New 28.5 RSTS...dry camping add ons????

[NanaStacie]

We are going to be picking up our new Eagle in May. We are planning on seeing and staying in National Parks all over the US as well as leaving the snow and staying in warmer climates for Feb. and March. Our warmer long stay will have full hook ups. Our National Parks and State Parks will be dry camping. I have some questions being a newbie..I apologize if these questions are elementary.
1 ) Should we add a second battery in parallel right away for our National Parks stays?( About a week long or so in length) Does our same cord that we plug into shore power plug right into the generator then?
2) Would a smaller generator like a Honda 2000 be a smart purchase for battery charging and powering small appliances like a coffee maker, blow dryer etc? ( I can live without air and microwave)
3) Would a solar suitcase be a good add on to a generator or unnecessary?
4) Are there any other items needed that I have no idea are important ?

Thank you for you knowledge, help, and time. We are very excited to start the next chapter

[Bigmike1461]

Hello I have same trailer and I'll be dry camping on Long Island NY. I run two 6v batteries and get plenty of storage,as for 30 amp plug some generators have 30 amp plug like the Honda eu 3000 the Honda 2000 is great but if you want to run ac you'll need the Honda companion with the Honda 2000 the 2000 will run microwave and hair dryer but not at same time.Your trailer should have solar connections on the roof and down by the landing gear . I am going to install solar on the roof just to keep battery charged.

[DanNJanice]

Originally Posted by NanaStacie

We are going to be picking up our new Eagle in May. We are planning on seeing and staying in National Parks all over the US as well as leaving the snow and staying in warmer climates for Feb. and March. Our warmer long stay will have full hook ups. Our National Parks and State Parks will be dry camping. I have some questions being a newbie..I apologize if these questions are elementary.
1 ) Should we add a second battery in parallel right away for our National Parks stays?( About a week long or so in length) Does our same cord that we plug into shore power plug right into the generator then?
2) Would a smaller generator like a Honda 2000 be a smart purchase for battery charging and powering small appliances like a coffee maker, blow dryer etc? ( I can live without air and microwave)
3) Would a solar suitcase be a good add on to a generator or unnecessary?
4) Are there any other items needed that I have no idea are important ?

Thank you for you knowledge, help, and time. We are very excited to start the next chapter

Here are my thoughts. We boondock about 75% of the time so if it works for us, it "should" work for you.
1 ) Should we add a second battery in parallel right away for our National Parks stays?( About a week long or so in length) Does our same cord that we plug into shore power plug right into the generator then?
Yes, get a second battery if you only have one now. Batteries should be identical if possible. If you have to buy two new ones, consider two 6V golf cart batteries wired in series.
Regarding the cord. The same cord you use for plugging into shore power also is used to plug into your generator. You may have to buy a 30 amp to 20 amp adapter, but that is it.

2) Would a smaller generator like a Honda 2000 be a smart purchase for battery charging and powering small appliances like a coffee maker, blow dryer etc? ( I can live without air and microwave)
A 2000 watt genny would be fine as a long as you do not need the air conditioner. Hair dryers, coffee makers, microwaves, are all energy hogs, so plan to use them individually. We have a 2000 watt Yamaha that has been working for us for about 5 years now, without a problem.

3) Would a solar suitcase be a good add on to a generator or unnecessary?
I would recommend solar if you plan to boondock very much. I recommend about 200 watts of solar. Any less than that and it probably will not charge your batteries during the daylight. We use a home-made suitcase with 2-100 watt panels and rarely have to run our generator.
Some people prefer panels on the roof, but we like the portable ones as it allows us to park the trailer in the shade, making it MUCH cooler inside for the cat. Portable also allows you to move the panels for maximum efficiency. If you go with roof mounted panels, I would probably get 300-400 watts of panels, rather than 200.

4) Are there any other items needed that I have no idea are important ?
If you want to run some AC devices in the evenings, like the TV or computer, I would recommend a small 200-400 watt pure sine wave inverter.

[DavidJay]

There are lots of threads here on the Jayco forum about the use of the Micro-Air soft starter that allows the use of an Air conditioner with the Honda 2000 (or Yamaha 2000).

Here is one recent thread if you really want to understand the issue: https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...kit-54743.html

Go to page 2 and read the post by “CampNow”, the Micro-Air soft start lowers inrush current by 75% (!)

