solar and a Scamp camper

kmesaaz
kmesaaz Registered Users Posts: 1
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
I will be dry camping in my Scamp camper and want to prevent draining the camper battery and the battery in my truck. The camper will have a three speed roof fan, 12 volt water pump, front porch light, and assorted plugs and lights that may or may not get used: a couple interior 12 volt lights, 12 volt interior plug, 120 volt interior plug, and exterior Ground fault outlet. If there was any appliance used it would be a fan. There is no AC, furnace, refrigerator, oven, cable tv, microwave, water heater. I could order an battery pack group 24 or group 27. I really want a solar kit of some sort--a simple kit. This is all beyond me....I will have a Dometic portable refrig/freezer that I plan to run off bottle propane.
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  • Mustang65
    Mustang65 Solar Expert Posts: 42 ✭✭
    #2
    Re: solar and a Scamp camper

    What size Scamp?
    Mounting panel(s) on roof?
    The BIG question is, "How long will each of your dry camping outings be?", 1 day, weekend, week(s)?
    Will there be a TV used?
    Lights=LEDs?
    I take it that there will be no inverter?

    Cheapest/fastest way is to just run your tow-vehicle for charging..
    2nd cheapest would be a small gas generator..
    3rd but not the cheapest would be solar..

    Tip.. If you do not keep your Scamp plugged into a 120VAC source between trips, pull your main 12VDC fuse (usually located by battery) as there is an electrical drain (CO monitor, fridge ckt board, radio circuit) and your battery will go dead in about a week or 2 at the max.
    Don
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,642 admin
    #3
    Re: solar and a Scamp camper

    Welcome to the forum Kmesaaz!

    Really need to know how much power you are going to need (power usage is a highly personal set of choices--And a system that supports your needs is what we are after).

    Do you have any information on how much current your 3 speed fan draws?

    And are you planning on any sort of AC inverter to charge cell phone/computer/etc.?

    Many RV's are limited by Roof Space (solar panels) and Battery Bank (one or two batteries of XX AH rating). Knowing that information will help us too. The idea is to build a balanced system (loads => battery bank => solar array sizing).

    Is the dry camping days or weeks at a time--Seasons and where you will be camping (AZ in summer, Minnesota in the winter, etc.).

    Would you be interested in carrying a Honda eu1000i (900 watt) or eu2000i (1,600 watt) generator for poor weather/larger power needs (power tools, computers running 10 hours per day, etc.)?

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • Mustang65
    Mustang65 Solar Expert Posts: 42 ✭✭
    #4
    Re: solar and a Scamp camper

    Everything that Bill and I said, PLUS if you enjoy this type of camping, are you going UPGRADE your system so that you can dry camp for longer periods of time, or you add a TV.... That will involve battery selection, panels, solar charge controller.. All need to be thought about PRIOR to making your decision. That is how I started my design, so I can add more panels and batteries without having to discard existing expensive equipment.
    Don
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  • wellbuilt
    wellbuilt Solar Expert Posts: 763 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: solar and a Scamp camper

    Ive been dry camping in a old air stream camper .
    I run lights use some heat with the blower watch a movie at night listen to the radio all day .
    I have one g27 interstate battery .
    I just went 5 nights and the charge dropped to 12.26 almost half charge .
    Ive been charging the batterys at home and taking them with me.
    Im thinking that a few GC battery would work real good .
    I want a frige on a inverter with more power for next year .
    hope this helps . Im learning also .
    Out back  flex power one  with out back 3648 inverter fm80 charge controler  flex net  mate 16 gc215 battery’s 4425 Watts solar .
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  • smatthew
    smatthew Registered Users Posts: 15 ✭
    #6
    Re: solar and a Scamp camper

    Replace all of the light bulbs that are incandescent. A regular 1157 bulb uses 27 watts! The LED replacement will use just a couple watts. The difference in wattage, especially when using double-bulb fixtures adds up quickly.
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