First trip, newbie questions/comments

[bjlasota]

So with the help of this forum, we had our first successful, long distance camping trip. This forum helped me quite a bit installing a battery and I just wanted to say thanks. The camper is a 2004 Jayco Qwest 10B. Now for some follow-up questions:

With the 3 days we were gone, I was able to power the trailer for all 3 days, on a single charge of a 24DC battery from wallyworld. This included my upgraded LED lighting and 2 ceiling fans.

It'll be a few weeks before we go out again. Should I disconnect the battery, leave it be, let it die, or put it on a trickle charger? Again, it'll sit for a few weeks until our next trip.The rest of our trips this year will be shore power, so I'll really only need the battery for the brakes.

Second, our handpump leaks a bit for the potable water. I've tightened the fittings but it's leaking on the top side around the handle. I'm ok with just replacing it, but here's the question. Are there reasonable pumps that are electric that I can hook into the shore or battery power? The pump handle was nice, but was a bear to pump, especially after doing loads of dishes over 3 days. I have 3 or 4 holding tanks, but we found it easier to just dump the water from the tank on the dishes than use the handpump.

I've noticed a couple times over the last few weeks, that while cranking the top up, it skips a beat. Almost like it were a broken tooth on a sprocket, but it's not all the time, only very rarely. Is this an indication into any future failures?

I've seen quite a few people with scissor jacks as supports. I currently just use jack stands, but have noticed that some scissor jacks are permanently attached to the camper frame. Are there decently priced jacks compatible to the brackets already on my jayco frame, or is that typically a custom welded install? 2 questions stem from this question
- If I can get them on my camper, do you level using the 2 scissor jacks, or do you still incorporate the stabilizing jacks on the back?
- Can they be used on a slant? I set my camper up for guests in my driveway, which is kinda slanted. Currently, I use leveling blocks to level my jack stands, however, the scissor jacks would only provide one point of contact per jack with no swivel.

Lastly, I've noticed a couple times, people have installed hitches on the back of their pop ups for bike racks or cargo racks. My next trip we'll be packing the car with people, so I won't have much cargo room. Are there kits you can purchase to install a hitch onto the back of the camper? I already have an aluminum hitch cargo tray, just need a spot on the camper to put it.

Thanks in advance!

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by bjlasota

snip...

With the 3 days we were gone, I was able to power the trailer for all 3 days, on a single charge of a 24DC battery from wallyworld. This included my upgraded LED lighting and 2 ceiling fans.

It'll be a few weeks before we go out again. Should I disconnect the battery, leave it be, let it die, or put it on a trickle charger? Again, it'll sit for a few weeks until our next trip.The rest of our trips this year will be shore power, so I'll really only need the battery for the brakes.

...snip

You need to FULLY charge your battery ASAP (unless you plan to buy a new battery). So, if your trailer has a converter/charger, plug in your trailer and that should take care of it. If not, a trickle charger will be slow, but should be able to fully charge your battery.

BTW, the LED lights wouldn't have taken a lot of power, but the fans would have.

[bjlasota]

Well my vehicle charges the battery while we drove the 5 hours back home. However, I unhooked the vehicle, so now it's discharging again because of the gas monitor. So the question remains, should I take it out and put it on a trickle, leave it fully charged and just unhook, or let it discharge completely? I plan on leaving it on a tender all winter, but for these short breaks between trips, what do I do with it?

[oldmanAZ]

Unless you want to buy a new battery for each trip, DON'T LET IT DISCHARGE COMPLETELY!

You would have recharged some during your drive back home, but it is unlikely your battery was even close to fully charged.

Again, if your trailer has a converter charger, plugging in your trailer should take care of it. If not, get your battery on a charger ASAP.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by bjlasota

So with the help of this forum, we had our first successful, long distance camping trip. This forum helped me quite a bit installing a battery and I just wanted to say thanks. The camper is a 2004 Jayco Qwest 10B. Now for some follow-up questions:

With the 3 days we were gone, I was able to power the trailer for all 3 days, on a single charge of a 24DC battery from wallyworld. This included my upgraded LED lighting and 2 ceiling fans.

It'll be a few weeks before we go out again. Should I disconnect the battery, leave it be, let it die, or put it on a trickle charger? Again, it'll sit for a few weeks until our next trip.The rest of our trips this year will be shore power, so I'll really only need the battery for the brakes.

The easiest thing to do is just disconnect the neutral wire (not hot) from the battery. This will remove all load. Many people add a disconnect switch to help make this much easier.

You should be careful about fully discharging your battery, they are really only meant to go down to about 50% charge, after which they start degrade heavily. If you regularly discharge your battery below this level it will not last long. That is what @oldmanAZ is trying to get across.

Yes a trickle charger will help keep it charged, and is a good idea. Personally I use a small portable 40W solar panel that I keep hooked up in while in storage. My battery is always at 100% when I pick it up at the yard, and the quick connect to the controller that I have mounted makes setup quick and easy. I tuck the panel up out of sight on the roof of our HTT in the yard.

Alternatively if you have a 110V source, keep it plugged in and let the converter keep the battery topped off.

Second, our handpump leaks a bit for the potable water. I've tightened the fittings but it's leaking on the top side around the handle. I'm ok with just replacing it, but here's the question. Are there reasonable pumps that are electric that I can hook into the shore or battery power? The pump handle was nice, but was a bear to pump, especially after doing loads of dishes over 3 days. I have 3 or 4 holding tanks, but we found it easier to just dump the water from the tank on the dishes than use the handpump.

I've noticed a couple times over the last few weeks, that while cranking the top up, it skips a beat. Almost like it were a broken tooth on a sprocket, but it's not all the time, only very rarely. Is this an indication into any future failures?

