Not the norm boondocking...

[hoosier12315]

Hi all - DH and I are brand new to this whole RV thing. Brand new, as in we pick up the rig tomorrow!!! 2016 Coachmen Pursuit. We could not be more excited.

Part of our reasoning for this big purchase is to be able to visit our immediate family for longer periods of time. We have two big dogs and no place to put them at our families' houses. We also have plans on touring the country and don't really want to board them. Or try to get on a plane with our rambunctious 1.5 year old.

Anyway, we were curious about boondocking in our parents' driveways. Like I said we are brand new and we plan to ask the tech this stuff tomorrow, but I thought I'd throw it out there here as well.

My in laws (where we are headed tomorrow) live out in the country, so no worry about ordinances or angry neighbors.

The RV doesn't come with a generator that I'm aware of. Is it at all plausible to be able to run the a/c at a decent temp (not freezing, but able to keep the dogs from overheating in the Indiana heat) for two days with just the gas tank? We of course will have them outside on leashes as much as possible, but need to have the option to put them in the RV as well. And of course be able to sleep relatively comfortably at night. We will have the option to go get more gas since we are at the in laws, but I'd prefer not to spend $300 every time we do this.

We'd like to be able to get up and make coffee/breakfast, etc but definitely don't need hot water or anything like that.

In the event that we will need a generator - are they insanely loud? Expensive? What brands are good/bad? I'm definitely not opposed to having a generator, can't hurt.

Thanks in advance! Very excited to be a part of the community and get camping!

[jfran304]

When we boon dock at my wife's family farm we use one of these to plug into their electricity. With it we are able to run everything as usual in the coach (50 AMP) as long as nothing in the house is used on the same circuit.

50 Amp 125/250V RV Female - (2) 30 Amp RV Male Plugs Y-Adapter with Powersmart LED's - Furrion F5431RY-SB - Electrical Adapters - Camping World

You will have to find 2 plug ins that are on separate breakers.

The Coachmen Pursuit should come with an Onan generator.

Jon

[1bigmess]

It is likely not possible to run the air conditioner as it comes brand new with a common extension cord from a garage outlet or an outlet on the side of the house. The outlet breaker is likely to trip or the voltage drop could do permanent damage to the air conditioner.

So what can you do about it? A generator of at least 3000 running watts would likely run it. If you'll be in a driveway, you'll probably want a quiet gennie. Or you can get two inverter gennies that can be linked together to provide 3600 running watts, which is what I do. This way you have the benefit of only staying one gennie if you don't need both.

There are "soft start" modules and extra start capacitors that can be added to the air conditioner to help it start and run on less startup surge power and smooth out voltage drops. They really do help if they are the right parts for your particular unit.

Another option is a smaller window air conditioner of 5-7000 btus that can run from a 15 amp plug and a fairly hefty extension cord. If it fits in one of your windows, and you can make something to block of the open parts of the window the air conditioner doesn't fill, and you can remove it to travel, and it would help keep the doggies cool during the day.

[BFlinn181]

According to this brochure, it comes standard with a 4.0 Onan generator.

You have a 30 amp shore cord. See it the dealer will toss in a 30 amp to 15 amp adaptor when you pick it up, if not, stop at a Walmart for one. This will allow you to plug in to an outlet at folks you visit. 15 amp service won't run your rooftop A/C, but you'll have power and the batteries will stay charged. Be sure not to plug into a 30 amp outlet unless you know it's for RV use. Most household 30 amp outlets are 240 v instead of 120 v and will kill your RV electronics. On 15 amps, you'll need to pay attention to what you try to use. Microwave and coffee maker might be too much at once, use one at a time, etc.

Your water heater is propane, it might have an electric heat option, but use the LP for heating water. A good RV water hose (safe for drinking water) will allow you to hook to a hose faucet and have pressured water inside instead of using the water pump.

Enjoy your new adventure, make sure you have dealer demonstrate and explain everything to advance your learning curve!

[hoosier12315]

Thank you for the replies!

Hubs just got back and informed me that the RV does have a generator, but it does run off the gas tank.

