SeaDawg

In theory, it's quite possible. Especially, with lithium. This week, we're running two fridges on solar, only, as a friend brought his thermoelectric fridge to camp with us. It's been slim, with only two agm 105 ah batteries in our 2008 legacy I, but we manage. We unplug the thermoelectric at night, as we did, camping in iceland with a thermoelectric cooler. (It's a beer cooler, and it's not hot here. We park it in the shade at night, and it's still 40 in the morning. ) Add up the amp hours. Add 100 per cent extra to solar for expected charge. Carry a really small genset for a string of crappy days Pretty sure we could do it . I'd carry an outdoor gas/butane or propane burner, for cooking. The big gas hog is the furnace. If you pack good sleeping bags or bedding, you won't need as much heat. 12v heat is a mystery to me. I doubt it's worthwhile.

3m 5200 is a powerful adhesive, and very, very difficult to remove in the future. It will require expensive solvents, and mechanical methods, and probably heat, as well. 3m 5200 is really meant for permanent bond, but doesn't flex as well as some other products so not as great as a sealant. We use it very, very selectively on the boat. Have never used it in the trailer . There are other strong products I'd recommend, that are more easily removed when it eventually fails, like Loctite Marine rapid dry. Even 3m 4000 uv, maybe, but I don't know about the compatibility with the lens material.

You have been very, very busy! Nicely done! I especially like the shower head holder for the outside shower. Very useful.

Back to Claudia's third tail light lens question. In our 2008, the lens was attached directly to the fiberglass with some type of tough marine adhesive sealant, I'm guessing probably 3m 4200. We were able to remove that with a heat gun on low, from the inside, and a putty knife, working carefully. Unfortunately, a couple spots were held in place with a dab of epoxy, which was much tougher. Yours is likely held in 3m4200, or something like that. I know you've seen my thread on what we did, using butyl and stainless screws, but that's an experiment in progress. If you can get the lens out in one piece, (we couldn't, because of the dabs of epoxy), you'll want to clean it and the surrounding fiberglass thoroughly, and apply and seal with a compatible marine adhesive sealant. If we had gone that route, my choice would have been loctite marine fast cure, or Dow 795 (dowsil), as they're compatible with fiberglass, polycarbonate, and most plastics/acrylics, and easier to deal with and remove later than silicon or polyurethane. I don’t know if the lens is polycarbonate or acrylic, so I'd want a sealant compatible with both.

The ac is noisy, but shouldn't be any more noisy than the (probably) same ac installed in your previous Casita. Might want to check the flange bolts, to make sure the upper unit is properly tightened in. Check that the shroud isn't loose and rattling, also.

Sorry you're having these issues in a 4 year old trailer. Tey putting a layer of blue shop toweling in the attic. The leak you are describing is almost always a third tail light that has lost some of its seal. The rainwater finds its way down. Barring that, put some clear duct tape around the light. If the leak stops, it's the light lens. If not, try some over the top of the rear window. Work your way down, and around. It's also possible that the bedding or caulking for the rear window has failed, and never been renewed. The weepholes aren't very big, for the size of the window. We installed ez rv gutter years ago, and it really helps to divert water from the window/weepholes.

Just remember, if the guide can't see the mirror, the driver can't see the signals. Then again, most of you probably have newer trucks, with backup camera on the trailer. We don't.

When we had three ways, I learned to use manual settings, never auto. What probably happened was there was air in the line, causing the fridge to go back to dc, as default. Before running a fridge on lp, I always ran a burner on the cooktop, first. The cooktop draws more fuel, and isn't as sensitive to an air bubble in the line. Fills the gas line.. the fridge uses a very small amount if lp, and will shut down with just a bit of air in the line, in my experience. After running a burner for 20 or thirty seconds, I'd shut down the burner, and fire up the fridge. Glad you checked everything, and didn't deplete your batteries, running the fridge on dc, unintentionally. Good for you!

I tend to shop from my home fridge, freezer, and pantry first. I keep and reuse (after running through the dishwasher) small containers for short trips. Right now, my ketchup is in a sri racha container, filled from the big bottle at home. Dollar tree has name brands bottled to their dollar size, so sometimes I buy salad dressing and mayo there, just to save space . They also carry (at least in my area) tetra pack milk quarts, from an Oregon dairy, for the usual dollar. I make some salads (pasta and potato salad, cole slaw) at home, and pack in quart containers. I sometimes bring frozen soup or chili, as it's quick and easy in crummy weather. I make up hamburger patties, seasoned, vac pac, and freeze flat. Marinate and/or season chops, Alaskan salmon, haddock, and steaks. Freeze flat on a cookie sheet. Everything is grill or campfire ready. If you start with frozen, vac packed, they're good for a week near or in the freezer. Hardboil and chill a half dozen eggs for snacks or breakfast. I bring enough ground coffee for the trip. We've yet to buy a manual coffee grinder, so I usually just bring ground Gevalia. I also carry two or three "emergency" meals that often come home with us. Dried soup mix. Fixings for jambalaya, with rice mix and canned chicken, shelf stable sausage. It really depends on what you like to eat, and if you like to cook, and how. We prefer campfire cooking when possible. If we are only camping 5 to 8 days, I can bring everything I need. Even sometimes 2 weeks, in the fridge and cabinet. But, I like to visit the local farmer's market for produce, if we can. Lots of produce is fine outside the fridge... potatoes, onions, squash (wonderful on the fire). Oh, some good hot dogs or brats. We like a couple brands from western New York, and it's hard to find decent hotdog on the road. And, what's a better lunch than campfire hotdogs, or a pie iron pizza?

