Where to stop while towing Casita cross-country?

[CandJ]

Flying J truckstops have RV parking so you don't have to park with the big trucks....fuel up...have a meal and hit the sack.

[WendyW]

It depends on what you need, but I find I want to stay at a full-hookup campground about every four or five days. The thing I like best for finding a decent campground is Passport America, which you need to purchase annually. All its member campgrounds are half off, which means you pay maybe $18 for a nice site.

The other thing, which I learned the hard way, is that if you're dry camping and it's cold, your furnace will drain your battery pretty fast, even though it's fueled by propane. Therefore, I'm staying where there's electric as long as it's cold. Right now I'm in Montana -- brrrrr!

WendyW

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by WendyW

It depends on what you need, but I find I want to stay at a full-hookup campground about every four or five days. The thing I like best for finding a decent campground is Passport America, which you need to purchase annually. All its member campgrounds are half off, which means you pay maybe $18 for a nice site.

The other thing, which I learned the hard way, is that if you're dry camping and it's cold, your furnace will drain your battery pretty fast, even though it's fueled by propane. Therefore, I'm staying where there's electric as long as it's cold. Right now I'm in Montana -- brrrrr!

WendyW

For the last 6 years we've averaged close to 120 nights per year. Average per night camping fees $7.50. Now how much do you pay for annual fees to Passport America?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by WendyW

It depends on what you need, but I find I want to stay at a full-hookup campground about every four or five days. The thing I like best for finding a decent campground is Passport America, which you need to purchase annually. All its member campgrounds are half off, which means you pay maybe $18 for a nice site.

The other thing, which I learned the hard way, is that if you're dry camping and it's cold, your furnace will drain your battery pretty fast, even though it's fueled by propane. Therefore, I'm staying where there's electric as long as it's cold. Right now I'm in Montana -- brrrrr!

WendyW

Let's look at some numbers. Furnace draws 3.5 amps while running. Even on coldest nights my furnace only runs about 10% of the time. Let's just double that for now. At 20% of the time over a 24 hour period that .48 hours. .48 hours time 3.5 amp = 1.68 amp hours. Typical Group 24 Marine battery is 74 amp hours meaning you 37 amp hours to play with. 37 amp hours/1.68 amp hours = 22 days.

I suggest that you have something else that sucking current from the battery. Most likely incandescent lights at 1.5 amp per light.

[wellduh326]

I just returned from a trip from central Texas to CA and back. Many parks and National Monuments involved. Inbetween planned stops, we stayed at Walmarts. This was my first experience with being a Walmartian and it worked out great. I checked on my Rand-McNally GPS for local stores and only went to Super Centers. All of them welcomed overnighters, whereas a lot of the regular Walmart stores had notations that they did not. A few even had areas in the far-off corners that were specifically marked for over-night parking. They were well lit, had cameras and usually had several other RVs, trailers, truckers and even cars and trucks. My 86 yr old mother and I slept quite soundly. I followed the private parking etiquette addresses previously on this forum and checked in with the manager before settling in. Some snickered when I asked about overnighting, like it was a given, but most thanked me for asking.
Have a fun trip and be safe along the way!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Let's look at some numbers. Furnace draws 3.5 amps while running. Even on coldest nights my furnace only runs about 10% of the time. Let's just double that for now. At 20% of the time over a 24 hour period that .48 hours. .48 hours time 3.5 amp = 1.68 amp hours. Typical Group 24 Marine battery is 74 amp hours meaning you 37 amp hours to play with. 37 amp hours/1.68 amp hours = 22 days.

I suggest that you have something else that sucking current from the battery. Most likely incandescent lights at 1.5 amp per light.

20% of 24 hours is 4.8 hours.

[Bob Miller]

Moreover, as voltage drops, many lp furnaces are unable to restart due to low fan speed.

[WendyW]

I do need to understand what I should do, if anything, and I apologize for going off on this tangent. But after 2.5 days of dry camping and running the furnace once an hour at most, and not at all during the day, the furnace suddenly began CLANG CLANG CLANGing -- the fan was presumably losing power. I checked the battery charge immediately, and it was 40%. I have only LED lights, and I have only one on at a time. I was charging my iPhone and iPad a lot.

The next day I got fully charged at a campground and the day after that I took the rig to NAPA auto parts to see if the battery, the original Interstate that was stock with my 2014 Casita, was losing charge. It was not.

So now what? I'm full-timing solo, and if I should invest in another battery, I will. What say you all? Thanks!

WendyW

[WendyW]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

For the last 6 years we've averaged close to 120 nights per year. Average per night camping fees $7.50. Now how much do you pay for annual fees to Passport America?

===========

I think Passport America is about $50 per year. Most of my camping is on federal land, but as I said, after 4-5 days of dry camping, I want hookups, a long shower, and wifi. I've been camping for less than two months, so I have not tried to figure my average cost per day yet. I'm fulltiming, though, so I have no other housing expenses.

[Bob Miller]

The first question I would ask is "How are you measuring your battery charge?". This will help determine if you are getting a full (100%) charge in the first place. Your best friend is a voltage monitor with at least a 4 digit display. Anything beyond that gets a bit overcomplicated and $$$.


Next is if you are attempting to run your refrigerator on 12 VDC at any time, even when towing.


Your phone and your I-pad may draw up to 4 amps when both are on charge, this isn't a small amount of drain.


Overall a 1-2 year old battery should not need replacement

[WendyW]

Thanks, Bob Miller. I measure charge with an Innova battery monitor. The fridge runs on electricity only when I'm on shore power. So maybe the combination of the furnace and charging the phones over 2.5 days reduced the charge to 40% (12.04, I think). I just bought a Renogy 100w solar suitcase, but I haven't started using it yet. That should help!

Safe travels!