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Old 11-30-2012, 11:22 PM   #1
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Pop Up Gizmos

Any of my fellow HTT owners use a pop up gizmo to keep their tent ends warm in the winter? Somebody from the JOF recommended them to me awhile back (sorry I don't remember who) and I was just curious if they work as advertised. I found out how much heat loss actually occurs from both ends of the HTT in the sub-freezing temperatures!! Happy Camping.
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Old 11-30-2012, 11:35 PM   #2
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Yes they do work, and they work well. I camp all year long and use their solar covers and the backend liners.
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Old 12-01-2012, 05:33 AM   #3
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They work great! I had them for my pop-up. In addition to the Gizmos you can make panels from Reflectix to go in your screen areas of your bunk ends. This will make a significant difference in keeping warm in winter and cooler in the summer as well. When they are not in use they store easily under the mattresses. Reflectix is a silver foil covered bubble wrap that can be found at Home Depot or Lowe's.
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Old 12-01-2012, 07:48 AM   #4
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They really are awesome! They also eliminated all of the condensation dripping on us through the night. We've upgraded TTs now, but we wouldn't camp without them when we had tent bunks.
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Old 12-01-2012, 08:58 AM   #5
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Pm1stnau, I have not used them yet. I thought about making my own sometime. We have been out a number of times when the temperatures are down in the low 20’s. I get the outside edge, and I find it cool. I met up with a member of our forum on our last campout, he used a heavy duty solar blanket and spring clamped them to the tent. He stated they work as good as the Gizmos.

Here are the things I have done to make it more tolerable. 1st I placed a fleece blanket between the mattress and my bottom sheet, that made a huge improvement. 2nd for the last few campouts we purchased electric mattress pads (2.5 amps each) for the HTT. They have been great, and I was never cold. In addition, to eliminate condensation we have cracked the bathroom vent about ½ - 1”. We also open one of the bunk end side windows (each bunk), we have the zippers join at the upper corner (high point) and keep them unzipped about 2-3”. Since then we have had absolutely zero condensation.

Happy Camping,
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Old 12-01-2012, 02:25 PM   #6
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Thanks, Jagiven, for your advice. Since this was our first ever "winter" camp, we tried electric blankets. They worked absolutely fantastic! In order of layers, it went mattress, fitted sheet, ordinary blanket, electric blanket, then comforter. We slept between the ordinary blanket and the electric blanket, and for as cold as the tent ends got, we were warm as can be and comfortable. Of course the furnace was set to about 74 degrees, and a portable electric ceramic heater was running, too. We did have the bathroom vent opened to prevent condensation. I was told by someone, somewhere, never to use electric blankets AND electric mattress pads; either one or the other. Electric blankets were less expensive than mattress pads, and me being a cheapskate.... I am very interested in hearing about your homemade solar blankets and how they work. Like I said, we were very comfortable for all 4 days, and since I now know how much fun winter camping is, I am now trying to figure out how to use less propane and pack fewer blankets. For the record, in 4 days of camping in temperatures that never got past the upper 20's, we used 25 pounds of propane, which included the furnace running non-stop and plenty of cooking, washing dishes, etc. I was surprised to see the propane last as long as it did. Bonus!! Happy Camping!!
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Old 12-01-2012, 11:56 PM   #7
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pm1stnau, I have not made the solar blankets yet, that might just be project for next summer. I have always understood as you do not want electric blankets as the wires tend to short out.

As to reduce the amount of propane, try using two electric heaters. Your 30 amp power feed will not be able to support both of them running simultaneously. What I do is run a heavy duty extension cord from the CG electric post into the HTT through the underside of the slide out. In your case, I would slip it in thought your front bunk end at the hinge.

My 1500W electric heater requires 12.5 amps and each electric mattress pads consume 2.5 amps each. Not sure how much electric the blankets use, but it is an easy calculation if you still have the box or use a “Kill-A-Watt” meter. When I use two electric heaters I utilize the extension cord, for one of them.
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Old 12-02-2012, 08:50 PM   #8
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Popup Gizmos made a huge difference camping in our popup the last two summers. We just recently traded for our Jayco Hybrid and plan to use the same ones on it next summer as well. Whether you buy them or make them they are well worth the money or the effort...
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Old 12-15-2012, 06:08 PM   #9
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I am using the bunk end liners in our 19H. Only camped two nights in it but we were down in the high 30s both nights and they definitely helped. I have the super high wind covers as well but did not use them on this trip.
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Old 12-15-2012, 06:11 PM   #10
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Here are a couple photos. They do a great job with stopping the cold winds from getting in as well as retaining heat from the furnace.
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ForumRunner_20121215_171002.jpg   ForumRunner_20121215_171013.jpg  
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Old 12-16-2012, 05:02 AM   #11
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We do rather well just using 9X12 tarps over the ends of our off-road POPUP. Before raising the roof top I drape the 12-foot end of the tarp thru the roof rain gutter and hold in place with a 52-inch stretch rope. Then I go down from these two hook ends down to the the trailer frame which very securely hold the tarp in place.

