Introduction and thanks from new Newmar owner

[KarenS144]

Congrats on such a gorgeous coach. I think the paint pattern on Newmars are among the most attractive on the road. Your interior is beautiful too.

[milkman55]

Do you have a toad behind the CS? Really been debating the compactness of the CS vs the much bigger DP. We would like to do the national parks as well, but don't think most would work with a longer DP.

Any issues with GVW loaded for FT?

Thanks

[millerj]

DavidP,

If you are at Newmar on a Tuesday or Wednesday then you should also head up to Shipshewana and check out the flea market. You can then head back through Middlebury to Nappanee and hit Amish Acres for supper. I have met people all over the country and when they learn I am from Indiana they ask me about the Shipshewana flea market. Go figure.

[DavidP]

Originally Posted by milkman55

Do you have a toad behind the CS? Really been debating the compactness of the CS vs the much bigger DP. We would like to do the national parks as well, but don't think most would work with a longer DP.

Any issues with GVW loaded for FT?

We tow a Honda Fit.

Regarding weight, we are OK on GVWR and GCWR. But we are at the GAWR limit for the rear axle (15500 lbs). This is after several rounds of purging thing we didn't really need, moving heavier items forward, and transferring a few things to the car.

The Canyon Star 3424 was upgraded from a 22,000 lb. chassis to a 24,000 lb. chassis in the middle of the 2014 model year. We made the 24,000 lb. chassis a condition of sale, because we knew we'd have weight issues with the 22,000 lb. chassis.

Here's how it worked out for us:

19,630 lbs: the approx. UVW for the 3424 floor plan in the Newmar specs

20,722 lbs: the actual UVW on our weight sticker (with our options and special orders)
+ ~250 lbs aftermarket (solar panels, charge controller, inverter)
+ 700 lbs water
+ 100 lbs propane
+ 400 lbs passengers and pets
= 22,172 lbs before cargo

So we have about 1,800 lbs before we hit the GVWR limit. Our actual gross weight is about 23,300 lbs, so we have about 1,100 lbs cargo. And, as I mentioned, at that weight we're at the GAWR limit for the rear axle.

Would I like more weight capacity? Sure. But we've been able to bring everything we needed, and most of what we wanted, for full-timing. (Glad we didn't put in a washer/dryer though. Offsetting that extra weight would have been harder.) We have lots of spare storage volume -- so we'll need to be careful about accumulating "stuff".

OK, that was longer than I meant to write. Hope this helps though.

David

[DavidP]

Originally Posted by millerj

If you are at Newmar on a Tuesday or Wednesday then you should also head up to Shipshewana and check out the flea market. You can then head back through Middlebury to Nappanee and hit Amish Acres for supper.

Thanks, sounds like fun!

[TonyDi]

Beautiful coach! I love the interior and the color scheme. Thank for posting the pics. Welcome to the Newmar family and Happy Trails!!

[Deek]

David --

Sweet ride! Congratulations. Just beautiful.

I am surprised that no one else has commented on this yet so let me be the one who does -- I love the solar panels on the roof. Can you shed light on them for the good of the order? Did Newmar install them? How do you use them? How much energy do they generate? Are you satisfied with what you get out of them versus the investment made?

I continue to be amazed that we do not use more of these kinds of renewable, really unlimited energy resources. Maybe that comes from having a daughter who is an environmental studies major in college -- but to me it just makes great sense. I hope to see more and more usage of energy this way. Seems you are dialed into this too. Would sure love to hear your story of your choice with them on your coach and your overall satisfaction level after you have used them.

Thanks.

Deek

[DavidP]

Originally Posted by Deek

I am surprised that no one else has commented on this yet so let me be the one who does -- I love the solar panels on the roof. Can you shed light on them for the good of the order? Did Newmar install them? How do you use them? How much energy do they generate? Are you satisfied with what you get out of them versus the investment made?

Hi Deek -

We installed the solar to allow us to visit USFS campgrounds, BLM land, state parks, etc. that don't have hookups. I'm a software engineer and working on the road, so I need power (every workday) and internet access (most workdays).

When the coach was built, Newmar did the following special orders for us: (1) upgrade the house batteries to four 6 volt AGM batteries on a sliding tray in the front left basement compartment; (2) run 2 gauge cabling* from the roof to the front right basement compartment for the solar panels; (3) run two Romex cables from the 110 volt electrical panel to the front right basement compartment for the inverter feed/return; (4) run two telephone cables from the monitor panel to the front right basement compartment for the charge controller monitor and inverter monitor

[*Well, the cables were supposed to be 2 gauge. But what was actually installed as 2/0 gauge, which is considerably larger. ]

We had AM Solar (Eugene, Oregon) do the rest of the install, which included: (1) five 160 watt solar panels; (2) a Morningstar TriStar charge controller and remote monitor panel; (3) a Magnum MS2000 inverter and remote monitor panel; (4) moving the 110 volt circuits for the microwave, fridge, front and rear AV systems, and various receptacles to a subpanel energized by the inverter.

Having Newmar run the cabling resulted in a very clean installation, but probably didn't save any money. Both Newmar and AM Solar did great work.

So, we can power everything in the coach from the batteries/inverter except the heat pumps, hot water heater, and heat pads.

We have a Norcold absorption fridge, and when in "electric" mode, it draws down the batteries a little faster than the solar can charge them. So, we run the fridge on electric on travel days, but if we don't have shore power for an extended period, we switch the fridge to LP. (We also use LP for the hot water heater, furnace, and cooktop.)

The solar panels nominally produce a maximum of 800 watts. The highest I've ever seen is about 650 watts. This should be plenty for our needs. I don't expect to need to run the generator unless we get a couple of cloudy days in a row, or need the air conditioning. But the real test will be this winter when the days are shorter and the sun lower in the sky.

We've only been full timing two months, and we're still settling into the lifestyle. So we'll see how all this goes. But, for us, the return on the solar investment is the ability to camp where we want.

David

[Steve N Sal]

Welcome to the Newmar family and congrats on the purchase of your new coach. Hope you enjoy all your future adventures.

[DandS]

Welcome to the ranks of Canyon Star owners, I know you will enjoy many happy travels with your new coach.

[Deek]

David --

Great report. Thanks for sending. Hope lots of people look in on this for the significant information value of it all. It is definitely a great way to do. Will be very interested to hear back from you as you live in your beautiful new coach and are able to experience just how well the solar installation works out for you. Sounds like a terrific installation and a super idea.

Happy Trails!

Deek