Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Click Here to Login
View Single Post
Old 03-20-2019, 02:02 PM   #45
vegasruv24.1
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Nevada
Posts: 625
THOR #12329
Quote:
Originally Posted by azadv View Post
The 3 most useful/effective modifications/upgrades on my 29H have been the suspension/tires, the 400 watt solar charging system, and transferring the existing 1000 watt 'entertainment' inverter to power the 2-way fridge while travelling (essentially making it a 3-way fridge).

Without the suspension/tires the trip would have been possible but I'm sure not as comfortable (and easy to drive) and I'm SURE there would have been multiple times I would have dragged the rear of the coach and/or the super low-hanging leveler feet. If I ever needed to reduce the somewhat steep angle of the rear ramp I just manually raised the front of the rig using the (front) levelers to bring the rear down. I had gotten some wooden beam sections cut in San Diego to place under the levelers (to make up for the lift) while the suspension was being installed. One of them eventually cracked while in Alaska and I had some (much stronger) glulam beam sections cut at a lumber supply there, and then treated them with Thompson's Water Seal. Should have used glulam pieces from the start.

Without the solar I would have had a more difficult time staying in places w/o hookups, having to run the generator much more if I did. On my 4.5 month trip I only stayed at electrical hookup sites a few times for maybe 15 days total, and one of those (for 4 days) had sewer/water connection. I generally chose sites with sun access for the solar. Sometimes in forested campgrounds that was a bit difficult but usually there are sites with at least some exposure. The only time I really ran the generator was in Maryland at Greenbelt Campground (right next to DC where my Marine son is stationed). A few times while there I was at the RV during the day and the humidity and temps in the 90s were miserable and I ran the A/C for a few hours on the generator. By the way, that campground is THE place to stay with your RV while visiting the DC area. Super close (15-20 min) to the national mall and inexpensive, a hidden gem. The Metro transit system is walking distance to take you everywhere in the DC area. It's also adjacent to the Roosevelt 'New Deal' planned co-op community of Greenbelt, one of 3 communities constructed in the US in the 1930's for people who met certain qualifications to live there. A camp host I talked to there grew up in Greenbelt, his parents were part of the original planned community in the 30s.

The transfer of the 1000 watt inverter to power the fridge worked really well. I had the fridge on 12v power using the inverter whenever driving and sometimes for 5-6 hours during the day (while camped) when the solar was working really well in the Alaska long-sun days. So I used much less propane and didn't have to worry about running the fridge on propane while driving. At the same time when I moved the existing 1000 watt inverter to a place under the fridge (to power it), I installed a 2000 watt version of the same brand/model inverter in the original place (in the rear left outside storage compartment) to run the entertainment systems and also attached it to the microwave so I could run that for short periods without cranking up the generator.
sorry for my dumb question, but just trying to learn, or understand here...doesn't the fridge run off the batterys already on 12v going down the road??? so what you are saying is the fridge is just 120v/ or propane???
__________________
vegasruv24.1 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Thor Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.




All times are GMT. The time now is 10:30 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.