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Chad Heiser

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Everything posted by Chad Heiser

  1. The water pump only draws power when it actually runs. There is nothing wrong with leaving it on the whole time. Some people do turn them off when they leave their rig just in case a line breaks or something so the pump doesn’t create a flood while your not around.
  2. If you have an off road style aftermarket bumper with holes for D-ring style tow connections, then there are adapters for a tow bar that can mate up to them without a baseplate. This is what I used with my Wrangler that had a Smitty Bilt off road front bumper on it and it worked very well. Here are some examples of the adapters. They can mate up to various manufacturers tow bars. I personally used a Blue Ox tow bar like this one. There are also plug and play harnesses that plug right into the factory tail lights of a Jeep to make them work in conjunction with the tow vehicles lights. I used a plug and play harness like this for my Jeep when I had it and it worked seamlessly. Here are some examples. I would also highly recommend a braking system for the Jeep. I used Invisibrake in my Jeep. I liked it because it was always there and I didn't have to think about putting it in place or take it out to get it out of the way when I needed to drive the Jeep. There are other systems as well, but I had very good luck with the Invisibrake system.
  3. Most of the "solar generators" on the market are intended to support small loads for relatively short durations of time. All they are are fancy boxes with a battery and an inverter on the inside. Some have nice connection features for directly plugging various devices into them for recharging or to power them, but they are still basically just an inverter and a battery in a box. Some of them have solar charge controllers also built into them so you can connect solar panels to them directly to recharge the battery inside. Personally, I am not a big fan of them for the RV. I would rather build my own system out of individual components so I can get exactly what I need. If your power needs were modest, they could be an option though. For tent campers and the like, they are a nice option to have a little power at the campsite. Generally speaking, there are usually cheaper ways to get the same(or more) available power in your RV by building a system out of individual components.
  4. I’ve never had any issues with the long truck valve stems and sensors.
  5. I like the flow through sensors. I had some minor issues with the first iteration of their design when they were first intro years ago. They are on the third iteration now (I believe) and I have had no issues with the new ones and they are slightly smaller and easier to service/replace batteries than the originals.
  6. I also use one drive to send links to files that are too big to send normally. It works well also. There is a button in one drive that allows you to send the file or get a link to the file in one drive. You can also change settings on the link to expire after a set time period.
  7. So basically GMail simplified a process that already existed. I like it. I have used Google drive links to send large files often. It’s nice to see the process being simplified (even if I can’t take advantage of it since I don’t have a gmail email account.
  8. Very nice. I wish I could get that much Solar on the roof of my trailer. There was no way to put a rack system to go over top the air conditioners on my rig because it would have made the rig too tall. It’s already 13’5” at the AC’s as it is. I had to settle for 3390 watts filled in around the AC’s and other stuff up on the roof. I’d love to have a mini split like you and do away with the RV AC’s to get more roof space and reduce my height, but that’s not going to happen on this rig.
  9. Well it took a couple of tries, but the email with the (correct) link to the web store to pay rally fees and make other purchases went out to everyone this evening. If you are signed up for the rally, check your email for the link. If you didn’t receive it or can’t find it, contact me and let me know. The rally itself is shaping up. I’m still finalizing the schedule, but hopefully will have that nailed down soon. Once I do, I will let everyone know and I will update the website. I also have several vendors/service providers lined up for rally attendees to take advantage of. Check your email for that information as well. See you in June.
  10. I haven’t been to the Boise lodge, but I have been to the Caldwell lodge down the road. The Caldwell lodge is just off the interstate and fairly easy in out. It is just a basic parking lot though. The lodge itself is nice though.
  11. I went through Miller Insurance. They are a broker that specializes in RV stuff, especially full timer and HDT stuff. Their number is 503-636-6347 or millerrvinsurance.com.
