New (to me) FWC Owner

[norcalhusky]

Hi all, I'm a recently new owner to a 1999 Hawk. I've wanted a FWC for most of my life it seems and finally made it happen I live near the owners rally this year and am looking forward to checking out everyones custom mods.

I have taken the camper out a few times now and absolutely love it but have a couple questions that hopefully everyone can help answer.

1. The battery condition monitor. I have a brand new Interstate AGM/Deep cycle battery that I installed in the camper. The monitor only ever seems to say weak/fair. I think it said "good" once when I had a battery charger connected to the battery. Is this normal? It makes me feel like I shouldn't be using power all the time.

2. The fresh water monitor. This one seems to just say full no matter how much water is in it. Is there a float or something that is stuck in the fresh water tank? I'm not sure how it measures how much liquid is in the tank.

3. I have been still bringing an ice chest with me as I don't have a method of keeping the fridge cool while driving. Will the 140 Watt solar kit from solarblvd.com do the trick? I recognize its probably not the best components but has a good entry price and could likely be upgraded later.

4. Filling the water tank. How does everyone accomplish this? I've been using a 7 gallon portable tank, bringing it to a fresh water fill up place, and then standing on a stool with the tank on my shoulder and dumping the water into a funnel that is stuck into the filling hole. There has to be a better way..

5. What are the next winning lotto numbers? I would like to retire young and travel in this for a while

 

[Beach]

Don't know what kind of fridge you have, so can't tell you what all of your options are when driving. I have a 3 way and have found If I'm plugged in(120v) I can precool before leaving to about 36-38 degrees and I can drive for 2-21/2 hrs. and fridge temp will only be low 40s( moderate weather, temp at 80 or lower). When we arrive I prefer the propane to using 12v, unless there is 120v avail. If the drive is longer I prefer 12v, but can also use propane. Get a good drinking water hose for your water fill up.

 

[craig333]

1. Get a volt meter and see what you really have and what you have when the engine is running.

2. At its age I doubt this will function again.

3. 140 watts of solar should be adequate depending on just what you're doing.

4. I use a garden hose.

5. If you find out let me know

 

[dsrtrat]

#4- Set the container on the roof and use a siphon hose to the tank. Walk away and do something else
until it fills.
Dsrtrat

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

Feel free to come see me at the rally.

I can give you most any details you might be missing or have additional questions about.

Thanks!

 

[camelracer]

There are no moving parts in the water monitor. The tank has 4 conductive feedthroughs at the bottom, 1/3, 2/3 and top. The top 3 are wired through resistors in parallel. As the water level drops the resistance referenced to the bottom probe increases as each upper probe is uncovered.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Hi NorCal = Welcome to the Family,

1. Camping World has a hose attachment. Screw on your hose stick the "tube" in your water inlet. see link
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/water-tank-filler-with-shut-off-valve/4674

Apology and correction

2, Full Eagle camper came with an IOTA power converter and as an option an aux battery. When you are on "shore power" and the Master switch is pulled out the "charger/maintainer" charges the aux battery and runs your 12 volt and 110 volt appliances.
3.. On the shell model with the aux battery - WITHOUT the IOTA converter there is NO on-board "charger-maintainer".
4 . If the camper came with the aux battery there is a Separator attached. Separator purpose is to protect the truck battery from being drawn down by the equipment (3-way refer} in the camper.

As "Beach" recommends lower the Fridge temp in your 3-way using 110 volt to 38-39*. When your ready to drive off start the truck and switch to the battery - NOTE: 3-way refer draws 11.8 amps from the battery so don't run it with the engine off for more than 10 minutes (about the time it takes to get a tank of gas, drink, and make a bathroom stop).

3. To check the condition of the battery, purchase a digital "multi-meter" from your local auto parts store and check the battery condition while the engine is running. If the charger is working the battery voltage should be around 12.7-13.2 volts. Turn on the fridge and it should register 12.5 volts or more.

5. No suggestions on the water level monitor.

You didn't say how long the camper was in storage before you bought it. If it was for longer than 6 months I would take it to a RV service center and have the fridge, furnace, water system checked as rust builds up in the "orifices" and can break loose affecting their operation at any time. Hope all these suggestions help.

 

[norcalhusky]

Thanks for the tips all. I appreciate it!

