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Maiden Voyage |
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bmaddux 
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Joined: 17 Feb 2022 Location: Whidbey Island Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
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 Topic: Maiden VoyagePosted: 10 Apr 2022 at 6:54pm |
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A month and a half after buying our 2017 RPOD 178, we were able to take it out on its maiden voyage.
Because of work, we weren't able to set off until 4pm on a 300 mile 6 hour trip. It was a mix of interstate and 2 lane roads. The RPOD pulled great behind our F150 (water tank half full). We got to the RV Park about 10pm to setup for the first time. We were able to scout the site, get backed in, disconnected, power hooked up and in bed within 40 minutes, in the dark :-) I left the water disconnected because it was going to down to 25 degrees overnight. I read here on the forums that it the camper should be fine with that, but didn't want to have the supply hose or hose bib freeze. For our 6 night stay, we used just a small electric heater, got to try out the stove, water heater, both water pump and city water, survived 60 mph wind gusts with rain and hail and multiple nights with subfreezing weather. Our RPOD handled it all great. Our first night I forgot to turn on the vent fan on low with a window cracked, and we did have our windows frost over. After that, we kept the fan on low and the window cracked and had no issues with moisture. With water in the tank, I was able to be conservative with keeping the water hooked up and had no problems with freezing. I did learn that our F150 with factory installed tow package did not charge the battery, and therefore let the fridge drain the battery really quick. I just turned it off and it stayed cold enough for the trip. I'm very happy that we were staying at a park with power or we would have been in trouble. I also found that our tank monitors for the gray and black do seem to work, but the buttons are difficult. I knew for sure that the gray tank showed an accurate reading after filling our bathroom floor with water. Happily, the park had the sewer connection at the site, so I was able to have my first experience with dumping our tanks without moving the camper, and without people waiting on us. This trip was a great first outing. We really enjoyed our RPOD and are thrilled we bought it. This forum was also a great resource for answering questions I had about this trip (like worries about freezing overnight temperatures and weight distribution hitches). We look forward to many trips with our RPOD in the future!
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2013 Ford F150 Ecoboost
2017 RPOD 178 Hood River |
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jato
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3216 |
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Posted: 10 Apr 2022 at 7:47pm |
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Good to hear you had a great maiden voyage! Am surprised that with that kind of wind you would get frost on the windows. We normally boondock in cold temps as you described and by opening the opposite windows by the bed about 1/4" and opening the FF in the bathroom about the same (with the fan off) we have not ever had that issue for the 11 years we have owned ours. Not surprised about the lack of 12v charge from the Fords 7-pin plug. Our 2011 F-150 was able to do that but when we upgraded to a 2017 F-150 we had to pay a tech to run a wire from the battery to the Bargmann plug so we could charge our batteries. We almost always have our fridge on propane (travel and camping) except for those few times when we are at a place that offers electricity. We expect, and get 3 days out of each of our 12v batteries when temps are in the 40's with the furnace running a lot, and that is w/o solar or generator usage. Hopefully you didn't run your batteries down too far. They will last a long time if you don't run them below 12.2v before recharging and keep the fluid levels up. Our oldest 12v battery just turned 11 years old this week, still going strong.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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Ben Herman
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355 |
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Posted: 10 Apr 2022 at 10:16pm |
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Good first outing! Have you considered using propane for the fridge, we never use battery for it.
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2586 |
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Posted: 11 Apr 2022 at 5:01am |
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bmaddux, sounds like you had a really nice trip for your first outing. Glad to hear there were no serious problems. We also tow with an F-150 and have never had an issue with the battery not getting charged on the bargman plug while under way. You may want to take a multi-meter and check to see if the pin is powered up when the motor is on. There are pin diagrams available so you can find the one that charges pretty easily. It should be pin 4.
+1 to Ben Herman. When we had our Pod, we always towed with the refrigerator powered with gas, except when we were in a situation where the gas had to be turned off. Usually, the time the gas is off is not enough to significantly affect the temperature in the refrigerator. Our Pod replacement has a larger refrigerator and there is no battery powered option on it, but we've never had a problem keeping things cold even if it was off for a while. |
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2627 |
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Posted: 11 Apr 2022 at 12:07pm |
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When we travel, we usually have the fridge on 12V, but have never had an issue with the battery. Our (2015) F-150, and I assume any of the same or more recent vintage disconnects the 12V shortly after the ignition is off. So we switch to propane (or AC) shortly after we arrive at our destination.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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bmaddux
Newbie
Joined: 17 Feb 2022 Location: Whidbey Island Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 13 Apr 2022 at 10:56am |
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I do need to check the plug and decide whether being able to charge the battery while driving is worth an upgrade. Our battery is currently just a standard Deep Cycle sealed battery from Walmart. I definitely want to replace it, and add solar. I just don't know how much of an investment I want to make yet. AGM? LiPo? Portable solar? Fixed solar? Inverter? At this point, I don't really know how much boondocking we are going to do.
