Some food for thought for the inexperienced RV buyer......

[Kirk W]

You may have listed these elsewhere, and please feel free to direct me there if so, but I'm wondering what are the major mistakes and pitfalls that are lurking out there that we nubies should be seeking to avoid?

I don't know of any specific lists and doubt that we can make a very complete one, but my point is that we can't tell you what is best for you, only what was best for us. We can however tell you things that are always bad such as weight and balance issues for any RV, the safety issue of overloading tires or axles, and avoiding tires that look good but are beyond the recommended lifespan. We can caution new folks about proper tow vehicles for what they choose to tow, and about the need for enough truck to control an RV when road conditions get bad or weather turns sour. We can caution the new buyer about the distortions of truth to even totally false statements that most sales people are willing to make in order to get a sale. We can warn of the kind of things to look out for when shopping for a used RV like water stains and lamination problems.

 

We can suggest that new folks take life at a slower pace to make the travel as important a part of the experience as is the destination. We can suggest shorter driving days and longer visits to avoid the habit of seeing the entire country, through a windshield. We are able to share hints like always checking the situation around and behind the RV when parking in a site, even if an employee of the park is directing into the site since he may not be qualified to guide anyone. We can help you to understand that not everyone is a good fit for a particular lifestyle and that we are all part of the RV community no matter how much or little of our time we actually spend out living in one. It is proper for us to share things like failing to lower the TV antenna or to shut the dump valves after dumping, or various of the other types of mistakes that most of us make, sooner or later. We may even be able to teach you how to check the electrical pedestal for proper power before you connect your RV and do serious damage.

 

I am sure that there are many other things that others can contribute to the list of mistakes lurking out there, just waiting to ruin your day. These things tend to be pretty common to all RVs of every type and at least some of them happen to nearly everyone.These are a major part of the reason that Escapees have the RV Boot Camp programs.

[sandsys]

Good list, Kirk. I'd add that, if you have a power step, be sure it retracts before you drive away and be sure you have room for it to extend if parking by a curb. That scritch of it trying to open over a curb it doesn't quite clear is not a pleasant sound. I had to move myself to the driver side of the RV to tilt it just enough to get that step to retract again.

 

Linda Sand

[Nomad Hiker]

Kirk, I'm tucking all this info away, and we have already deemed this weekend for "more research". We have a notebook where we keep info that we made need to reference later. Thanks!

[RV'ers]

Greetings from PA.

 

Hello,

Being only 3 months into our "RV" experience I am soon to realize that of course there is more to learn and do and yes succeed and fail at.

Greenhorns like myself are kinda funny IE: I saw here to "make a list before you hit the road" Why do that I will remember everything? right? wrong went down the road with my water fill valve open and lost all the fresh water. So i will never do that again!

Push in the door step,I can do that but..... only after we went 500 miles with it down.

A ground person is needed when backing up or parking.... learned that one the hard way, I was watching the top for tree branches and the bumper hit the tree trunk no big deal just pulled it back out. OOPS!

 

The best learned lessons here and in life are the ones we pay for with our sweat and blood, so to speak.

 

Just like I can tell you that the "joint down the road has the very very best cheese burgers" but until you try one for yourself you really do not know what "my idea of a great cheese burger is"

 

I jumped into the RV life style not knowing how to "swim" but that is ok because I do know how to "float" and that will lead to swimming soon enough. :-)

 

The advice here is great and very appreciated by myself and I am sure a few others, so with that said here goes:

 

We do not have a gen set(to loud and leaves a bigger carbon foot print) We use just the deep cycle battery for out electrical needs and propane for the rest. 3-4 days out max then home so I am looking into a solar panel that will help us get a full 3-4 days use out of the deep cycle battery maintaining about a 50-75% charge any ideas? Should I install a second battery?

 

Thank you all for your time and efforts!

Please be thankful this time of year for the forum and the people who make it a success and most of all LIFE, cause with out it we have no RV lifestyle..... just sayin :-)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Cheers

RV'ers

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kirk W]

We use just the deep cycle battery for out electrical needs and propane for the rest. 3-4 days out max then home so I am looking into a solar panel that will help us get a full 3-4 days use out of the deep cycle battery maintaining about a 50-75% charge any ideas? Should I install a second battery?

At least 2 batteries are needed for most dry camping, especially if done in weather that requires use of the furnace. Furnace blowers will pull the batteries down pretty quickly and are the biggest 12V load in most RVs. If you have the room to add a second one it will greatly improve your ability to stay out and increase the life of your battery since you won't discharge this one as far. If you buy two new batteries, I suggest you make them a pair of 6V golf cart batteries, connected in series.

[sandsys]

I'd buy a second battery as well. (Actually two new ones so the old one doesn't draw down the new one.) You never want one to go below 50% so getting close to that on a regular basis is a problem waiting to happen.

 

Linda Sand

[Yarome]

At least 2 batteries... I suggest you make them a pair of 6V golf cart batteries

 

Kirk, that might be a little confusing when they were talking about adding another 12v.

 

RV'ers - Assuming you are running a single 12v deep cycle battery, then yes.. a second 12v deep cycle would greatly extend your dry camping capabilities. I would also recommend using 6v golf cart batteries, but "a pair" would only give you the equivalent of a single 12v battery... probably about what you currently have.

