Welcome to boondocking. I've been full timing for 7 years and boondocking is the only way to go. I spend my summers at my lot in Quebec, and my winters in the southwest US deserts. A few suggestions...get a Big Buddy portable propane heater, and connect it to the existing low presure propane line under the RV. You will use a fraction of the propane compared to using the RV furnace, and there will be little or no drain at all on electricity, depending if you use the small electric fan on the heater itself. The blower on an RV furnace is a terrible electricity hog. If you boondock most of the time, get a compost toilet. I have an Airhead. My homebuilt cargo trailer to RV conversion doesn't even have a black tank. Dump stations are a thing of the past. I have no grey tanks either, except a small 6 gallon gerry can under the kitchen sink for nights en route spent at Walmarts. My shower and kitchen sink usually dump straight onto the ground, which is legal on most BLM land. Dishes are done in a tub of hot soapy water on the tailgate anyway, and are rinsed with a hose from the fresh water tank in the bed of the truck. The gallon or two of dishwater is dumped in the desert. Get as much solar as you can afford. It seems expensive, but in the long run it is not bad compared to buying gas for the generators, which you will replace constantly because you will be using it so often. Having a lot of solar will let you carry just a small generator for emergencies of having no sun for days.
You can also get a stove top coffee maker, so that you don't need electricity of any kind to make coffee. Just your propane stove. You already have enough batteries with a power inverter to power your 110v coffee maker anyway. Just run your generator or your truck a few minutes each day to top off your batteries. That's what I did. They also have 12 volt curling irons, electric blankets, etc, etc. Someone else mentioned putting 12 volt outlets next to each of the 12 volt light fixtures so you have more places to plug them in.
Imprepping my first new RV for a boondocking adventure with wife and 2 dogs. your video was perfect timing. have generator. not sure how the AC going to do. campendium and the dyrt apps helpful. hopefully things will get instinctive and flow easily after a few adventures for all of us. enjoy. think to get external generator in addition to the propane one to run AC when hot.
I camped the cheap way for several years that I lived in my travel trailer. Two batteries on the truck and one on the trailer. No generator no solar panels. I would leave the trailer plugged into the truck while I was there. I drove the truck to work each day a short distance away and that would charge up the truck batteries and when I went back to the trailer in the evening and plug it back in the trailer that would charge the trailer battery and that would give me plenty of electrical power for everything I needed in my trailer all night including the lights, water pump, my 12 volt TV and multimedia player all evening, my 12 volt fan blowing on me all night long in hot weather, etc. I was even thinking about getting a 12 volt hot plate, a 12 volt air conditioner, a 12 volt coffee maker, maybe even a 12 volt microwave. There's hundreds of 12 volt items you can buy for RVs, cars, boats, trucks, etc.
You might consider some non propane required heating options. You will blow through a lot of propane using the rv furnance ( I think you figured that out already). If you can parallel with one more generator you can get more wattage capacity to run a portable electric heater or try it with your current set up. Do you have a fireplace? The rv fireplaces put out some good heat. Last there is the big buddy propane heater which is certified for indoor use.
Have you looked at solar generators? Even if a solar generator doesn't supply enough power for a full day, it still saves you from having to run the gas generator as much.
I hope you DID NOT connect your Battelborn Lithium battery in parallel with a lead acid (or AGM) battery ??????? You should NEVER NEVER NEVER connect a Lithium and a Lead Acid Battery in parallel. They are different voltage and have far different charging parameters. If you have a Battleborn Lithium Id ditch the lead acid in parallel with it. Save up and buy an additional similar Battleborn and if you're boondocking often I advise a Converter/Charger SUITABLE FOR CHARGING LITHIUM as well as a DC to DC Charger also suitable for Lithium if you need to charge the Lithium house battery while driving. Aside from that fun video, keep them coming and best wishes John T BSEE,JD Electrical Engineer and 50 year RV owner
Hey there! Yes, I meant to update our description to add that we are not running the batteries in parallel and are only running off our lithium battery now. We quickly realized our mistake and changed it after uploading the video 😅
@@wildrvlife I also was wondering about that. There is a lot of things that you can do with batteries that aren't ideal, but will work, albeit poorly. The basic rule is same chemistry and same amperage if possible. You can always get one of the two battery battery switches which will solve that problem. Have fun!