[NanaStacie]

Thank you so much for the help! I have been reading so many threads on dry camping/boondocking but there are MANY options. This forum is so helpful and informative. We will try a dry camping trial run prior to leaving for our week at Rocky Mountain National Park...Next step....buying a truck! Ha ha

[DanNJanice]

Originally Posted by NanaStacie

Thank you so much for the help! I have been reading so many threads on dry camping/boondocking but there are MANY options. This forum is so helpful and informative. We will try a dry camping trial run prior to leaving for our week at Rocky Mountain National Park...Next step....buying a truck! Ha ha

Don't hesitate to open a new thread and ask about trucks on this forum either. A lot of people have picked the wrong truck because they did not realize what was involved.

[WarrenG]

I added 5 solar panels and 2 good batteries so that we can run almost indefinitely (without A/C), and our Gray water tanks eventually become the limiter. And we, and our neighbors, enjoy not hearing a generator running. We like the peace and quiet so a generator is a non-starter for us.

I don't know which parks you're planning to visit, but many of them in the west aren't convenient for boon-docking, either because there is no place at all where it's allowed within the park, and even outside the park you might have to travel relatively far to get to what you want to see.

Last year we visited about 15 of the parks in the SouthWest and I'd estimate that boon-docking within the park, or close to the park is available in less than half of those parks, and all but Death Valley in California don't allow any boon-docking in the park. My point is, you might not be able to use boon-docking as often as you'd like, so maybe you only need to be able to go 2-3 days before you'll have hookups again.

We're planning a trip for this year that will include visits to almost 20 more National parks, and my research so far indicates that we'll be boon-docking in maybe a third of those parks.

[Chrisb-24]

Hello there,
We've done it all but never just on the campers battery. I do have a Honda EU 3000 inverter/generator. Very quite and runs everything just not both A/C' s. I just run the living area A/C, then when we go to bed I switch and run the bedroom A/C. If you have a 50a service 5er you'll have to get the 30a to 50a pigtail to hook up to the generator. We stay at a RV Park in South Texas and have to hook up to 30a service. So using only one A/C is no big deal. If you have anymore questions please feel free to private me and I'll give you my cell number.
Good luck,
Chris

[DavidJay]

Originally Posted by NanaStacie

Next step....buying a truck! Ha ha

Strongly recommended for a 5th wheel...

[starcraft69]

We have a 2015 28.5 and do a ton of dry camping. Two 6v batteries, Champion 3100 generator, 400 watt inverter for TV and direct tv box,40 gal water bladder to refill fresh water, 27 gal tote for gray tanks. I am adding 300 watts of solar this month. We have dry camped for two to three weeks on this set up.

[JeremiahM]

My wife and I have dry camped for 1 week, using lights minimly at night (mostly stayed by the camp fire at night), taking military showers every other day using the pump and fresh tanks, and using the stove, oven and fridge on propane, as well as heat just long enough to warm it up right before bed, all of this on four 6-v batteries wired series-parallel. At the end of the 8 day trip I still had 12.2 V tested on the batteries. We don't like generators and generally stay in non generator sections of the NPS campgrounds. Personally don't understand why they won't just invest in at least power in those campgrounds. When we walk the campground and get to the genny section all you gear is the roar of those things. And it's not so much the people that use them for quick things such as showers and such, but some of those people just run them all day and stay in their RV and watch TV. I also gotta admit the Honda and Yahamma ones are nice and quiet compared to others we see... Rant over... Good luck, hopefully some of my info was helpful

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by WarrenG

I don't know which parks you're planning to visit, but many of them in the west aren't convenient for boon-docking, either because there is no place at all where it's allowed within the park, and even outside the park you might have to travel relatively far to get to what you want to see.

Last year we visited about 15 of the parks in the SouthWest and I'd estimate that boon-docking within the park, or close to the park is available in less than half of those parks, and all but Death Valley in California don't allow any boon-docking in the park. My point is, you might not be able to use boon-docking as often as you'd like, so maybe you only need to be able to go 2-3 days before you'll have hookups again.

Can you post Which parks you are saying don't have / do have ??? Are these just in California?

In Utah National Parks - most do not have full Hookups;
Capitol Reef: Fruita does not electric, but has two other primitive campgrounds that are amazing,

Arches is Primitve

Canyonlands: Two primitive campgrounds - no water or electric

Bryce Canyon: Both campgrounds are primitive

[NanaStacie]

We got our truck ! Hooray! Now we can pull our 5th wheel home. Ha ha. One more question for all you experts.....Will we have a place to fill our water at a National Park? They say there is dumping and water available, but can you hook your fresh water hose up to it and fill your tank? We really want to climb up to the higher elevations without that weight.

[WarrenG]

Don't expect a hose thread. Many/most are a simple spigot. We use a funnel with a clear tube to our 7gal blue plastic jugs. Then use the pump to transfer to the fw tank.

[NanaStacie]

Thanks WarrenG...That's what I thought. Looks like we will need to tow some water.