I do have a multimeter. Taking a reading of the battery shows a good 12.5 volts. The house battery is NOT connected to the trucks alternator, nor does the shore power have a trickle charger from what I can tell so the only method I have to charge the battery is with an external charger (until I do solar I guess). Maybe I'll pull off the face of the cabinet and see whats in there.



My dog Kaya found her spot the first time in the camper

 

[takesiteasy]

Cool dog!

 

[craig333]

Why not hook it up to the truck? Thats the way FWC does it. Let the truck get the bulk charge on and then let the solar finish it off.

 

[norcalhusky]

Why not hook it up to the truck? Thats the way FWC does it. Let the truck get the bulk charge on and then let the solar finish it off.

I hope to do that as well. I dont see any obvious signs of it being hooked up to a truck originally so I would have to add whatever is necessary for that to happen.

 

[Smokecreek1]

Cool dog!

X2-if he chases balls, my"Bob" would like to me him!

Smoke

 

[Stan@FourWheel]

100% agree with Craig

Hook the camper up to your truck so the camper battery is getting charged when your truck is running.

When done right its good to go for a long time.


No battery power in the camper will only be frustrating.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

I. Assumed you wired the truck to the camper before you mounted it...Sorry we all know what happens when we assume things.
Sorry I didn't ask .
Yes as Craig and Stan advise....Wire the truck to the camper with a "wiring plug" in truck so you can unplug camper when it is removed.

The solar panel will not produce enough amps to continually run the3-way fridge(draws 11.8 amps) off the battery, when your parked switch to propane or shore power if you have hookups at your campsite. Battery purpose is to maintain the Refer temp while driving. And run the lights, water pump, and small battery powered devices.

 

[norcalhusky]

Hey guys. Been out enjoying camper a ton Now that I've camped in some quite hot temps I have been thinking about replacing the roof vent with one of those fans. Does anyone know if a 1999 hawk will be pre wired for a fantastic fan?

 

[norcalhusky]

Some updates on my camper! I added a simple solar system consisting of a Renogy 20A MPPT with remote MeTer connected to my Interstate 63AH deep cycle agm battery and a temporary 15Watt Harbor Freight panel. I have a Renogy 100W panel that I will be installing to replace the 15Watt soon. Total installation time was like maybe an hour since I just ran the cable outside for now.

The 15 watt panel is actually fine for my current usage. I replaced all lighting (with the exception of the spot lights) with LED replacement bulbs so the battery only has to power those and my water pump. The larger panel that I will install will be eventually for a compressor fridge. The 3 Way fridge works great... too great sometimes and often freezes anything in it overnight. It also won't stay lit while on the road so I have to bring an ice chest to keep things cold until I get set up to camp as I have not yet installed any sort of serperator or isolator to connected the trucks charging system to the campers battery.

I also bought some LED spot lights to replace the rear ones but need to modify the mounting brackets to get those installed. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009ES619S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[norcalhusky]

Some other simple things I have done include some Quick Fists to hold my axe, a paper towel holder, and a temperature gauge with a remote sensor so I can see how much warmer I am inside the cozy camper

One of the best quick and easy things I have done so far is replace the front window curtain rod with a compression type that is inside the window frame. The old one stuck the curtain out a inch or two and had a nasty sharp bracket behind the dinnete's seat that was annoying to try and lean back against. Even though the pics are kind of dark you can also kind of see the recovered seats that my girlfriend did for me to get rid of the camp ones that were in there. They are actually a nice royal blue that goes well with the other blues already in the camper.

On the outside I mounted a CB antennae to the jack bracket as well

 

[norcalhusky]

Aside from the fun stuff I also have managed to do some damage.... I think the damage on the door was from leaning against it with a ladder, though I didn't notice until some random day. Im not sure how the break in the aluminum happened above the front window. I hope the frame isn't broken underneath as well...

 

[norcalhusky]

The rear seat of my F150 was great for people, but I rarely have more than one other person in my truck and always have my dog. I decided to remove the rear seat and build a platform for my dog to hang out on and also gain some storage room in the cab.

I plan to add some MOLLE type webbing or something to the backboard so I can attach some storage bags to it. I currently have a few bags hanging from the child seat loop things that works well.

 

[norcalhusky]

And finally some random pictures....