we been boondocking for 7 yrs now that generator u have will work bur you need 2 more to be fully ok u need a back up solar generator to use for just every day stuff solar panels are key then u need just a pull start generator to charge the solar generator when there is alot of over cast which means no sun
PS One more electrical comment. When you use a 30 to 50 Amp Dogbone Adapter to power your 50 Amp RV Its NOT providing the same as if plugged to an RV Park 50 Amp Pedestal. The 30 to 50 dogbone adapter simply ties the single leg of the 30 Amp service (from genset or utility) to BOTH legs feeding your two leg 50 Amp RV. YES the TWO legs of 120 (fed off the single in a 30) still feed all the 50 Amp RV loads HOWEVER you only have a total of 30 amps capacity NOT 50 amps on each leg as in a true 50 Amp (Two legs of 120) RV pedestal. Fun videos keep them coming, best wishes. John T BSEE,JD Electrical Engineer and 50 year RV owner
Yes, that is correct! We often plug in to 30 amp pedestals at RV parks using the adapter (especially the older ones that don’t have 50 amp lol) and it usually handles our needs well (when it isn’t 100 degrees out and we need to blast both A/Cs of course)
I have 2 100 watt solar and 3 batteries, and havent ran my gen. at all. Batteriess run the fan- propane furnance. We have been boondocking 3 weeks without new water, sewer dump, electric.
Maybe I misunderstood but you should not have to run your generator to charge your devices, phone, laptops.... it 110 is needed, inverters are relatively cheap.
Cute couple! Just found your channel, will watch a few more. You might want to invest on cables and locks for whatever you have in the tray on the back. I watched a video some months ago and the people had their generator in a similar tray. While driving through Denver, while at a stop light, someone grabbed their generator out of the tray. Best wishes, Kevin
That is so crazy that someone stole it off the back of their RV like that! We do have a cable and lock for the generator, but just have the tote strapped down and not locked. Thank you so much for following along!
Do you ever worry about leaving your rig in off grid places for safety reasons? Hubby would never leave belongings outside if we were to leave say for a hike?
I know this video is a year old but it's a really really bad idea to parallel a lithium and lead acid battery. The charge discharge characteristics of those batteries are very different and you can end up damaging one or both of them or potentially even creating a safety hazard by overcharging the lead acid battery.
We removed it shortly after this video after someone pointed it out. So far, so good, so I don’t think we had it connected long enough to do damage thank goodness! I need to update our description to explain, going to do that now! Thank you!
Thanks! This is a very old video and we have a totally different system now, but we did make the change immediately after this video posted, thanks for looking out!
Not sure why so many rv channels include themselves making coffee. Seems it's a true addiction as people can't function without it. Show the places of interest that you visit how to get there. Good luck with your channel
Cool. I was about to chime in on this as well. Those lithium batteries with solar and inverter are game changers. I have used lead acid batteries connected to the alternator to charge lithium batteries, but I installed a DC to DC charger between them to make them place nice together.
Thank you for your kind feedback. If you read one of the other hundred comment, you’ll probably see this video is over a year old and we changed it immediately after we posted, a year ago.
Welcome to boondocking. I've been full timing for 7 years and boondocking is the only way to go. I spend my summers at my lot in Quebec, and my winters in the southwest US deserts.
A few suggestions...get a Big Buddy portable propane heater, and connect it to the existing low presure propane line under the RV. You will use a fraction of the propane compared to using the RV furnace, and there will be little or no drain at all on electricity, depending if you use the small electric fan on the heater itself. The blower on an RV furnace is a terrible electricity hog.
If you boondock most of the time, get a compost toilet. I have an Airhead. My homebuilt cargo trailer to RV conversion doesn't even have a black tank. Dump stations are a thing of the past. I have no grey tanks either, except a small 6 gallon gerry can under the kitchen sink for nights en route spent at Walmarts. My shower and kitchen sink usually dump straight onto the ground, which is legal on most BLM land. Dishes are done in a tub of hot soapy water on the tailgate anyway, and are rinsed with a hose from the fresh water tank in the bed of the truck. The gallon or two of dishwater is dumped in the desert.
Get as much solar as you can afford. It seems expensive, but in the long run it is not bad compared to buying gas for the generators, which you will replace constantly because you will be using it so often. Having a lot of solar will let you carry just a small generator for emergencies of having no sun for days.
My wife’s idea of boondocking is staying at a campground with no sewer hookup. Lol. Great video!
