RV Boondocking Ideas and Tips! // Our RV SOLAR Setup // Full Time RV
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.พ. 2023
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We have been living full-time in our RV for 5 years and we enjoy boondocking (off-grid) more than we stay in RV parks. We spend 4 weeks boondocking in the desert in Quartzsite and learned a few new off-grid RV ideas from our friends.
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The first time we talked in Quartzite, Jim told me “you don’t know what you don’t know.” After almost 3 years of research and countless videos from different channels, I’m still amazed at how much there is to learn about RVing. This is another great video with much needed information for those of us planning on becoming full timers! Safe travels!!
Thanks Tod. Sorry we missed you at the Q. We'll cross paths at some point again.
Yes we will! And we look forward to more great conversations!
I’m so glad you had friends there that helped you empty your tanks. That’s so good to find kind hearted people. It’s not easy! Thank you for your tips. I hope you had a great weekend and hope you have a great Presidents’ Day! 🇺🇸
Thanks Sherri. We're having fun, but it's been cold!
@@SuiteTravels
It warmed up a bit here on Sunday and Monday and now it’s going to get really windy and get cold but Wednesday. It’s calm before the storm I believe. Lol! Hopefully where you are at it will get warm too!
Gooood comprehensive overview of dry camping!!! We have the same setup as you 2 on the solar and generator on our 48’ toy hauler. Works very well and we love the freedom and autonomy it provides us!!!
👍😃🍻
That's awesome Mike! We love to boondock and love our setup. Have a great weekend!
🤣🤣 Why do I feel like you are speaking directly to me? 🤣🤣 Okay, okay; I get it! 🤣🤣
Hahaha....maybe it's a sign Kenneth! Thanks for coming along.
Great boondocking tips and delivered so everyone can understand just what is truly involved. We LOVE to boondock, dry camp, etc and actually try to stay out of rv parks/campgrounds for the most part. But like Kelley, wo do love the parks when we end up at one and cherish the longer showers and hookups! Great video guys!
Thanks guys. Boondocking is our favorite as well....but hookups are a nice upgrade sometimes!
From my perspective this is the best video you’ve ever made. Thanks
Thanks so much Gene...glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for this information. It would be great to see how you use your new backup pump to pump the water from the water bladder into your freshwater tank of your RV.
We'll keep that in mind Debbie. We picked up some hose connectors from the hardware store and plug it into the 12V battery system in the basement.
Great video, thanks for sharing your experiences
Everyone has the system that works for them. Big truck big travels has the Cadillac setup with fresh tank and black tank built into their truck
They have an awesome setup John and you're correct - you need to figure out what works best for your style. Thanks for coming along and have a great weekend!
Use a reverse osmosis system and filter the grey and use it for washing dishes and showers,unless you have a commercial rated system and a ultra violet sanitizing system to reuse grey water after sterilization.
I really like my composting toilet. No water used
Hi guys!! Very good information, thanks for sharing. You mentioned wiring...we've been in our rig for 4 years this month. And we never knew the wiring for our outlets by the bed were on the floor under the bed storage. We were in Idaho for hubby's brothers memorial and evidently when we were setting up and let the slides out, the bed slide outside seal turned in. Wind, snow and raining hard! Water got in and was under the bed. Shorted out the wiring and caught on fire!! Thank the Lord we weren't in bed!! Hubby turned off main power and we took everything out of bed storage. He unscrewed the plywood and we were shocked to see the wires just laying on the floor. We heard a pop before we saw the flames and smoke. It was the outlets shorting out. He fixed it temporarily and when we got back to our home base, rewired and got them off the floor! Very scary, but we now know where all our wiring is. Just thought I'd share if anyone else has a Montana 5th wheel, check under your bed for wiring sloppily put in. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with all of us, very helpful...💜
OMG Carol! That's scary. So glad nothing major happened. Thanks for coming along!
Also a saw on living vehicle they have a system that creates 5 gallons water pe day from the air. May want to watch those videos to get another idea as to getting water while boondocking.
