# Maiden Voyage "light"



## sjredburn (Oct 18, 2006)

Our SOB 23RS has been neglected since purchase last month due to Christmas obligations but we finally had a chance to test her out this weekend at O'Neill Regional Park, here in Orange County, CA. It was a grueling 10 mile drive so we could walk home if things got really bad -







a reasonable consideration since we were trailer camping virgins.

We already knew that one of our roof vents had been installed backwards so we needed to see if we missed anything else before returning to the dealer. The setup, system checks, cooking etc all went well and we were pleased. It wasn't until the lights dimmed around nine o'clock that we realized all was not well. I guess it was an omen when our camera batteries died attempting to take the first "camping" picture of our rig. We switched to our battery lantern and canceled the shower test to save power but awoke in the morning to a dead battery and a chilly trailer interior. Fortunately the stove works fine without power so a hot breakfast helped warm us up!

Closer inspection of the battery revealed that the dealer had installed a marine "cranking" model instead of a deep cycle one. Our bad...we should have caught this...now we have an excuse to upgrade to dual 6V batteries as we plan on more dry camping than hookup camping.

Overall it was a positive learning experience and we can't wait to venture out in '07.

Stacey & Judy R
'07 Maxlite 23RS
Days (trailer) camped in 2006 - one!


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

Hi Stacey and Judy









Glad you finally got to get out and go camping








I'm sure losing power was no fun...Did you only have one battery or two? 
I can't believe that your dealer gave you a cranking battery instead of a deep cycle...that's pretty lame







I would march right back over there and demand a pair of deep cycle batteries that you can use until you do decide to do the 6v upgrade. It would be the least they could do to make up for your cold and dark first night out.

How did you like O'Neill Regional Park? Did you stay at the Arroyo Campground? We haven't been there yet and it would be great to have a first hand review of the place.
Nice that it was so close to home for your first trip...

Keep us posted and Happy Camping,
Dawn


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## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

Glad to hear you finally had a chance to get out and test things out
Bummer to hear about the installation of the wrong battery but glad you caught it
And execellent choice in planning to switch over to dual 6 volt batteries

Don


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

Its good to find an excuse to upgrade!!!!


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Any Mod is a good mod!


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## campmg (Dec 24, 2005)

Glad you survived the first trip. Now go have that dealer take care of your warranty work.


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## sjredburn (Oct 18, 2006)

> How did you like O'Neill Regional Park? Did you stay at the Arroyo Campground? We haven't been there yet and it would be great to have a first hand review of the place.
> Nice that it was so close to home for your first trip...


Dawn,

Yes, we were in the Arroyo campground. O'Neill was perfect for a test run and our dogs loved it too (we decided to postpone visiting the location we discussed this time). Plenty of hiking trails and even though it's by the road and close to civilization you would never know it. We had a great choice of sites and got a shady 80' pull through with water although we wished the sun was hitting the trailer in the morning as it was COLD and we were powerless. Oh well, no different that the tent camping but if a Honda generator salesman had knocked on our door that morning he would have had an instant sale! My wife is less eager than I to go the expensive upgrade road but this experience opened her eyes to the limitations of a single small battery on a long cold winter night. Good thing we didn't take our new rig with us to Yosemite over Christmas!

A couple of notes - we loved the real mattress that came with our Maxlite - no foam topper needed there - but the thinner walls (1&1/2" vs 2" in the Outback) didn't hold in the heat very well. Also, without power the electric rear slide becomes an issue when getting ready to leave. Score another for Outback.

Everything else went smoothly but our dealer has got some explaining to do...and I've got some shopping to do (the Interstate RV/marine cranking battery will go in my boat). Any suggestions on where to get a good price on 6V batteries in So Cal? I hear dual Trojan T-105s will fit and come highly recommended.

Can't wait for the next trip...we hope to be RV veterans in time for the Zion rally!

Cheers,

Stacey


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## Herkdoctor (Dec 27, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your battery problems, Let me know how the upgrade goes. I was thinking about doing that as my first mod as well.

Scott


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

Glad to hear you had a chance to get out & camp in your new camper







It is the only real test to see how things are working......... or not.










Tami


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Stacey and Judy,

Glad to hear your maiden voyage was mostly successful!








