Community Forums

nothermark · 01-04-2017, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gina3

Jbrv,
Hey, thanks! I did see in my manual a while back when I bought the trailer how to sanitize but I like the site better! I haven't used my water tank as I think it would be a pain to sanitize it. I hope I can stay that lucky not to have to use it.
Gina
KZ Spree Escape E204S

Learn to use it. It is easy to do and more or less a key to travel and dry camping. Unless your supply water is dirty there is nothing more too it than running a high concentration of bleach and water through the system then using normal water. Not a bad practice anyway.

This site has a lot of information reduced to a simple page:

Disinfectant Bleach-Water Ratio

Read through it and you will become more knowledgeable than most folks.

dix39 · 01-04-2017, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gina3

Hi Jim,
Hey, thank you so much!
All helpful information. I will try to create my signature block now. I have a KZ Spree Escape E204S but want to get another trailer. I'm looking now. I'm scared and am trying to figure out who will take my money the least because my trade in will be bad because it's a 2015. I just want something that has more of what I need.
Thank you again!
Gina

I would suggest using the trailer you already have while learning the systems it has to find out how they fit the kind of camping you want to do. I think after using it for a while you may decide it is just what you want, or if not you will have a better idea of what you do want.

If your Nissan is a pickup it would be perfect to carry a small generator and fuel. That would be an easy way to keep the batteries charged while boondocking.

There are many approaches, generally with some compromises, to this "camping" thing. IMHO, you just have to find out which one you like best.

I'm not suggesting that you take this long, but we used our first TC (truck camper) 15 years. After that we bought another TC that was nearly perfect for us, using the previous camper as a guide to determine what we wanted in the new one. We had that one 22 years before exchanging it for a small MH last year.

We almost exclusively "boondock" whether traveling cross country or in the woods. IMHO, it takes small to get around well in the woods, at least it does where we go. Small has worked very well for us, but we are not full timers.

Best of luck.

Steve

Gordon Dewald · 01-04-2017, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gina3

Jbrv,
Hey, thanks! I did see in my manual a while back when I bought the trailer how to sanitize but I like the site better! I haven't used my water tank as I think it would be a pain to sanitize it. I hope I can stay that lucky not to have to use it.
Gina
KZ Spree Escape E204S

Sanitizing can be really easy.

Start with an empty hose hooked to a water faucet. Pour a couple cups of bleach into the hose. Put the hose in the fresh water fill and fill away.

Turn on the tap and fill the tank. When full turn the tap off, turn the pump on and run water through all of the lines by opening each tap and running water until you smell bleach. You really do not have to flush the toilet but why not give it a flush or two (I don't). Top up the tank and let the solution sit for half an hour or so. (Time for a coffee or a beer if you are so inclined.)

Open the tank drain and drain all of the water from the fresh tank. Once empty close the drain and fill the tank with fresh water. (Some will add a small amount of baking soda in a warm water solution. If doing so empty the hose and pour it into the hose the same as you did the bleach.) Run all of the taps to clear the bleach water. If you are using treated water it will probably have some chlorine so a little chlorine in the water is fine.

Since I did not flush the toilet the black valve remains closed and the gray valve is opened. We live on an acreage and have well water so I park on the grass and just dump the water on it. It will be the only watering it gets during the year unless it rains.

Once you feel you have the lines fairly clean turn the taps off, turn the pump off and drain the fresh tank. Now you wait to fill for the next trip.

If you are doing this at a dump station be aware that many do not provide potable water! You need potable water.

Percival6 · 01-04-2017, 10:11 PM

Hi Gina,

There's really nothing gross about the fresh water tank, as long as you don't put anything other than fresh water (or occasional bleach treatment) it will stay clean. As dix39 said, keep the trailer you have, learn about it and live with it awhile, that way you will know what can or can't live with or without.

The difference between boondocking and dry camping is that boondocking is done outside established campgrounds. Here in California, almost all state parks are dry camping, as are most national parks.There are usually fresh water faucets and waste water dump sites at the campgroubds and their use is included with your night's stay.

