Chad Heiser

Glad to hear everything is going well. Here's to a speedy recovery.

Good luck with everything Dave. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys in Quartzsite.

I only put water in my tank when I am going to use it. I am still working full time so the rig doesn’t get used as much as I would like. I have never had an issue with my water tanks on four different rigs over 20 years or so so far doing this.

Congratulations Cory.

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I also use Chrome and have never had an issue.

The 2020 rally was our 6th rally. Doesn't seem possible, but it was. The first WCR (as Dave mentioned) was an announcement that we (Mr Seas and I) would be at the Sparks Marina RV Resort the weekend of June 19, 2015. We hoped other HDTers would join us for a long weekend get together. We really didn't know what to expect. Ten rigs showed up and it has continued on since then. I am already looking forward to 2021. 😉

As long as the bolts are properly sealed, there should be no issues. They are no different than any other roof penetration to mount an antenna or cover. As to inspecting the roof with solar panels, a proper installation should still allow you to move around on the roof and access everything needed. Many panels are installed so they can be tilted up to assist with solar harvest. This tilting action also helps with roof access when needed.

The only real maintenance with a solar system on an RV is keeping the panels clean and checking all the connections periodically. It really is a set it and forget it system, for the most part. Batteries are dependent on the type used. Obviously, lead acid batteries need maintenance, but AGM or Lithium batteries are like solar. The only maintenance is keeping the connections clean and checking that everything is staying tight periodically. Most quality inverters and solar controllers (I’m talking specifically Magnum and Victron) are intended for off grid continuous use. They should last many years in RV use. Of course, as with any electronic product, issues can arise but they are rare with the quality manufacturers. I have had Magnum inverters in three of my rigs with no issues. The oldest is going on seven years and still going strong. I have installed several Victron units for friends. Victron is newer in the American market than Magnum, but they had been around in Europe for some time before they migrated to North America. There are other manufacturers as well, but Magnum and Victron are top of the heap in the RV world. My next rig will most likely have a full Victron system in it. This is not because I have been unhappy with any of my Magnum stuff, but because I like some of the electronic bells and whistles that Victron offers that Magnum doesn’t.

Dave, Hopefully you get everything sorted out. I also wish you a speedy recovery. Hopefully this doesn't mess with you winter travel plans too much.

That off grid package is very nice for a TC. I have more than double that set up on my current 5th wheel and it allows me to basically be power independent as long as the sun is shining during the day. As for running the air conditioner with that set up, it will probably be possible but the length of run time will still be limited. The desired time to run the AC is usually early afternoon when it is hottest and there may not be enough solar harvest time left in the day to replenish the battery bank for overnight use after that. It will depend on how you use the system and how much sun is available. My TC use was over 15 years ago, so systems like that were nonexistent then. I look at a serious boondocking rig as requiring solar, batteries, inverters, etc and it is nice to know they offer that from the factory. I also want lots of water capacity for boondocking. If you plan to haul additional water in the trailer you should be pretty good. The composting toilet will also help. Good luck with your plans.

I used to own a TC and enjoyed it quite a bit, although I was not full time in it. When it was just me, I really liked the TC for its amenities and ease of use. The biggest draw back, even when I was single in the TC, was storage. Storage of personal items and storage of fresh and waste water. Truck campers do not have the space to offer much of either. My TC had a slide out and when it was deployed, it was very nice inside for me and even for me and my wife. When my step son came along, the space did get pretty small pretty quickly. I towed a cargo trailer behind the truck to haul the gear we needed; like chairs, a BBQ, ground mat, cooler (because the fridge was so small), generator and fuel, etc. As a part time RVer at the time, it was a big hassle to have to load the cargo trailer every time we wanted to go camping and unload the cargo trailer every time we got home (I used the cargo trailer for other purposes when not using it with the TC). As a full timer, this wouldn't be as much of an issue because the gear would just live in the cargo trailer all the time for travel. The biggest advantage of the TC was being able to get into remote locations because of its size and agility. The biggest disadvantage was not being able to stay in those locations as long as I would have liked because of the lack of storage for fresh and waste water and properly sized batteries for long term use (although lithium batteries can mitigate this somewhat now). As an aside, I ran into one issue with my TC at a park that perplexed me as well. I wanted to head off for an outing one day while staying in this particular RV park. I went to drop the TC so I could just take the PU. A park employee told me I could not do that as there was a state law preventing the TC being on its own in the RV park. I called BS on that and eventually got them to admit it was just a policy their park had, but it still prevented me from doing the outing I had planned that day.

