Community Forums

lynnette · 07-16-2012, 12:23 PM

Ok I have read several threads but need a few things clarified please. We are going to a country fest in 2 weeks.. it will be dry camping only , we have a 35 ft. 2012 Bounder . We are going to run our gen on the way there, 2 hrs, to cool the coach and charge batteries and fridge. Once we are there the only day we will be there full time is the 1st day . From what I can garner we run our gen again that night to recharge batteries and possibly in the morning to get the coach cooled ? right? can we leave the AC run all day as that will be only thing running? , we will only be back to sleep at night, have coffee in morning and quick showers then back to Country fest. I am assuming I have this figured out correctly, I dont know size,type of gen but since it is a brand new coach it should be adequate for what we need? Any suggestions/help/would b egreat

RickO · 07-16-2012, 12:41 PM

If I'm reading your post correctly, you plan to run your air conditioning all day on the batteries? I'm not familiar with your particular coach but I don't think you'll be able to do that. AC takes too much power to be run off the batteries... at least for very long.

Having said all of this, since I'm not a dry camper I could be all wet too. Let's see what others have to say.

Best of luck and have fun.

Rick

lynnette · 07-16-2012, 12:48 PM

if we dont have the dog with us we can just run it when we get back to the camper , however wont the batteries stayed charged?

RickO · 07-16-2012, 12:51 PM

I think if you don't run the AC, your batteries will stay charged while you're away during the day. When you return, I'm betting you'll have to run the generator to have the AC running.

Rick

chaunclm · 07-16-2012, 02:44 PM

Unless you have modified your Bounder, the A/C will not run unless you are running your generator, as you only have a 1200 watt inverter. Plus you only have two six volt batteries which is only a couple of hundred amp hours of storage capacity. In addition your A/C will not be connected to the inverter.

Whenever you wish to run the A/C you will have to run you generator or be hooked up to shore power.

Good luck.

Senior Chief · 07-16-2012, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaunclm

Unless you have modified your Bounder. The A/C will not run unless you are running your generator, as you only have a 1200 watt inverter. Plus you only have two six volt batteries which is only a couple of hundred amp hours of storage capacity. In addition your A/C will not be connected to the inverter.

Whenever you wish to run the A/C you will have to run your generator or be hooked up to shore power.

Good luck.

^^^^^This^^^^^

lynnette · 07-16-2012, 03:10 PM

Thank you , I know it was a silly question ......

4Knights · 07-16-2012, 05:50 PM

No such thing as a silly question, we boondock all the time and even take the MH to the lake up the street just to play in the water. We park next to the water and leave the generator running all day to keep the interior cool (100s here) that way our 6 month old grand daughter can come out and spend the day. We take turns going in to the MH with her as she's not old enough to regulate her own body temp yet.
Only concern I've ever had running the gen for long periods of time is making sure there are no high grass or combustibles near the exhaust pipe. Don't want to be the cause of a wildfire.

chaunclm · 07-17-2012, 12:53 AM

Your question was not silly. The only way we learn is by questions. I hope you enjoy your Bounder. It sounds as if it is very well equipped.

Grimesy · 07-17-2012, 01:13 AM

When we boon dock I must run my gen set as my DW is on oxygen 24/7 and when it is hot the dog needs her air con on. I do check out the location of my neighbors as often times they are anti generator, and I try to be a good neighbor. Biggest complainers seem to be those who do not have a generator.

Don

RanCarr · 07-20-2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grimesy

When we boon dock I must run my gen set as my DW is on oxygen 24/7 and when it is hot the dog needs her air con on. I do check out the location of my neighbors as often times they are anti generator, and I try to be a good neighbor. Biggest complainers seem to be those who do not have a generator.

Don

If you didn't have one, you may have been one of the complainers also.

They're annoying and irritating to those looking for peace and quiet and those trying to sleep so why shouldn't they complain? Our new-to-us Class-C has a generator and we plan to make sure we don't irritate anyone when we run it - be it in a campground or a WM parking lot.

It seems you are trying to find areas where the noise wont bother others and that's good.

Some self-centered people feel they don't need to concern themselves with the feelings or needs of others.

Beckers · 08-10-2012, 02:59 PM

Have your considered installing a solar generator system? I've seen some that you mount on your roof, and they automatically follow the sun so as to keep charging your batteries all day. Not sure of cost or time restraints, but solar might fix the power shortage and noise problems.

Chuck13 · 08-14-2012, 11:41 AM

Solar won't run air conditioning. At least not for long on two batteries.

lynnette · 08-14-2012, 12:15 PM

we just got back last week from our 4 day boondocking experience... we ended up running the generator most of the time, that kept us cool inthe 90+ degree weather. Since we dont really understand all of the ins and outs of dry camping it was easier than fighting a battery situation since we are not really set up for boondocking. The only issue we had was our fridge, we could not get it to regulate on gas (fridge and water heater we were running on gas so we could shut off gen. from time to time) , it would go from 39 - 45 - 57 back down to 40 , just all over the place. Frustrating but we just turned it off after 2 days and used ice. Any suggestions on what we we/werent doing? It runs great on shore power put it on 3 and it goes right to 35-37 and stays