26 replies to this topic

[silverstriketim]

Thanks all,

I did go in and order the new camper yesterday, I decided to got with the 2 way fridge and no solar, I am going to do what I did in the old FWC and take the goodies out of the fridge each week and put it back on the weekends and possibly adding solar later if I feel I need it, while at Woodland they said 4-5 ish hours for the compressor type fridge to get cold on 12v, anyone experience cooling this fast?

 

I did go with a new Hawk, front dinette, Silver Spur interior, smooth aluminum exterior metallic grey, awning, water heater, shower, heater, I will post pics in 3 months when I pick it up. It will be a LONG 3 months!!!  

[JaSAn]

 . . .  I am using it on weekends mostly, where I park I do not have power, I also rarely drive my truck during the week . . .

 

 

 . . . while at Woodland they said 4-5 ish hours for the compressor type fridge to get cold on 12v, anyone experience cooling this fast?

 

Congrats on the new camper.

 

Questions:  

How are you going to recharge the batteries during the week?  

Do you plan on the truck recharging the batteries on the trips?  

How many hours do you drive?

It takes at least 2 hours to get batteries from 80% to full.  How long getting them to 80% with a truck alternator depends on how much the alternator can put out and how big the wiring is to your house battery(s).

 

To help cooling the refrigerator down I use pre-frozen 2 liter pop bottles of ice; as many as I can jam into the fridge.

The amount of time it takes to cool the fridge down depends on outside temperature.

 

My fridge hardly runs at 40ºF outside temp, about 30% of the time at 70ºF, and about 60% of the time at 90º, so how long your batteries last is dependent on what temperatures you camp in.

 

jim

Edited by JaSAn, 03 April 2019 - 01:10 AM.

[klahanie]

If you do try to keep the fridge running during the week, further to what Jim wrote above, parking in shade or with the fridge vents out of the sun will lessen the fridge power consumption.

[silverstriketim]

jaSAn, 

I will not be powering anything on during the week, I will be testing my power and possibly going with a portable solar panel, I also carry a small Genny, in my old FWC I camped in cold weather and in hot weather, I live in Reno and camp mostly in the eastern sierras, I have an extra freezer at home so I will put a few 2L bottles in and try that, great tip.

[nevaska]

For what it's worth, I live in Nevada as well and 100w of solar plus 120ah battery keeps my fridge running continuously in the summer.

[So Cal Adventurer]

If i was doing it all over again, i would of NOT got the furnace they provide and installed a Propex.

 

Many (myself included) have had a ton of problems with the heater/furnace in the new FWC's

 

My .02

[Andy Douglass]

We have a 2018 Hawk with the Overland Solar panel/controller that they had just started using, and we have the biggest fridge they offer. We also got dual 6v batteries. When we were planning out purchase, I think they were using Zamp solar equipment which got mixed reviews and was heavier. I planned on installing solar on my own to save some money, since the FWC pricetag is a little steep. But when we were at the showroom, they told us they had switched to Overland Solar, and that the panels performed better and were lighter. We decided to just pay for the solar to make things easy.

 

I have been really impressed with the overall power system, and we have camped in four seasons now, from a smoky summer trip to Idaho, to freezing night in Great Basin, to a night in a snowstorm on top of Mesa Verde, to a 24 hour rainfest in Humboldt Redwood SP during The Norcal Storm of 2019, and everywhere in between. We were at Lake Pilsbury a few weeks ago. It was somewhat warm, but overcast for the first two days. I was worried that with all the "hydration" we were doing, and the sun being absent, that the fridge would have sucked the batteries down. At the end of day 2, all four lights for the charge level still came on. Even though you didn't order solar, you will probably want to add it at some point.

 

As for the furnace (I think it's an Atwood? Whatever they were installing in 2018), we have been pretty happy with it. We have done a lot of cold weather camping and have used it a lot. We have spent quite a few evenings in the camper listening to audio books or podcasts and can do so comfortably with the furnace on. It does make some noise, but it is completely tolerable. Have not had any problems with the function of our furnace, and I have been surprised at how long the propane lasts when using it a lot. We will run the furnace all night and not have any trouble with the noise. I try to be conscious of the exterior noise, but I would only be concerned if there was a neighbor on that side of us in a tent. It probably makes about 1/10th the noise of all these generators that people feel like running all the time.

[gullrock]

I am a newbie here and proud owner of 07 Hawk . My unit has  two 160 watt roof mount solar panels which keep batteries up with the 130L Isotherm fridge running day and night . Quite happy so far.

 

The other question silverstrike asked was are the new furnace units quieter than previous models? Because ya when furnace fan kicks in and out you hear it . Has anyone upgraded to newer model furnace for that reason ?

 

Might be a question for the folks at FWC .

[silverstriketim]

Well after all the responses I called FWC and had them add the 160 watt solar, I decided that this would be the way to go and with the input here it seems the setup I will have I can run the fridge, as for the heater, when we went to the FWC showroom the new heater was quite a bit quieter than the one in our "07" Hawk, good news only 8ish more weeks till it is ready!!

[MountainSufi]

Just had Jackson Hole FWC put on a 160 watt Overland panel with VICtron, and 2 new gel 6 volt batteries. Never got below 90% battery power with the 2 way fridge set at "2", and a Cpap all night, and furnace set at 60 during the night.

 

Of course, YMMV because we did this trip in sunny Southern Utah. Gawd how I love seeing my VICtron register 100% so consistently!