I Have a Silly Question.

[Gina3]

This is the same as dry camping right? If so, how do you do it. I am going to get a bigger trailer soon hopefully and am thinking I may not always have electricity. I do know about the water tanks and having to keep them clean. To be honest, I feel scared to use them as I'm sure it's hard to keep them cleaned out enough to shower with. All the gunk buildup over time has to be grose. Also, how would you stay warm unless you get a generator? I would love to learn to use solar panels. And how would you dump your tanks if you have no hookups? Another stup.d question is how to you get cable or do you? There are TVs in some of the campers but even if you have electricity, how do you get cable? It it like in the earlier days there is an antennae? Sorry for the koo koo questions but I'm a bit koo koo at this stuff : - ).
Thanks.
Gina

[Gina3]

I saw this website in these post about solar: RV Electrical.

It was helpful. But how to people stay warm or cool if boondocking or dry camping? I guess a generator as the website mentions and keeping it on. I know there are quiet generators. Mmmm, confusing. For a small travel trailer, I wonder.
Gina

[RV-Writer]

Hi Gina - Welcome to IRV2.

Only silly questions are those not asked.

You have a few questions and many will provide answers shortly. I will try some answers but I am relatively new here too!

There are several ways to camp. Many depend on your set up. I deduce from your post that you have a camp trailer you pull behind a vehicle of some kind. If you create your signature here on IRV2, many add their rig to the signature to help others get an idea of what you have.

Camping can be in campgrounds, RV resorts, or dry camping (among others). If you dry camp you'll need some sort of energy. Be it battery with solar panels or generators charging your batteries, energy management is going to be crucial.

Most trailers have propane heaters that run off either plug in power or batteries and propane. If you are plugged in then energy management is easier. You can run electric heaters or your propane furnace or both. On batteries it is harder but doable if you learn how.

Water in your tanks should not be nasty. But you can always have jug or bottled water for drinking and save your tanks for washing and restroom use. Just watch your waste tanks for getting full and the need to dump them.

Tv is ether via satellite dish service, over the air antennas, or when in campgrounds plugging in to the campground cable tv hookups if available. Or all 3 sometimes

Learn about your rig and practice in your driveway if possible.

Have fun and welcome!

Jim

[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

[jbrv]

You can clean the water tanks by adding bleach, draining and then adding water. Done right it will be fine to drink, Sanidumps: How to Sanitize Your RV Water System


How do we stay warm? We go where it is warm! If we for some reason end up where nighttime temps drop into the 40s we have large comforters for that reason. Most rvs have a propane heat system also, We do not use ours often at all, if we do have to use it we start looking for warmer places to be.

We use sat tv. No cable needed. Just takes a little getting used to to park where we can get a decent angle to the satellite. When boondocking we do not watch as much tv, we are generally out and about when we boondock.

Dumping of tanks. Some states allow dumping of grey water in the woods or into sewer drains. I would make damn sure i have the law right first and be able to prove it is grey not black because if anyone sees an rv dumping they assume it is black water. Black water gets dumped at campgrounds (generally for a fee) and in some states a rest area that has a dump station ( not many) I was once draining my fresh water in an empty state park parking lot and got me unwanted attn from a ranger who thought i was dumping my black or grey water.

What we have learned is that learning to manage the amount of water we use is important. That also extends the time between needing to dump our tanks. Learning to manage electric use is also important, not as important as water as you can always fire up the gennie and get more power but you can not just make more water. It takes a few trips out and paying attn to how much power you use, How much you can make with solar panels, and then how much you can store and use later (batteries) after a few trips you will have a better idea.........Then you will want more storage (bigger batteries) and then more solar to charge them then more storage....And so on and so on.........Sooner or later you will find the right combination for you.........Be warned, the more power you can store the more things you find to use, that you just have to have..example would be a blender my wife swears we need and the ice i swear we need for happy hour drinks. Every now and again her blender gets with my ice to make frozen drinks and all is good.


edit to add, we also use over the air antenna for tv if we near a large city. In fact most over the air hd picture qualitly is better (just a touch but noticable) than the hd sat signal. Does not matter to most people. I notice it watching sporting events like hockey or football.

