Randyretired

I considered day cabs but instead bought a small 42" sleeper. It is very maneuverable and will turn circles inside my pickups. We carry a Subaru so left it tandem. This truck was part of a 2 truck company and had many added options including air lockers. In Colorado we can just register as a recreational truck or MH. Ours is recreational. Of course each state has its own requirements. A regular drivers license is all that is needed.

We rarely go to campgrounds. We prefer it to be less or not crowded at all. We typically boondock or stay on private property.

We are just outside Grand Junction and you are correct Colorado does not require upgraded licenses. I tow with an HDT with regular drivers license. I have heard the upgraded license required in other states including Texas isn't difficult to pass. Unless there is extenuating circumstances that would not stop me. I don't know how to get a Colorado license without an address like is available in Texas. Colorado vehicle registration isn't cheap.

I would also like to add that as long as the charge controllers combined are within the total amp capacity of the batteries I cannot think of a reason that this isn't a good idea. With LifeP04 it would take a really powerful charger or solar array to push to many amps. The controllers I use are all different sizes.

I have 2 Epever controllers and an Outback controller. On occasion I will add the inverter/charger. It works great. Since the controllers are voltage regulated these keep the voltage needed or as high of voltage as the solar will support. On occasion I have seen one controller working a little harder than another but I don't see that as a problem. Each controller has different panels and the panel voltages vary significantly.

The idle draw is a consideration if you boon dock. Another item is if you might add other loads. I have an Xantrex. I am not a fan and will look for something else next time. Inverters are typically most efficient when operating near capacity but the surge and the possibility you might forget to shut off the ice maker could influence the size. You could measure the amp draw and if your gauge is capable the surge to better estimate the load. Refrigerators vary a lot. Our fairly new energy star uses only 1.2 amps but older refrigerators can use a lot more and of course size matters.

Do not depend on the RV sales people to select you tow vehicle. Do your own research. Most feel it is wise to oversize the tow vehicle some. A fully loaded truck isn't comfortable especially in the mountains.

Another thing you might look at is to see if the load on L1 and L2 is reasonably balanced. If most of the 120v appliances are on just one side that can cause the 50amp park breaker to trip. As John noted the load on L1 or L2 should not exceed 80% or 40amps.

I can't speak for Florida but in Colorado I have had vin inspections done by the local police dept and by a auto dealer. If the vehicle is sold by a dealer or inspected by a dealer even an out of state dealer a local inspection wasn't needed. May be worth checking into.

We changed to a residential refrigerator when our 4 door RV unit failed. New cost for the RV refrigerator was over $4,000 and none would fit without modifications. We bought an 18cuft residential refrigerator that is energy star rated for $500 on sale. For another few hundred dollars I added enough to the solar to run it. Better and bigger refrigerator and we save a little on propane. Never going back to a RV refrigerator. This is much better. The replacement cost if (when) this refrigerator quits will be affordable. It uses about 1kwh a day.

The conversion from 12v to 120v requires 10 times the amps from the batteries. When on shore power there should be a circuit that patches the 120v through instead of the inverter using batteries. This means the amps will be reduced by a factor of 10.

I have experienced about the same. In the summer power from solar is plentiful but then comes winter. During the late fall and winter more power is used. We use the lights more and of course heat and so on but the solar is producing far less. The long nights stress the batteries and the short sometimes cloudy days produce way less. For off grid most solar systems need to be massively sized to scrape through winter. We are into to the longest days of the year now and solar is at its peak.

Our RV did fine until I added the mini split. We have a place setup to park but by code the 50amp needed GFCI since it isn't in an RV park. So now I can't run the mini split or I have to change the breaker, which is a against code.

I think the problem the OP had is going to be seen more and more as all new outside receptacles, even 50amp now require GFCI. This makes it really difficult to keep the batteries charged in some RV's. Along with problems like spider webs and other ground faults some appliances just do not play well with GFCI. Locating these problems can be frustrating.

This is caused by a ground fault and is a common problem with RV's. Usually it can be found and fixed but it may be time consuming. The fault could be something like a damp spider web somewhere or an electric hotwater heater element or ?. RV parks do not usually have GFI protected receptacles for this reason.

The mini splits most of us use are residential units. I am not familiar with any made for RV's. We have a different brand mini split but the automatic change from heat to cool left us with cold or hot periods and never seemed to work correctly. When it is set to just heat or cool the fans varied as needed and would shut off if it wasn't needed at all

I have never been this busy until I retired. I know it is self inflicted but I keep doing it. I am working on building another house. This is the 3rd since retirement. When this one is done I will have to slow down and actually try to relax. I was able to retire young but my age is catching up and I can no longer do this.

It is tough to keep up with the laws in each state. While some are allowing constitution carry others like Colorado are enacting more restrictive laws. Some counties are also enacting laws in the county that are more restrictive than state laws. Gun laws are rapidly changing.

Sizing a solar system is somewhat complicated. It depends on how much you need or want to power. For instance what appliances will need to be powered. In our RV we have a residential refrigerator and we use a drip coffee pot. We also have TV but the big draw is a mini split AC. So our power requirements are substantial and we often spend months boondocking. If your requirements are modest then of course a smaller system will do. Another consideration is the time of year and general location. Short winter days only produce limited power but long summer days are solar friendly. It may be helpful to try and figure out what you will want to power and what time of year you plan on powering these things and talk with some professionals. Often the limiting factor on an RV is the amount of room for solar panels. If you have more than just modest requirements I usually recommend to install as many solar panels as will reasonably fit. The panels have come down in price and are relatively inexpensive. Batteries and the electronics are not inexpensive and can get very expensive quickly.

When charging at night I sure hope the wind is blowing. I would hate to think we are using fossil fuel to charge all those cars. Is that why it is so cheap.

I have a Fumoto drain on an ISX in a 2001 Volvo. Been on since before I bought it about 18 years ago. Not a lot of miles but also no problems. Sure makes changing oil easy.

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We purchased a long term policy each in the 80's. It only pays $65 a day for one year. We looked into adding to it but it isn't widely available and is very expensive. For now it is what it is. I guess time will tell.

I had a terrible experience with Banks and will never do business with them again. In 1999 I purchased a new diesel PU. Ordered a Banks kit for it. Per the directions I cutoff the existing tail pipes and muffler. However, the new kit didn't fit. I called Banks and they insisted I was doing something wrong and gave me the runaround. After fighting with them for a couple of weeks I guess they received enough complaints that they finally realized they had a problem. They promised a fix was on the way but please be patient. It will be at least 90 days. Our new PU was not useable for 90 days or more plus the 2 weeks fighting with them. We missed one big RV trip planned with friends and more. When the tail pipe fix finally arrived and we tried to drive the PU it set trouble codes. That was another lengthy ordeal that was never resolved. Many have had good luck with Banks but their customer service when things go wrong failed us miserably.

Kirk, that is certainly one of my what if thoughts. One of us needing full care for an extended period could be a budget headache to say the least. And with inflation the way it is that cost is certainly the elephant in the room.