Well, ol'333 is gone but not forgotten

Javi · 07-05-2020, 04:07 PM

Well the old gal is gone to the new owners. She was picked up Saturday afternoon and we already miss her. Ol’333 was a good old girl, I have to give kudos to the dealer who sold her to us... The ol’Gal never gave us a problem, everything worked as intended and with few minor repairs and replacement of things that timed out over the past five and a half years, everything still works as they move in and make it their own.

Neither of us thought we’d feel this way but as we sat down to breakfast this morning the DW was seemingly in a bad mood. After forty-seven years I’ve learned to notice these things and usually clear out of the line of fire as quickly as is possible. This time I wasn’t quick enough and got an ear full about how “we are going to miss camping”

We’ve been looking at 5th wheels for years, it’s a process... 😀

Even though I don’t see us buying one in the short term I may be over-ruled...

I think we’ve got a good idea of what we want; the Avalanche 313RS seems to be our best choice. There is little that we’d change, at least at first glance. The washer/dryer closet will get shelves to become a pantry with room to hold a stepladder so we can use the upper cabinets over the appliance dock. But I don’t see much else that needs immediate attention.

I do need some information from those of you currently using the residential fridge and inverter. We don’t camp without power, but we have had overnight outages due to storms or accidents several times over the years.

Is the battery tied to the inverter connected to the house/hydraulic battery?

If not do you ever feel the need for more battery, currently it looks like they’re using series 24 batteries and I prefer to use series 27. Over the years I’ve experienced low battery issues several times with the smaller series 24’s.

Lastly, if anyone has the 312RS or the 313RS, is there anything you don’t like about it... ???

**chuckster57** · 07-05-2020, 04:10 PM

Well make sure you stick around here.

**sourdough** · 07-05-2020, 04:52 PM

Hi Javi. Ole 333 is gone, and if you're like us, it won't be forgotten as you said. I'm glad to hear you are looking at getting another RV; you guys really liked getting out - and personally I think it helps keep you feeling young and more invigorated with stuff to do and see.

I don't know anything about the unit you are looking at so others will have to chime in there and I'm not an old hand at a residential fridge...but I have one now.

When I spec'd this one I asked about a dedicated battery for the fridge and inverter along with 2 for the trailer (all 24s). I was told there was no need for the 3rd. My concern was an overnite outage and what that would mean to the res fridge. No problem I was told. Like you, I no longer camp "off grid" and always have full hookups. All that said I opted for 2 Interstate 24s.

We have had no issues with this setup. We have lost power several times but never more than about 4 hours. The SM at the dealership said we should not have an issue if we got power back in 7-8 hours. I figured if the batteries held that long, and the fridge then held 12 hours should be doable - we've not had that happen but I'm pretty comfortable if it did.

There should be lots of room in the battery compartment so you may just want to spec 27s at least which would give you a bit more capacity. We have electric self leveling so if trying to leave after an outage, with the fridge dependent on the coach batteries might be an issue and one I'm still debating. I may go with 3 batteries and one dedicated to the inverter.

As far as residential fridge? So far (since March 4) we couldn't ask for more. DW LOVES the thing. Since we sold all our properties in March I told her we might want to try hitting the "outback" again but would need to replace the res fridge with the RV kind or get another trailer...

Well, that exchange cemented my place in life

For your type of camping I don't think you can go wrong with the residential based on our short experience. Good luck.

gearhead · 07-05-2020, 06:30 PM

I had so much trouble with our previous RV fridge anything would be better. The Landmark has 2 group 27's. They are wired in parallel so I guess the fridge is pulling on both. Only issue I've had is loose battery cables. I had a beeping alarm at a fuel stop and discovered it was the fridge inverter. Discovered the loose cables, tightened up and so far so good. I'm not sure if my truck will keep the batteries 100% charged on a 10 hour drive, but 4-6 hours seems OK. obviously in high ambient temps the fridge will work harder and pull on the battery. But my days of 12 hour drives are over.
Assuming all continues as is, I'll never have a RV fridge again.

notanlines · 07-05-2020, 06:52 PM

All our TV’s have kept everything charged while traveling up to 12 hours and fridge at 36 and freezer at 0. We would never go back to an RV fridge. We have 2 6 volts in series.

Old Mustanger · 07-05-2020, 07:12 PM

our Alpine has 2 24's and 2 27's. As far as I can tell the 27's are dedicated to the fridge inverter. If you don't do any camping without shore power (or a good generator) I think you will really like the residential fridge and will not miss the RV type at all.

tech740 · 07-05-2020, 08:16 PM

My batteries are all tied together and it’s only 2 24’s. I retired my disconnect so that the investor is the only thing drawing off the batteries when the switch is off. Recently mine sat for 12.5 hours and was down to 55% charge.

CedarCreekWoody · 07-06-2020, 04:59 AM

I don't have a 331, or a residential fridge, but I think you are worrying needlessly. I'm sure have had to deal with over night power outages at home, with no battery backup. At least in the camper you have the backup. If you should deplete your batteries to the point you couldn't retract your slides just use jumper cables to your truck.

Javi · 07-06-2020, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CedarCreekWoody

I don't have a 331, or a residential fridge, but I think you are worrying needlessly. I'm sure have had to deal with over night power outages at home, with no battery backup. At least in the camper you have the backup. If you should deplete your batteries to the point you couldn't retract your slides just use jumper cables to your truck.

More to it than just being able to move the slides and maybe have to use an ice chest..

The electronics in these things; especially the Level UP controller are very sensitive to voltage lower than 12.7 Volts... Several hundred dollars spent replacing the controller and a couple of other items taught me that..

It's far easier for me to spec the trailer out as I want it before purchase than to take it back later for additional items..

So far my list includes..

Slide toppers,
a second Fantastic or MaxxFan (must match)
MaxxAir Vent Covers
Progressive Industries EMS-HW50C Surge U Electrical Protector EMS

So, adding another battery is no big deal, I just didn't want to if it was un-necessary.

CedarCreekWoody · 07-06-2020, 07:23 AM

I totally agree, cover everything upfront that you can. Much easier and perhaps less expensive. Enjoy your new camper once it arrives.

**sourdough** · 07-06-2020, 08:18 AM

I know you know this but I had them put new Sailuns on this one before it left the lot and went from LRF to G. That one may come with G?

Javi · 07-06-2020, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourdough

I know you know this but I had them put new Sailuns on this one before it left the lot and went from LRF to G. That one may come with G?

Oh yeah... the 7K axles and G-rated tires are a big reason I'm even looking at this trailer.. You might remember that I was never happy with the light weight axles and wheels under ol'333... they did their job just fine but I was always hesitant to take the higher mileage trips with them.. so we stayed closer to home. With this one, long road trips are back on the table...

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