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

My concern is that if I have too many batteries my truck's alternator will struggle to keep everything charged.

I have one AGM battery in my pop-up truck camper and an 18,000 btu furnace which draws down the battery in 24 hrs. So in the evening I turn off the furnace, run my Honda 2000 watt generator which powers a 900 watt electric heater and the camper's converter/batt. charger. I figure that if I add a second battery I might go longer between charges but it will then take longer to charge two batteries instead of one.

Propane heater for sale.

It is this.

http://tinyurl.com/793fsh5

Cozy Cabin brand, 6500 btu, needs a one inch flue that needs one inch clearance to combustibles. I bought it for a remote cabin that we never installed it in.

I paid $150 and would like to get that for it.

If this pisses anyone off to have it in this thread I will delete.
Wish I had a winter camper to put it in.

My wife and I just bought our travel trailer and now in the process of making it winter worthy. This is the culmination of over a year of planning and saving to be mobile "ski bums". Whether we'll use the plumbing is to be seen as that greatly increases the cost and complexity of being on the road. That said not having functioning plumbing is a bummer but we're thinking this first short season out we'll give it a shot.

It's a 2011 19 ft (22 overall length though) Zinger ZT19RDS made by CrossRoads RV. Nothing ski bum about it really as it is very nice! We'll pull it with the Yukon next to it. Let the adventure and learning experiences begin!

http://gallery.diyaudio.dyndns.org/d...0123121604.jpg

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Originally Posted by aliasptr

My wife and I just bought our travel trailer and now in the process of making it winter worthy. This is the culmination of over a year of planning and saving to be mobile "ski bums". Whether we'll use the plumbing is to be seen as that greatly increases the cost and complexity of being on the road. That said not having functioning plumbing is a bummer but we're thinking this first short season out we'll give it a shot.

It's a 2011 19 ft (22 overall length though) Zinger ZT19RDS made by CrossRoads RV. Nothing ski bum about it really as it is very nice! We'll pull it with the Yukon next to it. Let the adventure and learning experiences begin!

http://gallery.diyaudio.dyndns.org/d...0123121604.jpg

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where do you think you are going to park that anywhere near a ski area?

Instead of using the fresh water system in my truck camper in winter I pack water in containers and use a 2 gal. portable shower called Hot Jugz. It is a modified pump up garden sprayer with a shower nozzle instead of a mister wand. Works great.

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Originally Posted by haydukelives

where do you think you are going to park that anywhere near a ski area?

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Wherever I can. Snoparks in CA and OR are very convenient for parking. No hookups but they're dirt cheap and you can stay a long time. We'll figure it out as we go.

I don't expect this to be like having a truck camper, van conversion or even a small motorhome. We plan on being in one locale for weeks at a time so finding the right spot may be a more involved process but once we find it we should be good to go.

Remember, if it was easy everyone would do it.

If you pull that into a snowpark ,you may be there for a few weeks at a time

Anthony lakes ski hill in eastern oregon, free parking and free electical hookup

for all the electrical gurus, can we go over a simple battery setup, that charges off the alternator, and has decent amp hours to power a propane heater (internal fan), and a few lights/stereo in a small slide in camper.

not very savvy, so tell me like i'm a kindergartener.

^^In the same boat as you BCJC - snagged a new (to me) pop-up camper over the weekend and I'm in the midst of figuring out how to set the bugger up with my limited knowledge - all part of the fun I suppose!

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Originally Posted by BCJC

for all the electrical gurus, can we go over a simple battery setup, that charges off the alternator, and has decent amp hours to power a propane heater (internal fan), and a few lights/stereo in a small slide in camper.

not very savvy, so tell me like i'm a kindergartener.

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As I posted above, I have two 6V golf cart batteries in my pop-up truck camper (8' length, on GMC Sierra 6.0L gas V8, 3/4-ton ext. cab longbed truck). If you don't have space for multiple batteries, use the largest deep cycle one you can fit.

