camping stuff-stoves and fridges

[2manycruisers]

We have ambitious plans to drive the pop-top troopy to Yellowstone the first half of August. I have a lot of work ahead of me and won't have all the goodies in place, but will have some of it and most importantly won't have to mess with a tent every day.

It has an old Primus President propane stove with Australian fittings made in 1982. Do you think there has been any significant improvement in propane 2-burner stoves since then? I have only found one stove on the market, a brunton, not like Jon's, without the piezo, that fits the space occupied by the current stove, and it probably has the gas line in the side. My other option is to find a shop to make a new hose to either fit the 1# coleman cans or a 5# propane tank (probably the 1#).

Second is the fridge. I don't want to section my rear fender to re-use the old fridge, so I'm thinking an ARB or Engel (are there others?). I will have to rebuild or just eliminate one of the cabinets if I go this route, but I think I'd rather do that. What sizes do you use or recommend? Would anyone be willing to loan or rent yours to me for a couple weeks? I don't think I'll get one before we leave.

thanks

 

[pappy]

I have an Engel 35 while the rest of the group has the Engel 45. I like the 45 but I couldn't open the lid in the 4Runner. You are welcome to borrow it. Footprint is the same. Height is different.

 

[TroutRunner]

I haven't been in the market for a stove for a little but I've seen some in the last 3 years or so. If the stove you have works, I say use it.

I think the new stoves have a benefit in being lightweight, some can use multiple types of fuel, and they are always changing the regulators with "shakers" to keep them from getting clogged. You may find some have a better range of adjustment so you can simmer and torch at will

If yours works, use it.

G

 

[alia176]

I would look at the Waeco (CF50 is my vote) series fridges due to lighter weight and less cost than the usual ARB/NORCOLD/ENGEL/ETC.

Edit: these unis are not the usual 3 way fridge - they don't use propane, only 12vdc/120vac.

 

[gr8wrk]

I got a Waeco 40 a couple of weeks ago. It's dual voltage, 120/12v, so I use it in my shop as well as in the truck. So far it's great. And Ali's right, it's light.

 

[Cruisergreg]

We have ambitious plans to drive the pop-top troopy to Yellowstone the first half of August. I have a lot of work ahead of me and won't have all the goodies in place, but will have some of it and most importantly won't have to mess with a tent every day.

It has an old Primus President propane stove with Australian fittings made in 1982. Do you think there has been any significant improvement in propane 2-burner stoves since then? I have only found one stove on the market, a brunton, not like Jon's, without the piezo, that fits the space occupied by the current stove, and it probably has the gas line in the side. My other option is to find a shop to make a new hose to either fit the 1# coleman cans or a 5# propane tank (probably the 1#).

Second is the fridge. I don't want to section my rear fender to re-use the old fridge, so I'm thinking an ARB or Engel (are there others?). I will have to rebuild or just eliminate one of the cabinets if I go this route, but I think I'd rather do that. What sizes do you use or recommend? Would anyone be willing to loan or rent yours to me for a couple weeks? I don't think I'll get one before we leave.

thanks

After 2 major mileage camping trips with the 60 (one 3800 miles pulling the pop-up) and another 5600 mile trip to Vancouver-Banff-Yellowstone in consecutive years I gave up on the uber-cool expensive stuff and opted for old school (or at least cheap school). The burner in the pop-up always worked fine but the fancy 3-way fridge was a waste of time, with my reverting to a high end Coleman cooler in Rapid City, SD. Never looked back. On the trip without the pop-up I just got a cheapo Walmart two burner propane deal to replace an ancient Coleman white gas thing I was using. Again, never looked back. With all the logistics of a major road trip having stuff that can be replaced at the nearest Wal-Mart for $30 if it fails simplifies the problem greatly. Without the need for long-term self-contained travel I don't think alot of the expensive goodies are worth the cost or effort. My experience and my .02.

 

[OGBeno]

I actually have the 60L NorCold which is the biggest one they have. It's epic.

 

[2manycruisers]

Thanks for the tips, I'll look at the Waeco and others, but probably won't buy anything before the trip. I'm also going to look back at putting the old fridge back in. It's a little RV fridge--the door opens from the front, which is nice if you stack stuff on top. It's also 30 years old, runs on 12/240V (AU plug), and probably has a hellacious amp draw, but it still works.

As for the stove, I have no idea how well it works. I can't use it because the Australian fittings are different. I need to take the hose to a gas shop and see if they can remake it with an end to fit US tanks. Tons to do, not much time....

 

[alia176]

David,

I see for sale on Craigslist Dometic and Norcold fridges that may fit in the same space. Some of them go for a reasonable price, at least that's what it seems like in my inexperienced eyes.

 

[2manycruisers]

thanks, I'll have to keep an eye out.

David,

I see for sale on Craigslist Dometic and Norcold fridges that may fit in the same space. Some of them go for a reasonable price, at least that's what it seems like in my inexperienced eyes.

 

[2manycruisers]

I'm electrically not smart, can someone help me? I'm thinking about using the old fridge that came in my troopy for our trip. It is rated 4.5 amps. What is the minimum deep cycle battery I could get away with to let the fridge run overnight if I'm driving the truck every day and don't have a dual battery setup? Or do I need to either get dual batts or borrow a more efficient fridge for the trip?

