What do you do in your 320CSS

Kentsb

I have several questions to learn how others do things.

1. where do you put the lagoon table when putting the bed up?
2. How do you lock the propane/battery compartment?
3. Is going to two 6 volt batteries dramatically better than the single 12? We have solar.
4. Do you find the hum of the refrigerator distracting. 

Pretty sure I will have more questions later.

Sharon_is_SAM

1.  We travel with the bed set up as we hang out in our side tent.  If we take the Lagun table with us, it stores under the bed or we attach it to the exterior mount inside the tent.

2.  We do not lock the propane/battery tub.  Out tub sits about 4-5 inches away from the side of the camper, so there is no point.  We store at a secured facility, so not necessary.  When at a campground, it would be nearly impossible to remove our 100# battery sitting tightly inside a custom box.  If someone lifts our cheap propane tank, well, they probably need it more than us😊

3.  It really depends on where and how you camp, how many amps you use daily and how reliably you can recharge. If you camp in sunny weather, you can get by with a 100 amp battery and your solar.  If you want a greater margin, go with the 6 volts as they will give you about 120 amps before you need to recharge.  

4.  Can’t answer about the frig.  We have an ARB instead of the 2 way frig.  It does cycle infrequently and can be heard, but it is not typically noticeable.

elbereth

1.  We do the same as @Sharon_is_SAM and leave the bed made up.  We so rarely sat inside that it was just a pain to set up and take down, especially with the topper.  So the Lagun table stays home, and we bring a small camp table for eating.

2.  No lock - I have heard that this may be code? of some sort because the propane is in there and there would be a need to access it quickly if there were a leak or a fire?  (As I type that, though, to be fair the window in which that quick access would make a difference is so narrow I’d be using it to run away...)

3.  Love our dual 6V setup as we can get away for a 3 day weekend without having to worry about how much sunlight we’ll have hit the solar panels.  Our stock single battery was 84 Ah (so about 42 Ah usable), now we have 235 Ah (117 Ah usable) which is more than plenty. 

4.  We have the Norcold fridge, and we definitely do hear the fridge cycling on and off.  You can reduce the amount of time it’s running overnight by turning the temp down to 1 (which is more than plenty for us anyways, it still often freezes stuff on the back of the top shelf!), and keeping 4 frozen 20oz water bottles in the freezer compartment to help keep things cool.  With the water bottle trick, you can probably get away with even turning it off overnight while it’s cooler outside.

Verna

2. No lock on the propane tub because of laws requiring easy access to turn off propane in an emergency for first responders to access the propane tanks.

(Also, some tunnels in the US require the propane tanks to be turned off while in the tunnels.)

pthomas745

There is no law about locking the propane tub.  I installed a hasp, and I use it.  Why would I leave a 200 dollar battery and a 200 dollar Victron, my solar controller, and propane tank.......completely free to take?

The tub is pretty flimsy, though, and I could probably rip the hasp and the lock off with one hand, however!

Kentsb

pthomas745 said:

There is no law about locking the propane tub.  I installed a hasp, and I use it.  Why would I leave a 200 dollar battery and a 200 dollar Victron, my solar controller, and propane tank.......completely free to take?

The tub is pretty flimsy, though, and I could probably rip the hasp and the lock off with one hand, however!

Do you have the plastic tub or the new diamond plate?

Verna

Well, this is a link for the propane “laws” from 1998 that I found by googling.  It’s a bit hard to read on even the iPhone. The reference was made that the “do not lock” propane storage is in this document.   https://www.nfpa.org/Assets/files/AboutTheCodes/58/58-98-PDF.pdf

pthomas745

We posted that link to the NFPA in several other threads on this subject. 

@Kentsb I have the diamond plate tub.

gulfarea

I installed a very loud alarm system in the T@B side door, propane locker,and the 2 front tool boxes. Art 

Kentsb

gulfarea said:

I installed a very loud alarm system in the T@B side door, propane locker,and the 2 front tool boxes. Art 

Art,

Can you give me the details on what alarms you installed?

Thanks

gulfarea

Kentsb I can send you that info by e-mail as putting out the electrical schematic on the web would not be a good idea as some bad folks could stay up all night trying to find ways to disable it. One thing I will tell is that I keep the tong jack all the way down so to steal it the tong must be lifted and my tilt switch will make the alarm go off. The mercury tilt switch can be mounted anywhere. Art

Kentsb

Art, I would welcome the info via email.

gulfarea

Kentsb how do I send you a message?  Can you send me a private message Art

Kentsb

I don’t see a way to private message someone on this forum.

Denny16

Tap the person’s avatar and you will see message icon in the top right hand corner, and an open message window at the bottom.
cheers

Sharon_is_SAM

@Kentsb - follow Denny’s direction, or use this link to access Art’s PM.

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/messages/add/gulfarea

Kentsb

Thanks to all I got it.

Denny16

The title question on this thread is What do you Do inside your TaB320CSS?

Then follows with question on How to do things...
To answer the original question, eat, sleep and wash up are a given...
cheers

BrianZ

@Kentsb,

1.  We pull the table top off, then the L-shaped support, and lay both on the floor under the bed.

2.  I replaced the tub latch with one that is lockable..
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0011G6DP8

3.  Yes. A battery with more Amp-Hours will help to get through cloudy/shady days with less solar, whether that's two 6V or a larger 12V.  We got a single 12V 150AH golf cart battery that fits in a group 27 battery box in our tub (with modification for a new tray to hold it).

4.  I've never noticed any hum from our Norcold frig.

ColleenD2

We have a U but does the seat on the passenger side under the window open? Ours fits in there easily.

2Cougs

@Kentsb - Welcome!!!  This is our 4th season T@bbing, and tweak things a bit each season.

1. We don't have the lagoon table, just the large table that makes the platform for the bed ... and we keep the bed up most of the time.  I am in the process of measuring to split the cushions so I can roll the memory foam and bedding up and strap to the back wall so we can more easily put the table up when needed (torrential rain or wind, too many mosquitoes, those few times you wish you could)

2. We don't lock the propane/battery compartment... and our solar panels are not very obvious (on top of tow vehicle)

3. No opinion on batteries.  We have solar for boondocking as DH has a Cpap.  Solar tops us off fine (thanks @AldebaranJill !!!).  Just camped 4 nights with no hookups and filtered sun, and had plenty of power (when boondocking we don't use refrigerator, fans, etc... save it for the Cpap)

4. In the beginning I did find the hum of the refrigerator distracting as I am the one who sleeps against the wall, and in a CS-S, that is where the fridge is.  We switched to putting our heads on the driver side, and now it is not an issue.

Good luck... and enjoy your t@bventures!