Category Archives: Camper Upgrades

45 Gallon Fresh Water Transfer Setup

Camper Upgrades,

One of the more popular articles here is the Fresh Water Transfer Methods; I posted over a year ago. These worked fine for our Starcraft and Fleetwood tent trailers, which had 20 and 26 gallon capacities (including the water heater).

Our Milan is a different animal. It has 100 gallons of fresh water capacity, plus the water heater. Not having to replenish the water has been a camping pleasure. We have gone up to two weeks without the need to add water.

But eventually on one of our long trips, we are going to run out of water. The small capacity solutions we have used in the past aren’t going to be convenient. So I went searching for a new solution.

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ProPride Trailer Hitch 1,000 mile Update

Camper Upgrades, ,
ProPride Pin Point Projection Hitch on our rig.
ProPride Pin Point Projection Hitch on our rig.

I discussed the installation of our ProPride hitch in the post, How much trailer can you tow — part 3.

We have now towed our trailer over 1,000 miles with the ProPride hitch. This has included driving in sustained 30 MPH crosswinds, some freeway travel, and several trips, most of which are around 100 miles round trip. One trip was 450 miles. We also have been subjected to big rigs passing us at high speeds. With all of this in mind, I thought I would share my impressions.

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State of Charge: Your Camper/RV May Be Killing Your Battery Bank

Camper Upgrades, Camping, Solar,

THIS MAY BE CONTROVERSIAL

If you own a camper or other recreational vehicle, it probably has a battery or two or at least is set up for a battery.

If you want to utilize a battery in your RV, battery selection is paramount and probably more important is the proper charging settings.

Now if you only camp in campgrounds with umbilical cords to the power grid, you don’t need a battery bank. But I will suggest that you are missing a lot by “camping” in these virtual parking lots. Get thee out into the more wild areas where there is no electric grid. It is called camping, you know – not Parking.

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Lighting Solutions for Your Camper

Camper Upgrades, , ,

If you don’t camp in full service campgrounds (I hope you don’t) then you are forced to power your camper with a 12 volt battery bank. You may have charging solutions such as solar (preferred) or maybe a generator (I hope not — too noisy).

Milan 2013-10-05 -01415

Camping off the electrical grid requires monitoring your power consumption and in most cases conserving energy to some degree. Most campers come with automotive-type incandescent bulbs, which aren’t very efficient and are power hogs.

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‘We’ need a new TV

Camper Upgrades,

A few days ago I posted an article titled, You need a new TV. I shared the conversation Joyce and I had about a possible new camper, and her perception that we need a new TV, or Tow Vehicle.

As it turned out, she was correct. We ended up getting a new camper and the new tow vehicle (TV), does an excellent job towing it.

After we took delivery of our new camper, Joyce declared, “We need a new TV!”

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Gray Water Solutions for Your Camper

Camper Upgrades, , ,
Tote Selection
Our collection of gray water tanks used from 2003-2008

When camping in a recreational vehicle (travel trailer, motor home, tent trailer, etc.) it is more than likely you will generate waste water. Disposal of this water can become problematic. What follows are the methods and solutions we have used over the years.

If you camp in campgrounds with sewer hook-ups, then waste water disposal is not a problem. But I will suggest that these “parking lot” campgrounds are not camping. Pick you’re poison. Many campgrounds without RV hook-ups have an RV dump, where you can drive your camper to and off-load the waste water. Of course if you have a tent trailer, it would require packing up the camper before driving to the dump station. And if you fill your tanks before your trip is over, you would have to return to your campsite and set up the camper again. If you camp in dispersed camping areas, it is unlikely there would be a dump station within reasonable driving distance. To overcome these obstacles, many campers utilize portable waste tanks.

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Atwood Furnace Directional Vent and Vent Door Repair

Camper Upgrades

vent 06

Our 2006 Fleetwood Niagara came with an Atwood 7916-II Hydro-Flame forced air heater. I immediately replaced the factory analog thermostat with a LUX-500 digital unit. For 6 years the furnace worked perfectly, except the vent pushed the heat straight out towards the shower door. I had once seen a picture of a directional vent that could be added to the furnace, but was not able to find one anywhere and eventually forgot about it.

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