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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / July 20062006 Jayco Series 1007 Tent Trailer NEWBIE
Hi everyone: Well, we finially made a purchase after being undecided for 2 years. We purchased a new 2006 Jayco Series Model 1007. We have been reading all the threads in this newsgroup and have read alot of useful information and tips, so thank you everyone. We are confused about two issues, and perhaps your expertise and experience can help us. 1) Without having to use hot water, is there any king of device that can be installed on our propane tank to be able to tell us how much propane we have left? 2) We bought a 5.5 watt Solat panel and have hooked up directly to our 12 V battery. Will this be enought to send a trickle charge to our battery to keep the battery from dieing? Look forward to hearing your opinions and advice. I bought a device which consists of a plastic strip that attaches to the tank vertically and it is supposed to show the proprane level...it works on temperature I believe. Anyway I haven't tried it and cant recall where I bought it on the Internet. That's about all I can say. TS > Hi everyone: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Look forward to hearing your opinions and advice. > I bought a device which consists of a plastic strip that attaches > to the tank vertically and it is supposed to show the proprane [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] >> >> Look forward to hearing your opinions and advice. We bought the same thing, but I haven't used it, yet, either. I'm hoping it works, so I can monitor my propane level while we're in Colorado! We got ours from our local RV dealer, where we bought our PU. Sorry, can't help about the solar panel idea, but would love to hear the results of that question.  SignatureEric Babula Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Propane is a liquid and the only way to measure it is with a Float type gage. These can be put into the tank by some propane companies though most won't bother. The stips you see on the side of the tanks work only when you wet them with hot water as they read the difference in temprature. None of them work through the tank without the water that I know of. Buy a Dual tank kit and install a second tank with a Marshall auto switch over valve on it. When one tank runs dry the second takes over. You replace one at a time only when they run out. I spent the money years ago and the dual mount and switch have gone from one camper to another. Especially nice if you don't have to get up in the middle of a cold night to find out why the darn heat went out.... it doesn't go out... > Hi everyone: > [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Look forward to hearing your opinions and advice. > Hi everyone: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > can be installed on our propane tank to be able to tell us how much > propane we have left? Get a 2nd tank with an automatic changeover valve. Saves getting up in the middle of the night when it is cold. > 2) We bought a 5.5 watt Solat panel and have hooked up directly to our > 12 V battery. Will this be enought to send a trickle charge to our > battery to keep the battery from dieing? Not much more than keeping it alive if you are not using it. 5.5 watts is less than 1/2 ampere maximum. That is only when the panel is getting maximum sun. So I will guess if you are parked in full sun all day, at best you get 2 or 3 ampere hours a day. A single lamp draws about one. Furnace fan is 3 or 4. It takes a lot of hours of driving to recharge a battery. And for long life a battery should not be discharged below 50% state of charge. That gives you 50 ampere hours. If you are going to be dry camping for many days in cool weather I suggest investing in a small generator (Honda 1KW). Good info at: http://www.batteryfaq.org "jayco1007" <ostafie@shaw.ca> wrote in news:1151510610.380331.92910 @x69g2000cwx.googlegroups.com: > Hi everyone: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > can be installed on our propane tank to be able to tell us how much > propane we have left? What will you be using the propane for? I usually run my fridge for 5+ days at 8600' elevation on propane, plus probably 1.5 hours of the furnace. I don't have a water heater any more. We also use a bit of the propane stove. I have usually come back with the tank full enough to BBQ the entire next year <g>. However, that said, I bought at Costco last week a in-place flow-meter that is supposed to report the level (while the gas is flowing). My two tanks for the BBQ are nearly empty (just hand lifting them and guaging their weight) and I think my camper tank is full, so I will get to try out the flow guage soon. > 2) We bought a 5.5 watt Solat panel and have hooked up directly to our > 12 V battery. Will this be enought to send a trickle charge to our > battery to keep the battery from dieing? > > Look forward to hearing your opinions and advice. I applaude the use of the Solar Panel, but from my readings 5.5 watts is barely going to keep a deep-cycle battery at it's current level - and you have a circuit to isolate the voltage right? Without it the panel could drain the battery during darker days (or night). Welcome to the Jayco family! Thank you everyone for your valuable input and advice. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. To answer a few questions from the posts: We use propane for the stove, furnace and hot water heater. We are up in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, and it gets very cool at night, so we use the furnace alot. As far as the Solar Panel goes, I went to Canadian Tire and bought the 5.5 Watt Solar Panel. The instructions that came with it said ti just hook straight up to the battery. So thats what I did. As far as having a circuit to isolate the voltage, I am not sure what or how to do this, and the solar panel did not mention anything of such, so I was not aware. But now that I have been reading these posts, I am thinking if I get another 5.5 Watt pantl and add to my exist 5.5Watt, that would then be 11 Watt, not sure if that would help or not. We really really do not want to get a generator, we love the peace and quietness of the outdoors, hate to disturb that with a generator running. If interested, here is the link to the Solar Panel we bought: http://www.canadiantire.ca/assortments/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id= 