Yes, you can find an electric pump on Amazon or elsewhere and retrofit with a bit of plumbing and electrical skills. Aquaflow is the most common brand. If you are really adventuresome, you can buy a much larger rotocast tank to mount under floor and increase your water capacity. Most pups use this arrangement these days over the jug and hand pump.

I've seen quite a few people with scissor jacks as supports. I currently just use jack stands, but have noticed that some scissor jacks are permanently attached to the camper frame. Are there decently priced jacks compatible to the brackets already on my jayco frame, or is that typically a custom welded install? 2 questions stem from this question
- If I can get them on my camper, do you level using the 2 scissor jacks, or do you still incorporate the stabilizing jacks on the back?
- Can they be used on a slant? I set my camper up for guests in my driveway, which is kinda slanted. Currently, I use leveling blocks to level my jack stands, however, the scissor jacks would only provide one point of contact per jack with no swivel.

The scissor jacks you are seeing are generally the same as the one-arm jacks found on pups and lighter trailers. They are still not intended to support the weight of the trailer, and are only used for stabilization. Levelling is still accomplished with blocks or levellers under one wheel, and the tongue jack. Then the stab jacks (either type) are deployed to stabilize the pup. Most pups will not have the clearance between the frame and ground for the larger scissor jacks; higher risk of ripping them off on an obstruction. Note that you can add jacks to the two front corners for additional stabilization if you want. Our 1007 had 4 jacks.

Lastly, I've noticed a couple times, people have installed hitches on the back of their pop ups for bike racks or cargo racks. My next trip we'll be packing the car with people, so I won't have much cargo room. Are there kits you can purchase to install a hitch onto the back of the camper? I already have an aluminum hitch cargo tray, just need a spot on the camper to put it.

Thanks in advance!

Under no cicumstances should you add a bumper hitch to the lightweight bumper of a pup. It will take very little time for the leverage of the bikes swinging back there to tear the bumper right off the trailer. With our pup I had crossbars mounted on the roof (they make models specific to pups) and used bike racks on the crossbars. There are also excellent options for mounting bikes onto the a-frame at the front (what I use now with our HTT). Search bike rack here on JOF and you will get tons of information and ideas.

[bdreinv]

When we first started using a Solar panel in 2007.We purchase a portable 45 watt panel from Harbor Freight.To our amazement are batteries were always charged.We mostly dry camp, it was a good way to learn about Solar!

[bjlasota]

Awesome. Thank you for all the help @bankr63.

As for the battery, I already have a couple battery tenders, I'll likely just plug it into one of those when I'm storing it. I already spent a good amount of change on the battery setup and with the upcoming water mod, don't want to invest in a solar panel. Plus, when I store for the winter, I have a cover and don't really want to mess with pulling the panel off... HOWEVER!!! You gave me a great idea. If a solar panel is good enough to keep a camper battery charged, I imagine I could install a temporary battery in my shed in the backyard and have a solar panel on the roof, thereby keeping LED power for my shed instead of running power cable out that far. Based on the solar panels and batteries, would they hold a good charge through Michigan winters?(A little off topic)

I'll look into Aquaflow, Been looking at the Shurflo ones. I'll probably stick with the 5 gal jugs now, I have about 3 or 4 of them. But I might look into the rotocast next year.

I do have the one-arm jacks on the rear of the camper, but none on the front, so I just use stands. But good point in that levelling is done with one wheel and the tongue jack.

Thanks for the bike info too. The A-frame sounds like a good idea, but I don't think I'd be able to open my rear gate if I went that route. However, I'll look into it! My focus right now is the water pump and possibly scissor jacks. Daughters only 5 months now so we have a little bit of time before she needs a bike on a trip.

Thanks again for all the information, it was very helpful.

[bankr63]

Originally Posted by bjlasota

I'll look into Aquaflow, Been looking at the Shurflo ones. I'll probably stick with the 5 gal jugs now, I have about 3 or 4 of them. But I might look into the rotocast next year.

Sorry, brain fart, it IS shurflow. I have an aquaflo for a totally different project.

I do the opposite of you. Panel in the summer (it is not permanently mounted) at the storage yard - no power - and battery tender in the winter when I bring the battery home. I like the portable panel because I can also use it when dry camping. We are usually in a fairly well treed site, so I can move the panel around during the day to catch the sunny spots and keep the battery charged - I have about 15' of extension wire on it.

Cold doesn't affect the panel much, but amount of sun and snow cover will. If you have a well sloped south facing roof, it could probably work quite well. The battery capacity does decrease in the cold, but for running a couple of LED lights in the shed for a short time, sure. After all, how much time do you really spend out there when it's well below freezing?

ETA: Check out this thread here: http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f8...s-31325-2.html

I really like the one that @RoyBraddy shows (post 18) and my former setup is in the photo in the next post down. My current Arvika + Thule rack combo on the front does not interfere with my SUV hatch (large Traverse), I would think a pickup gate would be even less likely to interfere. The bikes site pretty high on one of these.

My biggest concern with an A-frame setup is how much you might have to remove to get the bunk open (actually, same goes for a bumper mount). For our setup, I have to pull the pin on the Thule Crosstrack and drop it to the ground before I drop the bunk end; the actual Arvika carrier clears the bunk.

[bjlasota]

Yeah, Shurflo is what I've been seeing.

The only place I dry camp is in northern michigan, surrounded by trees. I really wouldn't have a location anyways to get any power from the sun.

As for the shed, I put an Ice rink in my backyard every year, when it actually gets cold. I plan to use lights in the summer while I'm working around the house late in the evenings, or maybe like a vanity light for when we have campfires. In the winter, I want to put a bench next to the shed with a place to tie up your skates. Or maybe some accent lights or LED bar light on the shed. Something of that nature for winter!