Living in 30amp rv

[JRH]

I have many similar experiences and have found the cheap deisel heaters became my favorite heat source for small spaces. much dryer and warmer in my opinion

I like diesel/ kerosene.. it does many things well in a homesite and is readily available , but it’s a pain in the butt if you move around and try to carry a good bit with ya…stinks to high heaven if you spill even a little inside or in the truck somehow ,
and where I used to live the Eco- Freaks would snoop around sniffing…..and would send out a haz- mat team and excavator to remove all the soil in your yard that has been contaminated…haul it away and send you a huge bill.

If you live near a creek ,…and spill even a little somehow and it shows up in the water … you’re done ….!

when they back track the spill and come get ya ( and they will) , yer toast ..

What I saw them do to several neighbors whose tank leaked a little on the ground cause me to sell my monitor heater and remove the 275 gallon tsnk..

( some places now require sealed containment pits that will capture the entire contents of the tank if it all leaked out).
I don’t follow new laws anymore as I don’t have a need to know ..

Went to a thousand gallon propane tank and a new vented heater… worked great…

Sold the house years later , and because I didn’t have any fuel oil heat I didn’t have to have the enviro tests that they want for fuel spills when they see a kerosene tank sitting out back.

I repeat… I like diesel/kerosene .. just depends on the use…

J.

 

[Sparks-n-Splinters]

I know all about those environmental issues. I worked for a company that went through that mess when they sold out to a corporation. Trace amounts of diesel found next to our tank. They acted like the world was going to end because of it. Brought in soil testing engineers, special dumpsters, big core drillers and all sorts of heavy equipment.

By the time they finished about 2 weeks later they only removed about 9 cubic feet of dirt. It cost the owners several thousand dollars.

 

[JRH]

I know all about those environmental issues. I worked for a company that went through that mess when they sold out to a corporation. Trace amounts of diesel found next to our tank. They acted like the world was going to end because of it. Brought in soil testing engineers, special dumpsters, big core drillers and all sorts of heavy equipment.

By the time they finished about 2 weeks later they only removed about 9 cubic feet of dirt. It cost the owners several thousand dollars.

Yep… who ever thst was was lucky.. it could have been tens of thousands…

It’s amazing how when you give some kid with a “school degree “ a white hard hat , and a clip board they all of a sudden turn into a tyrant using their new found power…
they set out to save the world.

Give me an old guy with a beer belly thst like fishing and still smokes cigars to deal with from a “Dept of Whatever ”
At least he generally has some common sence about life.

J

 

[Sparks-n-Splinters]

Yep… who ever thst was was lucky.. it could have been tens of thousands…

It’s amazing how when you give some kid with a “school degree “ a white hard hat , and a clip board they all of a sudden turn into a tyrant using their new found power…
they set out to save the world.

Give me an old guy with a beer belly thst like fishing and still smokes cigars to deal with from a “Dept of Whatever ”
At least he generally has some common sence about life.

J

I could not agree with you more.

 

[wepuckett]

So the heater may be a problem, how much solar does everyone have, how much power are they using a day, does the solar keep you topped off, what inverter, scc are people using

Thanks
William

 

[JRH]

So the heater may be a problem, how much solar does everyone have, how much power are they using a day, does the solar keep you topped off, what inverter, scc are people using

Thanks
William

The heater is not a problem… it draws about what it supposed to to do it’s job… the problem is not having enough battery power… this is easily solvable for a few hundred bucks… im paying more for a damn AGM for the truck than pretty decent lifepo batts now days .

Calculate your need overnite and then buy twice the battery power .. you will be fine,..

 

[0truck0]

Clarification: when I said the Rennai was 120 volt , I meant only the fan …NOT THE HEATER..
The heater is propane …

In reply to your reply , propane is great fuel for cooking , water heater, even refridge…and having them work off two fuels gives one great back up resource if one source stops or runs out…

but ..