[nothermark]

Since you are relatively new in the RV lifesyle I suggest you read through the postings on various parts of your questions. I think the first thing you will learn is that the folks who move around a lot use motor homes more than trailers because the systems for dry camping are more or less standard equipment. Not so much with trailers. You will also find salesmen routinely lie about what works and how much weight you can handle with your tow vehicle. The salesman's job is to sell merchandise not necessarily to make you content with your choices. Ask places like this and you will get better answers. For instance ask about whether your truck will handle the next trailer you are thinking about purchasing before you buy it. We are also pretty good at whether or not floor plans work with your conditions. A lot of BTDT here. You will also find a lot of folks justifying their choices despite whether or not they fit your conditions so keep that in mind. Good luck and welcome aboard.

[wa8yxm]

Ok here are the types of camping:
Full hookups, Water, Sewer, Electric and optionally Wi-Fi and cable TV (All the comforts of home)
Partial hookup, Usually Water and Electric only
Dry camping, ELectric only (NOTE the optionals are always optional).
Boondocking: No hookup of any kind, WI-Fi only is optional.

your RV systems... You have 3 or 4 tanks (i have 4)
Fresh water.. This is what you drink it is what you shower with and so on, And the system is fairly easy to clean.. Add 1/4 cup bleach per 15 Gallons of water.. Fill tank (IE: if 70 gallon tank fill ABOUT half full then add 1 1/4 cup bleach, and fill the rest of the way) pump thorough all lines, Flush toilet, Run shower and sinks, and then drain. Spend at least 5 minutes doing all this stuff.. Then drain.

Now re-fill adding 1/2 to 1 cup of BAKING SODA dissolved in warm water. (Dissolves better in warm) And again flush all lines as above.

Now drain and re-fill with Fresh water.. Flush lines again and refill (no need to drain)

NOTE. if you get algae growth in the fresh tank you may need to double or triple down on the bleach flush. Not really a problem. Or even driver around with like 3/4 tank (After flushing lines but before draining) to get it all out.

In use you can add lesser amounts of bleach (Say 1/4 cup for a 70 gallon tank.. Actually you shoudl read the bottle for the proper amount) to help keep it clean.. I did that this year since it's been a while between fills.

Waste tanks. (I have 3 Black, Gray, Wash, Wash is like Gray but no kitchen sink).

Well, all the water from those tanks is going down the hole in the ground (Sewer inlet/Dump Station) so I really don't care if those tanks get gunked up... It is Flush after all...

Only real issue is the sensors.. They work once, when the RV is new, for waste tanks, after that the tank will be slimy enough the sensors will likely show part full 2/3 on my tanks ) even if you can look down the toilet and see daylight via the open dump valve...

(I have a clear plastic section that lets in daylight, it also visually confirms when the tank is finished dumping.. NO SURPRISES that way.

[4x4van]

As others have said, there are various systems in your trailer, and each requires different energy sources and different approaches for boondocking.

Fresh water tank (sinks, shower, toilet); an occasional treatment with bleach (outlined above) is all that's needed to sanitize, although I've never actually done it with any of my 3 RVs in the past 27 years and we're all still alive and drinking water from the tank. Black & grey tanks are waste; no need to "clean" them. Simply dump when needed (and where legal).

Your heater runs on propane and 12vdc; no 120vac needed, although it's power-hungry, so for more than 1 night a large battery is needed (or a generator to recharge).

Fridge also runs on propane and a very small amount of 12vdc (for the control board).

Lights; try to be conservative with lighting, although converting to LEDs will make a huge difference.

TV? An inverter will run aTV without needing hookups or generator, but will use alot of battery power, so use sparingly (again, a generator to recharge). As for signal, over the air antenna or satellite. Antenna uses either none or just a small amount of 12vdc, satellite is more power hungry.

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Gina3

To be honest, I feel scared to use them as I'm sure it's hard to keep them cleaned out enough to shower with. All the gunk buildup over time has to be gross.