The desert seems depressing on video (from Florida) but everyone seems to love it. Hope to find out someday 😊
From Colorado here with tons of camping. We took a 2 week trip to southern AZ. The desert is underrated. Will go there more
Great info!!!!!
You can also get a stove top coffee maker, so that you don't need electricity of any kind to make coffee. Just your propane stove.
You already have enough batteries with a power inverter to power your 110v coffee maker anyway.
Just run your generator or your truck a few minutes each day to top off your batteries.
That's what I did.
They also have 12 volt curling irons, electric blankets, etc, etc.
Someone else mentioned putting 12 volt outlets next to each of the 12 volt light fixtures so you have more places to plug them in.
Truck stops are a great place to get supplies for 12 volt or at least Ideas on things to shop for
Imprepping my first new RV for a boondocking adventure with wife and 2 dogs. your video was perfect timing. have generator. not sure how the AC going to do. campendium and the dyrt apps helpful. hopefully things will get instinctive and flow easily after a few adventures for all of us. enjoy. think to get external generator in addition to the propane one to run AC when hot.
I boondock exclusively in AZ over the winter. 300 watts of solar, four 6v lead acid and have never ran out of power
What is important about generator is if it is a pure sine wave to be safer on electronics
Good info!!
I camped the cheap way for several years that I lived in my travel trailer.
Two batteries on the truck and one on the trailer. No generator no solar panels.
I would leave the trailer plugged into the truck while I was there.
I drove the truck to work each day a short distance away and that would charge up the truck batteries and when I went back to the trailer in the evening and plug it back in the trailer that would charge the trailer battery and that would give me plenty of electrical power for everything I needed in my trailer all night including the lights, water pump, my 12 volt TV and multimedia player all evening, my 12 volt fan blowing on me all night long in hot weather, etc.
I was even thinking about getting a 12 volt hot plate, a 12 volt air conditioner, a 12 volt coffee maker, maybe even a 12 volt microwave.
There's hundreds of 12 volt items you can buy for RVs, cars, boats, trucks, etc.
You might consider some non propane required heating options. You will blow through a lot of propane using the rv furnance ( I think you figured that out already). If you can parallel with one more generator you can get more wattage capacity to run a portable electric heater or try it with your current set up. Do you have a fireplace? The rv fireplaces put out some good heat. Last there is the big buddy propane heater which is certified for indoor use.
You’ve got a great generator there! We’re about to click over 1,000 hours on hours. It’s been a beast!
Ours is still going strong too! Now I want to check our hours the next time we pull it out 😆
@@wildrvlife we’ve been happy with hours. The maintenance is about as easy as it gets
Love you tube keeping us up with old videos
Have you looked at solar generators? Even if a solar generator doesn't supply enough power for a full day, it still saves you from having to run the gas generator as much.
I hope you DID NOT connect your Battelborn Lithium battery in parallel with a lead acid (or AGM) battery ??????? You should NEVER NEVER NEVER connect a Lithium and a Lead Acid Battery in parallel. They are different voltage and have far different charging parameters. If you have a Battleborn Lithium Id ditch the lead acid in parallel with it. Save up and buy an additional similar Battleborn and if you're boondocking often I advise a Converter/Charger SUITABLE FOR CHARGING LITHIUM as well as a DC to DC Charger also suitable for Lithium if you need to charge the Lithium house battery while driving. Aside from that fun video, keep them coming and best wishes
John T BSEE,JD Electrical Engineer and 50 year RV owner
Hey there! Yes, I meant to update our description to add that we are not running the batteries in parallel and are only running off our lithium battery now. We quickly realized our mistake and changed it after uploading the video 😅
@@wildrvlife Thanks for the update, good to hear that, you did good..
John T
@@wildrvlife I also was wondering about that. There is a lot of things that you can do with batteries that aren't ideal, but will work, albeit poorly. The basic rule is same chemistry and same amperage if possible. You can always get one of the two battery battery switches which will solve that problem. Have fun!
Great video! ⚘️
Thank you so much!!
That team working section with the coffee showed your husband typing an awful lot of words made up of only W A S and D 😅
Wonder what game it was 🤔
Haha!! I was spelling was!
