People are disgusting.

We went out last week again. Got delayed and left on a Saturday. We thought we got lucky when one of the prime spots was open, well until we got to see the state of the site.

It was trashed out. The fire pit had been used as a garbage can with diapers, cans, bottles and paper. So bad that someone had built a second pit next to it and left a wad of paper in it too. There is of course the normal piece of live tree that someone tried to burn even though there is wood dry and down everywhere.

On the other end of the site it looked like either the paper had blown out of the pit or someone had just been tossing it any where as they used it.

Not far from that there was a easy up frame that had busted so they took the cover and left it there.

I kinda got the feeling the site was vacant due to the mess instead of getting lucky and catching someone pulling out early to avoid the Sunday traffic. We came this close to finding another spot but decided to stay as it only took a short time to clean it up. We took out a grocery bag each of trsh, cans and recyclables. I didn't have the room to take the easy up but I took it down to its parts so that someone would hopefully haul it out.

Normally I would have dug out the pit that was full to the brim with charcoal and half burnt logs but the site is really windy and in my opinion should not have a pit at all. We used our propane pit this trip and didn't miss hauling and cutting the wood, messing with the fire or the smoke.

 So while I find the people that left the mess disgusting and I wouldn't blame someone for not wanting to clean it up, I simply couldn't be there and look at it for five days.

Absorption fridge issues

We are pretty proud of our Ultr lite, 3 season Ameri-lite in that in 5 seasons it hasn't given us a lick of trouble. This last trip the fridge went wonky and we lost a lot of expensive food.

My first thought was that we over loaded it, so we ran for ice and put some stuff in the cooler. (20+ mile RT) Even reducing the load and having better circulation didn't help, the fridge stayed in the 50's.

Last week I restarted the fridge empty while the trailer was in storage. I expected that the fridge would be at normal temperature because I felt we overloaded it. Unfortunately it was reading 56* a day later and I was starting to wonder if this would be our first major issue with the Ameri-lite.

One thing I noticed while out there was the thermistor (sensor) had come out of its holder and was not on the fins where is should be. You would think that this would make the fridge not sense the cold of the fins and run constantly. Instead it was causing it to short cycle and run warm. I put the thermistor back where it belong and ran the fridge for one more day before I started looking for the problem and solution.

Today I went out armed with meters and tools to check the thermistor, clean out the burner assembly and anything else I thought might be the issue. Wouldn't you know it, the fridge is running at a nice 35* now that the sensor is back in place.

All I can assume is the trails were pretty rough this trip and that's how the thermistor got knocked out of its holder.

Thanks for looking

Jim

Solar air conditioning and boondocking

Most people think that boondocking at high altitude means there is never a need of air conditioning. Let me tell you that when there is a heat wave it gets hot, even up there. The records are in the 90's and a RV sitting in the sun is a easy bake oven. We used a Champion 3500/4000 watt generator the first year, trying to run the air and converter for charging at the same time was too much for the Champ. Turning off the converter makes running the air easier but it is still a heavy load as the generator losses up to 40% at 10,000 ft. It is also loud, smells and guzzles gas, not what you think of for the scenic boondocking spot.

When I decided to upgrade the solar from two Bosch 245w mono panels that would take a dive in overcast conditions to polys panels, I also decided to go with three instead of two. The reason was simple, I wanted air conditioning without having to have the generator along.

750w of solar flat mounted has the ability to run a Frigidaire 5000 BTU energy star rated window air conditioner that pulls 450w once the pressure is up. It can only do it when peak sun is out but that's when we need the A/C the most. Having it be only 450w is easier on the batteries in overcast conditions when the solar has reduced output.

The inverter pulls 33-38a  while the compressor runs, the solar has the ability to run up to 45a.

My first test were here at home with the panels in the drive. using a old 8-D starting battery that couldn't start the A/C on it's own, I've run it with the solar from 10 am to past 3 pm. Past then the light is low enough that the panels start losing output and the batteries voltage slips ever so slowly. Even the old 8-D ran it for hours with the solar before dropping to 12v under load. That is without letting the compressor cycle, normally it doesn't run constantly.

This is the driveway test of the air conditioner in the trailer on a 95 f day. I had it in the back bunk window and that worked against it by restricting the air flow too much. Even then it was able to keep our poorly insulated trailer sitting in the sun down to 80-81 degrees. That doesn't sound great but sitting in the sun like that the trailer would have been on its way to 120 degrees without the air conditioner.

While camping we put in the front bedroom window and it did a lot better as the air flow wasn't restricted. A remote lets us switch to fan only when a brief cloud comes over and keep the bank in float.

The nice thing about having it here is if it did get really hot, we can pull the curtain on the bed and the A/C would cool the bed area really fast for a nap.

I did run the A/C in overcast conditions for three or four hours, it didn't kill our 675 Ah bank. In fact we turned right around and used the cook top pulling 470w to make dinner right after.

So can you have air conditioning while boondocking? YES Like any other load it is a process of balancing all of the factors.

The model of air conditioner is Frigidaire Model: FFRE0533Q1 and we use a Tripp-lite 1250fc industrial inverter to run it. 

