Ski RV's, who's sleeping in parking lots?

[AKline]

looking for partner with or without car for trip to AK and camp on the valdez-thompson pass area. 3-4 weeks trip starting atthe end of March.
i

[grinch]

should work good. it's one of them all wheel drives, eh.

[Bobcat Sig]

should work good. it's one of them all wheel drives, eh.

Ha, nice. But not AWD.

[grinch]

this could be. if not still awesumz. not sure bout winter though
http://www.bikeradar.com/gallery/art...ws%2Farticle#1

[BCJC]

so i've finally ordered the solenoid from amazon, as linked be elchup.
http://www.amazon.com/SOLENOID-GOLF-...=5336653594-20

my current deep cycle marine battery only reads 6.2v, and with a small load (camper lights) 4.15v. is this battery fucked?

also, having done some reading on 6v golf cart batteries, they usually weigh >60lbs each, which means >120 lbs for the battery bank alone. that's more size/weight than i'd like to haul around.

so what are some other battery options? i've been reading that most "deep cycle" batteries aren't truly that, and are more of a mix of cranking/deep cycle.

[El Chupacabra]

my current deep cycle marine battery only reads 6.2v, and with a small load (camper lights) 4.15v. is this battery fucked?

also, having done some reading on 6v golf cart batteries, they usually weigh >60lbs each, which means >120 lbs for the battery bank alone. that's more size/weight than i'd like to haul around.

Assuming that's a 12V battery, then yes, it's probably dead. You can try to revive it with a charger, but I wouldn't expect much.

6V golf cart batteries are heavy, like 70# each, and you need them in multiples of 2 in order to do a 12V system.

You can get "true" 12V deep cycle batteries (i.e. not ones labeled "marine," or labeled with any sort of CCA rating -- both of which indicate they are more intended for use as starting batteries), but they are a little harder to find.

[anemic]

Bcc,

I think u have a 6 volt battery b/c u can't usually GET a 12 volt battery to read less than about 10 volts or so

[BCJC]

it's a 12v, this pos:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/browse/pr...=1329439080374

it came with the camper. now that i'm looking for a new battery, i'm interested in a "proper" deep cycle battery, but hopefully a lighter weight one, and a good automatic "float" charger.

[El Chupacabra]

That AGM battery looks like a pretty nice one, actually. But it's a starting/marine battery, and not a lot of amp-hours.

[BCJC]

so i've managed to nurse it back to 12.61v (resting), we'll see how much damage was done though.

do i just measure volts while not in use, to determine d.o.d. (depletion)? it must be a sliding scale.

as in, i don't want to deplete it past say 60%, to maintain it's health. so how do i monitor that?

thanks

[anemic]

hm. you want to refer to "full fresh charged-up" no load voltage to determine the condition of a battery. Now that you've recharged, you may want to see voltage using a handheld voltage meter. Turn on a light, see voltage. Learn what normal loads look like. If you put a big load on it the voltage drops a lot but then you switch it off and the voltage snaps back. you've removed some amp hours in doing so. Voltage is a coarse scale, low resolution scale. Amp hours or watts are much finer.

A resting battery at 12.0v is on the low end, around the magic 50% mark. However under some load 12.0v is not as low as the same reading at rest. There are tables for state of charge based on voltage. Use the AGM tables.

You can monitor batteries using a variety of sophisticated instrumentation or you can use a very simple voltage-only meter, which is a great place to start. You may want to have a meter that sees amp draw. This is very useful. If I turn on the tunes, thats about an amp or 2. When the furnace blower runs thats about 4 or 5 amps. When my holding tank heaters cycle on thats about 7 amps each. LED lights are nil! Incandescent bulbs are typically several amps each.

You have not discussed your charging gear.

[BCJC]

so at rest it sits at about 12.6v. with two "old skool" incandescant bulbs in the camper on, it reads 12.50, but counts down .01v every second or so. is this normal?

charging setup is not here yet, but will be an isolator, tied into the ignition to only charge from alternator when engine turned on. don't have a fancy charger at home, just a battery tender jr, but it seemed to charge this one up from 6v to 12.6v (took 3 days).

i will probably install my charging system, and use this battery as a guinea pig, so if the system doesn't work properly (likely), i work wreck a shmancy new battery ($$$).