Still, the furnace is hungry for amps and for many RVers is what kills their batteries in the middle of the night. I have a furnace I keep just in case, but the diesel heater is my primary as it sips electricity and sips diesel. My comments dont apply to me since I no longer use a furnace, but talk to enough Rver and you learn that the furnace drains batteries. Yes, more batteries needed; you do that, I do that but others will not or cannot for prob the price of adding more batteries is too much for them. Money is no object for me, but for some money is hard to come by.
My furnace is loud, cycles on/off a lot and burns too much propane. 60% duty cycle sounds about right, really cold nights it will turn back on as soon as it shuts off... fan blows loudly, click click click to light the flame, pfffff when it lites, fan still noise, eventully it shuts off and a minute later it repeats. The diesel heater is just quiet.
Never using the furnace and never heating water is why I start and end the trip with about the same amount of propane, for cooking only, and is nice not always looking for propane station or to pay for a tank swap...
to each his own.
I am a big proponent of using the diesel heaters. Only drawback is having to clean them from time to time, but that is a small price to pay.

OP, yes, you have to do energy audit to know how to proceed.

 

[Rednecktek]

Only drawback is having to clean them from time to time, but that is a small price to pay.

Up at my camp I have 3 mounted between the cabin and the pump house. I have a tool box with another heater, allen wrenches, screwdriver, screens, gaskets, glow plugs, controller, etc so when one chokes up I just swap the heater out with the "spare" and clean the dirty one when I'm more awake and warm. For the $100 they cost, havingva ready-to-go spare is invaluable at 4am.

 

[HighDesertDrifter]

I know all about those environmental issues. I worked for a company that went through that mess when they sold out to a corporation. Trace amounts of diesel found next to our tank. They acted like the world was going to end because of it. Brought in soil testing engineers, special dumpsters, big core drillers and all sorts of heavy equipment.

By the time they finished about 2 weeks later they only removed about 9 cubic feet of dirt. It cost the owners several thousand dollars.

I always found it a bit absurd that the same government who makes these laws pumps the bilges of their ships into the sea?

 

[Sparks-n-Splinters]

I always found it a bit absurd that the same government who makes these laws pumps the bilges of their ships into the sea?

And let's not forget they also allow chemical fertilizers to be sprayed across lawns, fields, and trees.

 

[HighDesertDrifter]

And let's not forget they also allow chemical fertilizers to be sprayed across lawns, fields, and trees.

And billionaires experiment on all of us in various ways, not the least of which is geoengineering the planet... Did any of us get a voice in this discussion? Was there a discussion? Maybe they had one while I napped one day?
Some types of climate engineering are highly controversial due to the large uncertainties around effectiveness, side effects and unforeseen consequences.

But hey, who gives a care? Certainly not you or I. Not!

 

[Rocketman]

Back to systems:
I have a MotorHome - full- time and usually boondock.

Solar 3 arrays
800w into a mppt 100/50
420w into a mppt 100/30
300w into a mppt 100/20
(Plus 100w into a 75/15 for the chassis battery).

So 1500w into a DIY LifePo4 12v 544ah battery

Inverter was a Multiplus 12/3000 (sold it to brother-in-law) now have a Multiplus II 12/3000 2x120v. That’s so I “can” power everything in my rig - 2 nd air conditioner, electric part of water heater, and block heater for the diesel engine. Obviously, any large item is one at a time and may be limited time.

We have a residential fridge and star-link on 24/7.

We do have a generator- but seldom use it.

In the summer -usually all the power we want. Spring/Fall we usually have to tilt our solar panels. Winter in Arizona, we need to tilt our panels and it is often enough. If heavy clouds we need to run the generator for an hour. (Or if we use lots of power - run A/C, bake with the convection microwave, etc). If camping under trees - we run generator one hour in morning and one hour in evening.

Victron equipment:
Multiplus II 12/3000 2x120v
BMV-712
4 mppt solar charge controllers
Dc-Dc 12-30 charger Orion
2 BP-65 (battery protects) - cuts off 12v power to fuse boxes if voltage gets really low)
12v battery charger (to charge a portable 12v lithium battery).

