Side Effect's 2nd Retirement Adventure

[MrLynn]

Hwy 12 from Torrey to Escalante, the Hogback, is a drive you won't forget. . .

And one I avoided last April when we were touring in a rental car. Missed a lot of great scenery, but I'm feared of scary roads. You doubtless are not.

 

[brroberts]

For us it’s by design. We don’t have any exterior graphics because it’s one more thing to eventually have to repair. Most folks like the graphics however.

 

[Mike G]

We have not yet. Just too lazy I guess.

Laziness is sometimes an additional side effect of retirement!

 

[Ron in BC]

For us it’s by design. We don’t have any exterior graphics because it’s one more thing to eventually have to repair. Most folks like the graphics however.

Or some of us think that it's self evident. Who needs a graphic saying "the trailer?"

Ron

 

[WillyB]

Just wanted to this pass along.

Since we have left our TV's key on for several days camping and needed to get a jump, fortunately someone in the campground had cables, and our TV battery is getting a little older along with planning some camping in BLM spaces we just purchased a NOCO GBX45 portable jump starter. It's big enough to start our F150 3.5 EB and small enough to store away.

I have been around folks using other brands of jump boxes and they seem to work quite well. This NOCO has a boost mode in case your battery voltage is too low and seems to have good reviews.

 

[brroberts]

Glad you got it going. I still have cables in the trucks, but some of those portable batteries pack a punch in a small space. I have one in the Corolla that fired off the 12k generator this month when its battery was toast.

 

[WillyB]

Glad you got it going. I still have cables in the trucks, but some of those portable batteries pack a punch in a small space. I have one in the Corolla that fired off the 12k generator this month when its battery was toast.

I always have cables in the truck but had taken them out one day when I was doing a thorough cleaning and forgot to put them back. They are back in now! But I bought the portable starter for those times when nobody is around with another vehicle.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I've carried around a NOCO Boost Plus GB40 for several years now, its supposed to start up to 6L gas or 3L diesel engines. It wouldn't start my old 7.3 diesel, hah hah, but it easily starts a 3.5L V6 DI Mercedes, or a ecoboost 3.5 ford. Mostly I've used it to rescue other people. I have a 20' long jumper cable thats heavy enough gauge for said 7.3L (which I sold) but I stopped carrying it.

 

[MrLynn]

How long can you carry around those chargers before they need re-charging?

Also, what about fire hazards from the lithium battery? Thinking of the rash of battery fires from electric scooters in NYC.

 

[Ron in BC]

How long can you carry around those chargers before they need re-charging?

I don't know but its a long time because the other day I retrieved mine from one vehicle to use on my wife's car and it was fine. Kind of funny, great heavy jumper cables on one end, tiny USB charging cable on the other end.

I used to carry very heavy duty jumper cables but don't bother anymore. The NOCO is just so much easier to use.

Ron

 

[SRS]

How long can you carry around those chargers before they need re-charging?

Also, what about fire hazards from the lithium battery? Thinking of the rash of battery fires from electric scooters in NYC.

I've had a Noco GB40 since 2018. I try to charge it once a year and check the charge before I do so. It's always been good. As for for fires, that's most often during charging and I haven't had a problem. USB charging is a little slow, maybe 2 hours, but tends reduce overheating. I've never used it to jump a starter battery, but glade I have one just in case.

 

[brroberts]

I don’t remember what kind I have in the Corolla, but I never remember to charge it. I had to charge it with the little generator before I could use it to start the big one. It should probably be checked every 3? 6? 12? Months or sometime, but likely I won’t stop to do it.

 

[WillyB]

My understanding the NOCO will hold a charge up to 6 months at 70%. I'll probably charge mine every quarter like I do my HVAC filters.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

reminds me, i've not had mine out in a year or something, i sdhould check it, hah hah. ok, its on the yellow bar, time to top off.

re fire hazard, these aren't anywhere near as big as the batteries in ebikes and such, and they are charging at a much slower rate.

 

[Mike G]

Sounds like the NOCO has some happy users. I had a lithium ion jump starter made by "Lion Energy" and the dumb thing would go from full to dead in 4 months. I noticed this while it was under warranty and contacted the company; they replied that this was normal and they would not replace it or anything. Well, it is not normal for decent lithium batteries! I'll never buy anything from Lyin' Energy again.

 

[WillyB]

Since there is a possibility we could run into some cold temps on this adventure I bought some Reflectix. I’ve everything to a rough size and will start cutting them to more exact sizing.

I can say that sitting here a Campsite #1 it does seem to make a real difference on the cold feeling through the windows. Especially on the front, rear, door, MaxFan and emergency exit single pane windows.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I've used reflectix on my windows for camping at astronomy events, to prevent any light inside the trailer from leaking out.

 

[WillyB]

I've used reflectix on my windows for camping at astronomy events, to prevent any light inside the trailer from leaking out.

That's good to know. One of our stops on our adventure is at Cosmic Campground in New Mexico.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/gila/recarea/?recid=82479

We thought it would be a great place to witness an International Dark Sky Sanctuary. We only have a pair of binoculars but thought it would be cool to see.