Thor Forums

[Chance]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

If I had a system that ran completely off of batteries like that with an inverter the first thing I would add is a ton of solar cells on the roof.

In our case: We've never boondocked. We rarely camp without full hookups. We will use the odd electric only site occasionally. Hence we never have a need to run the generator whilst camping.

Our generator gets used quite a bit though: While going down the road. I'll run it to use the roof top A/C, or my son will want it on to use the Playstation. Since it is quite noisy I'll only run it when we travel down larger roads and interstates--try to keep it off if we find ourselves in a residential area.

I did not mention that the E-Trek option includes a 240-watt solar charging system, separately priced at $3,120. On a good day you might get about 1 kWh out of it which is about 20-minutes worth out of alternator/generator, so while it could help it's a small contributor for campers who drive their motorhome daily -- unless on campground shore power.

Looking at their website and comparing models, I can't even find a diesel generator for the Adventorous model. The base unit also comes with separate van-engine-driven 3500-watt alternator/generator, but with smaller inverter and only four house batteries instead of eight. Still plenty to run TVs, lights, microwave, coffee maker, etc... for extended periods.

For your described use requiring the generator mostly to power the AC while driving, it seems a system like the E-Trek would function very nicely. The second alternator/generator could easily power an air conditioner while driving, with plenty of capacity to spare. A typical AC uses about 1500 watts so alternator/generator would run at about half load.