Jato - what kind of batteries are you using?
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2013 Ford F150 Ecoboost
2017 RPOD 178 Hood River |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Posted: 13 Apr 2022 at 4:22pm |
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I don't think AGMs are worth it money unless you just can't bring yourself to check your flooded battery water level every few weeks. Deep cycle flooded golf cart batteries tolerate cycling better which is important if you're boondocking. You can fit 2 6V GC2 size gold cart batteries (about 220 amp hours) in the rpod rack assuming you can tolerate the tongue weight (about 120 lbs for 2). If that's not acceptable then you can go with a Li battery but you will have substantial cost and work to do, as much for the charger and DC to DC converter for tow vehicle alternator charging than for the battery itself.
As for potable vs roof mount solar there are pros and cons either way. Roof mount: more secure and easier setup but I'd you like camp in the shade then your performance will be poor, and you have holes in your roof. Portable: less secure and more setupbut you can move the modules into the sun and you don't compromise the roof. Either way, don't get so called flexible solar modules, get glass/aluminum frame. And get crystalline silicon modules, not thin film ones. You will need a solar charge controller too, a simple PWM one will do. Most have both Li, AGM, and flooded lead acid charge settings, but be sure the one you get has the settings you'll need for the batts you select. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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bmaddux
Newbie
Joined: 17 Feb 2022 Location: Whidbey Island Online Status: Offline Posts: 6 |
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Posted: 14 Apr 2022 at 11:02am |
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I live in the Pacific Northwest, which typically has moderate temperatures. So our normal usage would be to run the water pump, lights, bathroom fan, power tongue jack, and the fridge on propane.
On average, how many days would we get from the ~100 AH of battery capacity? How fast does the fridge go through propane (we currently have a single standard propane tank)? My thoughts on solar would be to start out with portable that I just connect to the batteries with alligator clips, and build from there. Much of our local camping is going to be at Washington State Parks in Western Washington, where getting power is difficult (fills up fast!), and the sites are fairly shady, so being portable and being able to chase the sun would be good.
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2013 Ford F150 Ecoboost
2017 RPOD 178 Hood River |
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Ben Herman
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355 |
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Posted: 14 Apr 2022 at 11:27am |
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Propane lasts a good while, from what I can tell the fridge is pretty thrifty running on propane. I went to a two-tank setup because of that "one time" at the end of the season when I forgot to check the level and ran out. Some people have room in their tow vehicles to carry a second tank, I don't. Tow tanks is more than enough for a full season (May-October for me) of fairly frequent 3-4 day trips. So a single tank should be fine, perhaps check it evry few weeks, depending on how much you camp. I have a single std deep cycle battery and use a 100 w Renogy portable solar panel to keep it topped up, using the battery for fridge motor, water pump. lights, and furnace fan when needed. Its more than adequate but we get lots of sun in Colorado. I did put a 20 ft cord on it so that I can move the panels around to keep them in the sun.
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jato
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3216 |
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Posted: 14 Apr 2022 at 2:08pm |
My oldest is a 12v Interstate group size 24 deep cycle, purchased 04/2011. The one I replaced last August was the same type except it was purchased 12/2010 so I got my money's worth out of that! The replacement last August was a 12v golf cart battery. It is a Trojan T-1275, rated at 150 aH at the 20 hour rate and 166 aH at the 100 hour rate. It is heavy at 85 lbs but worked out to be a blessing on my 2011 177 as we normally boondock and carry a full tank of water which is located behind the axle so to keep my tongue weight at 11% of my total loaded weight I need 323# or more on the tongue. With this battery I was able to take out a couple of truck rotors I had placed in the front stow area for that very reason. I was able to remove both, thus freeing up valuable storage space. We are probably a lot like your area, by the great lakes, lots of trees so solar in our area doesn't make a whole lot of sense. We do not utilize either solar or generator while camping.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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