1408474396671722&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474396670271&bmUID=1151642480565&PRO DUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524443291399&assortment=primary&fromSearch=true > "jayco1007" <ostafie@shaw.ca> wrote in news:1151510610.380331.92910 > @x69g2000cwx.googlegroups.com: [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > Welcome to the Jayco family! > As far as the Solar Panel goes, I went to Canadian Tire and bought the > 5.5 Watt Solar Panel. The instructions that came with it said ti just [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > want to get a generator, we love the peace and quietness of the > outdoors, hate to disturb that with a generator running. Even 11 watts of solar-supplied charging will not do much more than trickle charge a battery. Let's say you have a 220 AH (Amp Hour) battery functioning at a nominal 12 volts (actually probably higher, but let's just use 12 volts for clarity). The 220 AH means that it is rated to provide about 1 amp of current for 220 hours, or 10 Amps for 22 hours, etc. Watts = Voltage X Current, so 11 watts at 12 volts = about 0.92 amps being supplied - at peak sunlight - by the solar panel. Over perhaps 5 hours of sunlight, this is 4.5 Amp Hours a day. So if your 220 AH bettery is only 20% discharged, and you do not use it at all while charging, it would take your 11 watts of solar panels about 10 days to recharge the battery!! A single onverhead dome light probably is 15 watts, which would draw 1.25 Amps. If you have ONLY this light on for abut 3.5 hours a night, your 11 watt solar panel would be able to recharge the battery only this much the next day!! And only if it is sunny!! To use only solar panels to re-charge a normal use RV battery, you would need more than a 100 watts of panels, costing perhaps US$900 or more. HTH > Thank you everyone for your valuable input and advice. I appreciate you > taking the time to respond. [quoted text clipped - 60 lines] >> >> Welcome to the Jayco family! No isolation should be necessary. Most all solar panels are equipped with a blocking diode. Unfortunately that also cuts output of the cells. A meter in the line would tell if there is a negative drain at night. >> Thank you everyone for your valuable input and advice. I appreciate >> you taking the time to respond. [quoted text clipped - 69 lines] > cells. A meter in the line would tell if there is a negative drain at > night. I wanted to mention it as some early solar panels did not have the diode in place, and I am unaware of the cheaper ones being produced nowadays; sice the OP said they wired it directly I was also assuming that meant "permanently or full-time". If it doesn't have the restrictive diode or a isolation circuit the panel would drain off the battery when not producing the electricity. Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these questions before I bought this darn solar panel. Oh well, lesson learned. Just to give everyone an update. . . . We arrived home this evening from our 2nd camping trip, and we had a good time BUT experienced several fraustrations with our new Jayco Series 1007 Tent Trailer. First of all we only used the on board water for brushing our teeth in the morning, and washing hands. And on the morning of the 2nd day we had no water. I had a difficult time understanding how we could run out of water. I checked the specs on the trailer and the fresh water tank supposedly holds 23 gallons. Well, I am certain that we did not use that much water. I know we had a full tank when we left home. I do realize that 23 gallons can be used quickly, and am thinking if it would even be possible to add another tank. I crawler under the trailer tonite and it appears that there is room to add another. Wondering if anyone has ventured to do this. Our 2nd frustration was not having a shower. Now we are wishing we would a bought a model that included a shower. BUT, with only a fresh water tank of 23 gallons, not sure that we would even be able to have enough water to use the shower. So after we ran out of water, we then ran out of propane. So we loaded up the 20 # propane tank and headed to the nearest town to fill up the tank with propane. This also was a surprise as we only user trailer the weekend before. Well, needless to say we had a interesting weekend! Look forward to hearing from you. > Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am > learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Look forward to hearing from you. Used up the propane? I just refilled our tank for the first time and we bought our camper new in 98. That is nuts. >> Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am >> learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > I just refilled our tank for the first time and we bought our camper new > in 98. That is nuts. Depends on where you are. Around here (Colorado High Country), with a pop-up you can go through a tank in one night using the furnace. Especially so when the snow in piling up on top. >>> First of all we only used the on board water for brushing our teeth >>> in the morning, and washing hands. And on the morning of the 2nd day [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > pop-up you can go through a tank in one night using the furnace. > Especially so when the snow in piling up on top. I don't get this... do you guys sleep in just a thin sheet? <wink> Seriously, We regularly sleep with nighttime temps at or below freezing but DO NOT run the heater during the night. It makes no sense [to me, and therefore my guests have no say in the matter]. The thermostat has a range of 50-90 degrees fahrenheit, so I switch it OFF when getting into bed (which would be a couple of good blankets or a down/synthetic sleeping bag rated for the near outside temperature). Setting it to 50 and leaving it ON would drain my battery and my LP during the night in exchange for stuffy air and a trailer that was not really any warmer. When I get up in the morning, to visit nature, I flip the heater to ON (still set as low as it goes, 50. I return to the pop-up and begin to dress and then go outside to start a fire for cooking breakfast. The interior warms up during this time and the rest of the troops get moving. Total furnace time per day rarely exceeds 30 minutes. My 20 lb propane lasts me an entire week of camping and at least 9 months of BBQ'ing at home on my monster 3 burner grill. As for water, we use the sink for storage and don't