Stellar video! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Kevin
Thanks Kevin! Have a wonderful weekend.
Great informational video! Good stuff to share. Thanks guys, enjoy your videos always.
Thanks Carole....glad you enjoyed it.
My sister has a trailer pretty similar to yours. Fifth wheel 40 something foot toy hauler.. I shared a drone pic of your tow vehicle and trailer.. She said oh no.. Don't let her husband see that 😂😂..
Glad yall for doing well. Always informative videos. Yep we are still frozen here in mn.
We're having a blast! Wish you were here....
That’s a nice looking roof 😉
Great video! Miss y’all 😘
Awe....we miss you too 💕. We were just discussing how much we LOVE our new roof! See you soon.
Hi Jim and Kelly! Thus all good to know when you are boon docking. I like how you talked of those water bags 60 gallons or more. What great idea to do that. Hard work but it’s a great idea What a great idea when you need water when you are off grid.
Thanks Sherri. We've got it down to a science! Hope you're doing well.
Great info as usual- very nice to offer someone the use of their "blue boy" and to dump it for you but I think I'll pass on that one. LOL
Us too Paul! Thanks for coming along.
Thanks for the info on your solar set up... 😁
We're glad you enjoyed it William! Hope it was useful. Have a great weekend!
A couple more boondocking tips!
GREAT over view, and you did such a great job of making what is sometimes complicated understandable. LOVE your videos!
We are FT in a 2015 REDWOOD 42' fifth wheel. (Romany Life) We have a similar setup as you (solar, etc). After 9 years on the road with LOTS of boondocking (tons actually) we have a few tricks that makes "living 2 weeks at a time" more wonderful.
For us, with a huge solar system, TANKS are the limiting factor. We can easily go 2 weeks on our tanks, and we DO NOT use a blue boy. We have one, never used it, ditched it. too big too haul around and frankly, using it was really not saving that much effort from simply hitching up our trailer and taking it to the dump station. It's about HOW you use your precious water that makes all the difference:
Hauling in your freshwater makes it GOLD. Don't FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET!!! The toilet uses SO much of your fresh water. We installed a simple gate valve on the water intake on the back of the toilet so that it can be easily turned on and off as needed. For #1 (you know what I mean!) we do not use water. We flush, TP goes in the trash, and a quick spritz of diluted SIMPLE GREEN keeps the bowl fresh without harming tank bacteria. Saves GALLONS of water! Keep a collapsible dish tub in your kitchen sink (2nd biggest use of water) and pour the contents from sink use in THE TOILET. Most black tanks don't fill in just 10 days or so, but grey tanks DO!! This also helps dilute the solids in the black tank. Doing this will add DAYS to your boondocking experience!!
Always a pleasure to see you both.
Thanks Warren! It's good to be seen and we appreciate you!
My wife is getting eased into it a week a year. We boondock at Summit Motorsports Park every October for Halloween Classic a week of everything under the sun drag raced.
That's awesome Michael! Boondocking can be a lot of fun if done correctly. Have a great weekend.
Thanks for sharing, I just had to watch, my best friend is a Master Electrician but I'm still headed to NRVTA to get paper work that says I can do it.
We are nature lovers and love people as well ( Wendy says I have the gift of gab) but we plan to Boondock a good portion of our time.
Love Arizona and New Mexico & Texas so we will eventually make it there.
Keep up the great videos.
Thanks Rob....we really appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend.
Excellent setup
Thanks Richard! It works for us....
Hi Jim & Kelley great information you have given out there very informative. Is all boondocking free in your country , there us a lot of restrictions here in UK you cant just park where u want to I.e.lots of towns dont allow motor homes most beaches dont allow o/ night park ups so it's always best to stay at designated campsites with hook ups water, electrics ,showers,laundry, clubs & pubs,restaurants, cafes. If someone to go to town you drive your car if you bring it with you,or electric bikes,or taxis, or bus.motor Homer's are very frowned upon in UK we have Walmart here ( Asda) strictly no /o/night / parking period.any way nice messaging you both again, stay safe & keep trucking the highways cheers bye.