Thanks for looking
Jim

Solar cooking

The trailer is powered by 750w of solar, and we use some of that power to run a hot plate, but that isn't what this post is about. We use two solar box ovens for some of our cooking. The first one is a Global sun oven, the second is a SOS sport oven.

This is called passive solar. The insides of the insulated boxes are black metal that heats up when the sun strikes it. The chambers are sealed to keep the heat in, this in turn keeps the moisture in so foods don't dry out. Being insulated and sealed means that once heated up that a cloud can pass over and the temperature will hold for quite a while.

Both of these oven can get up to 300 f with good sun. You can leave food in there all day and it wont dry out BUT you certainly can over cook it. Chicken and pork can loose their texture and become something of a paste after a while. There are other solar ovens and cookers that get even hotter depending on what and how you want to cook.

About the only thing I can not cook in these on a good day are fried goods. They simply don't get hot enough to fry. I would need a parabolic or lens cooker for that and these are bad enough to store now.

Other than that, most any recipe can be converted to solar. The average temperature of 250 f automatically lends itself to low and slow roasting or like a crock pot. Baked goods like bread take longer, cakes are oh so moist.

It will be another post but I'll mention the cookware used. It is the black enamel-ware that is sold in many camping cooking kits, some of ours was purchased decades ago when we used the tent. The black surface absorbs the light and converts it to heat that cooks the food. The only exception is cakes where the hot pan dries out the edges before the center of the cake is done.

So between the two ovens and a nice sunny day we can cook for a small army starting with fresh bread in the morning. We can get up to four pots going at once so multi dish meals are easy.

So why two different cookers to get use to instead of one. It's the differences that make them work so well together. The SOS can take two pots side by side, the Global can take deeper pots. The global has a hanging shelf that keeps the food level as you tilt it to follow the sun, The Sos has a winter position that can take advantage of the lowest sun. I don't see it as one being better as much as I think they compliment each other.

When we can use the ovens it saves propane and keeps the interior of the trailer or house from getting heated up. They will also heat a pot of water to boiling if you leave it in there long enough. That hot water gets used for coffee, washing dishes, shaving and getting cleaned up. We only turn on the six gallon hot water heater for showers.

Here soon I'll post some recipes and discuss the differences in these two ovens as well as other solar cookers available. Want to know how your favorite recipes would fare? Let me know and I'll explain how to convert it and may even try it myself.

Thanks for looking

Jim

Our solar

The solar we use now is our third system is as many years. It now consist of three Navajo 250w poly panels that will be mounted flat and ran parallel into a Morningstar TS-MPPT-60. in turn that will be run into a bank of three Lifeline 225 Ah AGM 8-Ds that provide power to the trailer and a Tripp-lite 1250fc inverter.

The panels in series so far have been producing mid 40's for amps but the run up to the mid day is painfully slow after having two tracking systems. Two panels tracking and three flat balance out somewhere in there.

The wiring between the panels, batteries and controller is all 1/0 welding cable. Overkill yes but it was less expensive to buy from a retiring electrician than smaller cable would have been. I picked up a YQK crimping tool to put the lugs on and a roll of marine shrink wrap to make it all look prudy.

It isn't all mounted yet, but it is usable. Each system goes through a ground test and this season is this ones turn. I still have many switches, fuses, gauges and such to buy before I mount it in the fall.

The back up to the system is a Champion 3500/4000 generator and a Megawatt 36a power supply.  We haven't ran it while camping in three years but it is part of a balanced system.

So nothing real complicated. Enough power in peak sun to run many of the appliances we use including a 5000 BTU air conditioner that pulls just 450w's. Enough battery that we don't have to stop living because the clouds rolled in.

The first step is the biggest

Welcome to the Solar boondocker blog. My name is Jim and the other half ( Honey) and I enjoy getting out to the back roads of the Rockies for camping in our 25 ft travel trailer. We have had the trailer since 2011 but have been camping together for nearly three decades. We have used a van, tents and canned ham trailer before this and have always tried to make it as comfortable as possible.

Why Boondocking? Because we love the silence and isolation of being deep in the mountains where we see and hear no one or them us. Where we camp takes a bit of 4x4 at times, it keeps the wannabes away.

In this blog I hope to speak of our solar system, what it does for us and why I designed it like I did. Solar cooking and the ways we do it and just boondocking in general. Add in some photography and RC airplanes, maybe some fishing here and there.

 I can't say I am the end all in knowledge as our situation is unique in some ways. We camp between 9000 and 10,000 ft and that effects a lot of things, so I will let you know when those differences are there so it is understood. Things like it takes a bigger generator than you think, water boils at a lower temp and it's always cold at night are a few examples

Also credit should go to the people on RV.net, CLRV.com and other forums that have shared their knowledge and time to help others. I have learned a great deal from them and am grateful.

This is our 2011 Gulfstream Ameri-lite 25bh, the 03 Expedition I use to pull it and the 750w solar system in a flat as it will be mounted test. It took around 45 minutes to go the last four miles to this site. It was worth it.

One last thing. Thank you to Bob at CLRV for inspiring me to do this.