New to Boondocking. Tips and Advice? Questions re Water

[L in NV]

Have had an Escape 21ne for roughly 1.5 years and have only camped with hookups. Going to the North Rim, AZ at the end of the month and was hoping for some general advice and 'what you wish you knew.' The trip will be 4 nights long.

I've got one solar panel, one battery and no inverter. I dont use a microwave and make coffee by hand. I know A/C isnt an option but doesnt appear I'll be needing it, but may need the furnace at night when temps drop.

I'll be traveling with my two young sons so they wont be of much help and my wife cant make it. That said, I'd like to make sure I'm as prepared as possible so I can make this as frictionless as possible.

I'm not sure how easy it will be to fill our water tank. Should I fill at home and then drive or fill along the way? My TV is more than capable but not sure what most people do. I bought two 6 gallon jugs for extra water as well. Should I purchase a pump for them?

Any other advice/tips/recommendations are much appreciated!

[wackyburggeezer]

Are you camping in the National Park campground? Many of the sites are very shady, there are water spigots throughout the campground, and a dump station if you fill either of your tanks prematurely. A collapsible water container would assist in refilling with water without moving the trailer. Personally, I would never refill the water tank from the dump station, as you don't know what the last guy did.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by wackyburggeezer

Personally, I would never refill the water tank from the dump station, as you don't know what the last guy did.

BC parks that have dump stations have a non-potable water hose close to the sani-dump and a potable water faucet further on, away from the dump. You use your own potable water hose.

[L in NV]

Originally Posted by wackyburggeezer

Are you camping in the National Park campground? Many of the sites are very shady, there are water spigots throughout the campground, and a dump station if you fill either of your tanks prematurely. A collapsible water container would assist in refilling with water without moving the trailer. Personally, I would never refill the water tank from the dump station, as you don't know what the last guy did.

My plan was to try and nab one of the first come first served spots at Demotte but if there's nothing to find something nearby.

[MVA]

Originally Posted by L in NV

My plan was to try and nab one of the first come first served spots at Demotte but if there's nothing to find something nearby.

Jacob Lake Campground is my favorite for the north rim; last time we were there was 2019. As I remember, some sites are reservable and some are first come, first serve (double check this!). There has always been water scarcity issues on the north rim so I would arrive with a full tank if possible. There is some tree cover, but solar should work fine.

[Rockhead]

We’ll be at Jacobs lake on the 15th till the 18th maybe we will run into each other

[Mark B1]

Your trailer is designed for this. We camp almost exclusively without hookups and often where there is no water. We find we can go for a week with the water tank full and one 20 liter water jug we use for outside the trailer. We mostly cook, eat and do dishes outside. We also have the outside tap on the RH side which gives us access to the trailer water without going inside. Things we do:
- don't waste water and keep showers to a minimum. If showering just use water to wet down and rinse off. Don't leave it running while scrubbing. Note that this not only saves water but stops the grey tank filling too fast. We will sometimes just do a sponge bath at the sink if we don't need a full shower.
- if there are washrooms or outhouses available use them during the day (nice to not run out to go at night though) as you don't use water to flush or fill your black tank as fast.
- by saving water you are also reducing the chance you will need to drain the gray and black tanks until you are hooked up to head home.
- don't leave anything electrical on if you don't need it.
- park where your solar panel is in the most direct sunlight to help keep your battery charged.
- keep your thermostat as low as possible to still be comfortable and turn it off during the day.
- make sure you have enough propane. At lease one of your bottles should be full in case the first one runs out. Typically one will do us a week.

Camping this way is actually quite freeing. It opens up a lot more campsites or boondocking sites, which are often nicer sites IMHO. It is also less expensive than hook up sites and sometimes is free.

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by Mark B1

Your trailer is designed for this…….
Camping this way is actually quite freeing. It opens up a lot more campsites or boondocking sites, which are often nicer sites IMHO. It is also less expensive than hook up sites and sometimes is free.

Excellent Post, Mark! Correct on all counts!

Cheers

[John in Santa Cruz]

you mentioned single battery, so its probably a group 27 or 31 "Marine/RV" battery? Those are *not* true deep cycle, advertising claims notwithstanding, so whatever their AH rating is, cut it in half, try and keep the battery above 50% charge. typical group 31M is like 100AH, so they are good for max 50AH before recharging if you want them to last.

with the 21' dual golf cart batt config, those *ARE* true deep cycle, so you can run them down to like 30% or even 20% without significant damage, so the typical 220Ah dual GC-2 is good for like 180AH or more.

[Mark B1]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Excellent Post, Mark! Correct on all counts!

Cheers

Thanks Steve. By the way, we too are Indigo Girls fans.