[anemic]

Ok it'll work fine!! Yes incandescents are such hogs! Same goes triple in the winter cold. Superbrightleds . Com. They have all the bulbs. With only 1 battery u need LEDs fo sho

[anemic]

PS last weekend my generator failed me and I had to do a bunch of engine alternator charging. Not ideal but it works. My smart charger puts maybe ten amps more into the bank. Not a big performance drop

[El Chupacabra]

Earthroamer XV-HD -- new model -- gargantuan.

(scroll down in link)

http://www.earthroamer.com/model-overview/

[JTrue]

4WC Finch at Jackson. Picked it up in Bozeman, skied Bridger and Big Sky then headed down to Jackson for a day. Furnace kept us warm. A little too much condensation, gonna try to fix that with some reflectix.

[MakersTeleMark]

Try to put a wind deflector like this < onto the front of it to close the gap. It will help stability and mileage. Welcome to the FWC crew.

Wondering why you didn't mount the ski rack vertically on the back?

Nice setup.

[JTrue]

I was thinking about some sort of deflector. For the rack, I didn't want to buy the feet and crossbars. It's mounted directly to the rails with t-nuts and spacers, so the bindings don't hit. Cost was $70 total.

[BobGnarly]

I am currently building my own slide in sleeper cab. Here is pic of the frame mounted up. I will post more pics as I progress.

[Hutch]

I've got this parked in my barn for the next few days to try to make a decision:



http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/cto/2903306441.html

list price is higher than I would pay.

drove it yesterday, it runs great and can pull our boat.

any thoughts?

[grinch]

sounds good . i like all the options, especially the gm part and the 3500 part. seems a lil overpriced though. as a reference i picked up my c class 96 with alot of the same stuff 80g miles. minty for $15g before the recession

[El Chupacabra]

I've got this parked in my barn for the next few days to try to make a decision:



http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/cto/2903306441.html

list price is higher than I would pay.

drove it yesterday, it runs great and can pull our boat.

any thoughts?

Ad doesn't say -- does it have any of the usual RV stuff installed? e.g.: furnace, fridge, house battery, 12/120 converter, sink, water tank, pump (electric or hand?), water heater, shower?

If it has all of that, then it seems in the ballpark. If none of that, then I think it's high. If it's just a fridge + sink + some cabinets and bed space, then... still seems high to me, but YMMV.

IMHO, you get more bang for the buck (in terms of usable space) with a used 4x4 pickup + used camper in truck bed. Vans are more maneuverable because they're smaller, but the tradeoff is that they're smaller inside too.

[MTT]

so at rest it sits at about 12.6v. with two "old skool" incandescant bulbs in the camper on, it reads 12.50, but counts down .01v every second or so. is this normal?

charging setup is not here yet, but will be an isolator, tied into the ignition to only charge from alternator when engine turned on. don't have a fancy charger at home, just a battery tender jr, but it seemed to charge this one up from 6v to 12.6v (took 3 days).

i will probably install my charging system, and use this battery as a guinea pig, so if the system doesn't work properly (likely), i work wreck a shmancy new battery ($$$).

You have a partial short somewhere in your system.
Something is loading down that battery. See if you can get an amperage reading. With everything off, then as you turn things on. Or disconnect the terminals from the battery, charge, measure, then connect a 12 V appliance directly to the battery and take readings.

[ACH]

IMHO, you get more bang for the buck (in terms of usable space) with a used 4x4 pickup + used camper in truck bed. Vans are more maneuverable because they're smaller, but the tradeoff is that they're smaller inside too.

IDK, most class B motor homes and larger conversion vans that we looked at felt pretty spacious relative to our 10' cabover Alaskan.
One of the key benefits to a "van" style RV is that you can immediately access the coach without having to "set up".
This little guy is a full 2 feet shorter than our Dodge 2500 (club cab) with the Alaskan, and there is more space to move around inside. The main thing where we lost space was the back seat in the truck.

[chiller]

sleeping at Whitewater in bc last weekend. they have a plug in by the maintenance shed if you ask. Six of us fit in this van but four are little kids. Buddy heater keeps us warm and the breakfests at whitewater are to die for. Plowing the parking lot is a bit loud so bring some ear plugs if its dumping