Log T@bin home, reined up and ready to travel (somewhere)

Rickdesign

Hooked it up, checked the water, the Alde system, (worst. Instructions. ever.) un-winterized it. Have no idea how to re-introduce pink anti-freeze. Will figure out this fall. Hope to go on a shake-down cruise soon.

SunnyTAB

Lookin' good. Log T@bin - genius!

Wanderoo

Hi, Rickdesign -- Welcome home to your new T@B!  I understand your insecurity in figuring out the Alde, but it really is a great heating/water system.  I am a girl with no mechanical knowledge, and I have been learning through this Forum and by super studying the Alde manual and trying to understand "how things work."  My Alde works great and I love it.  Yes, this fall we will all learn together how to re-winterize our Alde systems.  This is my first season with my 2014 T@B S.  I am just taking it one step at a time until I figure it all out. ;;)

DurangoTaB

Beth...we took our T@B on her first boondocker as well (at 8,000ft.), INCLUDING the shower (the Alde propane water heat worked great). We did see a pretty quick drop in voltage (our 80watt Zamp was hooked up, but it was pretty cloudy), from 12.7 when we set up camp to 12.2 by bedtime (1hr of video TV), a little water pumping). But the 12.2volts held through the night and breakfast so we can't complain. I do think I'll invest in a better battery for future boondocking (many thanks to Verna for her commets). Our dealer was a marine/RV guy, and they put in a 56Ah marine/RV battery. The fridge on propane worked great...almost too great! It cooled to 45 by bedtime, and even on "2" ovrnight, cooled to 32 by the morning...and VERY quiet. There was a very slight "burnt" odor when it first lit up, but I wrote that off to "new" smell burnoff and it went away.

Wanderoo

Hey, DurangoT@B -- Oh-h-h, so glad to hear the Alde propane shower works good while boondocking!!!  If I had stayed for one more night, I would have schlepped water to fill up my tank and tried it out.  When my current battery needs to be replaced, I'll look at getting something like Verna did -- didn't she get an AGM battery?  Are you going to replace yours before it's time?  I think my battery is exactly like yours, a Deka 24V deep cycle.  I do like my 80w Zamp, and as long as a person can get sunshine every other day, I think it's adequate for the stretches I intend to boondock.

Glad to hear you had fun at 8,000 feet and your fridge worked great!  Now, if I could just figure out how to get cell phone service via a 12V hook-up . . . ha!  

[-O<

radren

Hi Wanderoo,

Old RV people are ALL telling me that the best battery set up is 2 golf cart batteries. (2) 6 volt batteries rather than one 12 volt. I know my T@Baby will come with the battery it has now but I am seriously going to check out what they are ALL saying about this kind of set up being the best for long term power. I am curious, why can't you get cell phone service via a 12 V hook up?

Verna

Wanderoo said:

Hey, DurangoT@B -- Oh-h-h, so glad to hear the Alde propane shower works good while boondocking!!!  If I had stayed for one more night, I would have schlepped water to fill up my tank and tried it out.  When my current battery needs to be replaced, I'll look at getting something like Verna did -- didn't she get an AGM battery?  Are you going to replace yours before it's time?  I think my battery is exactly like yours, a Deka 24V deep cycle.  I do like my 80w Zamp, and as long as a person can get sunshine every other day, I think it's adequate for the stretches I intend to boondock.

Glad to hear you had fun at 8,000 feet and your fridge worked great!  Now, if I could just figure out how to get cell phone service via a 12V hook-up . . . ha!  

[-O<

Beth, the name brand of my battery is "Interstate" and it is 100 ah (amp hours).  The AGM means that it is suitable for an inside location meaning that it doesn't need to be vented to the outside.  If your battery is on the tongue, then you don't need to pay extra for the AGM battery--believe me, it does cost more.  My battery is in the galley, under the counter, so it must be an AGM battery.  According to John at Zamp Solar, anything over 100 ah is overkill for the 80 watt Zamp Solar Panel.

Rickdesign

Meanwhile, back at the original topic...

Wanderoo

Thanks, Verna!  That makes sense to me.

Wanderoo

Radren -- I have Verizon Wireless service, and there was NO service available where I was camping.  I wish I could just plug in to my 12V outlet and get cell service ANYWHERE.  Maybe in the future, huh?  Funny thing, though, I could pull in a Colorado Springs television channel with my Rayzer Winegard antenna.