Bumper pull campers (again)

Your power converter will charge the battery bank when you're on shore power in addition to providing 12v in the RV. Some converters have a bit more intelligence about it than others and you can tell them when to fully top off the batt in prep for a boondocking (no shore power) session vs maintaining a lower float charge level for less wear and tear on the battery. While the batt is charging you'll be drawing decent current from the shore line, so that plus AC is going to be stressing a 20A breaker, add an undersized, long extension cord run and the draw is even worse hence likely popping breakers before you would expect. If you've got electric hot water... again, big draw. The AC by itself is going to be 12A to 20A particularly at startup. (Microair soft starts help, and reduce the 'bang' at AC start as well.)

If your fridges have a propane mode (You'll likely see big silver heatsinks in the back of the fridge section) they'll be much slower to come down to temp than a traditional fridge. I usually gave mine at least a full day. You can get a fan assembly that mounts in there to help air circulation and provide for slightly faster cooling and more even temps that ties into the interior light for power, Smart RV Fridge Fix. Works well, don't have to mess with batteries, I recommend it. On those units your freezer will cool first, then the fridge. If your fridge is in duress, your freezer will warm first. Try not to leave the doors open any longer than needed, as again they don't have that much capacity and take awhile to recover. Typically the small outdoor accessible fridge is just a normal compact fridge and only cools when shore power is available, FYI.

You can leave the water pump on, I typically only turned it on as needed just so I wasn't keeping the lines pressurized constantly. If your pump starts cycling with no demand, take it apart and clean the diaphragm before jumping straight to a replacement after making sure you don't have leaky faucets/drain valves/etc bleeding pressure down.

 

The fridge will cool down alot faster plugged in vs. propane. Plug it in at the house a day before you're leaving and let the fridge get cold.

 

The RV being plugged in should charge the RV battery if things are working right.

Propane should keep the fridge cold for that year RV. Some switch automatically, some older ones are manual. Some of the newer RV fridges run on 12V only, but yours is not that new.

You only need the water pump on if you are using water from the tanks. If you are camping where there is no water hookup (dry camping), you can turn the pump on when you get to the campground and leave it on until you if have electric at the campground. If you are off-grid / boondocking with no water or electric, then the pump will be running off the battery and only turn it on when you need it. If the campground has water hookups, you won't need any water in the tanks or need to have the pump on at all.

One reason to maybe have a bit of water in the tank would be after you initially dump the black tank at the dump station, flush the toilet a bit before you open up the grey valve. It can help clean the tank a bit. A second person inside the trailer can do this when you signal from outside. Wear disposable gloves when handling the dump job and have a plastic bag to put the gloves in just in case there isn't a trash can at the dump station. Also having a bit of water in the tank will let you wash your hands afterwards.

 

If you are camping and gone from the unit for a while I would turn the water pump off. If a line or faucet down stream breaks, well your pump does its job. Best case is your water is gone on the ground. Worst is water gone, pump burned up and you have either a flooded unit or maybe your gray tank overflowed.

I have seen some people wire in a timer (wired or wireless) and put the switches in the bathroom and/or by the sink. The pump can stay off and all you do is press the timer switch and you get a minute or 2 of water for flush or rinse.

 

As @Kurlon mentioned, I make sure to use only 10 gauge extension cords for everything, including 15A or 20A cords, but absolutely for 30A. (I can't speak about 50A, as I don't have experience with this.) Higher gauge cords increase electrical resistance, may get hot and contribute to tripping breakers sooner, when near maximum amperage draw.

 

So pulling out now (giggidy) and I have the rig u plugged and I filled two tanks, checked stove and all propane seems to work.

when traveling I have the one propane tank valve on right? So the fridge cools while traveling? I don’t smell any propane so I’m hoping lines are good. Being a 2019 I’d hope they are fine.

 

Fire up a lucky strike after a couple hours and you'll know if the gas lines are good.

 

Should the mods rename this thread to Robby-Bobby’s big camping adventure????

 

Fuck I hope its just a regular trip. I can see it now, I spend all this time and money to go "relax" away from motorcycles, and end up pissed, broke down, cussing the kids, all in the name of family fun bonding.

 

Sounds like a regular family road trip to me.

 

Relaxing is hard work.

 

Yes, propane is fine to stay on while you're on the road. Only time I ever shut mine off is when I'm filling the tank or storing the rig for months.

 

The water heater will not automatically switch between 120vac and propane. There is a switch on the heater for the 120.

And always turn the water off when you leave.

Always close your awning when you leave.

 

So everything went great!

only downfall was a tire tread coming off about 10 min from home so I’m limping it.

hoping nothing damaged in the slide out.

are the oem tires Chinese shit? Should I upgrade them all?

I pulled the camper approx 75-80 most of the way.

Is that too fast for stock tires? I had them inflated to 70 as max says 80psi.

 

That sucks. I pulled my car trailer 500mi each way to get tractor a few months ago. Like 60 mi from home I blew a tread off too. Maxxis 8008 are the general consensus best trailer tire on the beeb.

Good luck with the repairs.

 

Two things...1. Many trailer tires (not all of them) have a max towing speed rating for 65mph, you can check the speed rating letter on the side of the tires. 2. The trailer should have a safety sticker on the front left side of it, and it is placed there by the trailer manufacturer and will state what tire pressures you need to run in the tires. Having said that, that sticker is valid IF the tires that are on the trailer are the same specs/sizes that are listed on the safety sticker. If it calls for 80, and you are running 70, you are underinflated. Under inflation makes the tires flex more than they should and the more flex, the more heat in the tire. The more heat in the tire, the higher the chance for the tire to be damaged. I run 235/85r/16 tires on my trailer, which is a triple axle Toy Hauler and the psi on those are 110 lbs. Each tire will provide a little over 4400 lbs of load capacity if they are inflated to the 110 psi.

 

Ok so keeping this going, gonna get some new shoes for sure.

One thing I cant figure out, when I plug it into my house (for storing) basically I have my 50amp cord coming out then I have a reducer to 30, then a plug that lets me plug into the house. Of course my 50-amp cord is too short, so with everything I am using an extension cord from the plug to my house approx 20 feet. Well it keeps popping the house breaker. Nothing is on in the camper except maybe fridge and a light or two, NOT running ac or mirowave. Is something running that I don't know about?

The original cord I used was just a household type cord so I went to lowes and got a heavier duty cord thinking maybe that was the issue. Still pops house breaker. Do I just have to bite the bullet and put in an actual heavy duty plug to plug in?

 

Does the inverter/charger for the batteries have any settings you can control? If it’s set higher than 20a, it will pull that when you plug it in and it goes into bulk charging on the batteries.

Not sure what those campers have for power conversion…..

 

Is it popping the actual breaker or tripping a GFI? I have a GFI in my garage that can't handle more than about 300W without tripping the GFI. It is tied into the outdoor outlets front, rear, in the furnace room and one outdoor light too. I had another dedicated GFI outlet installed in the garage that works fine when I need to use an actual power tool.

Also, the more times a GFI is tripped the easier it gets to trip most of the time. I have replaced that one in my garage twice.

If it is popping the breaker, you probably either have something else on that circuit in your house or the battery charging is trying to pull a lot of juice.