  12. I did a few small things to the truck this week. I have a spot light above the driver door that quit working a while back. I pulled it apart and found a spring clip that was dead shorting inside the handle. Fixed this and replaced the fuse and lo and behold the light started working again. The lights in my jockey boxes had also quit working. Turned out both lights were burnt out. Rather than replace the funky incandescent bulbs, I replaced the whole assembly with some extra LED puck lights I had from my old 5th wheel. Finally, I have been fighting a slight water leak in the cab for years. I finally got ambitious and removed all the upper cabinets and trim. It was raining, so I drove the truck out of the shop into the rain and waited for the leak to show itself. It turned out my windshield was leaking at the top in front of the passenger seat. It was a bit irritating as I just had the windshield replaced in January. I had hoped that would solve my leak problem as well as get rid of a couple rock chips I had acquired over the years. It fixed the rock chip issues, but obviously not the leak (although I think the leak used to be over the driver side of the windshield so maybe it did fix my original leak 😉). I used some silicone to seal up the leaky area and let it set up. I then left the truck sitting out in a heavy rain over night and didn’t have a drop of water inside the next day, so that was a nice change. It took a lot longer to disassemble and reassemble the cabinetry than it did to find and fix the leak though. I had hoped to also install my new Direclink brake controller. My old Maxbrake controller display died while we were in Quartzsite (but the controller continued to function). Unfortunately that didn’t happen. I ordered the controller over the phone direct from Tuson RV. I gave them the year, make and model of my truck, but they still sent me the wrong HD module. They sent me the 9 pin connector and my old truck has the 6 pin connector. I sent the 9 pin off today to get replaced with a 6 pin, so that project will have to wait.
  13. Chad Heiser

    Tire Monitor

    I have the TST system. It is the only one I have used, so have no frame of reference to compare it to anything else. My TST system has been flawless since I bought it in 2011. I have upgraded the displays from the original monochromatic, to the color display and now to the very nice and large touch screen color display (a great upgrade). I originally started with the cap style sensors, but didn’t like having to remove them to air up tires. I now use flow through sensors and like them. I still have the old displays, mounts, power cords and a bunch of extra flow through sensors (10 I think). The only thing I don’t have to build a complete system is the repeater. If you are interested, I’d be willing to let it all go at a reasonable price. Let me know. I was planning to bring it to the WCR to see if anyone there would be interested in it, but if you are in the market I’m happy to ship it to you.
  14. His name is Glyn Carson. I haven’t talked to him in a while so I’m not sure if he is still doing driving instruction, but his email is twolanedrivingtips@hotmail.com.
  15. I am similar when it comes to ROI on a system like this. I kind of geek out on this stuff and really like all the cool stuff I can do with the system in addition to the freedom it gives me. There would be some savings, but it wouldn’t be as much as you would think. The components themselves cost basically the same whether they are 12 volt or 48 volt (at least with Victron). You could save money on solar controllers with Victron because the same controller from a 12 volt system can handle four times the wattage on a 48 volt system. You would loose some redundancy though because if that single solar controller dies, you have no solar production. With my 12 volt system, one controller is only approximately a third of the production so I can get by until the bad controller is replaced. You would also save a little bit of money by being able to use smaller gauge wire, but this savings is eaten up in the need to either add a step down converter or a separate 12 volt system to run the OEM 12 volt stuff. Our RV is our “back generator”. Whenever we loose power at the house (which happens a lot more frequently now with California’s wonderful Public Safety Power Shutoffs), we just move into the RV and live like normal until the power comes back. We just did it last week when we got a freak snow storm and lost power for two and a half days due to downed power lines. We have the same sentiment as you, “worth it.”
  16. Like I said, my system is overkill for the vast majority of RVers. People can definitely get by with a lot less. I have gotten by with a lot less in previous RVs. It all comes down to individual needs and budget. I spend a lot of time talking to people about their style of RVing and how they plan to use their system/what they plan to run before any work ever gets done. Then we look at the budget and what can get done based on that. Sometimes more pairing down is required to fit the budget. I use all high end components in my systems, which does add cost. They also add quality and functionality with that cost, so it isn't like you are just paying more for a particular name. An energy audit is a great place to start before going out and spending a bunch of money. If your energy needs are low, there is no need to add a bunch of extra capacity to the system (which also adds cost). If you spend most of your time in RV parks, then there is no need for a large capacity system either. Boondocking overnight here and there between RV parks requires much less than a die hard boondocker that only occasionally stays in a park. There is definitely not a one size fits all answer when it comes to RV solar.