In case you didn't know, there are 3 separate tanks in your trailer; the fresh water tank, grey tank (for sink and shower waste water,) and the black tank (for toilet waste/ sewage.) If the manufacture designed them right, just about the time you run out of fresh water, your hokding tanks/waste tanks should be filled.

A trailer your size should be able to easily last 2 nights without any problems, just be conservative with your use of water and electricity. The battery will power everything (even the furnace) but the microwave and air conditioner and maybe the tv (depending whether its 12 volt or 120 volt.) As mentioned before changing your light bulbs to LEDs will save a lot if 12v power.

As suggested, start off in your driveway or a local park for a night. Just over the hill toward Santa Cruz are several state parks and towards Pescadero is Memorial county park. There close, so if anything unexpected happens its easy enough to get home.

Hope this helps some, start off slow and you'll pick up more as you go on. Plus keep reading and asking questions here. Good luck.

Tom

Superslif · 01-05-2017, 04:53 PM

I don't think many people use the water in your fresh tank for drinking. Most just use it for dish washing, hand washing, showers and the toilet. I guess you could get a Brita or something to filter it.

If you have kids you just have to get them used to the fact it's not like in the house where you can let the water run and run.....Take a trip to Alaska and you will learn to conserve real fast.

UTTransplant · 01-05-2017, 08:04 PM

I am one of those people who use a trailer, travel a lot (15-20,000 miles a year) and do a lot of dry camping. If you really want to do camping without hookups, the advice to look for a trailer with as big of tanks as you can find. The balance is weight; bigger tanks generally go with bigger and heavier trailers so you will need to compromise to make sure you can tow whatever you want safely. Water cleanliness is not a problem if you maintain your fresh water tanks per instructions. I have been drinking the water out of our tanks (multiple trailers) for 30 plus years without a problem. For heat your trailer should have a propane furnace. It uses electricity to run the fan so don't want to leave it running at 75 degrees. The better new trailers use LED lights which use very little power so that probably won't be a big deal. For television you can frequently get enough channels on the over the air antenna. If you want satellite, you will be out a chunk of money. It probably isn't worth it for weekend trips, but we bought one last year since we are out for 4-6 weeks at a time. For internet, I use my phone mostly, but make sure you have enough data on your plan since overages can be expensive. Something you hadn't brought up specifically is your battery. Your trailer will probably come with a poor battery which limits your ability to dry camp. Get a better battery, and your can read the information here to,figure out which one. It will charge while you are driving, but if you don't drive every day or two, you will need another way of charging. That can be solar or a generator, but a good setup of either is fairly expensive. You have to make sure you don't run your battery to very low charges since it decreases the life radically.

Have fun looking for your new trailer. Enjoy the experience of dry camping.

twogypsies · 01-05-2017, 09:31 PM

Everyone used to drink water from their RV tank all the time..... before the craze of bottled water. However, many RVers still drink water from their tanks. We do. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. We have traveled the U.S. and up to Alaska and never had a problem. We got our water from various sources.

dix39 · 01-05-2017, 10:23 PM

We use the water from our tank for drinking all the time, and have since our first TC in the late '70s. However, we always run it through a Brita filter, or something similar. We also carry bottled water for occasional use and to carry when we are away from the RV.

We have had one of those pitchers with a wide bottom sitting on the kitchen sink counter top on a non-skid pad for years with the TC and MH. It has never upset. Pretty amazing.

Steve

nothermark · 01-06-2017, 06:37 AM

Gleaned from previous discussions - Most RVers drink tank water when they shower or brush their teeth or cook. Probably round half claim they only use bottled water but that is often for drinking while ignoring the other ways to ingest it.

RV-Writer · 01-09-2017, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Everyone used to drink water from their RV tank all the time..... before the craze of bottled water. However, many RVers still drink water from their tanks. We do. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing so. We have traveled the U.S. and up to Alaska and never had a problem. We got our water from various sources.

Agree - after all, the fresh water tank is nothing more than a reusable and large water bottle. Run some bleach through it, as shown above, and make sure you only put POTABLE water in and you should be fine. For more confidence put a filter to keep out other things.