So it sounds like it will run the a/c (as I guess that's what runs the a/c in the back when we are driving)...the question is for how long.

We definitely wouldn't plug into the house, but depending how this weekend goes will look into other options. Would love solar...but...money.

[hoosier12315]

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

According to this brochure, it comes standard with a 4.0 Onan generator.

You have a 30 amp shore cord. See it the dealer will toss in a 30 amp to 15 amp adaptor when you pick it up, if not, stop at a Walmart for one. This will allow you to plug in to an outlet at folks you visit. 15 amp service won't run your rooftop A/C, but you'll have power and the batteries will stay charged. Be sure not to plug into a 30 amp outlet unless you know it's for RV use. Most household 30 amp outlets are 240 v instead of 120 v and will kill your RV electronics. On 15 amps, you'll need to pay attention to what you try to use. Microwave and coffee maker might be too much at once, use one at a time, etc.

Your water heater is propane, it might have an electric heat option, but use the LP for heating water. A good RV water hose (safe for drinking water) will allow you to hook to a hose faucet and have pressured water inside instead of using the water pump.

Enjoy your new adventure, make sure you have dealer demonstrate and explain everything to advance your learning curve!

Luckily the dealer is throwing in the stuff we need to plug into a house. But...we are a little apprehensive to do this because we don't want to have our parents' electricity bills explode. Any idea what we are looking at cost wise do that's?

[jacwjames]

Generator will be your best option, plan on ~1/2 gallon per hour.

If you have access to a 20 amp circuit you may get by with running an extension cord to the motorhome. I have a 100 ft 10awg cord that we use, it will have minimal voltage drop. You should be able to run 1 AC unit but will have to limit all other power consumption.

Solar is great but it will only help you on the 12 volt side unless you have an inverter. Even then Solar will only provide part of your power supply and will not run an AC unit.

[BFlinn181]

An Onan 4.0 at heavy load will use almost 1/2 gallon an hour, at light load a bit more than 1/4 gph. Your gas tank has two gas pickups, the generator draws from a shorter pickup so when the tank is about 1/4 full, the generator will stop. That way you don't run out of fuel by generator.

Using 15 amps per hour, $0.12 kWh would be a little over $5 per day. You wouldn't use the maximum 15 amps per hour, that's maximum cost on 15 amp outlet.

[Beau388]

15 amps x 120 volts is 18,000 watts or 1.8kw. Average utility cost is $0.12 per kwhour. So about $0.22 per hour if the A/C is on continiously. Figure using the A/C about 6 hours a day (it will cycle off 50% of the time). Thus about $1.30 per day.

[alvo]

You don't say where you will be or what the outside temperatures will be or if there is shade available to park under. That said, I am in similar circumstances, except that I only have shore power at night; during the day I'm on my own. That means no AC during the day. Outside around 90º in the sun and it gets 100º+ inside. I move the air through with a couple of fans and the heat is tolerable. My cat found a spot she likes when it's warm and everything has worked out fine.

At night I have access to a 15 amp circuit, so can't run the AC then, either. I charge the batteries, watch TV, use my computer and network, use the microwave and water heater. The electric bills (I'm told) are pretty much the same as before.

My water heater is electric, so I have to remember to make sure it's off before using the microwave. That's been the only thing I have to really pay attention to.

[FunGus]

Don't worry about running the rig out of fuel with the generator, all three of mine would quit picking up fuel for the generator at about 1/4 tank of fuel for that reason.


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[hoosier12315]

Thanks all! We are in Indiana and it's about 90 degrees mid day here. I'm pretty sure we will have some shade at the in laws, but my parents not much. Fans are a great idea. We will pick a few up at Sams Club on our way home.

On our way now to pick it up!!

[steve11669]

Best of luck!!! Take everything very slow so you might avoid some large oh sh#@ts as you learn. Enjoy,enjoy enjoy.

Take the folks to a nearby park in the camperfor a pick nic on a daytrip. Get them out of thier house too.

[ernest917]

REMEMBER: those driveways need to be level OR you'll need to use your levelers or some serious damage can be done to the refrigerator.....