  17. This system is not cheap. Retail it is around $25 to 30K (depending on the specific components and the time involved in the installation). Like I said, it is bigger than what most anybody really needs. Although I have built a handful of systems that are very similar but use two 3KVA Multiplus inverter chargers rather than two 5KVA Quattro inverter chargers like in mine. I built this system for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to show that a large, high power system like this is perfectly viable on a 12 volt battery bank. A lot of internet "experts" say you have to go to a higher voltage battery bank to run a high output system like this. That just isn't true as long as the infrastructure for the system (the wiring) is properly designed and installed. At its maximum capabilities, this system is only 2000 watts less (10000 vs 12000) than a 50 amp power pedestal. I have said this many times here and other places, I prefer to go with a 12 volt installation in RV's that already have an OEM 12 volt system. I don't like having to convert back to 12 volt from a higher voltage system as it leads to a potential single point of failure that can strand you. If the voltage converter fails, then you have no lights, no jacks, no slides, etc. until it is replaced or you do some rewiring. The second reason I built this system was to show the possibilities of what can be done to people who are looking to build a system or have a system built. Sometimes talking about what is possible just isn't enough. I wanted to be able to show someone specifically what is possible and what it would look like in real life.
  18. I was going over some of my old posts and realized I said I would post some information about the new system (as of June 2022) in my new rig. I posted a brief synopsis of it here back in June 2022 after the West Coast Rally, but never followed up with any more information. We just spent a month down in Quartzsite from the end of January to the end of February boondocking the whole time with other HDTers and friends. I am very happy with the new rig and the new system. The new rig is much better for boondocking than our last one for two main reasons. The first reason is we are back to a standard RV toilet instead of the macerator toilet we had in the last rig. This means we use a lot less water when flushing the toilet. This lets us go much longer before having to empty the black tank. We only had to empty it twice in the month we were in Q and it wasn't completely full either time. We were lucky to get 10 days out of the black tank in the last rig with the macerator toilet. The second reason is my latest "system". I couldn't be happier with the new system. Like I said, we just spent a month boondocking. We lived like we were plugged in the whole time. We didn't take any special measures to conserve power, other than turning the big inverters off when we went to bed. (I have a small inverter dedicated to the residential refrigerator that stays on 24/7 to always keep the refrigerator running.) We had multiple days of cloudy and cold weather, so we ran the forced air furnace quite a bit and my wife used her seat heater in the theater seating quite a bit. We watched TV, used the microwave, Instapot, coffee pot, my wife's hair dryer and curling iron, etc. I had Starlink satellite internet running whenever the big inverters were on. We also had the normal 12 volt loads from lights and other stuff. I never drew the batteries down below 50% state of charge and we were back to 100% state of charge every afternoon (with the exception of a couple of full cloud cover days). I ran the on board generator once the entire trip. This was at the end of the trip a couple days before we left. I didn't need to run the generator, but decided to exercise it for an hour because it had been over a month since I ran it the last time. My generator only has a total of approximately 7 hours on it, which is almost all just running it to exercise it since we bought the rig in May 2022. Here is a diagram of the system in my rig: The system has more power than we (or most people) really need. I can run anything (and everything) in my rig whether it is plugged in or not. I have literally turned everything on at once and run it all from battery power (three AC's, fireplace, microwave, entertainment center, lights, etc.) with no issues. Of course I can't do this for long periods. I am obviously limited by how much solar production is occurring and how much battery capacity I have. The system has 1080 amp hours of lithium batteries, two 5KVA Victron Quattro inverter chargers (one on each leg of the 50 amp RV power panel and programmed to run in 120/240 volt split phase), one 1.2KVA Victron Phoenix inverter (dedicated to the residential refrigerator and the outlets in the bedroom slide), 3390 watts of solar, three Victron MPPT solar charge controllers (capable of a total of 225 amps of DC production at full output), a 1000 amp Victron Smartshunt (monitoring the battery bank), a 500 amp Victron SmartShunt (monitoring general 12 volt loads), two Victron Lynx Distributors supplying power and circuit protection to the system and a Lynx Power In where each battery is connected individually to the system. I also have a Victron Autotransformer installed after the on board Onan 5500 watt gas generator. This takes the 120 volt generator output and transforms it to 120/240 volt power to feed directly to the second inputs on the Quattro inverters. This negated the need for the onboard automatic transfer switch because the Quattros have built in transfer switches to switch between two power inputs (typically shore and generator). Rather than remove the ATS, I added a second shore power connection to the front of the trailer and wired it to the ATS where the generator used to connect. This gives me more options for plugging the trailer in when I need to. I also have a Victron Cerbo GX communication device with a