If you email them to me I can post them.

I got permission to post the pictures. Here you go. Here is a link to a You Tube video of when the failure occurred. The only thing that kept the trailer attached to the truck was the tailgate. The tow vehicle was a pick up in this instance.

I am happy to post the pictures I sent you Dave, I just want to get permission from the person who sent them to me first. Assuming I do, I will add them to this thread.

You need to share the wealth and come to the West Coast Rally with it too. 😉 I'm interested as I am now considering changing to a Toy Hauler since we bought our RZR and my retirement is getting closer.

I put my repeater on a simple on/off switch. I turn it on when running down the road and off when not hooked up. There is no issue with leaving it on all the time, other than the constant 12 volt battery drain.

Netflix doesn't work that way. When Netflix releases a series (or adds a series to its library) all the episodes are available immediately. There is nothing to record on an ongoing basis like with broadcast TV or Satellite TV. Through the Netflix App you can download content to watch later when you do not have internet available. This is easy to do from the app on an IOS or Android device. Then if you wish to view that downloaded program on your television, simply cast it from your device to the TV or directly connect your device to the TV. On edit: Netflix will add seasons to shows on an ongoing (annual or whatever schedule) basis, but again when the new season is available all the episodes for that season will immediately be available. They don't release them one by one or weekly like broadcast TV or Satellite TV.

I went down this road several years ago. I built an enclosure for a generator and used all kinds of methods to vent and insulate it. I had multiple iterations of the enclosure (Styrofoam insulation, vents, powered vent fans, mufflers, openings in the enclosure, etc.), but I could never sufficiently vent the heat from the enclosure and ultimately the generator would over heat or shut down. Granted, I was working with a larger generator than a Honda EU3000, but it was still a losing battle. When I had my Honda EU3000, I didn't worry about an enclosure. That generator was quiet enough that it was never a thought to try to enclose it.

That's what I get as well. Bob, Don't forget about the weight taken off (unloaded from) the front axle because of the hitch being behind the rear axle. You can't just subtract the original rear axle weight from the second rear axle weight without factoring in the weight moved from the front axle to the rear axle with the cantilever from the hitch placement. You either figure pin weight the way stripit did by subtracting the original total truck weight (19240 lbs) from the second total truck weight (22220 lbs) or the way you did by subtracting the original rear axle weight (8400 lbs) from the second rear axle weight (12160 lbs) and then subtracting the weight moved from the front axle to the rear axle from the cantilever of the hitch placement (780 lbs). 22220 - 19240 = 2980 or 12160 - 8400 - 780 = 2980

We will be heading to Quartzite in January, but only for 10 days or so (we both still work full time). We went last year for the first time and had a blast hanging out with some of our friends, especially being able to take off on the RZR's right from camp. It will most likely become an annual thing with us. We are looking forward to retirement so we can spend more time at places like that in the future.

Congratulations again. You should really enjoy that set up.

It sounds like you are set on getting a stand alone Garmin, but I will say that I use a CoPilot app on my iPad and it works great. I like the larger screen on the iPad vs a stand alone GPS device and with the CoPilot app, I can also enter the rig dimensions to keep me off roads I should not be on. So far (several years of part time use) it has worked very well for me and has not led me astray yet. It is also cheaper than a stand alone unit since I already had the iPad and just bought the app to use on it.

It depends on the motor home. Some have heated storage compartments and some do not. Even if the compartments are not heated, they should at least be insulated. If they are insulated, it would take some sustained cold temperatures to affect the lithium batteries. Being that you will be using this motor home as a vacation rig, it will be unlikely you will be in areas that will be cold enough for long enough to worry about.

For the type of set up you are proposing, put the inverter in line after the existing transfer switch between it and the power panel. This way the generator can be used to charge batteries as needed.