Electrical Hookups When Camping? |
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Topic: Electrical Hookups When Camping? Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 7:46am |
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We can roll in any manner, and have and do.. heck last summer I spent a few nights at Balsam Mountain in the GSMNP, (in a new, and very nice) expedition tent. But.. can't take the dog, the wife isn't that keen on it any more, and the weather has to be right. Of course it pretty much always is up there.
So we almost always have the "basics" W/E. But as we age, we find we like FHU's the best, especially as our trips start to be 2-4 weeks long. Not having to A) use someone else's bathroom, and B) not have to tote a tank at any point during the stay, are trade offs I am willing to make to get in the outdoors as much as possible. A lot of our trips revolve around hiking, walking, cycling, and sightseeing.. none of which you do right at the camper anyways. But a little research with google maps and such, and you can tell if a CG is to tight etc. For 7 days or less we can roll completely self contained no problem. With FHU's at home, if need be, we can roll home to dump/flush. We have KOA'd 2 nights total, but not in one of the resort or destination parks.Our annual 2 week holiday trip to HBSP, we like the "old CG" now known as the "North CG", much more then the "new CG" known as the "South CG" BUT.. only about 15% of the NCG sites are FHU, where 100% of the South are.. so MUCH easier to get a spot in the new section, even if it means being closer to other sites.. For next year, we mitigated as much as we could, we and our camping partners reserved spots at the very end, and across from each other, so we will have nothing but nature in front of us.. One nice thing is, around here, (TN, KY, IN) many many state parks have very nice site spacing AND E hookups. Some have E/W, and very few sites or parks have W/E/S..
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crankster78
Senior Member Joined: 08 May 2018 Location: Minn Online Status: Offline Posts: 163 |
Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 9:44am | ||
Greetings I attend a couple of antique farm equipment and steam shows every year. I dry camp for up to 7 days. I run a Honda 2000 watt during the day and battery during the night due to sound restrictions. I don't run the air but do use a microwave. I have dual LP tanks and a group 27 deep cycle battery. I usually add some fresh water if it gets low using a water can. A dumping station is available when I leave. I travel by myself, so it works out fine. Anytime shore power is available, I use it I avoid most chain type RV parks and prefer State Parks. I'm older and have a handicap placard for my TV so I can stay at Parks here in MN for 1/2 price, which is really helpful. Crankster78 R-179
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Crankster 78 R-179 2015
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Motor7
Senior Member Joined: 09 Jan 2019 Location: E. TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 196 |
Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 9:55am | ||
Half and half....when on the road doing one nighters it's either a rest area or a state or county park. Destinations are almost always state, county or national parks so electricity is hit or miss. Two 6v and solar panels on the roof allow us to boondock for about a week before we need to dump and refill.
We try an avoid private campgrounds, but use them some times when rolling to and from home on a long trip.
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2016 R-Pod 176T
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riotkayak284
Senior Member Joined: 29 Apr 2016 Location: Nashville, TN Online Status: Offline Posts: 162 |
Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 2:59pm | ||
Ditto on the dog.... Usually our dog and temp dictate if we need hookups.
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288 |
Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 9:52pm | ||
I have not fully calculated, but I expect we can count ourselves in the "not very often" category, which is my vote. We spend a lot of time on the road with overnight stops with no connections. Some of our time was spent in driveways of friends where we had partial connections (15A electricity, no water or sewer). That 15A also meant that we still mainly operated on propane since I wanted to be a good guest and not run up the power bill. Plus 15A is not sufficient for running the AC anyway. It made sure the batteries stayed charged. We have stayed with full hook-ups and do appreciate it when we have them. Most recently was at the Kentucky Mini-Mini/ 10th Anniversary R-Pod Rally. However, these times seem to be more the exception. We have stayed at a state park in Vermont twice which had no connections available except for the camp host (not us). I guess for us, there are too many places to see to sit in one spot for too long.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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crw8sr
Senior Member Joined: 12 Oct 2017 Location: Omaha Nebraska Online Status: Offline Posts: 328 |
Posted: 14 Jan 2019 at 10:07pm | ||
Only way to go!
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Chuck & Lyn
Izzy, Morkie. RIP Zoe Joy & Gracie, Yorkie 2018 R Pod 190 2019 Traverse In moments of adversity;when life's a total wreck, I think of those worse off than me and really feel like heck. |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 9:00am | ||
There is an interesting technology available to address the 15A ac circuit limitation. You can consider getting a hybrid inverter/charger. This replaces your current charger and acts bidirectionally to both charge your batteries (much faster than the existing charger) as well as run your ac loads. It can be programmed to operate in parallel with a limited ac source like a 15A circuit or a 2kW genny so that the batteries provide any extra power needed to run peak loads and get recharged when the heavy loads cycle off. You can for example set the inverter to limit external source loading to a maximum of 13A.
The drawbacks are cost and weight. These are low frequency inverters so have heavy magnetics. Generally they weigh around 60 lbs for a 3kW model. Costs range around $750 to $1500 depending on which brand you choose. These are pretty smart inverters so most can also be set up for Li battery charging, which offsets some of the cost hit if you're planning to get the lead out at the same time. If I was going to spend a lot of time connected to a limited output ac source I would definitely consider getting one, but I'm planning to move over to high current dc tow vehicle charging while not grid connected, allowing me to leave my generator at home. And I don't expect to find myself plugged into 15A circuits very often, if ever.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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TheBum
Senior Member Joined: 26 Feb 2016 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 1407 |
Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 2:17pm | ||
Does using a generator count as an electrical hookup? If so, then I'd have to vote "about half the time".
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod" 2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4 Three cats |
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offgrid
Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 2:56pm | ||
Nope, generator use doesn't count as a hookup, for the purposes of this survey hookups mean grid connections.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288 |
Posted: 15 Jan 2019 at 4:49pm | ||
Sounds quite interesting. I'll have to check it out.
That kind of rules it out for a while. Both the weight and cost are more than I want at this time.
Please explain how you are going to accomplish the "high current dc tow vehicle charging . . . ."
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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