2013 Camping Thread

[Tailgator]

Just got back from Boulton for a week and it was awesome except for a closer than comfortable encounter with a grizzly. The campground was surprisingly empty for July -maybe people think it's still closed?

I have come back with questions that hopefully you guys can help with:
We were camped from Sunday to Friday in sites that didn't have power so went off battery power. I run my trailer with 2 12 volt batteries and have a solar panel that does a good job of charging the during the day and we don't use a lot of power anyway. Everything was working perfect, but on Wednesday night, we went to bed, the power batteries were reading charged (down to 11 volts while a couple lights were on), but by morning thebatteries were down to less than 9 volts and any lights we used in the morning were dimmer. There shouldn't have been any draw overnight, the furnace didn't come on, everything else was on propane. It charged again during the day but the same problem overnight Thursday happened. I've put both batteries on the charger here at home and one charged normally, the other one charged fast, but stays at fully charged for a minute or 2, then falls back to yellow, then back again. Does anyone know if this means my battery is pooched or could this be a problem with the regulator?

Cheers!

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Tailgator

There shouldn't have been any draw overnight, the furnace didn't come on, everything else was on propane.

My fridge uses 3.5 watts constantly, and the water heater uses 8 watts when running. So if your fridge was on, it would have drawn 2.3 amps over an 8 hour period. If the water heater was on; let's say it ran for an hour; now you are up to 3 amps.

Then the parsitic draws. My water pump and water heater when not being used draw 0.2 watts each. So a little bit there. And then my stereo and CO detector are on the same circuit and draw 2 watts. So this paragraph has another 1.5 amps.

Add a few toilet flushes (water pump) and a few flicks of lights (I am assuming seeing as they dim you don't use LED) you could easily draw 5-6 amps overnight. Taking that much draw from a pretty much depleted battery system would easily take you down that far. Personally I never let my battery get below 11.4 volts; measured 30 minutes after drawing significant power.

[Tailgator]

That's right - sorry. When I say "no draw" I mean other than that.
The LED lights are definitely on my to-do list.

That being said, everything was working fine up until Wednesday night when most of the charge was going overnight. The batteries have never done that up until this point. I've gone camping longer than that without this issue happening. After being on the charger since this morning, one of the batteries has charged up to full, while the other one still stays at full for a bit then drops back to yellow. Is it possible that battery is done? It's about 9 years old, but I've never let it die or run low on water......

[stang]

Batteries weak for sure

[ken0042]

The battery could be done. I haven't had a trailer that long, but I was thinking like a car battery they would probably be good for 5-7 years. It also depends on how many times it has been charged and discharged. As well how far to you discharge, and how quickly do you recharge?

You could have also been in a situation where the one dead battery was bringing the other one down with it. Instead of adding more power to your trailer, being low on juice it would have been drawing power.

[Tailgator]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The battery could be done. I haven't had a trailer that long, but I was thinking like a car battery they would probably be good for 5-7 years. It also depends on how many times it has been charged and discharged. As well how far to you discharge, and how quickly do you recharge?

You could have also been in a situation where the one dead battery was bringing the other one down with it. Instead of adding more power to your trailer, being low on juice it would have been drawing power.

They usually don't discharge much until this past week - down maybe to 11 overnight or a bit less, but alway rebounded before noon.

I was thinking that about 1 battery bringing the other down- I know thats how it works when they run in line. I was hoping putting it on the charger would tell me if one or both were done, but I'm not sure what it means to bounce from full to where it is on the meter (they say if it bounces from far right to another point it means the battery won't accept a charge.

If I have to buy a new battery, so be it,, I just didn't want to go buy one, then find out the problem is with the regulator. There was a guy on here, ,that worked for Battery World or something like that. Anyone remember who that is? I'd rather throw the business his way....

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Tailgator

They usually don't discharge much until this past week - down maybe to 11 overnight or a bit less, but alway rebounded before noon.

How are you making that determination; and more importantly- how are you able to put that much power back into a discharged battery?

My thinking is that if you are using solar, the system is putting power back. However battery voltage is a funny thing. If you are putting power back in at 13.5 volts for two hours, disconnect the solar and then test the battery, the battery will show 12.5 volts or pretty much a "full charge." However if you leave that battery alone for 30-60 minutes; it will then show a different voltage. That new voltage is probably a lot more realistic.

Your solar system will only be putting in at most 1 amp for every 20 watts of solar. So if you have 100 watts of solar that can put in a max of 5 amps per hour; so a 100 amp hour battery that is at 50% would take ten hours of peak sunlight to recharge.

The other thing some people do to recharge batteries is to hook up the truck and run the engine. The problem is your truck is only pushing about 2 amps of power to the trailer. So once again after running for an hour a depleted battery will show almost full right after disconnecting; and then after an hour show it's real amount.

[Tailgator]

I'm just using my battery meter and solar regulator.

So by using what you're saying, could I also charge the battery using the electric chargers I'm using, turn it off and check again in an hour or so, would that give me an indication of if the battery is holding a charge or not?

[stang]

If you'd just buy a generator you could charge and watch tv!

[Tailgator]

Originally Posted by stang

If you'd just buy a generator you could charge and watch tv!

I actually have one, just didn't use it. We were going "screenless" for th week.

[Boblobla]

Looking at heading out from Sept. 6 to about the 14th. Any recommendations of RV friendly campgrounds in southern BC or the US. I am looking for somewhere within 8-10 hours of Calgary.

[Ace]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Looking at heading out from Sept. 6 to about the 14th. Any recommendations of RV friendly campgrounds in southern BC or the US. I am looking for somewhere within 8-10 hours of Calgary.

