long term storage advise needed

[muttmaster]

Searched topic but can't find much info. I need some advise on long term storage of my camper. Mostly, I have questions about my camper battery and the truck's dual battery maintenance. The camper has 100 watts roof top panel and Trimetric installed to monitor single marine battery. I have a dual battery system in the truck and I was wondering if I can leave the camper and truck for up to six months without any issues. I won't be able to check on the camper and truck while I am gone, but I may be able to ask friends to check it for me. Hate to leave my home away from home for so long, but.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Any other issues members have experienced and shared would be great too.

 

[Ripperj]

Need more information to provide useful response. Is camper outside? Covered? (Solar exposed?)
Do you see freezing weather?

 

[rando]

If it is parked outside where it gets at least occasional sun than it should be fine just to sit. The solar panel will keep the camper battery charged, and if your dual battery system (which one do you have?) is dual sensing it will also keep the truck battery charged. We leave our camper parked for weeks to occasionally months at a time, leave everything connected, and our batteries are always charged and ready to go.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

I'm a little curious about leaving in the down position over winter in Sub-Zero temps,is it damaging to the vinyl?
I clean and 303 protect it before I store for the long sleep.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

Forgot to add, it's outside, and I do always remove the snow.

 

[Trailbob]

We have a 2015 Silverado 2500 with dual batteries, and two batteries in the the FWC Hawk along with 160W of solar up top. In the summer, the solar will keep the truck and camper at 100%. But in the winter, with the lower sun angle near Boise, it will not bring it up to 100% each day. If the camper and truck batteries are disconnected, then it will keep the camper at 100% in the winter.

I have never seen how low it would go down in the winter while the truck and camper are connected; but I think it has stayed in the 90's%. I should clarify that my truck and camper batteries are "hard wired" together, but there is a solenoid between the truck's starting and aux battery. I pull the fuse between the camper and the truck's aux battery when I want the camper separated. The truck's electronics are what draws the batteries down to a certain before the solenoid between the starting and aux battery opens. If I left my truck and camper connected over the winter, my guess is that they would not go dead, but that the camper would not be charged to 100% on a regular basis.

 

[muttmaster]

Thanks for all the replies. Camper and truck will be outside and uncovered. It does freeze around here, and my water system will get a good flushing with compressed air, etc. Not a issue. I will treat the roof top again with 303. I have a dual battery set up in the truck, not sure what "system" I have, Rando. Trailbob, yes the main thing I am worried about is all the juice sucking electronic in the truck. My truck and camper battery is connected via Blue Sea. The dual batteries were expensive and that is the main thing I am worrying about. The camper battery will be upgraded to dual set up later next year, so no worries. I might take out some fuses in the truck and that may help conserve battery life. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[muttmaster]

Hummm, I just had a rare brilliant idea...I was worried about some snow accumulating on the roof top panel and if I get six inches of wet snow, and freezes. My panel may not get any sun for awhile. I should remount the panel angled toward the winter sun and if I raise one side 20 degree or more, it could allow snow to slide off too. Thanks for the inspiration here.

 

[ckent323]

Hopefully you have already thought of and are taking measures to deal with condensation during storage.

If not you can do a search or I can provide a link to some info.

Regards,

Craig

 

[muttmaster]

Craig, I didn't think about condensation at all. Humidity is pretty low usually in the winter around here @4000' high desert env. . I was just going to crack front sliding window open a bit. Maybe tape screen over opening to keep critters out. Any suggestion and links would be appreciated it.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

^^ x2

 

[muttmaster]

After long search trying to not pay for adjustable roof solar mount kit, found these knob bolts on Amazon. They are steel, but a lot cheaper than stainless steel. Got some 1 1/2" aluminum angle iron already from the recycling yard. I got another project. WindyNation has their mounting kit manual on their website that I copied and will use.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075CTCM4H/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[ckent323]

MM,

The following is copied from a post I made on Oct 17 to a different topic:

1) Don't store the camper outside with the mattress in place with the top down. Put the mattress in the aisle. Better yet store the camper inside a building that stays above freezing inside.
2) Heating and cooling above/below dew point can cause condensation. I have a hypothesis that moisture forms in the aluminum tubes in the roof, which are hollow and moisture can run down (inside or outside) to the ends or places where screws or staples penetrate them and allow dripping of the moisture. This is a slow process and is only a problem over some amount of days, weeks or months. I have not proven this theory so I store my camper with the top down and the mattress in the aisle (no room in the garage).

Before I came up with my condensation hypothesis I resealed my entire roof. After cleaning with alcohol, I used 3M 4200 to reseal all of the fasteners on the roof as well as around the vent boxes and around the yakima tracks. The stuff is very sticky and needs to be applied slowly and carefully to avoid getting it all over the place. Using a plastic tongue depressor to smooth out the sealant bead line helps a lot to create a smooth professional looking continuous line.

