New owner questions

[DonC]

I picked up my new camper in Sacramento on Monday and spent the week on the east side of the Sierra and Death Valley. I'll post a trip report and pictures in a day or so, but I have a few questions that I did not want to get lost in the trip report

Electric - I have two batteries plus solar. During my trip my compressor frig was on the entire time keeping my drinks and ice cream cold. I used the furnace a few times at night and used the lights. I charged a few devises including my mac. My power never got below "G". I'm not sure what the scale of L, F, G, C is, but I was always at the second highest level. It would be at the highest level "C" the next day. Yesterday afternoon I spent 4 hours driving home, it has been sunny all day today, the only thing used is the frig is still on, and now my power is at the second lowest "F", and it has not changed all day from morning until late pm. So, 4 hours of driving, no usage, a sunny day, and my power is down and apparently not charging. I will call FWC on Monday, but wanted to get some thoughts from the group.

Storage - can anything be stored in the space above the batteries?

When I was way out on a 4x4 road it struck me - what if I get a flat? Will my standard jack lift the nearly 1000 lb camper? I have a 2006 Tundra.

Is it ok to use short screws in the wall above the sink for a paper towel holder. If so, what kind of screws are used?

I'm sure I'll have more questions later.

Thanks

 

[Ted]

Hi Don,

Congrats on the new camper. Eastern Sierras and DV as a shakedown cruise is fantastic. They are possibly the two most popular destinations on this forum.

L,F,G, and C stand for Low, Fair, Good, and Charge. Anytime the vehicle is running or plugged in to shore power it should read C. It does seem strange that with solar and no usage you were reading F all day. I don't have solar so have no insight to offer but will be watching to see what others say.

 

[craig333]

Not familiar with what the factory solar setup is, sorry. You could do short screws but would it hold up? Not sure there. If you screwed into the frame you'd be okay.

Your jack should be fine.

 

[DonC]

battery on "L" this am and frig not keeping stuff cold, stuff in freezer is melted
so full charge on Friday pm, dead on Sunday am
2 aux batteries plus solar, sunny all day
nothing running except the fridge
something must be draining the batteries, and the solar must not be working...

 

[MarkBC]

battery on "L" this am and frig not keeping stuff cold, stuff in freezer is melted
so full charge on Friday pm, dead on Sunday am
2 aux batteries plus solar, sunny all day
nothing running except the fridge
something must be draining the batteries, and the solar must not be working...

Don, how many watts is you solar panel and what model fridge? (you've probably posted that elsewhere...?)

 

[DonC]

Solar is the factory solar which I believe is 80w
Fridge is the Waeco 65, the smallest

even without solar, I've been reading that two batteries should keep things running for many days

 

[Smokecreek1]

Before I got my new battery, just had solar panels and one old bat and it read Yellow/fair when on internal power, green or charging when the truck was running, before that ran yellow/red after some use and in the morning -but always green/charging when the motor was running. Usually ran on yellow/red when I tried to watch the TV. Today, with a new bat, and new rewired solar panels, it runs green almost all the time (including when watching the tv and in the morning )-almost never on charge unless the truck is running-I think it has to do something with whether or not the batt is full or not! In the real old days had a small potable solar panel that I would plug into the cig lighter, if i was staying for a while and it would seem to bump up the light on the charge one notch if the sun was shinning real bright- Sure like seeing that green light now though! that help with the wonders of batteries and charge lights!

Smoke

 

[captainphx]

DonC

We picked up our new FWC on March 1st. We did the same shake down trip. We have the same solar/battery setup. We just got back from our second trip. The batteries never went below G and are at C most of the time. We have the largest frig. Time to call FWC. Somethings not right.

 

[ski3pin]

<snip> Time to call FWC. Somethings not right.


DonC, congrats on getting your new camper and we look forward to your trip report! I agree, something is not right and I'm betting it is something simple that a phone call to FWC will take care of. They will do their best to help figure out the problem. Good luck.

 

[craig333]

Worked before and now doesn't work and you're right, it should run a long time on just the battery. Makes me think theres a bad connection somewhere. Not likely the charge connector failed. Does it turn green (or F or whatever it is) when the engine is running?