Newbie questions

i was looking for the "newbie" forum but guess this will do...

Having never RV'ed before in a real RV, just small TT's many years ago and since we will be getting our Grand Canyon in a month I have a simple question.

Obviously, there are many things that need an electrical connection such as the refrig, if you are driving I assume it will use the batteries (?), and the 50/30 amp connection at a campsite, but what happens if you stay a night a Wally World? How long do the batteries last. How do you make sure that the food doesn't go bad? How many electrical things such as lights, TV can you use if you are not connected?

Thanks,
I am sure there are more to come if/when I think of them (I feel like one of my 8th grade science students who wandered into an advanced astrophyiscs symposium)

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We were all newbies once! Don't be afraid to ask questions. The fridge will run on LP, so that keeps the food cold. As for the rest of the questions, I yield to others as we don't boondock.

Martha


Paul & Martha

Life's too short. Live so you can say "Remember when" not "I wish I had".

Hi Seren,

Your Landmark has two separate electrical systems: the 110V system that is plugged into a shore power receptacle, and a 12V system that runs off the battery when you're not plugged into shore power. When plugged into shore power, there's a device called a Power Converter that converts 110V AC into 12V DC to both charge the battery and to supply power to the 12V fuse box.

Most of your lights are 12V DC. The refrigerator and water heater are dual power and can run on 110V AC when plugged in, or on 12V DC and propane when not plugged in. The furnace runs on 12V DC and propane.

Your Televisions, Air Conditioning, and any appliances you bring that plugs into a standard outlet will run only when you're on shore power, unless you install an inverter, which converts 12V DC into 110V AC. If you want to get an inverter, 1 battery might run a small TV for a while, but for more you need a bigger system.

Of all the 12V devices, the furnace will run a battery down faster than anything else. With a good Group 27 size battery, you could stay overnight in a Walmart and run the furnace, some lights, the refrigerator and hot water heater. If you're going to boon dock in cool weather more than once in a while, you should consider having 2 batteries and you might want a generator to recharge.

Hope this helps.

Dan pretty much covered it. If you want to use your A/C, tv etc. and you are not plugged into power you must have a generator.

Ok, thanks! The propane runs the frig, well that makes a lot of sense didn't know it worked that way.

Not planning any boondocking this year but planning on heading west next year, so will have to learn more about inverters and getting a generator or possibly a solar panel. Guess AA energizers probably won't help much.

Thanks!


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Seren said:

Ok, thanks! The propane runs the frig, well that makes a lot of sense didn't know it worked that way.

Not planning any boondocking this year but planning on heading west next year, so will have to learn more about inverters and getting a generator or possibly a solar panel. Guess AA energizers probably won't help much.

Thanks!


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Click to expand...

The control boards also use some 12V power when running on LP. And of course if you ordered the residential refrigerator option, it runs on 110V only and comes with an inverter and 2nd battery to run it while towing.

danemayer said:

The control boards also use some 12V power when running on LP. And of course if you ordered the residential refrigerator option, it runs on 110V only and comes with an inverter and 2nd battery to run it while towing.

Click to expand...

Ahh, so my residential refer is not propane, so how long would battery power last before needing to be recharged?


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Seren said:

Ahh, so my residential refer is not propane, so how long would battery power last before needing to be recharged?


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Click to expand...

The residential fridge option is pretty new, so we haven't heard too much about user experience while running on battery. Probably a good bet that it'll keep the frig cold for 8 hours of towing.

With the residential fridge, I believe the extra battery is wired in parallel with the primary battery. So as the fridge draws down the batteries, it's drawing equally from both. While the residential option isn't really intended for boondocking, if you're staying somewhere without power, you'll want to monitor the battery drain because in the morning you'll need a good battery charge to operate slides and landing gear.

Here is a detailed post on the topic...

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.ph...ark/page6?highlight=residential+refridgerator

If you just bought your Landmark, (I'm going to guess a Grand Canyon is a Landmark based on the location of this thread)
you may have the new option?