Good Luck

 

[wepuckett]

Thank you that is what I am looking for, so you run everything you want with 1500 watts of solar and only have to charge 1 hour in morning and evening in the fall? I am guessing you use all victron equipment?

 

[JRH]

I always found it a bit absurd that the same government who makes these laws pumps the bilges of their ships into the sea?

Uhhh… as most first world boats large and small are designed to have raw water come in and flow out…it never goes to the bilge …..
most water is pumped in as sea water used for cooling/ heating equipment , RO conversion and wash down water. and pumped back out as sea water…
Any black water( shower , kitchen , sewage) thst is pumped out just feeds the fish ..they love it…that’s why they follow the cruise ships around… and hang out….

The biggest problem is cruise ships who dump certain trash over board when in international water..
Now that’s a problem… some third world country boats throw everything overboard…everything.

True Bilge water is not a problem on big boats …

 

[time2roll]

Not full time but I don't plug in unless I desperately need A/C. Could go indefinitely in most conditions.
1200 ah battery, 2000 watt inverter, 675 watts solar on the roof. Have a small portable generator that was tested and not used since.
Furnace, fridge, HW and cooking use propane.

Generally the first thing I need is water. Second is to dump the waste tanks.

 

[HighDesertDrifter]

Uhhh… as most first world boats large and small are designed to have raw water come in and flow out…it never goes to the bilge …..
most water is pumped in as sea water used for cooling/ heating equipment , RO conversion and wash down water. and pumped back out as sea water…
Any black water( shower , kitchen , sewage) thst is pumped out just feeds the fish ..they love it…that’s why they follow the cruise ships around… and hang out….

The biggest problem is cruise ships who dump certain trash over board when in international water..
Now that’s a problem… some third world country boats throw everything overboard…everything.

True Bilge water is not a problem on big boats …

Well, they must have cleaned it up since the 70's when the US navy pumped their oily bilge water overboard?

 

[Rocketman]

Thank you that is what I am looking for, so you run everything you want with 1500 watts of solar and only have to charge 1 hour in morning and evening in the fall? I am guessing you use all victron equipment?

Yes use all Victron (except the batteries).

Usually only need to run the generator if it is a bad solar day (clouds, trees, etc) or if we use a lot of power (baking, air conditioners, etc.)

Tilting the panels helps a LOT!!! If you can make it work it helps the power. I figure it takes me an hour to tilt and un-tilt my panels- obviously we only do it when we are staying in a place for a bit.

And yes on cloudy days it is amazing how little solar we get… 10% to 20% of normal.

 

[Sojourner1]

Having a bunch of solar helps but really comes down to your wants. 'If' you want to live like on hookups or bare minimum generator use put as much solar as you can fit on the trailer, just try to keep the shadowing from roof objects to a minimum if possible.

My system with just 1,280w solar and 500ah battery for the past 8.5+ years has more than served us daily during spring, summer, fall "but" mid to end of November to mid February we might on occasion need a hold over charge from the eu2200i generator of a 100ah for 1-2 hours and that's only if the SOC is 60% after dinner time (1800 hrs). I have no problem running in a SOC of 30%-90% during this time with 40 days the longest run in a PSOC before solar could fully charge the battery bank. If the batteries get full great, if they don't not worried about it. There are over 1,900+ 35-45% DOD cycles so far since 4/2016 when the system was turned on. That is still using high draw items at a low SOC and cannot yet see any voltages different from when first installed to now.

The inverter/ batteries have not been turned off or had to be rebalanced or other science projects some seem to be obsessed with and no there not even perfectly cell matched, .04 between the highest to lowest cell when drawing 100a+ or charging 100a+ and all the same voltage other wise. Been this way since initial install.

As of yesterday it is a 3 year continuous run of travel/ boondocking off the system with 2 3/4 years previous long run.

Set the system up with proper charging and safety shutdowns and enjoy life without henpecking the system.

 

[Dave in AZ]

Uhhh… as most first world boats large and small are designed to have raw water come in and flow out…it never goes to the bilge …..
most water is pumped in as sea water used for cooling/ heating equipment , RO conversion and wash down water. and pumped back out as sea water…
Any black water( shower , kitchen , sewage) thst is pumped out just feeds the fish ..they love it…that’s why they follow the cruise ships around… and hang out….