Thanks Clve....so glad you enjoyed it. In the US, boondocking is usually free, but some communities have restrictions, so you must be aware of those. Walmart has been very good for RVers, but there are a few that ruin it for the rest of us. We've seen some RVers pull into a Walmart parking lot and put all their chairs, bbq, etc out on the parking lot and stay for an extended period of time, which is not what it's for. We use parking lots for a quick overnight and try to leave first thing in the morning.
As always an excellent video glad you're enjoying yourself look forward to the next one and take care be safe God bless
Thanks Allan. Hope all is well with you and family is good.
I'm going to be a pro....thanks to you two!!!! 😁
That's awesome Stephan! Thanks for coming along and have a great weekend.
GREAT VIDEO! Thanks Guys!
Glad you enjoyed it Brian. Thanks for coming along!
The information was very helpful ,we are wanting to try some boondocking this summer. We are going to start with a generator, just planning for the future. The starting place is even close to home at a bluegrass festival that doesn't have any hookups. If all else fails we can just go home. Dreams are for the future is to go west to show my wife places that I saw years ago .
That's awesome Clarence! You need to start somewhere....and it will be a blessing to make some new memories together!
Putting in my solar as we speak. Installing on my own it's a bit complicated but doable.
That's awesome Jim! Take your time and do it right! Have a great weekend.
First time on your channel and I'll check your other videos in a second, but since you asked for content ideas ... we're always looking for tips on water management inside the rig. We love staying at Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome, but we fill up our gray tank distressingly fast even though we use the 3 container system for dishes and an aerator showerhead and Navy showers.
Welcome to the community! Thanks for the idea...
Hi guys...we have everything you mentioned except solar...but we are NOT full-time...when we stop for a night in Walmart or wherever we have a APU on our truck..gives us heat /air and house electricity/battery charging...so we mostly stay in the truck for overnight stops....boondocking...we use our honda eu7000is generator..i haven't been able to justify the cost for solar yet.🤔🤑...because like i said we are not full-time ...still enjoying our home....I don't park close to anyone...besides.. it under my bed... I DON'T hear it..😳...all you said is very good information👍..thank you for the video...stay safe...J&A 🙋♀️🙋♂️
We miss you guys! Hope to see you soon.
Good information.
Glad you enjoyed it Joe.
Good video 😀 thx's for information isn't it hard to boondocking with a rig your size
It's really not all that hard Stephen. With a little planning we have found some beautiful boondocking all over the country!
Thanks for your video. I like you describe your topic and it was very helpful to us. We were wondering how you pick your path and where to stay? I have heard a lot about an app Rvlife do you use something like that?
Thanks Tammy. We're not familiar with RVLife. We use Campendium to find dispersed camping in the area we want to visit, then use Google Earth and OnX to dig deeper for an area that we can fit. We always have a plan-B though!
Great video again, I have to ask why you state you don’t have enough room for a spare waste tank? You can fit a car and a side by side on that rig just saying. Lol always enjoy your videos, keep ‘‘em going. Best wishes!
LOL...that's the problem Todd, we're running out of room! Have a great weekend.
I’ve been thinking of full timing in our rv for a while. My question is do you still have a home base to return to at times. Just not sure what most people do. Thanks and be safe and have a very blessed day.
We don't have a "home base" Cheri. We sold everything and went on the road. However, during COVID we determined that it would be best to have a place to call our own, so we purchased an RV lot in western Montana that we can stay whenever we need to. When we're not using it we rent out the space.
@@SuiteTravels we have been thinking about either full time rv or moving to Montana. Then heading to Arizona in the winter. Thanks for all your videos I love the information you supply. Have a very blessed day!🙂
Very good it all works out, you jest keep adding stuff to your arsenal. Love you guys.
