First ever dry camp

[chillax_n77]

Took our first ever dry camp trip this past weekend since owning an RV (used to tent camp before we had kids). Was kind of nervous about running out of water or filling holding tanks too quickly (3 young kids and the misses). All went well until our battery died our last night. Luckily our cousin let us use the battery out of his boat. Had a blast and kids lived through it with no electronics/t.v. :rofl: One question I do have is how does one fill the fresh water when there is only a connection for a hose, no actual filling neck? Our unit just has a lever you switch to either use city or to fill fresh tank with water hose.

[MerlinB]

I have a 2016 Cougar XLite 28SGS and in the docking station where you connect your hose there is a vent opening for the fresh water tank. In that vent opening there is a standard screen filter hose washer. You can pull that washer out and stick a filler tube in there to gravity fill your fresh water tank.

[Mike484]

You can always plug your trailer up to your truck and recharge the battery.

How long of a weekend was it? I would think a battery should last a couple days, unless your truck isnt charging it when traveling to the site. And, you need to change all your bulbs to LED, they burn 10% of the energy of the ones that came in your unit.

[SkiSmuggs]

Replace the inadequate, but standard, group 24 battery with a group 27, 29 or 31. Measure the battery box and get the largest replacement that will fit. Better yet, replace the single hybrid RV battery with a pair of 6v Golf Cart batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts. Folks who dry camp regularly either carry an inverter generator (not the loud construction kind) or install solar on the roof. I have 200 watts of panels on the roof of mine. You can also get a Renogy 100w suitcase portable solar kit for about $275. I also replaced all 12v bulbs with LED that use a fraction of the power that incandescent bulbs.

[Desert185]

I went with two, 6v golf cart batteries and two 2K generators (two in parallel for AC and one for charging batteries, ice maker, Keurig or microwave).

For replenishing water, get a 44 gal bladder tank (see Camping World) and an AC pump from HF or Amazon.

[chillax_n77]

I have a 2016 Cougar XLite 28SGS and in the docking station where you connect your hose there is a vent opening for the fresh water tank. In that vent opening there is a standard screen filter hose washer. You can pull that washer out and stick a filler tube in there to gravity fill your fresh water tank.

Ah, thanks for the tip! I'll have to remember that!

You can always plug your trailer up to your truck and recharge the battery.

How long of a weekend was it? I would think a battery should last a couple days, unless your truck isnt charging it when traveling to the site. And, you need to change all your bulbs to LED, they burn 10% of the energy of the ones that came in your unit.

I tried to charge it with the truck, let it run for an hour with periodic revving of the engine to crank up the alternator charging amps. After an hour or so of charging, the batt. lasted 10 min! It died on our 3rd day of camping (thanks for kids leaving lights on, oh, and we were charging our phones as well. LEDs already throughout the coach factory installed.

Replace the inadequate, but standard, group 24 battery with a group 27, 29 or 31. Measure the battery box and get the largest replacement that will fit. Better yet, replace the single hybrid RV battery with a pair of 6v Golf Cart batteries wired in series to produce 12 volts. Folks who dry camp regularly either carry an inverter generator (not the loud construction kind) or install solar on the roof. I have 200 watts of panels on the roof of mine. You can also get a Renogy 100w suitcase portable solar kit for about $275. I also replaced all 12v bulbs with LED that use a fraction of the power that incandescent bulbs.

Yeah I've thought about replacing the battery. This is our first ever time dry camping in the 5 years I've owned an RV. If we ever decide to do it more often I'll look into a bigger battery option and a generator!

I went with two, 6v golf cart batteries and two 2K generators (two in parallel for AC and one for charging batteries, ice maker, Keurig or microwave).

For replenishing water, get a 44 gal bladder tank (see Camping World) and an AC pump from HF or Amazon.

Wow, seems overkill but I guess if you dry camp a lot....and I guess, as you can see from above, I have an option of taking out the screen for the overfill and using a water can to refill.

[Desert185]

Just to clarify...two gens total. Two running in parallel for AC or just one for charging, etc. Not overkill. You can buy just one bigger one that will run an AC or go with two smaller, 2K gens.

You really need a gen to charge the battery. Running the TV isn't going to do it.

[Ram189]

90% of what I do is dry camp.

I have the water bladder and an old water pump converted over to run off the 4 pin connector in the truck. Plug it in and turn on the running lights and she will pump 50 gals. of water in 10 or 15 minutes.

First thing I did when I bought my trailer was installed a 2nd 31 series battery. I have run 2 batteries forever and a day and did ok with them. My son is 10 now and with all the gadgets we run a generator a lot at the race tracks we camp at so we can keep tablets and phones charged. When I go with my buddies we live off batteries for 2 or 3 days most of the time with a 2k generator to recharge when needed.

[Cabindweller]

Sitting in a Dodge dealership parking lot right now, "dry camping"... :(

One question... While running on battery my TV, AC fan and none of my outlets seem to work. Is this normal or is there a switch that I need to flip somewhere? It seems that all off my lights and bathroom exhaust fan (all things directly wired into the camper) work just fine. Thanks.

[JRTJH]

Sitting in a Dodge dealership parking lot right now, "dry camping"... :(

One question... While running on battery my TV, AC fan and none of my outlets seem to work. Is this normal or is there a switch that I need to flip somewhere? It seems that all off my lights and bathroom exhaust fan (all things directly wired into the camper) work just fine. Thanks.

Apparently you're having "tow vehicle blues" ???

As for your TV, A/C and outlets, they are all 120VAC and only work when your "shore power cord" is plugged into either an outlet at the campground/home or into an outlet on a generator. There is no "inverter" in any Keystone product to provide 120VAC power to those appliances/outlets.

All of your lights, roof vent fans and water pump will work with 12VDC (battery power) as long as the battery is charged. Depending on the size of your battery and your use of power, you may be "lights out" in as little as a few hours or with conservative use, you may have "days of lights"....

[theasphaltrv'er]

Morning.... Again have the same set as you. I tried gravity feeding the water thru the vent hole ...won't work. Lets a gallon or so in, then stops, cuz air can't get out. Then when you hook a hose to it to fill the tank, it'll blow that water back out of the vent hole.
What I did was buy another water pump like the one in the 5er and manufactured a setup to where we can pump water out of a 5 gallon jug into to the FW tank or straight thru the system. Works like a charm. Also use this setup to winterize the system.

[Cabindweller]

Apparently you're having "tow vehicle blues" ???

As for your TV, A/C and outlets, they are all 120VAC and only work when your "shore power cord" is plugged into either an outlet at the campground/home or into an outlet on a generator. There is no "inverter" in any Keystone product to provide 120VAC power to those appliances/outlets.

All of your lights, roof vent fans and water pump will work with 12VDC (battery power) as long as the battery is charged. Depending on the size of your battery and your use of power, you may be "lights out" in as little as a few hours or with conservative use, you may have "days of lights"....


Yep, apparently I got some bad DEF. 5 hours at a dealership on our way to vacation (and $250). They got it taken care of and we arrived at our first destination. Thanks for the info. My wife has since informed me that she now has NO interest in dry camping. I'm not too crushed...