You could offer, but most people will refuse. Different people use different methods and hand signals. Paul and I rarely have to speak to each other. We just use the same hand signals we've used forever. Handheld radios are great for many people. No shouting, one hand operation for the guide, and the driver will hear what the guide is saying without having to touch the radio.

Gotcha. Going to bed. I'll check back tomorrow. Please post a photo of the ipn pro remote, tomorrow. Fully charged

Your main concerns are solar,bluesky, and fla batteries?

Do you have battleborn lithium, or fla? That confuses me

Trekhard, I'm very interested in your stories of living in a camper on a mountain for six months with no energy sources. More like living in a hardshell tent. So, you'll be fine if everything fails, but you're obviously interested in learning how to prevent that from happening, with a new trailer with multiple systems . I appreciate that you are "cramming." Start with the Oliver University videos on basic systems. If you've never used any systems, it will at least give you a start. Sherry

The ipn pro remote on the wall/bulkhead is the info station, and the programming station. You won't get much info from the controller, with blue sky. .

I think there are a few people here with the Champion 2500, but I don't know if they use it to run the ac. Our gas westinghouse 2500 inverter will power our ac, but it's a smaller ac. @BackofBeyond has the same Westinghouse, and I'm pretty sure he's tried it. Don't remember if he has a soft start on the ac. Do you?

I've waited longer than that for someone who was obviously new to back into a tough spot. Probably all of us have. And, most of us remember our learning curve, too. I would say if you sense an obviously impatient person waiting, and you've kept them waiting several minutes, go ahead and take that second loop. It might clear your head, and give you a different angle of approach.

@Gary W, I see this is your first post. Welcome to the forum! You might want to start a new topic on your campground search. You'll get more responses, and it will keep this thread specific to the meet and greet. Ps, that's a beautiful time to camp in New England.

If you are not getting any reading from the panels, you likely have a poor connection, likely came loose during travel, or was not reconnected after adjusting something during install. I'm sure you have opened a service ticket already, for warranty work. The good news is, most major brands install Zamp, so finding a qualified tech for you in your area should be simpler than other brands.

I'd add one more option, no basket. That's us. Everything we carry is in the truck bed or the trailer itself. Our tongue weight is pretty consistent that way. The tow vehicle information is important. (Another consideration is, many people don't like to carry fuel or a genset in an suv. )

Try Mike's suggestion first. You probably can't hurt anything (or yourself) with the telephone type connector communication cable. I seem to remember doing that back when we changed out our batteries. The screen went back to normal readout when batteries reached 100 per cent if charge, not immediately. But, if you are plugged into shore power all day, your batteries should likely be at 100 per cent. And, I wouldn't try any more adjustments or anything til you read the manual, and get familiar with your gear. You don't want to damage your gear, or hurt yourself. Are your batteries getting charged by the solar? You can read the present voltage on the seelevel monitor where you check grey, black, and fresh water levels. Understand that this monitor only shows present voltage. If your batteries are charging from the solar, not connected to shore power, in full sun, your seelevel should show something over 13v while charging, with no load/nothing running on dc. After sundown, it will settle down to something in the high 12, like 12.7 to 12.9. If the fan or furnace is running, you'll see a lower number, so check it with nothing running. It takes the batteries 15 to 20 minutes to settle down and show true voltage, after loading or charging. Bluesky/sunforge has a very good learning center with some very informative videos for your equipment. https://sunforgellc.com/learning-center/ You may want to start there to learn the terminology before diving into the manual, and then calling Ryan at Blue Sky for help. He's great, and very good at walking people through troubleshooting, but it will save you a lot of time to learn some of the basics of your system first. Ryan at BlueSky 760-208-2149 Email ryan@blueskyenergyinc.com. California, so Pacific time zone. Blue sky gear is very durable, and works great (ours is 13 years old, except for the new controller we added last year), but it's not as simple or user friendly as the Zamp, for example. But, once everything is set up and running correctly, you probably won't have to touch it for years, except to scroll through the information displays.

Our tsi system has a 3 yr warranty, i think. I'd call tiretracker and troubleshoot with them. I would also suspect low battery. Are yours user replaceable?

That's interesting, and disconcerting. Was this after being underway awhile? We don't have your system, but most of the need some time, or a tap, to "wake up" from cold.

I suspect you might see an option when supply chains clear up. Right now, it's hard to get a lot of things. I know one manufacturer offered the coleman ndq quiet ac, and had to backorder, ad they could not get them . I waited two or three weeks for my model to come into stock. I can do that. A manufacturer can't. I do hope so, anyway. Right now, it's tough to find syp good lumber, electrical conduit, parts. And that's just our projects. Everything has increased exponentially in price in building materials. I never thought I'd have to pay almost 17 dollars for 10 ft. 2 x 6 boards, but I did, today. And was happy to find 20 in stock that looked good. I waited 3.5 months for common size windows, usually 3 to 7 day ship. It'll get better.

Can you just use the old cable?