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Picked up this generator off CL last night, seems to be lightly used. Runs super quiet while charging the trailer batteries and is easy to carry along. We're planning some dry camping this fall for a couple weeks.
It worked excellent for our needs. It won't run the microwave, but did run a toaster or a hairdryer. Did well for keeping the batteries charged. Ran it 1-2 hours per day on average, plus we watched a couple movies when it rained. The furnace ran every night off the batteries, (35-50 degree temps overnight, kept it 60 ish inside) so just a little running each day got us back to 90%. Very lightweight and easy to move around, doesn't take up too much space in the pass-through compartment. Used a total of 1.5 gallons of gas over 10 days of being off grid. It's super quiet when running in ECO mode, which was enough to power the charger and the TV. Less noise than the AC, hard to even hear it running when you are inside, or more than 50 ft away outside.
I'd like to get a propane conversion for it so I don't need to carry gas, but for now it was fine. Strapped a 1 gal tank to the rear bumper so didn't need to worry about gas smell in the trailer or truck.
We're pretty frugal when it comes to power consumption. Trailer has all LED bulbs now, so really the big users are the furnace and the fridge. Furnace pulls 6 amps when it runs. The fridge and gas detector draws .6 amps continuously. Those numbers come from the Tri-metric battery monitor system I added. Still considering some sort of small solar system, but we like shady sites which doesn't work so well.
Spent 5 days here. 9 sites in this campground along a small stream. Weekdays we'd see maybe 3 cars go by. Weekend had a bit more traffic and a few neighbors, but hardly busy.
Spent 5 days here at Dutchmen CG. There was a lake nearby, but all just forest by the campground. This campground always had a couple neighbors, but it's spaced out nicely. The local gang would come loiter in the neighboring site for 20 minutes every afternoon. This CG actually had a cell signal, even weak internet if you went to the right spot by the entrance.
It worked excellent for our needs. It won't run the microwave, but did run a toaster or a hairdryer. Did well for keeping the batteries charged. Ran it 1-2 hours per day on average, plus we watched a couple movies when it rained. The furnace ran every night off the batteries, (35-50 degree temps overnight, kept it 60 ish inside) so just a little running each day got us back to 90%. Very lightweight and easy to move around, doesn't take up too much space in the pass-through compartment. Used a total of 1.5 gallons of gas over 10 days of being off grid. It's super quiet when running in ECO mode, which was enough to power the charger and the TV. Less noise than the AC, hard to even hear it running when you are inside, or more than 50 ft away outside.
I'd like to get a propane conversion for it so I don't need to carry gas, but for now it was fine. Strapped a 1 gal tank to the rear bumper so didn't need to worry about gas smell in the trailer or truck.
We're pretty frugal when it comes to power consumption. Trailer has all LED bulbs now, so really the big users are the furnace and the fridge. Furnace pulls 6 amps when it runs. The fridge and gas detector draws .6 amps continuously. Those numbers come from the Tri-metric battery monitor system I added. Still considering some sort of small solar system, but we like shady sites which doesn't work so well.
I have the 2000i, but I'm thinking the 1000i would probably do all I need to do also. I dislike bringing the generator when we dry camp, but it's really a necessary evil. Mostly it's carrying around the gas I dislike.... since the Honda is pretty quiet.
When we had our pop-up, we could camp virtually indefinitely with a single 100w solar panel. Tried that with out current trailer and we could only go 6 days ( 2 group 24 batteries, partial sun during the day) before I needed the generator. Last winter I bought a second 100w panel, but I have yet to test it because everywhere we have been this summer has had power. I do think 200 watts will do what I need in average conditions.
I will probably swap out the two group 24s with a pair of 6v golf cart batteries next spring. I'm really interested in the lithium batteries Twitch is looking into, but I'm not sure I have the fun money to spend on them.
I'm also running all LEDs. Does your fridge have the heat strip between the fridge and freezer ?? That is something else you should look at. I spliced in a switch so I can shut ours off when dry camping. The heat strip alone will kill a g24 battery in a couple days.
I have the 2000i, but I'm thinking the 1000i would probably do all I need to do also.
I bring two-2000i Gensets with me whenever I camp in Yosemite (dry) and run them a couple hours a day to charge the batteries and whenever we cheat and need the microwave for leftovers.
When we had our pop-up, we could camp virtually indefinitely with a single 100w solar panel. Tried that with out current trailer and we could only go 6 days ( 2 group 24 batteries, partial sun during the day) before I needed the generator.
I met a guy in Yosemite a couple years ago that camped there a week like we do, but he brings 5 batteries with him and hooks them in parallel, increasing the capacity while keeping the same volts, enabling him to go the whole week without charging.
Does your fridge have the heat strip between the fridge and freezer ?? That is something else you should look at. I spliced in a switch so I can shut ours off when dry camping. The heat strip alone will kill a g24 battery in a couple days.
Tell me more about this strip, please.
Originally Posted by william_04_x
Dune season has begun for us!!
William, you run the dunes? Dude, how come you never made it out to the NorCal - SoCal GTG at Pismo?
Most modern camper fridges (mine is a Dometic brand) have a 12v heat strip between the fridge and freezer door to deal with the bit of condensation that would normally collect there. Some years ago manufacturers did away with the switch they would put in the fridge so you could shut the heat strip off when dry camping, so they could save a few cents per unit. On mine, the wire is still there, inside the fridge along side the light. I cut the wire and put in a 'on / off' toggle switch so I can turn mine off. Check your owner's manual for your fridge If you have one.
Here is a some reading on it from the Keystone forum. Plenty of pics on page 3 and 4.
My previous trailer fridge (Dometic I think) had the switch. This one does not, and I never saw any unexplained battery drain on the meter. Either it is always off on 12V/propane or it doesn't have the heat strip. It's a Norcold.
Stewart, are you also running the AC? That's a lot of capability just to charge batteries.
I have 2 6 volt golf cart batteries, I believe they are 210 AH. When we were in Yellowstone in 2012 we made it 6 days in the old trailer with the same batteries. We kept it cooler inside at night since we had to stretch it.
Stewart, are you also running the AC? That's a lot of capability just to charge batteries.
It's kinda like having a 4-wheel drive rig when 4-wheel is barely ever used. But just like 4-wheel drive, I'd rather have and not need it, than need it once and not have it. Basically what I'm saying is, to keep the wife happy (remember the aforementioned microwave? ), I bring both in order to run anything on the trailer.
Camping in the Yosemite Valley (we're always in Lower Pines), you're only allowed to run a generator between 7 am and 9 am, noon and 2 pm, and 5 pm to 7 pm, so while I have previously run the AC during those times, you can see I'm not able to run it all day, so it's kinda pointless to only run it for a couple hours.
BUT! I just remembered another "keep the wife happy" situation. On those rare days when it's in the 90's all week, and the wife wants to make a green bean casserole in the oven, she better be able to crank the AC while the oven is on to offset the heat or I might as well start walking home.
Has anyone parked their TT on an inclined driveway? If I could figure this out(how to accomplish it safely), I could save $95/month...It may even pay for our 3 times a year to Banning.... I pulled out one side of one of the stabilizing jacks getting out of his(a new storage place and first time taking it out), for lack of a better word, "driveway", so don't really want to park it there any more.. And I think I may have a mouse somewhere(I would guess from the storage yard). It got into our bread in a drawer this weekend at the KOA.
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), I bring both in order to run anything on the trailer.