Hahahaha....well, that isn't the plan Gerald 😂, but it does work well for our use.
So my wife and I are looking at full time RV and travel! See our beautiful country. I've been looking into different places we'd like to see. I'm reading on some of these websites that HDT's pulling Trailers are not allowed. And I'm reading that some have restrictions on length of unit.
Have you been limited on where you can go? And where or what kind of places don't allow hat's? Thanks again, Bill. 🌞
We're not sure what website you're referring to, but we don't know any parks that specifically don't allow HDTs. As far as the length of the unit, it would depend on the park and how large their sites are. We do our research before we call them to make sure they are "big rig friendly".
Do you have the 8 200 watt panels in 1 string Hooked in series? or 2 strings with 4 panels in series and the parallel
They're two strings of 4 John.
I would be interested in finding a suitable person to do my solar like yours any suggestions?
Yes. You can contact our good friend Neal: nomadneal.com/
STRAV,;; HELLO JIM& KELLE,Godo,HS IAVE SEEN,PERMAMENT. TANKS,ON HDT,FEW days,past,saw,a NEW RV,built on a a SPACE CRAFT,,IT had a 400galln fresh,& 400 gall grey,did not mention black,,a wicked solar,VOLTA SYSTEM, ABOUT. $500.000, , I’ll keep yours !, STAYWELL,GOD BLESS YOUBOTH,,! Till next time,,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
WOW! That's a big system!
I am shocked how close our setup is to yours. I have the Poly Tank but I am switching to a bladder this year. I have a 12 volt pump from Harbor Freight to move the water to my rig. I just bought a macerator pump, will be using it this year for the first time. I am just starting to look at the power issue. THANK YOU for telling what you have for power. What do you have for an inverter? I have a 2000W, what do I need. (our refrigerator runs on gas as does our water heater.)
That's awesome Kevin! Our inverter is a 3000 watt Victron. Your 2k should work, but you won't be able to power multiple items at once, just be aware of that.
@@SuiteTravels How do you tie you inverter into the 110V system? I have a generator prep on the trailer but cannot find any information on how that ties to the electrical system.
It needs to tie into your 110 AC breaker box and the 12V battery bank. It can be a little complicated, so if you're not comfortable or familiar with them you might want to contact a professional installer...
@@SuiteTravels Thank you for the help, I understand exactly what I need to do. I appreciate you taking the time to clear those details for me.
Do you know how much power your refrigerator uses an hour?
Thanks
We haven't put a meter on it Tom, but it's quite a bit, especially when it goes into defrost mode. Our previous rig had a propane fridge so we added two batteries in this one and it seems to be about the same consumption as our old rig. We're about 62% battery after our morning coffee every morning.
Thanks I have the Norcold 110-Propane fridge it consumes about 630 watts an hour we have 6 100 amp LI batteries but overnight it really would pull the batteries down so we use propane. I just wondered if the residential fridge was more efficient. Safe Travels Suite Travels
Thanks Jim/Kelly for the boondocking review. We have a similar rig with the HDT and DRV. We're wondering what tools you've found to be best for finding the ideal boondocking sites. Thanks in advance. See you at the next HDT rally? Safe travels...
We use Campendium to scout out diverse camping in the area we want to be, then we use both Google Earth and OnX off road to complete our search. We'll be at the West Coast Rally in June.
I lost the information on the meet up can you send it to me also can you recommend a nice rv park
Thanks
Hi Ron. The meetup is scheduled for Tuesday 2/21 at 4:00 PM. The location is Chretin's Mexican Restaurant at 505 E 16th St. in Yuma. As far as a nice RV park, we stayed at Del Pueblo RV Park on South Ave 5E. It was a pretty nice park with lots of amenities.
@@SuiteTravels thanks see you Tuesday
How do you find these sites
We usually start with Campendium to see what dispersed camping is available in the area we're looking at, then between Google Earth and OnX we can usually find what we're looking for - but we always have a plan B!