This place is super classy. Sites are not private though, nice place with a pool, and close to spokane.

http://spokanervresort.com/site/

[HammeR_]

I recently bought a new trailer which is substantially heavier than my previous one (4450 dry vs. 1850 dry), I was towing with just a regular hitch, no WD or sway bars. I am finding now that I should be upgrading to a WD system for the new trailer. Any ideas or suggestions for the best bang for your buck?

I found this one on Kijiji, mediocre reviews online, any experience on CP with these?

http://alberta.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ501589983

[Diemenz]

^

Pro-series aren't bad from what I have heard.

Ive always been under the impression its best to get a WDH as close to your weight needs as possible which would probably be a 600lb TW 6,000lb Bar setup. Buying a 1000lb TW and 10,000lb bar WDH might be over kill. Using bars that are way above your needs lead to a very ridged and bouncy ride. There is also the chance that you can stress your frame (sometimes even bend) if you over tighten. Maybe someone else can chime in and give there thoughts.

[HammeR_]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Ive always been under the impression its best to get a WDH as close to your weight needs as possible which would probably be a 600lb TW 6,000lb Bar setup. Buying a 1000lb TW and 10,000lb bar WDH might be over kill.

To clarify, the trailer has a GVWR of 7,262 lbs and seems to have a pretty high TW. I don't imagine I will be towing at the max weight very often, but the potential exists, that why I was leaning towards the 1,000 / 10,000

[calgarygringo]

Proper trailer tongue weight should be 13-15% of trailer weight. This keeps sway to a minimum. Too little tongue weight and the tail wags the dog. Do some quick math 7x15% puts you in the range. Most tongue % are slightly less but you shouldn't be less than 10 or 12%. I have an Equalizer brand for several years with the 10k setup and my gvw weight is much like yours at 7000 lbs and tows like a dream. You don't need overkill but not enough and you will kick yourself and be out shopping after the first semi grabs your trailer. Get a good one with the proper specs and do it right.

[Slava]

A few pages back I was asking for some help with my water pressure and got some great advice and ideas here. I just thought that I would give a brief overview of how I eventually found and fixed the problem (with many off you helping!).

I connected the city water (which I think was kens idea?) and the pressure was fine. I don't know if its common, but basically this meant I had no issues with any taps/faucets above the city water entry. So I started taking a look at things below. While camping this past weekend my wife thought we should fill the freshwater chock full, in hopes that this would help water pressure...it didn't, and worse my tank wouldn't drain! Basically I took the spigot off outside and put a coat hanger up, and basically got nothing. I siphoned out about half of the water, but couldn't get much lower. I also used the coat hanger from the pump to the tank and found no blockage there.

So, I had located my blockage. It was right at the bottom of the freshwater tank (or so I figured) and I had a half tank off water. I unbolted the tank and disconnected the vent and hoses, breaking my intake in the process, but basically lifted the half full tank mostly on its side. I pulled the 'T' out at the bottom of the tank, and it was clogged full of....stuff. I guess algae and such? Basically there is a fine mesh screen there which had plugged. I cleaned it up, popped it in and the water flow is awesome!

Now I just have to put a new fresh water intake and drain spigot and I should be good to go! Yes, I will obviously be sanitizing my system before I head out as well, as that was fairly disgusting!

I just wanted to post to thank everyone who offered up ideas and suggestions. It was much appreciated! I also thought that I would explain this in case it helps someone else, and just to update those who might be curious.

[Tailgator]

Wow! What a pain for you!! I'm glad you found the problem. Never would have thought of that.....

[Ace]

Originally Posted by Slava

A few pages back I was asking for some help with my water pressure and got some great advice and ideas here. I just thought that I would give a brief overview of how I eventually found and fixed the problem (with many off you helping!).

I connected the city water (which I think was kens idea?) and the pressure was fine. I don't know if its common, but basically this meant I had no issues with any taps/faucets above the city water entry. So I started taking a look at things below. While camping this past weekend my wife thought we should fill the freshwater chock full, in hopes that this would help water pressure...it didn't, and worse my tank wouldn't drain! Basically I took the spigot off outside and put a coat hanger up, and basically got nothing. I siphoned out about half of the water, but couldn't get much lower. I also used the coat hanger from the pump to the tank and found no blockage there.

So, I had located my blockage. It was right at the bottom of the freshwater tank (or so I figured) and I had a half tank off water. I unbolted the tank and disconnected the vent and hoses, breaking my intake in the process, but basically lifted the half full tank mostly on its side. I pulled the 'T' out at the bottom of the tank, and it was clogged full of....stuff. I guess algae and such? Basically there is a fine mesh screen there which had plugged. I cleaned it up, popped it in and the water flow is awesome!

Now I just have to put a new fresh water intake and drain spigot and I should be good to go! Yes, I will obviously be sanitizing my system before I head out as well, as that was fairly disgusting!

I just wanted to post to thank everyone who offered up ideas and suggestions. It was much appreciated! I also thought that I would explain this in case it helps someone else, and just to update those who might be curious.

This is incredibly helpful. I sanitize my system at least at the start of each camping season, but we never drink that water (always buy bottled), and often times i'm wondering if sanitizing is even necesary in my case...

I will definitely keep it up after reading this.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Tailgator

Wow! What a pain for you!! I'm glad you found the problem. Never would have thought of that.....

You would've just because it was a process of elimination and that was the last place I looked. (Of course its the last place, because its also where the issue was, and then I stopped looking!)

Originally Posted by Ace

This is incredibly helpful. I sanitize my system as least at the start of each camping system, but we never drink that water (always buy bottled), and often times i'm wondering if sanitizing is even necesary in my case...

I will definitely keep it up after reading this.

I generally drink bottled as well, but even for things like brushing your teeth or washing your face a little. I will be sanitizing regularly for my own sanity after that find! It was pretty gross, and I definitely wouldn't want to drink from it.