Anyone know about isolators? I was going to put a dual battery setup with the diode isolator that was in the other troopy, but it is probably a 40A isolator and my alternator is possibly 70A. I stopped by an RV shop today and the old man told me not to run the isolator, either run batteries in parallel with a cut-off switch on one or a mechanical isolator. Any thoughts? I have a ton of stuff to do in the next 3 weeks, so I can't spend too much time screwing with this.

 

[pappy]

I'm running an isolator in the 4Runner. No issues.

 

[alia176]

I'm electrically not smart, can someone help me? I'm thinking about using the old fridge that came in my troopy for our trip. It is rated 4.5 amps. What is the minimum deep cycle battery I could get away with to let the fridge run overnight if I'm driving the truck every day and don't have a dual battery setup? Or do I need to either get dual batts or borrow a more efficient fridge for the trip?

Anyone know about isolators? I was going to put a dual battery setup with the diode isolator that was in the other troopy, but it is probably a 40A isolator and my alternator is possibly 70A. I stopped by an RV shop today and the old man told me not to run the isolator, either run batteries in parallel with a cut-off switch on one or a mechanical isolator. Any thoughts? I have a ton of stuff to do in the next 3 weeks, so I can't spend too much time screwing with this.

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Here's a copy/paste from adventure trailer site:

Let’s say you want to know how many Amps an ARB 13Watt, 12V fluorescent light is going to consume per hour. Your answer is 13 Watts ÷ 12 Volts = 1.08 Amps per hour of usage.

Understanding Deep Cycle Battery Basics

The Group 31 Valve Regulated AGM Batteries that we favor in our trailers and vehicle conversions are very stout. A general rule of thumb for calculating available power from these 105 Amp hour batteries is that no more than a 50% discharge (52.5 Amps) will give you the longest battery life and the most cycles. A cycle is each full recharging occurrence. Unfortunately, often we need to discharge beyond this 50%. A deep cycle battery is considering completely discharged when it reaches about 10.5 volts. Below 10.5 volts, most 12 volt appliances stop working. This is approximately 80% (84 Amps)
105 Amp Battery

So here’s the math again. Using our 105 Amp Battery and the ARB 13 Watt, 12V Fluorescent light as an example:

(105 Amps X .80) ÷ (13 watts ÷ 12 Volts) = 77.7 Hours of burn time.
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With that said, for a single batt system, just go with a group 31 battery. If you can swing it, go for the Diehard Platinum (this has been discussed ad nauseum in the past). sears link

Converting RC to amp- hours formula link
Amp-Hours = (Reserve Capacity / 2) + 16
hence we have (205/2)+16 = 118.5 amp-hours

Using the formula from adventure trailer:
(118.5 x 0.80) / 4.5 amp (fridge consumption) = 21 hours of fridge run time

So there you have it folks, no need for a second battery when you have a MONDO group 31 Platinum.

Thank you, come again.

 

[Cruisergreg]

I stopped by an RV shop today and the old man told me not to run the isolator, either run batteries in parallel with a cut-off switch on one or a mechanical isolator.

FWIW, Juane had an electronic isolator and had nothing but problems with it. When I set up my duals many internet searches suggested that the severe conditions (vibration, heat, etc.) in which an off-road rig is used are too great for the sensitive electronics.

I ended up using this: Painless Performance: 250 Amp Dual Battery Current Control System which has worked well as long as you remember to occassionally charge the second battery. Jegs has it for cheaper and you could make your own with off-the-shelf parts store stuff, but this deal is plug&play.

 

[alia176]

For my dual battery system, I use a simple 200 amp cont duty solenoid and a toggle switch. This truly follows the KISS principle and so far has been working well going on six years.

 

[2manycruisers]

Sounds good. The guy at Al's RV suggested even simpler--2 batteries in parallel with a disconnect on the positive cable between the two. I can wire the fridge, aux lights, etc direct to the spare batt and charge when driving, then disconnect to avoid draining the primary. The spare will be mounted in the cabin, so the disconnect would be easily accessible. Thoughts?

It would be nice to have a good setup, but in my haste for this trip it must be simple and quick. A good single deep-cycle may be the answer for now, but would be nice to have the security of two.

For my dual battery system, I use a simple 200 amp cont duty solenoid and a toggle switch. This truly follows the KISS principle and so far has been working well going on six years.

 

[SteveLCetc]

Sounds good. The guy at Al's RV suggested even simpler--2 batteries in parallel with a disconnect on the positive cable between the two. I can wire the fridge, aux lights, etc direct to the spare batt and charge when driving, then disconnect to avoid draining the primary. The spare will be mounted in the cabin, so the disconnect would be easily accessible. Thoughts?

That's an easy and quick setup - you could also replace the disconnect switch with a relay controlled by the key switch, so when the key is off they are not connected and when the key is on (and presumably the engine running) it would be charging.

 

[Beowulf]

Sounds good. The guy at Al's RV suggested even simpler--2 batteries in parallel with a disconnect on the positive cable between the two. I can wire the fridge, aux lights, etc direct to the spare batt and charge when driving, then disconnect to avoid draining the primary. The spare will be mounted in the cabin, so the disconnect would be easily accessible. Thoughts?

It would be nice to have a good setup, but in my haste for this trip it must be simple and quick. A good single deep-cycle may be the answer for now, but would be nice to have the security of two.

Get a good "mega-fuse" and a marine quick-disconnect switch. Put the fuse(s) as close to the battery as possible. While this is a simple solution, forgetting to disconnect could leave you with 2 dead batteries so Steve's idea is one to consider.

-Mike-