Better start at the beginning, unless you need to know how much beer it will hold!!!

When you say "stay a night at Wally World," are you talking pulling in at 1 AM and leaving at 6 AM or getting there at 2 in the afternoon and leaving the next day at 11 AM? If the short time, the batteries you have will keep fridge with no problem. Some manufactures didn't even have the residential fridge hooked up to the batteries or an inverter. Now, if you are planning or staying for an extended period, I would look into 6 volt batteries. The fridge will not use that much power, but if in the winter, furnace running, and other electrical being used, long periods you could drain batteries.

Interesting stuff - I did not realize that the residential fridges were actually residential (duh). One question that I did not see answered here - is charging when you are driving. depending on your TV (tow vehicle) tow package it is a very good possibility that your alternator from the truck will be providing 12v to the trailer when you are driving (ie engine running ). Some trucks, like mine require a Fuse to be installed. Mine came with the fuse because it was a factory tow package but it was not installed so for one whole season I did not even realize it.

Welcome to the Family -

Hmmm, a fuse in a truck, batteries in the RV may run out... All those little things that I do not know about. Yep, going to he an interesting first year. But i know we will love every minute of it, well almost every minute


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Wow, how very interesting!! When camping without being hooked up to shore power my frig, stove and hot water heater run off propane as does my furnace. The furnace fan runs off the battery, but doesn't draw that much as do my lights inside. Cannot run the tv without hooking up the generator. I purchased two Champion 2000's and hook them together when I need everything plus the air.They both cost me about $700 in total plus the connections. Now if the better half decides to hook up the curling iron, blow dryer and the likes, purchase a lot larger generator! As for being a newbie, I think we all learn something new each time we take our rigs out, at least I do and that is half the fun of camping! Meeting new people and learning from them or from their mistakes. Have fun, enjoy and be safe out there!!

One "gotcha" if you are dry camping is your slide-outs are 12 volts powered. So, if you run down your batteries too far you may have trouble getting your slides back in. That said, once you connect to your tow vehicle with its engine running it will feed 14 volts into your travel trailer and will slowly charge your batteries and boost your voltage in the 12 volt system in the TT, depending on how depleted the batteries were, you would be able to close the slides right away or you might have to wait a few minutes.

There is a fuse in the tow vehicle 12 volt feed wire so if your batteries are really depleted there is a risk that the fuse will blow open and then this does not work.

Seren,

you are absolutely correct it will be an interesting and enjoyable adventure. The south and eastern states have a very active members and a great near year round rally schedule. I would strongly suggest that you apply for membership to the owners group and go to at least one rally. They are really a lot of fun with some great people. But in addition, not only are the people great fun, but they are super helpful. The Member forums are also full of great tips and this time of year as we all up in the cold weather areas get itching to go camping there are a lot of members here willing to provide advice and guidance.

The National Rally is also a great event and this year it is in VA - registration will be opening up to Club members some day this week... And it always sells out.

I believe that the fist year of membership in the CLUB is now free. so there is no risk at all to joining... other than having such a great time at rallies that you have to renew!


Also I should add - I Dry Camp a lot and find that a second battery is worth the $$ and at the end of last year purchased two 6v to replace the single 12v that came with my rig. I also have a 5500 Generator - but I prefer not to run that for anything other than the AC ... when it is really hot and never run it at night - I like the quite of the night when camping, even if it's at a Walmart but especially if it is at a camp ground ( with no hookups )
Kevin

There are many variables when trying to figure out how long the batteries will last. It dpends on how much the furnace runs, how often you open the fridge door, how many lights you are running, the condition of the batteries etc. My class A motorhome had a 2000w inverter connected to 4 deep cycle batteries. The furnace blower was 110v so it needed the inverter to run off of shore power and on a cold overnight stop all 4 batteries would be pretty much drained by morning. Inverters can eat up a lot of 12v power when converting that power to 110v AC. There are some things you can do to help conserve battery power like swapping your internal lights out with LED lights and turn them off when not needed etc. As far as air conditioning goes you will need shore power or a generator.