I wired the camper to the truck using a continuous-duty solenoid and 10-ga. wire. The solenoid functions as an isolator to disconnect the camper batteries from the truck starting battery. If you wire them together (without any isolation), you run the risk of draining the starting battery.

Thread I started on ExPo goes into more detail:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/foru...ical-ignoramus

This is the wiring diagram I followed, which was handy because the diagram depicts exactly my truck too:
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fu...d/18595593.cfm

^^ Note: I didn't use that 4-prong plug in the truck bed like that (I think that's a Lance camper plug exclusively). I used the 7-way plug that came on my camper, and wired in the 10ga. power + ground to a 7-way socket that I mounted in the bed.

I don't rely on the truck alternator to keep the camper batteries charged, but it does seem to do a decent job of topping it up during trips, so long as it can be driven for 2-3 hours. I charge the batteries at home with a plug-in "smart" (digital control) Schumacher battery charger, before each trip.

DanoT - Does Sun Peaks still have the 30 amp plug in over by the snowmobiles? Back in the day we used to plug in there for free.
Your stock converter/charger only puts out 6 amps. If you need to charge 200 amps it will take over 30 hours. Plus if it is an older unit it will boil your batteries dry. Your furnace probably draws nearly 7 amps and will kill one battery fast. Don't use a generator to run a heater; use it to charge batteries to run your furnace but not with a stock converter/charger. Best bet is to upgrade to 2x6 volt batteries and a smart charger appox 40 amp capacity like the Intellipower units with the Charge Wizard option. http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_d...pd9140a_2.html
(US made = no duty)You already have the expensive part which is the generator. This set up will fully charge the batteries from almost dead in 6 hours max. Get a cheap digital multimeter and learn how to use it to check your batteries. This way you are totally independent of sun and plugins
Be sure to mount the batteries securely in a ventilated space. PM me for more info

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Originally Posted by haydukelives

where do you think you are going to park that anywhere near a ski area?

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If he is in Washington, just about everywhere there is a lift.
Alpental, White Pass, Crystal, and Steven's all have camper lots, the last two have hookups...
Can't speak for Baker though I believe there is RV parking at the back of the main lot?

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Originally Posted by BCJC

for all the electrical gurus, can we go over a simple battery setup, that charges off the alternator, and has decent amp hours to power a propane heater (internal fan), and a few lights/stereo in a small slide in camper.

not very savvy, so tell me like i'm a kindergartener.

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I started a thread a while ago in the PR. Search for threads started by me, there's not that many.

After you read it, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

thanks el chup and makers.

as a kindergartener, this diagram:
Attachment 108783

is more inline with my capabilities than this diagram:
Attachment 108784

So, after reading, what are your questions?

Just make sure if your batteries are vented properly. While charging, lead-acid batteries generate very flammable gas that you don't want in your living area.

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Originally Posted by Trefmawr

Just make sure if your batteries are vented properly. While charging, lead-acid batteries generate very flammable gas that you don't want in your living area.

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AGM battery does not off gas, so it may be the best set up with a small camper with limited space for a vented compartment.

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Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark

So, after reading, what are your questions?

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i'm digesting the material, and looking at some options. i will surely have many questions. thanks!

in the mean time, my new to me camper (not on my truck)

Attachment 108801

Attachment 108802

Not sleeping in it yet, but this in the works:
Attachment 108939

Just started a thread on it here

Picking up a 4WC Finch for my girlfriends Tacoma. It's got the furnace package, auxillary battery package and a bunch of other options. No stove or sink installed, but figure I can do that later if we want something permanent. It has Yakima tracks installed, does anyone know if Thule feet are compatible with Yakima tracks for a rack system? Should looks something like this:
Attachment 109079

Anyone looking for a very cheap older Four Wheel Camper in Nor Cal?
http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rvs/2835181781.html

Not mine.

Fun night at Bachelor Friday night
http://www.sallgoodsports.com/Winter...-Bachy-1-L.jpg

The case for a small camper for the Toyota taco is huge. ( I bet no mag drives one;)) Any other choices out there?