Battery, Leveling and Heating
Printed From: R-pod Owners Forum
Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7046
Printed Date: 20 Jun 2025 at 10:08am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.64 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Battery, Leveling and Heating
Posted By: dogsintow
Subject: Battery, Leveling and Heating
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2015 at 1:05am
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I am new to this forum, and just picked up my used Rpod 177 Hood River Edition this morning. So exciting!! About the battery-- If I'm not using the Pod, what is best for the battery and how long can it go? Do I need to disconnect it? Plug it into my house? And if so, what kind of electrical cord do I use and whether inside or outside plug? What happens if the battery loses all charge? I'm still in a learning curve on how this works. Leveling-- the land around my home where I'm keeping the Pod isn't level. It's on rocks and it isn't flat. Do I need to level it for storing at home? And if so, do I just use the trailer legs, or just the jack and wheels and level it out with some sort of tool? And about heating-- If I'm at a location with electrical hookups, will the Pod support the power if I use a small space heater or something rather than use the propane? And if anyone has any heaters in their pods, I'd love to hear what you have so I can purchase what you have experience with. I am using this trailer solo, and it's my first ever camper. Thank you!! ------------- 2011 R-Pod 177 aka The Pawd Pad 2002 Chevy Tahoe 2 happy dogs |
Replies:
Posted By: Unclewillis
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2015 at 2:04am
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as far as heaters go. We live in the Desert SW where winters aren't terrible but you may see temps in the high 30's.
We use a very small electric space heater that plugs into the AC outlet and it really works well. It sits on the counter top nicely. Of course the propane heater that comes with the pod works great too. ------------- Daddy, Mommy and Daughter. BlackJack & Keno (boston Terriers) Rpod 176T 2015 Nick: ouR-pod |
Posted By: ronahue
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2015 at 4:49am
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Battery: I disconnect my battery but some leave it plugged into shore power or place it on a charger. I believe you will find many different opinions on batteries and their care. If you are not on shore power and you do not disconnect the battery the battery will rundown due to the draw from items like smoke detector and LP/CO detectors which are always on. Leveling: I believe you only need to level if you are running the refrigerator and you should not level using the stabilizers. Level left to right using blocks or a ramp and front to rear using the front jack then put the stabilizers down. Heater: The R-Pod has a 30 amp system it can handle a small electric heater when on shore power. You will need an adapter if using a standard house outlet and you probably will not be able to run the AC. I just use the built in furnace though it is noisy. ------------- Ron & Sharon 2015 R-Pod 179 2022 Nissan Frontier No trees were harmed in the sending of this message but a billion electrons were really agitated |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2015 at 9:48am
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The two previous posters cover it pretty well. I agree.
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: shroomer
Date Posted: 03 Oct 2015 at 11:06pm
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I have no data on this, but... I keep my pod leveled in the driveway out of concern for drainage out of the windows. There are weep holes strategically placed that work on gravity and I'm afraid that if the pod is off kilter the water might find it's way in rather than out. I'd like to hear more opinions/experiences regarding this hypothesis. ------------- Larry and Debbie w/Rosie the mutt. Old: '13 177, '06 Silverado V6 New: '15 Whitehawk 20MRB '14 Silverado V8 |
Posted By: ToolmanJohn
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2015 at 8:04am
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Leveling - Use the tongue jack and your wheel chocks, just like camping. Use the stability jacks so you can walk around inside without having the trailer squirm. The refrigerator requires a certain amount of levelness, so if you want the refrigerator cold before loading up for a trip, you have to have a relatively level trailer to run it. My driveway has a healthy incline and I must use ALL of the available tongue jack plus blocks under it to level it. Then I drop the scissor jacks. I bought two real RUBBER wheel chocks from Home Depot. They are bigger and cling to asphalt and are much safer than the yellow plastic chocks that are int he RV starter kits. Battery - Fully charge it and remove it before the Winter, store it indoors and protect from freezing. Put it on a trickle charger battery tender for the Winter indoors. You are ready for the Spring. Allowing the battery to fully discharge (it WILL if left on the R-Pod all Winter) is bad for the battery and will affect it's ability to reach a full depth charge in the future. Repeatedly fully discharging to very low voltage levels will shorten it's useful life. Heating - If at a campground with shore power, by all means get a small quiet electric space heater. Usually a small ceramic cube will do the trick.The downside of the R-Pod furnace is it is NOISY. Those fans are loud. I don't stay at full hookup campgrounds. I use a Mr.Heater Buddy ceramic propane portable. It has Carbon Monoxide detection and tip over protection, I run it on the lowest setting, it uses a 1 pound bottle in about 4 hours. Leave the bathroom vent open an inch, and crack open a couple windows, it works extremely well and is VERY quiet (no electricity required to run). ------------- 2017 ATC 7X20 Custom Toy Hauler 2013 R-Pod 177 (SOLD) 2013 VW Touareg TDI |
Posted By: Outbound
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2015 at 9:50am
Yes, your r-pod's power system will easily support a 1500watt ceramic/cube heater. Just don't run the air conditioner at the same time or you may pop a breaker at the power pole  (same thing with the microwave/oven - shut off the electric heat while using it).One note about those little electric heaters: they can be noisy as well. When I bought mine, a very helpful associate at Walmart let me unbox and plug in a half dozen of them to judge how quiet they were. An electric mattress pad or electric blanket (I prefer the blanket, but most campers prefer the pad) also works quite well. Alternatively, foam earplugs do a great job of blocking out the sound of the propane furnace and snoring spouses. ------------- Craig :: 2009 RP171 towed by a 2017 F150 |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 04 Oct 2015 at 10:01pm
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While you can't run the A/C at the same time, you can run the A/C's fan if you want to distribute the heat better. ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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