You should consider adding a Diesel Heater , they are quiet inexpensive and work well, very fuel efficient. Then add solar. Good luck to you
Ah, we will have to check into this. thank you!!
we been boondocking for 7 yrs now
that generator u have will work bur you need 2 more to be fully ok
u need a back up solar generator to use for just every day stuff
solar panels are key then u need just a pull start generator to charge the solar generator when there is alot of over cast which means no sun
PS One more electrical comment. When you use a 30 to 50 Amp Dogbone Adapter to power your 50 Amp RV Its NOT providing the same as if plugged to an RV Park 50 Amp Pedestal. The 30 to 50 dogbone adapter simply ties the single leg of the 30 Amp service (from genset or utility) to BOTH legs feeding your two leg 50 Amp RV. YES the TWO legs of 120 (fed off the single in a 30) still feed all the 50 Amp RV loads HOWEVER you only have a total of 30 amps capacity NOT 50 amps on each leg as in a true 50 Amp (Two legs of 120) RV pedestal. Fun videos keep them coming, best wishes.
John T BSEE,JD Electrical Engineer and 50 year RV owner
Yes, that is correct! We often plug in to 30 amp pedestals at RV parks using the adapter (especially the older ones that don’t have 50 amp lol) and it usually handles our needs well (when it isn’t 100 degrees out and we need to blast both A/Cs of course)
@@wildrvlife Thanks for the update, you got this. Fun videos keep them coming.
John T
Good information. We’re new to RVs as of end of July. Our initial use will be boon docking on our property this week 🤞.
Amazing video such an inspiration!! ❤
Thank you so much!!
great video guys. hope you love my home state NM! stay warm and safe travels
Thank you so much! We really enjoyed New Mexico and will definitely have to go back one day to explore more
I have 2 100 watt solar and 3 batteries, and havent ran my gen. at all. Batteriess run the fan- propane furnance.
We have been boondocking 3 weeks without new water, sewer dump, electric.
What kind of batteries?
Inverter (pure sine wave) generators also provide cleaner power than other generators.
yes! that is another great benefit!
Used to call it dry camping. Out BH.
Maybe I misunderstood but you should not have to run your generator to charge your devices, phone, laptops.... it 110 is needed, inverters are relatively cheap.
How do you feel about securing your camper and generator when you have to go out for supplies or hiking?
Good question, I wouldn't do it without GPS everything
Cute couple! Just found your channel, will watch a few more. You might want to invest on cables and locks for whatever you have in the tray on the back. I watched a video some months ago and the people had their generator in a similar tray. While driving through Denver, while at a stop light, someone grabbed their generator out of the tray. Best wishes, Kevin
That is so crazy that someone stole it off the back of their RV like that! We do have a cable and lock for the generator, but just have the tote strapped down and not locked. Thank you so much for following along!
Do you ever worry about leaving your rig in off grid places for safety reasons? Hubby would never leave belongings outside if we were to leave say for a hike?
I know this video is a year old but it's a really really bad idea to parallel a lithium and lead acid battery. The charge discharge characteristics of those batteries are very different and you can end up damaging one or both of them or potentially even creating a safety hazard by overcharging the lead acid battery.
We removed it shortly after this video after someone pointed it out. So far, so good, so I don’t think we had it connected long enough to do damage thank goodness! I need to update our description to explain, going to do that now! Thank you!
You want to match those batteries. Not a good idea to have a lead acid and LifePo connected like you have them...
Thanks! This is a very old video and we have a totally different system now, but we did make the change immediately after this video posted, thanks for looking out!
Not sure why so many rv channels include themselves making coffee. Seems it's a true addiction as people can't function without it. Show the places of interest that you visit how to get there. Good luck with your channel
I enjoy the coffee making, it looked yummy
😁 Thanks Kathleen!
Cheaper in a state park with electric and water
Solar
Hi
Hey there! Thanks for stopping by the channel 😁
No problem I love all your videos😊😊😊😊😊
It is not a good idea to parallel a lead acid battery to a lithium battery.
Yep! Since this video, we have upgraded all our batteries and added solar.
Cool. I was about to chime in on this as well. Those lithium batteries with solar and inverter are game changers. I have used lead acid batteries connected to the alternator to charge lithium batteries, but I installed a DC to DC charger between them to make them place nice together.
Must be nice to be rich.
Don’t put lithium in parallel with AGM. It’s stupid
Thank you for your kind feedback. If you read one of the other hundred comment, you’ll probably see this video is over a year old and we changed it immediately after we posted, a year ago.
Great video, thanks just got the same model and will be on the road, also . Keep in touch I have a channel also, this one and WykoffsMerica