seven inch touch screen display. The Cerbo communicates with all the Victron equipment and the internet. I added an Atkinson Electronics GSCM mini generator start control module. This device interacts with the Cerbo and allows the Cerbo to fully control the on board generator and auto start it based on a number of triggers and parameters that I can set up. The Cerbo GX adds all kinds of functionality and data logging to the system. I can literally control or program any component or function from anywhere (as long as I have internet and the trailer has internet). I can turn the inverters or generator on/off remotely, set the AC Input Current Limit, see the solar production information, battery state of charge, etc. In addition to this standard functionality, the Cerbo also allows integration of other systems. My rig came with Sea Level tank gauges. It is a newer version of the Sea Level gauges that communicates over RV-C protocol. I was able to integrate the RV-C output of the Sea Level gauges into the Cerbo so I can see all my tank levels on the Cerbo display or remotely through the internet. Victron also recently added Bluetooth sensor monitoring through the Cerbo. Specifically Mopeka LPG and Water tank Bluetooth sensors and Ruuvi Bluetooth temperature sensors. I added Mopeka sensors to my LPG tanks and the two gasoline tanks (generator and toy tanks) in the trailer. This allows me to see the levels in those tanks right next to the Sea Level tank levels on the Cerbo. I also have six Ruuvi temperature sensors mounted in my rig. I have them in the bedroom, living room, garage, inverter compartment, at the pin box outside and in the refrigerator. I can now monitor temperatures at all of those locations remotely through the Cerbo. Here is what the tanks display looks like on the Cerbo: Here is another screen showing the tank information as well as other information about the system: Here is the main Cerbo display showing the flow of energy in the system: Here is the basic VRM Dashboard that you see when you log into the system through the internet: Finally, here is the control panel through the VRM Portal that allows you to directly control items in the rig from anywhere: There is a lot more available through VRM, but these are the basics. Finally, here is a link to pictures of my system as I was installing it and other information about the system on my website.
  19. Look up Morris Insulated Wire Connectors. These are what I use to split grounds and neutrals when doing dual inverter installations. They work great. A three position connector can take your ground or neutral wire and split it into two wires quite easily and cleanly.
  20. Take some measurements of the storage space below the bed before you make any modifications. I had a king bed in my last trailer and swapped it for the queen bed that came in my new trailer (we wanted a king in the new rig). The queen bed and platform from the new trailer were narrower than the storage area under the king bed in the old trailer. In other words the queen platform didn’t work over the king storage area (at least not without some significant modifications).
  21. I have an Insty Connect router in my rig. The one I have has a dual sim modem that allows you to use two different cellular provider SIM cards in the same modem. The unique thing about Insty Connect is that the modem is in the antenna on the roof and the router is inside the RV. This means data is being pushed down from the antenna/modem rather than signal like with typical routers that have the modem built into the router inside and an external antenna outside. The design helps reduce the signal lost between the antenna and the modem in the wire run. Insty Connect also allows load sharing or priority/back up and other configurations between the multiple internet sources. It will also share a wan wired signal from something like Starlink with an Ethernet port. I currently have an ATT sim in the modem (I am not using the second sim port at the moment) and also periodically connect my Starlink to the Insty Connect router. I have it set to seamlessly prefer Starlink when it is present but fail over to ATT when it isn’t. I could have it share the signals if I wanted. I am very happy with the product and have personally met the developer/owner of the company the last two years at the Quartzsite big tent show. He is an RVer and was in the tech industry. He developed the Insty Connect because he couldn’t find anything on the market to do what he wanted as far as keeping him and his family connected when camping in rural areas.
  22. I called Good Sam today and spoke with a very nice customer service rep. I asked about the issue with covering a converted HDT for RV use. He had never heard of any issues with coverage for an HDT, but he didn't know for sure. He put me on hold and checked with his supervisors. He came back a short while later and told me my truck would not be covered because it was a converted commercial vehicle. He said this was news to him and he apologized to me. He did not know when this change happened, but said it came down from on high. I thanked him and had him cancel my auto renewal due at the end of the month. The whole conversation, including the hold time was about 5 minutes. I called Coach-net and spoke with them about coverage for my rig. Their only concern had to do with whether my rig was singled or tandem. They were fine with singled, but didn't want to cover it if it was tandem. I believe this had to do with the fact that my policy is a towable premium policy and not a motorized RV policy, but I didn't get into that because my rig is singled and it didn't matter to me. They had no concerns with it being a converted commercial truck. Coach-net was about $30 more per year, but I am fine with that. I am now a Coach-net customer. Incidentally both CSR's were American based and quite pleasant to deal with.
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