After the roof sealing I still had a damp spot in the same location as before following several damp and cold or freezing nights. The amount of water is small and the worst I have seen is maybe a table spoon on the floor of the over cab bed area and a damp spot on the ceiling.So I suspect condensation. My driveway is sloped a bit but I have not yet tried changing the position of my camper to see if the damp spot moves if the camper is put in a different place on the driveway (slope to the other side for example)

Some folks put an incandescent lamp with a low wattage bulb in their camper and leave it on when it is stored to keep the inside dry. There are other ways to do this as well using moisture absorbing crystals or a small dehumidifier. We leave a large box of baking soda in the fridge and prop the door open. That seems to help too.

 

[rando]

Hummm, I just had a rare brilliant idea...I was worried about some snow accumulating on the roof top panel and if I get six inches of wet snow, and freezes. My panel may not get any sun for awhile. I should remount the panel angled toward the winter sun and if I raise one side 20 degree or more, it could allow snow to slide off too. Thanks for the inspiration here.

I don't know what your parasitic draw is or how long your snow sticks around, but I really don't think this will be an issue. The measured parasitic load from my camper and truck is about 100mA, or 2.4Ah per day. I have a big lithium battery now, but even when I had the stock 75Ah AGM battery - it takes about 2 weeks of no solar charging to drop the battery down to 50%. Here at ~6000' in Colorado I don't think I have ever had snow stick around on the roof of the camper for more than 3-4 days, and even with a few inches of snow on the roof I still get enough solar power to offset the small drain. I can look at the data from my solar controller, but I would guess my battery has never gone below 90% in storage with 160W of solar.

 

[Mickey Bitsko]

CK323, good idea, put mattress on floor/isle , will allow a air movement , therefore less condensation.

 

[JaSAn]

Searched topic but can't find much info. I need some advise on long term storage of my camper. Mostly, I have questions about my camper battery and the truck's dual battery maintenance . . .

I'm a little curious about leaving in the down position over winter in Sub-Zero temps,is it damaging to the vinyl?

Hopefully you have already thought of and are taking measures to deal with condensation during storage.

I have a 1979 Grandby that I would guess has spent most of its life outside with the top down. I know the PO kept it outside and I had it outside the first three years I owned it (it went in a heated garage last winter for repairs). I live in Minnesota so lots of cold, clouds and snow. Sun and wind has the panels clear of ice and snow in a couple of days.

The camper batteries (2 X GC2) were kept at 100% with just solar (2 X 100W) when outside, I pulled them and put them on a battery maintainer last year. Batteries are still at 1.27+ S.G. The only parasitic loads I have are the Trimetric and the charge controller; everything else is shut off or fuses pulled. A LA battery should self discharge < 6% per month, so your panels should be able to easily keep them at 100% unless you have very large parasitic loads. I do lose ~ 100 ml of water from the cells over 5 months.

As I mentioned above, my camper has been stored outside most of its life. I have some staining on the vinyl due to mold(?) but I think that was from storing it wet. The 38 year old vinyl is still water and wind tight. I do use 303 on it before storage but I don't know what was done before i got it.

I don't have any issues with condensation during storage but the air is quite dry here in the winter.

The PO had to tear out all the insulation in the walls due to rodent infestation, so that is something I am concerned about. I remove the mattress, clothing and any other attractants and place a bunch of dryer sheets in all cabinets and cubbyholes. So far no problems and I live in an area that has lots of vols and field mice.

Most of the guys I know around here just leave the batteries in a parked vehicle all winter. Some of them disconnect the battery, the more conscientious pull the battery(s) and put them on a maintainer. If you have shore power available I would put the truck batteries on a maintainer. Otherwise, give them a good equalizing charge before storage, disconnect the battery and give another equalizing charge in the spring.

jim

 

[klahanie]

^ Can't speak to battery storage but we do keep the camper outside. I can add to the post above that ours is stored top down under a tarp. I place over width lumber on the roof for air circulation and stacked for pitch. If not concerned about wind storms I'd unlatch the roof. Then I wrap the lower perimeter with wire mesh to prevent critters from nesting or pooping under the dolly.

We always get some snow but temps of only around -10C for a few nights. Mild but damp here Nov-Apr. I remove all cushions, bedding and anything absorbent, used to take out the curtains too, but take no other steps for the humidity. Except the fridge must be bone dry and it's door left ajar. Never had any mold in the camper other than some in the fridge (yuk).

 

[muttmaster]

CK, thanks for all the great advise on condensation, mattress storage, etc.

Rando, I think you are right, I am not going to worry about it. It does not snow too much around here, and when it does, the sun will be out soon enough, except when the snow is wet and heavy and then it get cold and freeze solid, then it will take awhile to melt. I will tilt the solar panel to 25 degree toward the South and that should help.

Jim, I was debating about using battery tenders on the two newer truck battery, but there is a risk of breakers in garage tripping. In fact, I just got three Deltran battery tender today for my other car and motorcycle batteries. I most likely will leave the truck battery in place and rely on the solar panel charging it. I have not read my Trimetric manual lately as it give me a headache trying to figuring it out, but I will check if I can program it for long term storage.

Thanks all for great advises and your willingness to share experience and sagely wisdom on camper care.