Project Choose Your Own Adventure

[ScottyB]

I mean you have to think 10 gauge extension cord really holds 3 10 gauge single wires in it so it would still be pretty thick.

oh yeah, it didn't click in my brain that Chris was talking about an extension cord. 3 different 10ga wires would be a yuge cable.

It's definitely 10 gauge, so maybe the sheathing is *really* heavy - it's almost as thick as one of my fat fingers. We get a lot of wind storms in Seattle and losing power for days isn't uncommon (none of our lines are buried), so I wanted to be able to run a line from my backyard to an oil filled radiator and maybe 1-2 other things in a common sleeping area. The generator is 3300 continuous (4000 surge) and the heater is 1500 watts. We actually put a 30 amp circuit in our house because this thing kept flipping 15 amp breakers. Of course, our house hasn't lost power since I bought the generator 3-4 years ago. Guess it's doing its job.

i can't blame you for wanting back up power out there. between natural disasters, and the weather you get i think its smart. what brand did you go with?

Maybe I missed it, but how are you charging the battery beyond solar? Do you have a plug/play input? As in, do you just run a cord from your house and plug it into something to charge the battery? Or is more complicated than that? What if you're at a campsite with power? Do you power the strip directly or run it through the battery first? I'm interested from a HOLY SHIT EARTHQUAKE 12.7 IN SEATTLE perspective. Emergency officials in the area are recommending people be prepared to live on their own for at least a week. I'm curious what I could rig up in a pinch.

I bet you could stash away a really small generator if you were going on longer trip away from power. It's not ideal, but medical stuff is medical stuff and Honda makes some wicked quiet small generators these days.

It would be cool if there was a regenerative braking kit you could slap on the thing. Then your battery would always be charged when you got to wherever you were going.

battery is charged from an onboard battery tender that just hooks up to normal 120v power (you can see a picture on page 10). there's a marine-rated power receptacle on the side of the tongue box (where the battery and electronics live) where you can just hook an extension cord up. the plan is that the battery just stays topped up at home and that will have it ready for a couple days when we get to camp. most campgrounds have power, and we won't use enough to outrun how quickly the tender can keep it topped off. that said, if the campground doesn't have power to hook up to (many places on the blue ridge parkway don't), we'll have an onboard 100w rigid solar panel that will constantly supply enough power for our needs too.

alot of guys run a 7-prong trailer hookup from the car to the trailer which can be wired to charge the camper batteries from your car battery while you drive. i like the idea, but since we have a solar panel onboard anyway, we'll just let it keep the battery topped off as we drive.

we'll have to see how the battery power works out on the first couple trips. everything looks good on paper but we may need a little generator after all, or maybe a larger battery. they also make travel-specific APAPs that are super tiny and efficient but the expense may not be worth it.