...

We also capture our dirty water in a couple of those 7-gallon AQUA-TAINER plastic totes. We will carry this back to the bath room facility to dump down a toilet.

Our camper only has a fresh water tank being a OFF-ROAD POPUP camper. It does have the combo shower/cassette potti with a 6-gallon black water tank. I have to move this back to the bath room facility to dump it down the toilet as well.

Daily chores when camping off the power grid...

Hopefully your OTA BATWING Antenna will get you some HDTV to finish off your day before going to sleep. Good time to catch up on tomorrows weather. We always pickup several NATL BROADCAST Clear TV signals when camping off the power grid.

The idea is too have fun...
Roy Ken

[Dirkdaddy]

FYI, some of the posts here recommended a 12v powered fan for the fridge which helps a lot supposedly (mine is still in line to install as I had to fix other more pressing things first) as the cooling mechanism on/off is sort of attached to the cooling coil to keep it from freezing up the coil. Blowing air over it helps it cool the inside better and transfer heat to the coil. It will use a bit of 12v power, so depending on temp outside maybe or not worth it?

This is what I'm talking about sold by a inventor guy on ebay.


DOMETIC NORCOLD REFRIGERATOR FAN FOR RV 12 VOLT
seller is RFLKT1