If you use your fresh water tank you won't get gunk in it. If you only go on short trips and then park it, it's best to drain the water in it. At the beginning of camping season you could sanitize the tank if it will make you feel better. It'll be just fine for the rest of the season. In 16 years of full-timing we always drank from our fresh water tank along with cooking and bathing. No problems.

Also, how would you stay warm unless you get a generator? I would love to learn to use solar panels.

If you will only be without electric for 1 to 3 or 4 days (& conserving your usage - don't leave lights on) you can just use your furnace and battery. However, you couldn't run your furnace continuously as it will drain the battery fast. It would just be used to take the chill off and then turned off. Some folks that boondock a lot will invest in a propane catalytic heater. We did. They produce a very efficient, even heat. You can also purchase a portable generator for recharging your batteries. Solar can be expensive if you don't use it all the time. We had 300w and we could go forever. Our stay limitations would be the holding tanks.

And how would you dump your tanks if you have no hookups?

If you have no hookups and are in a campground such as a national or state park or national forest campground, they would usually have a dump station and a water fill area. You'd have to drive there to do both. You could also purchase a 'blue boy' container that you would drain your tank into and tow it to the dump station on your car hitch. We would rather just move the RV to the dump station. We don't like using the 'blue boy' but that's just us. We never dumped our grey water at our camp site. How would you like to be the next one parked there? You never, never, never dump your black tank other than in a sewer/dump station.

Another stupid question is how to you get cable or do you? There are TVs in some of the campers but even if you have electricity, how do you get cable? It it like in the earlier days there is an antennae?

We don't watch television so can't help you there.

Dry camping and boondocking are the same - no hookups.

However, dry camping will be in campgrounds such as national parks, national forest campgrounds and some state parks.

Boondocking is typically driving on a gravel road on public land and parking the RV at a legal spot. For this you need to go by the national forest or BLM rules. You can't park just anywhere and you can't park next to a river or lake. You have to be a certain distance for them.

Partial hookups can be found in national forest campgrounds, state parks and national parks. They can include either water or electric hookups and sometimes both. The won't include sewer. That would be full hookups.

Overnighting or pavement parking will be no hookups and is typically done at WalMarts, rest areas, truck stops, etc. It's not considered boondocking.

[Superslif]

When looking for a new trailer and planning to do some "off the cord" camping, watch what size the fresh water tank is, Under 30 gallons is too small, 30-42 is OK, Over 50 is best. Also what size the gray tank is. Your gray tank will fill first before the black tank.

Were kicking tires on a new trailer too. I have seen the Outdoors brand has standard thermal pane windows and 70-80 gallon fresh water tanks.

Our 26' trailer served us well for our 110 day trip to Alaska this past summer. There was a period where we didn't have a place to get fresh water or dump for a week. Out of all the BLM, Forest Service, State, National and Provincial campgrounds we stayed at without electric, only two had a dump station and only 3 had fresh water available in the campground. This was in Alberta, BC, Yukon and Alaska. So you will learn to conserve real fast. We used Sanidumps.com to locate our next water and dump opportunity. We were just used to "ALL" the state parks in OH, PA, NY and VT having water and a dump station.

We have a 52 gallon fresh and can easily go a week for 3 adults. Power source was one 100 watt portable solar panel.

[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

[Gina3]

Hey Nothermark,
Thanks again! Yep, you are so right as I had a trailer in mind and the salesman almost persuaded me to sign a contract. I didn't sign and later research revealed...dah dah dah, it was too heavy for my Nissan. Wow, I was so so grateful I did not get that trailer! He emailed me this week and wanted to know if I was ready to look at trailers. I told him I don't have the time. I will just steer clear of that place. Thank you again!!
Vr
Gina
KZ Spree Escape E204S

[Reed Cundiff]

As RV-Writer noted, the only silly questions are those that are not asked. Everyone on this forum was a newbie once, and was asking questions if they were smart.

Dry camping and boondicking will take developing confidence in yourselves and your rig but it is an easy progression
Reed and Elaine

[Reed Cundiff]

Would recommend replacing all lights with LEDs if dry camping or boondocking. It saves a lot of energy but not necessary if hooking up every night