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My last set of flexible panels died from a hailstorm, and the ones before that died of their own volition. I am a huge fan of the weight savings from flexible panels, but the longevity is a major gamble. I am back to a 160W rigid panel.

If you want to avoid the bleach taste, you could also use hydrogen peroxide. You need more of it, and it provides less residual sterilization, but it is an option if you are adverse to the chlorine flavor/aroma.

Isn't FWC currently using some sort of laminate faced marine ply for the cab over and other exterior panels? I can't remember what it is called but it was in their marketing materials at some point and I think it is used for building docks and the like. On my 2016 the cab-over portion has a...

It is definitely on the small side, so you will loose some power due to losses in the cable, but it is still within spec and will work. With a 160W panel, you will typically be operating at a maximum power point of ~8A and ~20V. Assuming ~ 25' roundtrip of 14AWG, you will loose about 5%...

We are already at ~66k deaths in the US with a death rate that is holding pretty constant around 2k/day, so I think it is safe to assume any model that suggests 70-75k deaths in the US for the year is grossly under predicting the total number of deaths. The CDCs model ensemble has a range of...

I sound like a broken record here, but Victron for the solar charge controller (and really anything else you need to upgrade): https://shop.pkys.com/MPPT-Smart-Solar-Charge-Controllers-with-built-in-Bluetooth_c_806.html Pick whatever size you need, typically the 75/15 with 1 solar panel or the...

You can definitely do this yourself. As a first cut you don't need to change anything - remove the AGM batteries, install the lithium batteries. If you want to optimize the performance you could change the solar controller and the iota (assuming you plug in regularly) but that is not a...

There is certainly no harm in upgrading - but at 30A any wire larger than 10AWG should be fine. The usual '3% voltage drop' rules don't apply here as the DC-DC boosts the voltage back up to where it needs to be.

Very well said. I don't think the IQ4-LiFePO is really much better than the default. If you only use the shore power occasionally (or pretty much not at all, like me) then just leave it with the default Iota converter. If you expect to use shore power a lot and leave your camper plugged...

A quick shower only uses 1-2gal of water. We usually camp without a water tap, but can easily stay out 5-6 days with 1-2 showers in that time. I don't have a privacy tent, so showering in a campground would be challenging.

Certainly not necessary, but definitely convenient. I was on the fence about getting a water heater in our Fleet, but am glad we did. Besides the obvious hot water for washing and hot showers, there are a couple of other advantages: First, an extra 6 gallons of built in pressurized water...

I use both - Gaia and Google Maps on iOS and gazetteers and Benchmark paper maps. They both have their place, the paper map books are great for large scale planning, and the digital maps are much better for fine scale navigation - finding a specific trail head, or hiking. The issue for me...

This seems like a reasonable deal for someone who wants a large/deluxe setup: https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/price-drop-2017-ram-3500-w-limited-edition-woolrich-grandby-flatbed-four-wheel-camper-perfect-for-the-apocalypse-and-or-social-distancing.214541/

I have done it. As with all things, there are pluses and minuses. Here is our DIY conversion on a UZJ100 Years ago in oz, I also had a HJ45 with a pop-top. Let's just say I am happier with my current Fleet FB/Tacoma combination.

These would probably work OK for light weight cabinetry. With the flanged tube it would be easy to add thin panels, which would also provide some rigidity and keep everything square. With most of these, I don't see why you couldn't add either a screw or rivet the connectors to provide more...

There are a bunch of companies that sell these. 80/20 has something called quick frame. ESTO connectors has a version KIPP has a version and there are many more... What do you plan on using these for? In my experience, these systems are more designed for things like trade show displays than...

I am assuming the 'iota' is some sort of fuse panel, and not the iota converter?

On the flatbeds there is a large poorly accessible storage area under the sink. I have thought about adding a door/drawer there, but would like it to blend in. To that end - any leads on where to buy the dark grey laminate used in the silver spur interiors?

As for a light, I didn't have anything in particular in mind, but something like a chart light would be cool as you could shine it on your book without disturbing your partner. We used to read by headlamp, then switched to light up kindles, which is another approach. I used this one on a...

I have used my stock Tacoma jack to lift my Tacoma/Fleet FB combo on a couple of occasions - it worked fine. The base of the stock jack is pretty small - so a stout board to spread the load is useful on soft ground. The stock jack is particularly short, so you can usually get it under the...

It looks like the E/W tubes at the end have a smaller diameter, so the N/S tubes need to be crimped to line up. I wonder if this is to accommodate the lift panel thickness when closed? Like all good projects, this one seems to be mushrooming a bit. In that spirit, and while you are in there...

No reason why you can't, as long as your loads won't draw more than 20A (including the inrush). I am not familiar with the ECOworthy unit, but I assume it has a low voltage shutoff on the load terminals? That in itself is a reason to us the load terminals.

This a great idea. We often fill water bottles/bladders outside, and it is frustratingly slow. One question though - do you leave your pump power on, or can you reach the switch from outside? We usually also drain the water tank using the pump through the sink - much faster than the drain valve.

My hunch is that this is likely not worth the effort/mess. The thermal transfer through the frame is almost all through conduction through the tube itself. The thermal conductivity of aluminium is ~230 W/mK (about the best thermal conductor besides diamond), where as air is around 0.03. W/mK...

I have a 2016 Tacoma with a fleet flatbed that is most definitely over the GVWR, so I am far from the weight police, but this situation still doesn't seem to be a great idea. In order to carry the weight of the camper alone you really need to work on the suspension, with the tongue weight of...