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First Post - Going to Utah/Arizona in October

trip planning teardrop trailer first-timers

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#1 devandjaz

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Posted 17 August 2020 - 10:30 PM

Hey everyone! First time poster here. Me and my family (wife and 3 year old daughter) have a 2020 Subaru Ascent and recently purchased a teardrop trailer to haul behind it. I have my 07 Chevy Silverado 1500 but we enjoy the space of our Ascent for longer trips. Were planning a trip in October. My wife has 2 weeks off for work and my work allows it easily. We originally were planning on going to Japan for the 2 weeks but with the way the world is going it seems unsafe. So boon docking/minimal campsites sounds like the ideal trip for us. 

 

My wife has never been to the Grand Canyon nor has my daughter. Were planning on heading there as well as seeing some family of mine further south in Phoenix, we've also heard beautiful things about Utah despite never being there ourselves. We are open to suggestions from people or if they've taken similar trips id love to see their routes. Campsites are fine however were trying to minimize contact with other people. So any tips or tricks are much appreciated. This is the first time we've ever taken a trip with a trailer/etc.

 

Another question, the trailer i bought was home-built by a local person. Its not wired for shore power for charging it. It just has a battery in the back to run its outlets, lights, and fans. How easy is it to charge a battery periodically at campsites if I'm figuring it will last about 4 days by itself? if i were to connect a trickle charger at a campsite would that be feasible? At some point Id like to wire it for shore power, I just might not have the time to do that before our trip, especially considering I'm worse than a novice at electrical wiring.

 

Like i said, first time trailer owner and first time trip. We expect there to be bumps and learning lessons and were here for it. So any help is appreciated! I'm excited to be part of this awesome community and participating more with y'all!


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#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

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Posted 17 August 2020 - 11:09 PM

Welcome to the cult.

Camping suggestions.

Grand Canyon,the north rim is better than the crowded south rim.

Check the dates they close late Oct.

Zion NP is a great place.

Also Kodachrome  Basin SP,they have very nice sites and not on to of each other.It's just a few miles east of Bryce Canyon.

It's on the road to Grant Staircase NP.

 

That's about all the places we have camped that you are asking info about.

 

You will find this site has a wealth of people with a ton of info on just about all subjects.

 

Enjoy your trip planing.

Check out my blog (link at bottom of post),for the trip to the places mentioned.

It is from Oct.2013.

 

On charging the battery.You could wire it to the car battery/charging system.The same way our campers are wired to our trucks.

 

Enjoy.

Frank


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#3 devandjaz

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Posted 18 August 2020 - 02:36 AM

Thanks Frank! We are coming from Washington so should be exciting. That's good to know about the spots closing late October because that's actually the week we were planning on going. 

 

Ill have to look into that for charging it. I am definitely going to bring a spare emergency battery just in case. But for a 1-2 week trip I definitely think it will need to be charged interim.

 

I look forward to looking at your blog tonight!

 

Devin


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#4 PaulT

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Posted 18 August 2020 - 04:55 AM

An easy first effort at charging your battery could be a solar suitcase with Built in charge controller.  Get one with100 watts, or so, of solar panel.  Amazon has quite a few kits in the range of $150-$250.
 

It won’t be the end all for your power needs but at worst, it will extend your battery’s run time and will be a good back up later on. 

There is a lot of good info on this forum about managing and charging batteries. Take it in small bites so you don’t get overwhelmed.  :lol:

 

Paul


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#5 takesiteasy

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Posted 18 August 2020 - 05:21 PM

We did a trip to the North Rim and Utah in early October of 2016. You can read about it in our blog: https://travelswithr...tah-part-1.html

 

We use a roof mounted solar panel and the truck alternator for charging our batteries. I also carry a charger for back-up which requires finding a campsite with electrical power.

 

Enjoy your trip!


Edited by takesiteasy, 18 August 2020 - 05:21 PM.

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#6 devandjaz

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Posted 19 August 2020 - 01:54 AM

Thanks Paul. Yeah with almost zero electrical experience, it'll be a rough go. Ill likely take a picture of what the guy had wired before and ask advice on what to buy to wire for shore power at some point. There is a lot of resources on here for all of that though. Taking it in stride though. Ill look into that solar suitcase though. I like that idea for sure. 


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#7 devandjaz

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Posted 19 August 2020 - 01:58 AM

Awesome takesiteasy! Ill definitely check that out. I was looking into using the alternator but since its my wife's Subaru I don't have as much under the hood space. Do you end up having both batteries sitting under to hood connected to the alternator?

 

So for the charger is it just a trickle/normal charger that you set up at a campsite? Because I was thinking of doing that for a temporary option until we have a more stable situation for connecting to shore power/solar.

 

At some point I would like to mount solar panels but that seems like an expensive option plus Ill still have to figure out the wiring.

 

Thanks 

-Devin


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#8 Vic Harder

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Posted 19 August 2020 - 02:31 AM

you can plug in a "trickle charger".... but i would look at getting something like a NOCO Genius charger, the bigger the better.  You could run an extension cord from the shore power post into the camper via a window or some other opening (stuffed with a rag or something to discourage critter incursions).

 

If you get your Subaru wired for pulling a trailer, the plug for that can serve as a source for power to the camper.  You would then want to add a DC-DC charger in the camper close to you camper battery that would take the power from the trailer plug and charge your camper battery while driving.


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#9 devandjaz

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Posted 19 August 2020 - 04:06 AM

Hey Vic.

 

So we did get it wired for pulling. The trailer is already wired with a 4 pin connector which was my understanding that that wont work. But I'll look into that because that would be very easy to do I think. The battery is in the rear hatch of the trailer. I'm sure i can wire something that way though. Ill look into that charger though. We definitely are easy going and on this particular trip I expect us stopping at a campground every couple of days for cleaning up stuff, regrouping, etc. 

 

Thanks for that help!

 

-Devin


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#10 devandjaz

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Posted 19 August 2020 - 04:17 AM

Just as an added note, after looking at the NOCO Genius Charger, I'm considering buying this one. 

 

https://www.amazon.c...tomotive&sr=1-7

 

Its not the 26 amp version which I'm assuming simply charges the battery faster. 

 

I'm definitely going to explore the DC-to-DC charger from my Subaru wiring. But either way it will be good to have a backup in place.

 

Am I correct in thinking for battery longevity I will want to make sure my battery doesn't drop below a certain point? The guy I bought the battery from said the battery was 5 years old and suggested I replace it. So this weekend I'm gonna go out and buy a new one but I want to make sure I take care of it and don't kill its life.


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