bother to fill the holding tank anymore opting instead to use a portable 5 gallon jug which we refill every 2.5 days or so. We have a solar bag that also holds 5 gallons that is good for three [camping] showers. I would double check the drain valve was actually closed and you didn't just drip out the whole tank - or maybe you have a leak. If you have an on-demand pump does it cycle every now and again (loose pressure)? My 97 Jayco was pumping water right into the storage box :( YMMV > Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am > learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Look forward to hearing from you. Do you have a water heater? That could have taken 6+ gallons of the water. System should be filled at home, run until no air comes from either faucet, then refilled. Tank of propane is a weekend? Yowsa! Fasttest I ever used a tank was 2 weeks, that's heat on every night and cooking every night. If you used it up in just a weekend I would suspect a leak. Make a soapy water sollution and checl all the fittings including under the camper. >Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am >learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > >Look forward to hearing from you. Most of your water sloshed out the over flow on the way there. Propane, either a leak, you left it on the last time you used it, or whoever filled the bottle short filled you. Do you exchange? Don't do that. Take it to a regular propane dealer. SignatureFrank Tabor > Most of your water sloshed out the over flow on the way there. I think Frank's right. I bought a 2005 Jayco 1006 and on my maiden trip I lost all but a couple of gallons of my water on the way to camp. See my thread at: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rv.pop-up-trailers/browse_thread/thread/742fc 261df70307e/909ded179ab64669 I had a goofy vent on the right side of the tank, and when parked on a slope for a little bit, most of my water drained out, and presumably more of it sloshed out on the drive. Adding a different vent (one that went higher than the tank) did the trick for me, but you didn't say whether you filled up before you left. Korey > Our 2nd frustration was not having a shower. Now we are wishing we > would a bought a model that included a shower. BUT, with only a fresh [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > tank with propane. This also was a surprise as we only user trailer > the weekend before. I have a 20 gallon tank and it is just me in the pop-up. I need to fill up with water about every 2nd day. I do have a shower, so that is where some of the water goes. I did not even consider getting one without a shower. I use an electric water pump to transfer the water from my plastic jugs. I have been camping about 6 or 7 times and I am still on my first 20 pound tank of propane. I have a second one to switch over to when the first one runs out. It is lasting a long time, even with it running a hot water heater and the stove. When I first got it, it was March and real cold so I ran the furnace a bit while I was getting everything tested in my driveway, My guess would be that your tank wasn't full when you bought the trailer. > Thank you everyone for the great information and responses. I am > learning s much from this group. Wished I would of asked these [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Look forward to hearing from you. Make a test run at home to see if you indeed hold 23 gallons. Water goes fast. Even with a 50 gallon I keep having to haul in water. But I have a bathroom with tub and shower. Can't use the tub without a sewer hookup but can take a quick shower. A 2nd tank is hardly worth the effort. Get a couple 5 gallon containers. If you really use a lot there are devices for hauling water such as one that looks like a water bed mattress that you put on top of your car. Yet another update. . . . After reading all of your suggestions and advise, this is where I am at: 1) It is really seeming like we did not have a full tank of propane or was suggested that the tank may of not of been purged correctly. So I have filled the tank by a propane dealer and will monitor to see how long it will last. 2) Well, I have measured the water in the tank, and it only holds 17 gallons, where as the specs document it holding 23 gallons. It still appears to me that the over-flow nozzle on the tank should sit higher than it actually does, but I am not sure. We are going out again this week for 3 nights of camping, so I plan on filling the tank and then plugging the over-flow nozzle to make sure no water leaks out while in transit. I don't understanf why there is a overflow on the tank, can any one explain? Thanks everyone! > Yet another update. . . . > After reading all of your suggestions and advise, this is where I am [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Thanks everyone! Regarding your desire for a shower: There are shower rigs that can be bought and set up outside of the popup. When we camp in folk music festivals these abound. They look like a little skinny tall tent. They come with a black bag the one fills up with water and sets out in the sun. The sun then warms the water to very hot on a sunny day. It is enough for 2 people to shower with. The bag is lifted to a tray on the top of the shower device and it has a hose with a valve that one uses to shower. They actually work really well. Here is a link to a blurb on camping showering for your enjoyment: http://camping.about.com/library/weekly/aa000615a.htm Here is another link to a couple of the preppy shower setups I mentioned. http://www.hotcampshowers.com/new51785.html There are many more than just these - go google and have fun looking at all this stuff. Maybe go to a camping store (a big one) too and check it out for real. Tomes >Yet another update. . . . >After reading all of your suggestions and advise, this is where I am [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > >Thanks everyone! It's actually an air relief. Lets air in and out as you fill or use it. Reroute it so that it goes higher before coming back to the connection at the fill hole. SignatureFrank Tabor > Yet another update. . . . > After reading all of your suggestions and advise, this is where I am [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Thanks everyone! If you have a water heater they probably include it (6 gallons) as part of the fresh water capacity. |
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