It's also always good to hear that Gilligan moonlights for the SOB manufacturers as well!









Happy Trails,
Doug


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## old_tidefan (Nov 23, 2005)

Your first one actually sounded a lot smoother than ours did









Glad you had a good time


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Enjoyed your post..........never heard of anyone referring to themselves as "camping virgins" before!








Stacey and Judy,
First rule of thumb when going camping is to expect the unexpected!! Never fails on a trip, that something "unexpected" will happen, but I keep plugging on......maybe I love the challenge....who knows?







At any rate, ANY camping trip's better than none, and all of them are adventures. Some adventures are just better than others.
Secret is to not let your feathers get ruffled when the "unexpected" happens and just go with the flow. Besides, who knew that I was trying to fill the black tank to rinse it today, and it never filled up because I left the valve open when I dumped it, besides me??






















Good luck!!
Darlene


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Could have been worse...a dead battery isn't that bad.

Surprised you didn't camp a few nights in the driveway. This is a great way to find those pesky "first time out" problems.


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## Scott and Jamie (Aug 27, 2006)

Sorry your first trip out was a SOB









Just kidding, we had the same problem with our first sob. On the the first trip out dry camping we found out that the battery was about 2/3 full from the deal/factory. Hope everthing else goes great and happy camping.

Scott


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## Sluggo54 (Jun 15, 2005)

> Everything else went smoothly but our dealer has got some explaining to do...and I've got some shopping to do (the Interstate RV/marine cranking battery will go in my boat). Any suggestions on where to get a good price on 6V batteries in So Cal? I hear dual Trojan T-105s will fit and come highly recommended.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Stacey


Stacey, when I was ready for this mod - pretty early, as we were headed for boondocking next door to the Rawah Wilderness - I just went to the mfr's site and looked at their dealer locator. Got a very decent price from Battery Systems. There are locations in SoCal, too, on the list areferenced below. Seems like we paid $78-$88 ea, somewhere in there -

http://www.trojan-battery.com/Internationa...United%20States

Good luck; you'll love'em. While you're spending the bucks, get that gennie and a smart charger to keep them up for extended periods. This one works great, and by careful shopping I found it somewhere - don't remember where, right now - for around $75.

Sluggo


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

This is where I bought mine. T-105's for $79 each. It's a hole in the wall kind of place, but boy do they know their stuff!

Powertron Battery Co. 
2218 W. 2nd 
Santa Ana, CA 92703 
[email protected] 
(714) 543-4858 
Call: (800) 400-4858 
Fax: (714) 543-9211

HOURS: 
Monday-Friday 8:00am to 5:30 Saturday 10:00 to 1:00pm Closed Sunday


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

California Jim said:


> This is where I bought mine. T-105's for $79 each. It's a hole in the wall kind of place, but boy do they know their stuff!
> 
> Powertron Battery Co.
> 2218 W. 2nd
> ...


That's great to know Jim, that's probably only about 6 miles from our house








Now if I could come up with a good enough reason to switch over to 6V


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

Stacey R said:


> Our SOB 23RS has been neglected since purchase last month due to Christmas obligations but we finally had a chance to test her out this weekend at O'Neill Regional Park, here in Orange County, CA. It was a grueling 10 mile drive so we could walk home if things got really bad -
> 
> 
> 
> ...


One question, what was you trying to run off of the battery that they died so fast? You could have ran the Fridge on gas and also the water heater. The biggest killer would be heating and/or AC. The blower for the heater takes 5 - 8 amps of power, so it can pull down the battery fast. As far as the Battery, I agree the dealer needs to replace it with a Deep Cycle battery. As far as using 2 - 6V batteries, do a web search on Deep cycle battery. The best way to go is two TRUE 12V deep cycle batteries. A true Deep Cycle has solid lead plates that won't break down easily and will hold more of a charge. The advantage is if you have problems with one battery, you still have the other one to fall back on. If you loss one of the 6V batteries, guess what, you only have 6V left and things won't run. Disadvantage is they are expensive and heavier than normal batteries. Here is a good explaination. http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_F...cle%20Batteries. Otherwise, have fun camping, even if it does get dark on you. I know we have enjoyed our 5er this last year and everytime we walk into the Outback, we can't believe that we accually own it (or at least the bank is letting us use it).


