56 replies to this topic

[norcalhusky]

Why not hook it up to the truck? Thats the way FWC does it. Let the truck get the bulk charge on and then let the solar finish it off.

 

I hope to do that as well. I dont see any obvious signs of it being hooked up to a truck originally so I would have to add whatever is necessary for that to happen.

[Smokecreek1]

Cool dog!

 

X2-if he chases balls, my"Bob" would like to me him!

 

Smoke

[Stan@FourWheel]

100% agree with Craig

Hook the camper up to your truck so the camper battery is getting charged when your truck is running.

When done right its good to go for a long time.


No battery power in the camper will only be frustrating.

[RC Pilot Jim]

I. Assumed you wired the truck to the camper before you mounted it...Sorry we all know what happens when we assume things.
Sorry I didn't ask .
Yes as Craig and Stan advise....Wire the truck to the camper with a "wiring plug" in truck so you can unplug camper when it is removed.

The solar panel will not produce enough amps to continually run the3-way fridge(draws 11.8 amps) off the battery, when your parked switch to propane or shore power if you have hookups at your campsite. Battery purpose is to maintain the Refer temp while driving. And run the lights, water pump, and small battery powered devices.

Edited by RC Pilot Jim, 30 July 2014 - 12:35 AM.

[norcalhusky]

Hey guys. Been out enjoying camper a ton Now that I've camped in some quite hot temps I have been thinking about replacing the roof vent with one of those fans. Does anyone know if a 1999 hawk will be pre wired for a fantastic fan?

[norcalhusky]

Some updates on my camper! I added a simple solar system consisting of a Renogy 20A MPPT with remote MeTer connected to my Interstate 63AH deep cycle agm battery and a temporary 15Watt Harbor Freight panel. I have a Renogy 100W panel that I will be installing to replace the 15Watt soon. Total installation time was like maybe an hour since I just ran the cable outside for now.

 

 

 

 

 

The 15 watt panel is actually fine for my current usage. I replaced all lighting (with the exception of the spot lights) with LED replacement bulbs so the battery only has to power those and my water pump. The larger panel that I will install will be eventually for a compressor fridge. The 3 Way fridge works great... too great sometimes and often freezes anything in it overnight. It also won't stay lit while on the road so I have to bring an ice chest to keep things cold until I get set up to camp as I have not yet installed any sort of serperator or isolator to connected the trucks charging system to the campers battery.

 

I also bought some LED spot lights to replace the rear ones but need to modify the mounting brackets to get those installed. http://www.amazon.co...0?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[norcalhusky]

Some other simple things I have done include some Quick Fists to hold my axe, a paper towel holder, and a temperature gauge with a remote sensor so I can see how much warmer I am inside the cozy camper

 

 

 

One of the best quick and easy things I have done so far is replace the front window curtain rod with a compression type that is inside the window frame. The old one stuck the curtain out a inch or two and had a nasty sharp bracket behind the dinnete's seat that was annoying to try and lean back against. Even though the pics are kind of dark you can also kind of see the recovered seats that my girlfriend did for me to get rid of the camp ones that were in there. They are actually a nice royal blue that goes well with the other blues already in the camper.

 

 

 

On the outside I mounted a CB antennae to the jack bracket  as well

 

[norcalhusky]

Aside from the fun stuff I also have managed to do some damage.... I think the damage on the door was from leaning against it with a ladder, though I didn't notice until some random day. Im not sure how the break in the aluminum happened above the front window. I hope the frame isn't broken underneath as well...

 

 

[norcalhusky]

The rear seat of my F150 was great for people, but I rarely have more than one other person in my truck and always have my dog. I decided to remove the rear seat and build a platform for my dog to hang out on and also gain some storage room in the cab.

 

 

I plan to add some MOLLE type webbing or something to the backboard so I can attach some storage bags to it. I currently have a few bags hanging from the child seat loop things that works well.

Edited by norcalhusky, 28 November 2014 - 11:59 PM.

[norcalhusky]

And finally some random pictures....