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KayakkrazyUP View Drop Down
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Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Upper Peninsula
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Posts: 37 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Dry Camping duration
    Posted: 18 Aug 2012 at 10:42pm
As Newbies, we have been in State Parks or full service township campgrounds near Lake Superior, so have not yet experienced dry camping. I have thought it might be preferable to the hustle and bustle of the small site parks, but I have questions.

With just our original equipment on the Pod, how long might I expect the battery and LP to last? How long before the two of us use up the fresh water, or fill up the grey water tank, assuming our customary conservative use?

Suggestions?
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Jhy-lo View Drop Down
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 2012 at 1:19am
Thanks for asking this! I have the same question!  Didn't want to seem like too much of a newbie!  
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Camper Bob View Drop Down
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Joined: 26 Sep 2011
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Posts: 913 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 2012 at 10:24am
Congrats to you both.  No question is too simple.  We all started with lots of questions, and most have been answered on the forum.  I might suggest that you both start reading all of the previous posts that pertain to your questions.  Lots of terrific info here.  No sense in reinventing the wheel if someone has already asked about your concerns and has had it answered.  Good luck and have fun.  Safe Travels.
Camper Bob and Camper Sue
Gracie the Wonder Dog (12 LB. Mini Dachshund)
2013 Rpod 171HRE(ORPod)
2016 Lance 1685
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techntrek View Drop Down
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 2012 at 4:55pm

I'll tell you my personal experiences.

Battery:  Making sure to keep lights off that you don't need, using the water pump for dishes and 4 showers (see below), NOT running the fridge on DC (never run it on DC unless you have a good charge line on your TV and you are going down the road), you'll easily go 2-3 days.  The big draw is the fan on the furnace so if you need heat be prepared to use it sparingly and use an alternate that does not need DC (see below, too).  A new battery might be ok using the furnace nights-only plus the other stuff and make it a weekend, but probably not an older battery.

Propane: The fridge will run a month on a full tank, a bit less if you use the stove, and a lot less if you use the furnace.  Like the battery, the furnace is a propane hog too.  If you don't use the furnace your tank will last weeks, if you use the furnace it could go just days in cold weather.  There are radiative-heat options that are popular with campers that sip propane and don't need electric at all.  One is the Olympian Wave which can be plumbed into the pod's LPG system or be used stand-alone outside (a quick disconnect makes this easy).  Another is the Coleman Mr. Heater, which uses either the 1 pound LPG tanks or you can buy an adapter so it can also be attached to the pod's LPG system.

Water:  Make sure the water heater is pre-filled otherwise it will use up 6 of your 30 gallons when you get to camp.  Using "navy showers" we can go a weekend on one tank - four showers, washing dishes, brushing teeth.

Waste tanks: On all models the fresh tank is 30 gallons (the specs say 36 because that includes the water heater), and the waste tanks are either 30 or 35 gallons each.  Since the fresh water will get divided up between the gray and black tanks neither will be close to full after your fresh tank is dry, and worse case one or the other will be exactly full.  Even if you refill your fresh tank and don't dump the waste tanks the black tank should last about 5 days of steady use.  The gray tank will fill quickly, 4 showers and it is full.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Jhy-lo View Drop Down
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 2012 at 10:39pm
Thanks bunches, Doug!  I have been reading every forum post I can for the last week and there are still some unanswered questions... Your answers will really help!  It can all get pretty confusing, and I'm even coming from a tent trailer that has some of the same stuff!  On our way up to Mt. Rainier on Thursday and am excited to get the PodMonster all organized!
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Posts: 165 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 12:32am
techntrek seems right on with his estimates, but I do have a couple things to add to each category:

Battery: although the stock configuration can get you through a long weekend, adding a solar panel can get you topped off each day if you stick to normal usage (efficient lights, water pump, light furnace use). Switching to LED lights can help a lot also.

Propane: we've found the fridge to be extremely efficient, but we camp in cooler conditions so that might help. We're running on our first tank of propane and I think it's about half full still. We use the furnace sparingly, so that might be part of the reason why the propane lasts so long. We have a small backup tank under the dinette bench (I believe it's a 4.5lb) for when the main tank finally runs out, but at this rate we could probably run for weeks on just the backup tank.

Water: once you get used to conserving water you can usually get about 3 days of normal usage on a full tank, BUT since the waste tanks are proportionally larger than the fresh tank, you can just fill it again. We bring a 2 gallon tank with us and use it to transport water from the nearest spigot to the rpod. It's a good workout, but you can extend you trip a day or two without much trouble.

Waste tanks: we've never once filled up the black tank (without intentionally filling it for flushing), and the same goes for the grey. I've seen several people transfer grey water to a "blue" tank and then dump it in a designated area (usually by the bathrooms). I've never needed to do it myself, but it's the same principle as with filling the fresh tank, but in reverse.

So... with all that in mind I think you could extend your dry camping capabilities to around 5-6 days with a couple tweaks and some good habits.
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Camper Bob View Drop Down
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Joined: 26 Sep 2011
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Posts: 913 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 9:25am
We are taking our 2013 171 to its first drycamping experience.  We will fill the fresh water tank at the campground.  Just the two of us who must have a shower every day.  Also we are taking a new Honda 2000i generator as well as an additonal wheeled 25 gal. gray water tank.  We will be camping at 6,200' and will test the generators ability to run our 13,500 btu A/C with an  installed Supco starting capacitor.  We will be camping for a total of 3.5 days.  We have dual lp tanks installed, and my understanding is the area cools down from about 75 during the day to high 30's to low 40's at night.  Will be using the internal furnace to take the chill off in the morning.  Should be an interesting test of all systems.  Safe Travels.
Camper Bob and Camper Sue
Gracie the Wonder Dog (12 LB. Mini Dachshund)
2013 Rpod 171HRE(ORPod)
2016 Lance 1685
2015 Nissan Pathfinder
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techntrek View Drop Down
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Posts: 9059 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 10:54am

I've added info from this thread to the "instruction manual", good input from everyone.

One thing I'll add about water & dry camping.  You can buy or make something called a "water thief" which will allow you to fill up your water tank with your hose from a spigot that doesn't have any threads.  You will sometimes find this in state parks.  The "thief" is a soft rubber extention which will screw on to the end of your hose and slip over the spigot.  NOT intended for a permanent connection, but for stopping and filling up and then heading out or back to your site.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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dsmiths View Drop Down
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Posts: 866 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 2012 at 10:45pm
good posts guys, I would like to find one of those water thief's as sometimes I run into the water spicket without threads, and why do they put them on the wrong side of the road, hello, on modern campers the water goes in on the left (drivers side) not the right.
Dane and Donna Smith
2011 RP-172
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Camper Bob View Drop Down
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Joined: 26 Sep 2011
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Posts: 913 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Aug 2012 at 9:47am
Again Camping World has the highest price.  I found it on Amazon with shipping it is still about $3. less expensive.  Safe Travels.
Camper Bob and Camper Sue
Gracie the Wonder Dog (12 LB. Mini Dachshund)
2013 Rpod 171HRE(ORPod)
2016 Lance 1685
2015 Nissan Pathfinder
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