 

To increase your battery bank.. or "add a second battery".. you would be looking at 2 pair (4) 6v batteries. Each pair connected in series to make two 12v batteries which are then connected in parallel to each other to make a single 12v battery bank with increased capacity.

 

That would be the ideal, but you will need to verify that your battery compartment is able to hold 4 - 6v batteries. You may find that you can only hold 2 - 12v deep cycle batteries, which would still greatly increase your dry camping capabilities without doing damage to your battery bank due to over discharge. They "should" be the same brand, capacity, and age.

 

You mentioned you had a deep cycle battery now, but I'm not sure if that's a marine hybrid or an actual true deep cycle battery. Typically, the marine hybrid will have around 90-110 amp hour (ah) capacity. A true deep cycle 12v will typically have around 190-220ah capacity. 2 - 6v golf cart (GC) batteries would have around 220ah so 4 - 6v GC's would give you 440ah's.

 

Ie., If you are moving from a 110ah marine battery to 2 - 6v GC's or a true deep cycle 12v then you have doubled your capacity with only "a pair" of 6v's or a single battery upgrade... and so on and so forth... Muddy enough?

[RV'ers]

Well I for one am all ears, thank you for the replys and sharing your info.

The current deep cycle(Walmart 100 bucks) was for my boat that got promoted to Rv use

I also have a "gel" battery in the boat now, will that be of any use?

Great idea about the larger output battery.

Yet another greenhorn mistake of mine was to get too warm one night, then open the window cool off go to sleep and we heated the Adirondack National forest so that put a big drain on the old system but we lived to tell about it.

 

"At least 2 batteries are needed for most dry camping, especially if done in weather that requires use of the furnace. Furnace blowers will pull the batteries down pretty quickly and are the biggest 12V load in most RVs"

 

"dry camping" do not know that one either thx u

 

Ok so now I move onto the good batteries and have them connected in parallel to each other.

Now as far as maintaining the available load level at 50% or greater I am thinking about going with a solar charging system.

We have a 1990 Coachmen A class 27" so i do have the room on the roof for them.

This is what I am thinking about going with.

 

 

Renogy 100 Watts 12 Volts Monocrystalline Solar Starter Kit 47"x21" panels

 

• The charge controller has been upgraded to Renogy's new 30A PWM NegativeGround Charge Controller the Renogy Wanderer
• With the Renogy Wanderer 30A PWM Charge Controller, you can expand your system up to a maximum of 400W
• The kit now includes an 8ft 10AWG Tray Cable to connect your charge controller and battery
• Ideal output: 500Wh per day; can fully charge a 50Ah battery from 50% in 3 hours (depending on the availability of sunlight)
• Negative grounding controller ensures the broader off grid applications and safety, especially to be used on a vehicle which has battery negative on the chassis

 

I know it will take 24 plus hours of full strong sunlight to get the batteries(2) charged up from a 50% state. so that means 1 solar unit per battery?

Cheers

RV'ers

 

 

there are no such things as problems only opportunities

[Yarome]

The current deep cycle(Walmart 100 bucks)

 

I know of which you speak. Those are hybrid marine batteries.. not actually true deep cycle. Moving to 2 - 6v GC batteries would effectively more than double your current batteries storage capacity. However.. before making any great changes to your current setup I would highly recommend you do some in depth reading through Jack Mayer's "RV Electrical and Solar" sections of his website. It will give you a much better idea of how to determine exactly what your energy requirements are for the length of time you want to be able to dry camp (camping without electrical/water or other hookups) and how to replace the energy that you use.

 

Determining your energy requirements is an essential first step before installing a new battery bank.

[rad]

Before we bought our motorhome we developed a list of what we thought we wanted and did want. We asked more than a ton of questions. Read posts from this site and others. Talked with many experienced RVers. Looked at WAY to many coaches. Revised our list several times. When the final decision was made we ended with a motorhome that we thought we wanted and found out it is better than what we wanted.

It pays to ask questions and listen to the answers with an open mind weather you agree or not. You may learn something....we did and we are reaping the rewards.

[maggie blair]

I cannot express how grateful I am for ALL of your suggestions and advice. I have been asking lots of questions and everytime the responses from you are helpful and I am learning. Thanks for all you do!

Maggie

[Bill w/bus]

After buying and using 5 RV's - popup trailer, pickup camper, and three motorhomes - we built our first bus conversion. Sold that bus and built the second conversion. There are some things we would rearrange and some items we would not use again, RV products cooktop and some of the lighting. But, we have avoided at least 90% of the problems associated with purchased RV's. Not for everyone to build and maintain a conversion.

 

Our final outrage with RV's was when pulling into a campground the cabinet above the dinette broke loose on one corner and only the side cover of the window blind kept it landing on our daughter's head. The cabinet was held in place by four screws, two into paneling and two into framing. Three of the four pulled out. Then the windshield wiper switch failed. Good luck finding a replacement. The manufacturers don't have or refuse to provide the information to find a replacement.

 

As stated quality/design of RV's is poor. I had thought that due to economy downturn the manufacturers would improve their product in order to stay in business. Looking at the new units it is just as bad if not worse for some lines.

 

Just my two pennies worth.

 

Bill