Now I can go ahead and raise the roof up. This is great to do even in the rain as it gives you a place under the tarp to work getting the roof up and the bed ends pulled out even during a rain period.

The tarps are then secured in place using the tarp eyelets and smaller stretch ropes securing to the framework under the tent beds making a nice looking folded tarp over the whole bed end like shown here... (LOWES/WALMART)



I basically get the same results as using the GIZMOS but at a much reduced cost. My tarps will last around three years. Doing this keeps us cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and really stops the condensation problem.

I also use the 2X2X36-inch foam pieces that are used when installing an house window air conditioner unit between the bed end material flaps and floor area which really stops up all of the small draft hole around the bottom of the tent material after you attach it to the under floor catches. I will use several of these foam pieces all the way around the floor area. This really work great (LOWES)


We POPUP owners also have a gap between the wood floor and the front/rear metal popup wall where a small angle rubber seal is used to seal off the junction when the bed ends is pulled out. In my case i can lean over and look straight on at this interface and can see daylight. Bugs and mosquitoes can enter the inside of the trailer here. I add this piece of weather strip cut in a couple of places to allow for the floor roller wheel and slips these in place to completely seal off the air gap. You could make this a permanent thing but I just do it everytime we setup. Also really helps seal out the outside. This basically just slips over the top of the metal wall and being slit like it is stays in place. There is other slit rubber seals that will work as well... (LOWES)

Sample photos from google images

This works great for us keeping our off-road POPUP sealed up pretty good from the elements at a low cost. My bed end tent material looks just like brand new since being used since we purchased the trailer in 2008.

Roy Ken
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Old 12-16-2012, 11:03 AM   #12
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If you get the gizmo's, be sure to get the highest rated wind ones. I have no experience with the less expensive ones, but for the difference in price it doesn't make much sense to get the less expensive ones. We have had ZERO condensation issues while running the furnace when using the gizmos.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...j/IMG_1230.jpg
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Old 01-27-2013, 02:22 PM   #13
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Does anyone leave their pop up gizmos attached full time? Is this possible to do?
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Old 01-27-2013, 02:26 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clossan1 View Post
Does anyone leave their pop up gizmos attached full time? Is this possible to do?
I believe I've seen people on the forums use heavy duty velcro to keep them attached while in travel. I was going to look into that this season but we are selling our hybrid.
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:32 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by cm11599ps View Post
I believe I've seen people on the forums use heavy duty velcro to keep them attached while in travel. I was going to look into that this season but we are selling our hybrid.

What are you going with???
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Old 01-27-2013, 05:49 PM   #16
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Most likely a fully loaded 26RLS.
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Old 01-28-2013, 07:42 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by clossan1 View Post
Does anyone leave their pop up gizmos attached full time? Is this possible to do?

Yes I leave them on, unless I am cleaning them. I did it with the PU and now with my HTT. I installed Velcro on the covers I had for the PU. The HTT does not have the hard roof/bunkend tenting to help hold the covers in place...so I called Bob Pitney AKA Pop Up Gizmos. We discussed how to install the solar covers and ended up with PUG sewing the "soft" side of the Velcro on the covers and I installed the rough side of the Velcro inside the "lip" that goes around the bunkend opening. I am very happy with the covers and my method of installing them.
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2010 Jayco 17Z Ex-Port
2004 Ford Explorer V8 with the tow package
2010 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 132 - Nights Camping in My Z 102
2011 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 107
2012 Camping Stats
Nights camping 133 - Nights camping in my Z 128
2013 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 66 Nights
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Old 01-28-2013, 08:46 PM   #18
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Thanks 4 the info!!
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Old 01-29-2013, 11:39 AM   #19
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Your welcome.
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2010 Jayco 17Z Ex-Port
2004 Ford Explorer V8 with the tow package
2010 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 132 - Nights Camping in My Z 102
2011 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 107
2012 Camping Stats
Nights camping 133 - Nights camping in my Z 128
2013 Camping Stats
Nights Camping 66 Nights
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