[L in NV]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

you mentioned single battery, so its probably a group 27 or 31 "Marine/RV" battery? Those are *not* true deep cycle, advertising claims notwithstanding, so whatever their AH rating is, cut it in half, try and keep the battery above 50% charge. typical group 31M is like 100AH, so they are good for max 50AH before recharging if you want them to last.

with the 21' dual golf cart batt config, those *ARE* true deep cycle, so you can run them down to like 30% or even 20% without significant damage, so the typical 220Ah dual GC-2 is good for like 180AH or more.

i'm actually mistaken. i have dual 6v batteries supplied by escape. should i run any test on the battery before heading out? i'm probably overthinking this but jic....

[L in NV]

Originally Posted by Mark B1

Your trailer is designed for this. We camp almost exclusively without hookups and often where there is no water. We find we can go for a week with the water tank full and one 20 liter water jug we use for outside the trailer. We mostly cook, eat and do dishes outside. We also have the outside tap on the RH side which gives us access to the trailer water without going inside. Things we do:
- don't waste water and keep showers to a minimum. If showering just use water to wet down and rinse off. Don't leave it running while scrubbing. Note that this not only saves water but stops the grey tank filling too fast. We will sometimes just do a sponge bath at the sink if we don't need a full shower.
- if there are washrooms or outhouses available use them during the day (nice to not run out to go at night though) as you don't use water to flush or fill your black tank as fast.
- by saving water you are also reducing the chance you will need to drain the gray and black tanks until you are hooked up to head home.
- don't leave anything electrical on if you don't need it.
- park where your solar panel is in the most direct sunlight to help keep your battery charged.
- keep your thermostat as low as possible to still be comfortable and turn it off during the day.
- make sure you have enough propane. At lease one of your bottles should be full in case the first one runs out. Typically one will do us a week.

Camping this way is actually quite freeing. It opens up a lot more campsites or boondocking sites, which are often nicer sites IMHO. It is also less expensive than hook up sites and sometimes is free.

this is great advice. thank you!

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by L in NV

i'm actually mistaken. i have dual 6v batteries supplied by escape. should i run any test on the battery before heading out? i'm probably overthinking this but jic....

Just check the electrolyte level in the battery and add distilled water as needed.





The electrolyte should just barely touch the plastic collar that extends down into the battery. This allows room for expansion and prevents the loss of electrolyte from it boiling over.

[Padre]

Perfect! You folks live in some of the best dry camping places in the country. The bureau of land management campgrounds ( BLM) in the west are really nice free dry camping. You are set with dual 6v golf cart and solar. Enjoy!

[John in Santa Cruz]

with any solar disabled (or at night) and the trailer not plugged in for a few hours, measure the DC system voltage ( you can do this with a digital multimeter at the battery terminals, or with one of those cigar outlet battery monitors plugged into a cigar outlet). if your batts are reasonably charged and have been resting off any charger for an hour plus, it should be around 12.6 VDC. with sun or with the trailer plugged into house/camp power, it should be 13.2 to 14.4 V, that indicates your charging system is working.

[ghosthunter]

Use frozen one gal. Water jugs in your cooler if you take one.

You can use the water as it thaws for cooking etc.

Take a back up heater, like Big Buddy just in case.
Some furnaces have issues at altitude.

Hot water bottles are cheap and make god bed assets at night. Re- heat same water each night.

[tdf-texas]

Fresh water seems to be the biggest problem when we are boondocking for more than a week. Problem solved by storing 4 of these in the under the bed storage area and using them to refill the fresh tank when needed.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reliance-...f&gclsrc=3p.ds

When they need to be refilled, I just load them in the back of the truck and take them down to the fresh water supply.


One other thing: When we started boondocking, it was stressful not knowing how much battery we had left so we installed a Victron battery monitor. It really helps knowing how much juice you have left.

[dlakeman]

Originally Posted by MVA

Jacob Lake Campground is my favorite for the north rim; last time we were there was 2019. As I remember, some sites are reservable and some are first come, first serve (double check this!). There has always been water scarcity issues on the north rim so I would arrive with a full tank if possible. There is some tree cover, but solar should work fine.

I stay at the Kabib campground. Full hookups.

[bschempf@gmail.com]

We are at Jacob lake cmpgrd now. It's a great campground but is primitive camping. For us that means heating water on the stove for dishwashing, bathing and hair washing. We have 15 gals of water with us in containers for 6days. They do have potable water here but water from home is always best. You can drive to the park or Kanab for showers. Biggest issue is that there is no dump site. We plan to hopefully find one in Kanab. Still, the bathrooms are very clean and most sites in the cmpgrd have decent shade. Enjoy.

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by bschempf@gmail.com

Biggest issue is that there is no dump site. We plan to hopefully find one in Kanab..

Google Sanidumps.com and search for 'near me'.