[Figz]

Good afternoon gurus, f do ones anyone boondock (dry camp) ? If you do, any words of wisdom you can share? Solar panels? Lithium batteries? Or simply do’s and dont’s. Ty

[TMCopeland]

We haven’t done extended boondocking but when we have dry camped we use the generator, generally 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening.  Battery bank allows us to use tv’s and other small electric devices and to get through the night with no failures.  For cooking and air conditioning we need the generator.  It is good to exercise it anyway and it has always been reliable.

[hypoxia]

I have done a lot of dry camping and am dry camping for a week as we speak, the first time in our Newell. Terry is right, the generator is there to use. You won't be able to put enough solar on the roof to make much difference. I had 760 watts of solar on my last coach and still had to run the generator. I can guarantee my coach will go places a Newell has never been to.

Water usage is my bigger concern, 143 gallons is great but the bottom half of the tank always seems smaller. In our Newell I can fill the tank to full capacity by sticking the water hose in the fill tube instead of using autofill. That gains quite a few gallons more.

Lithium sounds great until you take the coach somewhere for service where they will completely kill the batteries. Friends have experienced that.

I'm still trying to figure out some of the automation, Spyder is quite a change from my last coach. Have fun!

[whatsnewell]

We boondock mainly in the winter, so having tiltable panels is a must.  This past winter we boondocked for 3 months 8 miles outside of Borrego Springs, CA. We have a 160 fresh water tank,  and can go 3-4 weeks before taking on more water.  We only use the fresh water tank for showers,  flushing the toilet,  washing dishes, etc.  For drinking water we buy filtered water from those vending machines you see outside of stores....$1.50 for 5 gallons.  We have an onboard 7.5 kw propane generator, but prefer to use our Honda 2000 portable generator if needed.  Goes 6 hours on 1 gallon of gas,  whereas the Kohler/Perkins uses 1/2 gallon on propane per hour.  We have 620 watts of solar panels,  which gets us back to 100% on our flooded cell 8d batteries by 1 pm each day. We only use the generator on rainy/cloudy days.  Of course,  we have a 1982 Newell, which is very low tech.

   

[Figz]

Ty everyone for the ideas! Regards

[TJ Clark]

I can go as much a 6 weeks parked before I need to empty the waste tank. I run the generator about 2 hours am and pm.
I do all I can to not drain into the waste tank.

I plan on adding solar if for no other reason than to reduce the generator time. I'll be adding a Honda EU2000 to the mix soon.

Boondocking is my preferred use of the coach. The solitude is great.

[Figz]

What are you doing with Honda 2000? Use as a battery tender?

[TJ Clark]

. ."What are you doing with Honda 2000? Use as a battery tender?"

Yes sort of. Between the 10 amps form my portable solar panel and 10+ amps from the Honda I figure I might not need to run the 20KW much.

[360]

We only boondock, but it’s normally pretty hot so we’re running the generator most of the time anyway. If money was no object I’d swap out my Battleborns for a Volta setup so that I could run A/C off of the battery packs.

[Newell4me]

..."We only boondock, but it’s normally pretty hot so we’re running the generator most of the time anyway. If money was no object I’d swap out my Battleborns for a Volta setup so that I could run A/C off of the battery packs."

Brad, I'm replying to a 2 year old thread, but I am curious about extended boondocking in hot conditions. Were you running the generator 10 hours a day ish?