Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
Hey Howard...will we be "allowed" to run Honda generators at night for A/C? (we have the 2000 series)...also, I was just realizing even though we have like a 110 gallon fresh water tank, our grey tank is way smaller...so where will we "dump" at the end of the rally? You can tell I'm a REAL BOONDOCKING NEWBIE (LIKE IN NEVER DONE IT BEFORE) Super excited to learn!
Thanks,
Ellen and Mario
BTW, we LOVE our new Dually truck!
Good question, Ellen. I'm a total newbie as well and am already getting very anxious about staying somewhere without a full hookup!!! I just hope I learn to back into a spot by then!
__________________
Cheryl B. in her new RV
(well, not new any more! Full timing since 6/25/14)
2008 DRV MS 36TKBS3 (the CoW: Castle on Wheels), 2005 Ford F550 hauler (the Bull)
In normal boondocking situations there are restricted hours when you can run a generator and they are during the day. Generators are for charging batteries and running big loads during the day. At night you have to live with what your batteries can supply. If you have to run 120 volt electric loads overnight and have no inverter, you might not be able to boondock. If you don't have enough batteries to run your needed loads, inverted or not, overnight, you might not be able to boondock.
People attending last winter's boondocking rally seemed to have enough water and grey tank, plus found a place to dump when it was over. I hope someone who attended will chime in.
We have 105 gallons of water tank, 65 gallons of grey tank and 35 gallons of black tank. We can go 4 to 5 days with little effort, 8 with a bit more effort. Many who boondock have less tanks than we do and can go two weeks. We are whimps and like to shower daily and eat some meals in that require washing dishes.
Diane has a CPAP breathing machine and we have a residential refrigerator. We have enough batteries to last the night with these loads. We do run a generator daily to keep those batteries up and can boondock for as many days as our tanks hold out. Even with 400 watts of solar, we need our generator. We would need 800+ watts to have days we did not need a generator.
__________________
Bill Joyce, 40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com Full-timing since July 2003
We have two 6 volt Ford heavy duty deep discharge batteries, 260 amp hours. What kind of battery power is that? (or wait until we get to the rally to find out?)
__________________
Cheryl B. in her new RV
(well, not new any more! Full timing since 6/25/14)
2008 DRV MS 36TKBS3 (the CoW: Castle on Wheels), 2005 Ford F550 hauler (the Bull)
cherylbrv: That is enough battery for most overnights. It would run a small inverter overnight for small 120 volt loads, it would run your water pump, some lights and your furnace fans. Some RVs come with one small battery and that is not enough to run a furnace fan overnight or any inverter. But, if you don't need these overnight, you can boondock with one small battery.
I was referring to larger battery drains that cannot be avoided, like medical equipment or a residential refrigerator.
__________________
Bill Joyce, 40' 2004 Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid Journal at http://www.sacnoth.com Full-timing since July 2003
You will be able to run your generator up until 10:00 p.m. Sorry no generators overnight. Chances are you will not need your AC. I don't think anyone ran theirs last year even during the day. I remember some nights we had to use our furnace.
There is an RV park near by for you to dump your tanks after the rally.