Any suggestions?

[jaydeb]

Hello fellow Keystone owners! We are the proud owners of a Passport Ultra Light Grand Touring, model 2650BH. We have had it about a month now and have had two outings in it so far. LOVE IT! My question is, in about two weeks we are going on our first real trip to the Smoky Mountains. We will be "dry camping" for about 10 days. I know I will have to haul water, I have a portable gray water tank on order, I have a battery on the TT with a spare I am taking. Can anyone think of, or know of, that I might need or want to take with me?

[Festus2]

If you will be without power for 10 days, you will somehow need to make sure that your battery (batteries?) are kept up to charge . If you have 2 6v "golf cart type" batteries, that will help extend your stay but having just one 12v will not last 10 days for sure. If you have another 12v, why not pair them up in parallel so that you can at least get a few more amp hours from the two of them. Personally, I'd suggest getting a couple of 6v's if dry camping is something you will be doing again in the future.
If you have never dry camped before, you will need to be very frugal with your power needs - especially if you don't have a generator or solar panels to help out.
Run the water pump for short periods only and as little as possible. Take navy showers. In the evening, use as few lights as you can. If you are going to be doing more dry camping, invest in some LED lights. They consume about 1/10th the power of incandescents.
Remember, you will need some battery power at the end of the your stay to retract the slides. When putting your slides out, stay hooked up to your truck then unplug. When bringing them in, do the same thing.
If you have children along, talk them about what needs to happen to conserve both water and batteries. Everyone needs to make adjustments and learn about what you need to do differently than when you are hooked up to shore power.
I'd pull the fuses on everything that doesn't need to be running at night - stereo for example -- it has a backlight that draws power.
Enjoy your first dry camp and stay safe.

[jaydeb]

We have done this before in our popup. A lot less electrical components though. We cannot use our generator in the campground, and are a little concerned being the first time in this camper. Am considering a third battery, but only if I need it. Will be using battery powered lanterns for light inside. Have been giving a lot of thought. Thanks for your suggestions!

[f6bits]

Make sure you have an easy way to get water into your fresh water tank. I have 5 gallon jugs, but had to make my own funnel to be able to be able to pour water into the tank.

And to save battery power, don’t run your AC fan or the furnace.

[CincyGus]

Run the frig and water heater on propane, only turn on thwe water pump when you need it (just before going in the bathroom). Washing dishes outside in tubs instead of in the sink and using the water pump willl help some. Using battery operated lights and radios instead of the ones in the camper will help. Throwing the circuit breakers for things you don't need and pulling the fuses for the 12v items you do do without eliminates parasitic 12v draws.

I don't do extended dry camping (usually only 3-4 days max) but those are some of the things I can think of I'd do if I did.

[dksd39]

if you plan on showering in the camper...one great way to conserve water is to take a bucket into the shower with you and hold the head in the bucket until the water gets warm..then use that water for washing dishes or whatever else you would like. Depending on the number of showers the savings can be substantial.