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## sjredburn (Oct 18, 2006)

> One question, what was you trying to run off of the battery that they died so fast? You could have ran the Fridge on gas and also the water heater. The biggest killer would be heating and/or AC. The blower for the heater takes 5 - 8 amps of power, so it can pull down the battery fast.


Yes, I think it was the frequent cycling of heater blower that drained our lone 24M "cranking" battery. It was in the 40s and dropping outside. We had the fridge and water heater on gas and tried to use the lights sparingly but it gets dark at 5pm so that didn't help. For cost reasons we'll go with dual 6V even if I have to get the Costco Johnson Controls made brand for $61 each. The cheapest I've found the Trojan T-105s locally so far is $106-$110 at Battery Systems. I'll certainly call the store Jim suggested about first but I've heard the prices have risen a lot lately.

Thanks all for the great tips! We've still got a lot to learn about 12V systems but we'll be better prepared for our next boondock expedition!

Stacey


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## outbackinMT (Oct 7, 2006)

Oregon_Camper said:


> Could have been worse...a dead battery isn't that bad.
> 
> Surprised you didn't camp a few nights in the driveway. This is a great way to find those pesky "first time out" problems.


That's exactly what we did--first test in the driveway--make sure everything works and everybody is comfortable before going too far!! Good thing you were only 10 miles from home.

Happy Camping!

Brenda


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## sjredburn (Oct 18, 2006)

> This is where I bought mine. T-105's for $79 each. It's a hole in the wall kind of place, but boy do they know their stuff!


Powertron is $85 now but I'm not complaining since that's much better than the others. Looks like our rig will have two new Trojan 6V batteries by the weekend thanks to California Jim!

They'll get their first test at the Orange Crush Flyball (dog racing







) Tournament we are putting on in Irvine in two weeks. Our trailer will be the Friday and Saturday night security HQ for several of our members who froze in tents last year. Come on down and say hi!









Stacey


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Sweet! And glad to hear they haven't gone up too much.









One last note about cables. Do yourself a favor and go to Pep-Boys or where ever and get nice heavy guage battery cables to:

1. Jump across the batteries (+ to -) to wire them in series.
2. Possibly replace the substandard ground wire to the frame.

When buying the cables tell them you want "Terminal to Terminal" cables, and they will have nice eyeholes on each end instead of battery connectors.

On my rig the jumper was way too light of a guage, and also the factory ground wire was also too light for my liking. The hot (+) wire that goes to the camper was OK so I left it alone.

Congrats and good luck


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## Yianni (Aug 30, 2006)

Stacey,
If your Maxx Lite has a Dometic fridge, Check the condesation switch and see if its on. This is a hidden battery drainer you only need to turn on if you are getting water droplets in the fridge. When left on its a constant drain. Open your freezer door and look up for the switch. We lost all power on our 2nd trip and it was no fun without the heater. I switched over to dual 6v and on last 4 day trip they were still reading 2 thirds full when we left.
Good luck and we'll see you at Zion.

Lou


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## sjredburn (Oct 18, 2006)

> If your Maxx Lite has a Dometic fridge, Check the condesation switch and see if its on. This is a hidden battery drainer you only need to turn on if you are getting water droplets in the fridge. When left on its a constant drain. Open your freezer door and look up for the switch. We lost all power on our 2nd trip and it was no fun without the heater. I switched over to dual 6v and on last 4 day trip they were still reading 2 thirds full when we left.


Thanks Lou. I'll check that out. Our trailer is now at the dealer to get the backwards installed roof vent replaced by our new SHURflo Platinum vent/fan. We picked up the new Trojan 6V batteries today and a maintenance charger to keep them topped off so we'll be ready to roll soon!

California Jim: You were right, the guys at Powertron REALLY know their stuff. Nice old school honest folks!
Thanks for the tip.









Stacey


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Stacey R said:


> California Jim: You were right, the guys at Powertron REALLY know their stuff. Nice old school honest folks!
> Thanks for the tip.
> 
> 
> ...


Far and too few between aint they? Glad it worked out for you


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