The biggest problem is cruise ships who dump certain trash over board when in international water..
Now that’s a problem… some third world country boats throw everything overboard…everything.

True Bilge water is not a problem on big boats …

Where do you live, that has these draconian diesel fuel laws? Every house and cabin in N Michigan has a diesel fuel oil tank sitting in the yard feeding a furnace, and I've never heard of anyone with issues, and everyone fills them yearly from fuel trucks that deliver... this sounds like a far cry from your story?

 

[JRH]

Where do you live, that has these draconian diesel fuel laws? Every house and cabin in N Michigan has a diesel fuel oil tank sitting in the yard feeding a furnace, and I've never heard of anyone with issues, and everyone fills them yearly from fuel trucks that deliver... this sounds like a far cry from your story?

The fact you have “never heard “ of somthing is irrelevant to a law or a codes existence or its being a reality.
There are 50 states , 3100+ different counties plus thousands of city’s in the USA …they all have different rules ,laws and customs… …some are the most crazy stuff one could even imagine..

Be it guns, ammo , eco matters , wood burning stoves , building permits, conceal carry permits , alcohol laws , drug use , trout stream restrictions ,tree cutting , noise laws , water Pollution, hunting, gambling , hookers ….
And …and ….and ….
the list could go on for hours …

Don’t know about you but there’s a lot of restrictions out there I have “never heard” of….

With that said , thanks for your comment..

J.

 

[Dave in AZ]

The fact you have “never heard “ of somthing is irrelevant to a law or a codes existence or its being a reality.
There are 50 states , 3100+ different counties plus thousands of city’s in the USA …they all have different rules ,laws and customs… …some are the most crazy stuff one could even imagine..

Be it guns, ammo , eco matters , wood burning stoves , building permits, conceal carry permits , alcohol laws , drug use , trout stream restrictions ,tree cutting , noise laws , water Pollution, hunting, gambling , hookers ….
And …and ….and ….
the list could go on for hours …

Don’t know about you but there’s a lot of restrictions out there I have “never heard” of….

With that said , thanks for your comment..

J.

You still didn't tell me what state you are in with these rules... as you stated, it is vastly different in different areas, you told a horror story, and the immediate question is WHERE do they have such crazy interpretation? Is your state a big secret, or what, why would you not just tell us "California " or whatever? For all I knew you were in Russia.

I'm not doubting your story, I just want to know where NOT to retire to... thx

 

[Sojourner1]

Instead of polluting someones thread with useless bickering start another.

 

[wepuckett]

OK for those mounting panels on the roof are they flat mounted or do you have a way to elivate them when needed?
IF you can elevate did you build a mount or buy one? Any pics or links would be appreciated.

Based on dimensions on my roof I will either have to build a roof rack to use larger panels, or use smaller panels like the eco worthy 195w bi facials on sale right now based on the measurements of those I believe I can get 8 up there. If you have other recommendations I am open to hearing them.

 

[Rocketman]

I have mainly 200w (and a few 100w) on the roof - I used eight 6” pieces of 2” x 2” x .125” aluminum angle. Four attach to the corners of the panel and the other four attached to the roof. One side (hinge side) has 1/4” x1” stainless bolt with lock nut (and a few washers). For the tilt side it has a 1/4” knob going into tilt arm. I got a nutsert tool for my Jeep and use that to put the threads into the tilt arms.



Hopefully that made sense. For large purchases of aluminum I used onlinemetals.com

Overtime I have raised some panels up a bit higher for water to flow off as well as less shading from other stuff. (And yes the Starlink there does some shading).

 

[wepuckett]

Yes it does, the eco worthy mounts are basically made with aluminum angle but with holes so you can adjust the angle, thanks for the link I will check them out but also ask my boss where we get aluminum from as I work in a small machine shop and they shop around prices quiet a bit.

I saw some that put c channel down first then attached frames to c channel to limit holes in the roof