Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => Power Equipment & RV => Topic started by: crnbndr on February 07, 2012, 08:05:04 AM

Title: 4 season camper?
Post by: crnbndr on February 07, 2012, 08:05:04 AM: Hi Guys
I have a Lance camper. Like it ok, But it tends to want to freeze up fast. I don't like to run the heater all day long while out hunting. Then spend a couple hours running the Gen to recharge every night. Is there a better camper out there. I could stick to the wall tent, but my back is getting worse and I like the bed in my camper,
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: bobcat on February 07, 2012, 08:07:11 AM: Look at Arctic Fox. Spendy but made for cold weather.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: high country on February 07, 2012, 08:09:51 AM: You are gonna have to run them all during the day if its super cold.....just the nature of the game. How old is your lance, and which model? My fil has a newer one and camps all year in it.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: crnbndr on February 07, 2012, 08:30:07 AM: 2010, Model 850
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: KimberRich on February 07, 2012, 09:34:29 AM: I have a 2002 Lance 845 and my heater has duct work that dumps into the space around my holding tanks, under my sink onto the piping, and throughout the voids under and around the camper. I've yet to have it freeze up but I think the coldest weather I've used it in is roughly 20 deg.

I leave the thermostat set at 50 so it kicks on periodically but doesn't run all day. A good thing to maybe look into is solar panels. I have 3 on top of my camper and even on cloudy days, it keeps the battery at a full charge all the time. Obv. if it's snowing out and covering them up they are going to be no good though.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: 6x6in6 on February 07, 2012, 10:31:45 AM: Do you leave the camper on the truck or take it off?
Leaving it on the truck helps a lot. Keeps the wind from hitting the water tank area directly.
Any of the exterior doors on the camper will probably leak air around the weatherstripping. Clear packing tape works really well to stop the drafts from these leaks.
Leave your thermostat set to the lowest setting. Open your bathroom door and the cabinet doors under the sinks.
I never froze up my Lance 815 or my present Arctic Fox 990. Both have seen sub-zero hunting season temps.
You should not need to run your generator every day to recharge your batteries. At the very coldest of days, I'm every other day. More often than not, it's every 3 days. Run only the minimal amount of lights needed. Change all of your light bulbs out to LED's.
Consider a solar panel. Your camper is probably pre-wired for it to the roof top. I have one on my AF 990. Best thing I ever did was install that.
Run some good quality AGM batteries, or if they will fit in your battery location, 6V's.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: Buckmark on February 07, 2012, 11:19:00 AM: Try a small kerosene heater, the smaller square ones, will run all day, no moisture, leave a window cracked and your set while you are gone...
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: crnbndr on February 07, 2012, 12:55:23 PM: I have looked into solar panels, but can't figure out how much panel I need. Are they fragile? I take my camper into areas that the trees tend to rub on top of the camper while driving. When it is cold out I leave the camper on the truck.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: KFhunter on February 07, 2012, 01:02:53 PM: lot of useful stuff here, I like these stickys they did
look thru the stickys you'll find a project or 12 you'd like to do. The basement mods might be more than your looking to do yourself, but he's got a 4 season camper better than new and its a lance

this is my go to site for anything RV
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24581263.cfm (http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/24581263.cfm)
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: 6x6in6 on February 07, 2012, 01:18:44 PM: Quote from: crnbndr on February 07, 2012, 12:55:23 PM
I have looked into solar panels, but can't figure out how much panel I need. Are they fragile? I take my camper into areas that the trees tend to rub on top of the camper while driving. When it is cold out I leave the camper on the truck.
I'll look up the specs on my panel tonight when I get home. It's about 2' wide and 4' long. I'll get the charging details out of the specs.
All I do as dry camp. I drag that camper into places where many would never dream of taking a slide-in camper. Through trees, rough roads, the works. The horses in the trailer hate me sometimes. :chuckle:
Not a single issue with the panel. I've had chunks of branches hang up on it and had to pull them out from under it but it has never broken or pulled the mounts out for the unit or the roof. I'll check and I'm not a 100% certain of this put I believe the "glass" in mine is actually lexan.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: cohoho on February 08, 2012, 10:51:42 AM: Used to snowmobile out of my Bigfoot camper and never had it freeze up in -10 temps. Of course we would drain all water systems during these time frames and utilize five gallon jugs for water and clean up with drains running back into a five gallong bucket for ease of disposal. I knew of folks that would run their with full service and not have any issues, but they must be rendered as soon as the trip is over. Lots of RV antifreeze... 6 or 7 jugs a year I would put into it to ensure tanks, pipes, etc, didn't burst..
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: rasbo on February 08, 2012, 11:08:11 AM: not sure why you wont run the generater all day,just a thought my generater will run 11 hrs on one gallon of fuel,I cable it to a tree ..no worries about anything.I keep the temp at 68 inside while Im away in the cold..
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on February 08, 2012, 09:29:52 PM: We had an elkhorn that wasn't setup for cold, but we changed the routing of the plumbing, cut some holes to allow heat to get around the pipes, and added an emergency access panel to get to the water tank in case it did freeze up. When in Montana when it was -15F, we ran a catalytic heater inside all day (no draw on the battery, but it does cause some moisture). We also added cardboard to all windows and vents, to keep as much heat inside as possible. It worked OK, but we did have the sewer line freeze up.

We sold that camper and got a Bighorn, haven't had it that cold yet but have come to the conclusion that we'll run the heater all day long and will be forced to run the generator at night.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: kenzmad on February 08, 2012, 09:38:27 PM: I have an '06 S&S Montana ponderosa 9.5fbsc. no issues with freezing up. I do run the genny all day if I have to to allow the furnace to keep the pipes warm. think about how much genny fuel you can buy for the cost difference between the selling price of yours vs. the purchase price of another
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: Bearhunter on February 09, 2012, 09:50:31 AM: Ive got a 2005 860 Arctic fox Silver wing edition. It does great in cold weather, I leave my furnance thermostat set as low as it will go around 50 degrees and it kicks on every so often and blows air threw the basement and all the water and holding tanks stay nice and warm, they are very well insulated and did two trips to Eastern MT in it this last year and had no problems freezing! Its up on Seattle craigslist if you want to see pics of it.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: unluckyjohn on February 12, 2012, 03:34:07 PM: bought my artic fox trailer from sumner RV back in 05. best dealer around, no one can give you a better deal and the customer service is the best. I have no connection to them, I'm just very happy with what they did for me. that's if you are thinking about an all season rig for the best deal. :twocents:
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: norsepeak on February 12, 2012, 04:31:45 PM: I've got the 11.5 arctic fox, haven't had it real cold weather, but just set the furnace low and run the generator some, although I like to charge the batteries with the truck running because the generater is only charging at something like 1.5amps/hour. It seems to be well insulated though and the heated tanks and plumbing are a big plus.
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: crnbndr on February 13, 2012, 11:37:02 AM: Nice outfit Norsepeak! Don't forget to hook up your tiedowns before you leave. :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Title: Re: 4 season camper?
Post by: washelkhunter on February 22, 2012, 11:02:25 PM: JUst pack your water in jugs and run dry. You can heat water on your stove top.