New Camper owners...

[cstem]

Hi, my wife and I just stepped up from a tent to a 1984 Rockwood pop-up and having never owned a camepr before are trying to make as few stupid mistakes as possible.  The unit is in great shape with no tears or dryrotting of the canvas or screens.  It has a two burner stove, hand pump sink(cold only) and a pwer inverter. There is no battery in it yet and that is where one of my questions comes from.  

What battery should I get?  How should I keep it when not in use?  Can I wire it to charge of the tow vehicle while plugged in?  Do you recommend a solar charger?  

Also, I saw Lynx Levelers, good choice?  They look nice since they stack nicely for storage.  

It has the small 12 inch tires, is therea max speed for towing?  

Can I put bolt a rack to the top of it?  

Thanks in advance-Cory

[tlhdoc]

Congratulations on the PU purchase.

You want to get a deep cycle battery.  You don't want to get a battery with cold cranking amps.  There are three size batteries called group 24, group 27 to group 31.  The bigger the battery the more power it will have.  At Sam's Club the group 31 batteries are about $70.
 
The three main choices for leveling are wood blocks, Lynx Levelers and a BAL Leveler.  The wood is inexpensive and can suck up water and get yucky, but many people use it.  Lynx Levelers are nice, they are light weight and easy to clean.  They also come in the nice bag and don't take up much space.  The BAL Leveler is big and bulky, more expensive but you park and then level the PU instead of driving off and on a stack or wood/Lynx.  It also works as a wheel chock.  The down size is that they don't recommend using them with 12 inch tires.  If you do go that route you should add a block of wood to each of the tire pads on the leveler, so that the 12 inch tires fit better.  You should check the owners manual or the manufacturer for the max towing speed.  You should also make sure your wheel bearings are in good shape and properly packed.  You should check with Rockwood to see about adding rack to the roof.  Different roofs can support different amounts of weight.  If you are looking to haul bikes, I would recommend the Pro Rak bike rack that bolts to frame on the tongue (they are sold here at PUT).  Good luck with the PU.

[flyfisherman]

Before we get too deeply involved with batteries, let me ask, what appliances is there aboard that will require battery power ... for example,  does it have a furnance? Gives us a run down on the accessories.

Was looking for a print-out I have stashed somewhere, either from a tire or an axle/wheel manufacturer, that says top red line speed for a trailer with 12" tires is 65 mph. I'll keep looking and post it for you, if I can find same.


Fly

[cstem]

Before we get too deeply involved with batteries, let me ask, what appliances is there aboard that will require battery power ... for example,  does it have a furnance? Gives us a run down on the accessories.

Was looking for a print-out I have stashed somewhere, either from a tire or an axle/wheel manufacturer, that says top red line speed for a trailer with 12" tires is 65 mph. I'll keep looking and post it for you, if I can find same.


Fly

It only has a 2 burner stove, small fridge and a couple of small lights inside.  I would like to be able to power a radio, maybe small lcd TV w/ DVD (many nights here with no campfires allowed-gives yousomething to watch!)  and would only need to work after quiet hours and generator is out. It also has a converter/inverter.  

As far as the bikes go, I think I can do it safely.  My bikes don't weigh much ( 21 lbs for mountain bike and 18 for roadie- I love carbon fiber!) so I think it will be okay.

[flyfisherman]

It only has a 2 burner stove, small fridge and a couple of small lights inside.  I would like to be able to power a radio, maybe small lcd TV w/ DVD (many nights here with no campfires allowed-gives yousomething to watch!)  and would only need to work after quiet hours and generator is out. It also has a converter/inverter.  

As far as the bikes go, I think I can do it safely.  My bikes don't weigh much ( 21 lbs for mountain bike and 18 for roadie- I love carbon fiber!) so I think it will be okay.

When you connect to shore power (via the camper's 110/120vt cable) at the campground), you won't have a need for a battery as everything should work in the camper, from the 12vt lights to the plug in 110/120vt accessories. That fridge you have, is that a 3-way fridge or something like a small dorm fridge running only on 110/120? If you do have a 3-way fridge then it would operate on 110 with hook-ups and off the propane while your camping in an area without electrical hook-ups. You would not want to try to operate the fridge strickly on battery power while camping as it would drain the battery dead real fast! You did'nt mention anything about heat ... does your camper have a "furnance"?

If, when you are dry camping (no hook-ups), and all you have need for is the camper lights, a TV and/or a radio, it might be possible for you to just use the tow vehicle's battery and save yourself the hassle of messing with an additional camper battery. That's what I do ... I operate the camper's interior and exterior "patio" light, a TV in case I need to check out the weather or some special program and a 12vt fan. Been doing this for some time and have never had any problems.  It was necessary to run an auxiliary hot wire from the vehicle's battery to the center post of the trailer electrical connector. This connects the vehicle's battery to the camper's converter and supplies 12 volt power.


Fly

[tlhdoc]

What battery should I get? How should I keep it when not in use? Can I wire it to charge of the tow vehicle while plugged in? Do you recommend a solar charger?

When not in use you want to disconnect the battery from the trailer.  Anything that is on in the trailer will drain the battery, like the propane detector.  You should have a plug in type battery charger to charge the battery.  You can wire the TV to charge the battery when towing, but it isn't the best way to charge your battery and you can only charge it when your vehicle is running.

[dthurk]

Is it really wise to use the tow vehicle battery to power your camper while camping?  We've never dry camped, so have no experience whatever with this, so please defer to the advice of those experienced in this mode of camping.

We've always "plugged in" at a campground.  Seems to me I read rather frequently of people who have inadvertantly and unexpectedly drained their camper batteries while dry camping.  Seems as though you could easily do the same thing with your tow vehicle's battery, rendering yourself stranded, unable to start your vehicle, if you don't have some way of recharging that battery.

Actually, we did that while tent camping (before we bought the PUP) using no hookups at all.  Simply left a dome light on in our van.  Next morning the battery was dead.  Campground maintenance people got us jump started.  Could we call this a SITT (Stupid Idiotic Tenter's Trick)?