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Four Jeffery Campground, Eastern Sierra

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Four Jeffery Campground, Eastern Sierra
September 18th – 22nd, 2023 (4 nights)

While looking for somewhere cool to go (as California was experiencing very warm weather), I did a Google search for towns in California with the highest elevations (figuring higher altitudes would mean lower summer temperatures).  Jumping out at number 3 on the list (8,500 ft. elevation), the small town of Aspendell (pop. 100) stood out as a great place to go.  It’s easy to get to (only a 25 minute drive up into the mountains from Bishop) and has stunning scenery, excellent campgrounds, magnificent hikes with beautiful lakes, trout fishing, boating, horseback riding, and some great places to eat.  We had never heard of this location before, but it turned out to be one of our all-time favorite places we have ever visited!  We chose to stay at Four Jeffrey Campground.

The drive from our home in Carlsbad, California to Four Jeffrey Campground is about six hours straight.  However, we chose to break it up by spending the weekend in Los Angeles with family.  It took us about four and a half hours to drive to the campground from Los Angeles.  The drive goes up Highway 14 through Mojave and surrounding desert communities and then up Highway 395 past Lone Pine, Independence, Big Pine, and finally to Bishop.  We stopped in Lone Pine on the way up to eat lunch at the Alabama Hills Café (the burgers are great as are their homemade pies).  https://www.alabamahillscafe.com/  Note:  we spent a week camping up in the Alabama Hills on a previous trip which we really enjoyed.  We stopped in Bishop for gas and an RV dump (free if you fill up there, otherwise a monetary donation is requested) at Speedway Bishop. From Bishop, it’s about a twenty five minute drive up into the mountains on Highway 168.  There are many campgrounds in the area, but the biggest is Four Jeffrey Campground which has water spigots, an RV dump (free if staying at the campground, otherwise $10) as well as flush toilets.

Four Jeffrey Campground is spectacular, featuring stunning views across the Eastern Sierra.  There was snow in the mountains even in late September due to the high elevation (Four Jeffrey Campground is at 8,300 feet elevation).  We stayed in two campsites alongside Bishop Creek ($30/night, note:  America the Beautiful Senior Passes (age 62 or older) are accepted for half priced camping @$15/night)  – we were at campsite #10 the first night and then moved over to campsite #8 the next couple of nights.  When talking to regulars, we learned campsite #8 is a favorite.  There are a couple of campsites right across from campsite #8 which can accommodate large trailers.  There’s almost no internet service here (we encountered 1 bar on Verizon in certain areas when walking around the campground).  However, there is a short 10 minute hike up a utility service access road across the street from the campground which leads to a spectacular view over the valley and has about 4 bars on Verizon.

We felt like we were in the mountains of Switzerland while camping at Four Jeffrey Campground.  The air was crisp and cool (60’s during the day and 30’s/40’s at night).  The campground is in a valley surround by high mountains.  The evenings were filled with dark skies and brilliant stars (although we were also gifted a dramatic thunder and lightning show one night!).  We had fun spending one night outdoors photographing the stars and Milky Way (best seen in dark sky locations during the summer).  The South Fork of Bishop Creek runs through the campground and many of the campers brought their fishing rods and reeled in a lot of trout.  Everyone seemed very happy here.  The campground was not crowded during our stay, but perhaps that was because it was mid-week and the end of the tourist season in the Sierra.  It was cold at night and we ran our propane furnace to keep the Scamp warm inside.  We had a great hike from the Bishop Pass Trailhead past South Lake up to Long Lake.  The trail is clearly marked but somewhat difficult due to rocky and steep terrain.  There are many connected lakes and some people tent camp outdoors overnight when hiking to farther areas.  It took us a few hours round trip from South Lake to Long Lake and the hike was one of the most scenic hikes we have ever done.  The scenery of the lakes and mountains is stunning – seemingly untouched and unknown.  After our hike, we went to the Cardinal Café, in the small town of Aspendell, and had a tasty meal.    We also had a chance to take a horse / mule ride up to South Lake using the services of Rainbow Pack Outfitters ($100 per person for 2 hour ride at the time of this article).  The horses / mules are friendly and the guide was very good at getting us up on the animals and leading us along the trail (even beginners are welcome).  Rainbow offers longer trips as well as overnight trips into the backcountry.  We had such a great time up in this area of the Sierra, we didn’t want to leave.  There are enough activities that one could easily stay a week or longer.  And, for those without a travel trailer, Parcher Resort (adjacent to Rainbow Pack Outfitters) has cabins which can be rented.

Instead of driving straight back to San Diego, we stayed overnight at Red Rock Canyon State Park (about halfway to home).  We had camped here before and really enjoyed the area.  This campground is first come, first serve, but was easy for us to get a choice spot during the week when arriving around noon.  We chose site #29 ($25/night), which is one of the best campsites at the base of the bluffs.  There is plenty of room between campsites too.  There is a water spigot across from site #29.  The only cellphone service we found was at the visitor’s center, along with free WiFi, which is about a ¾ mile walk from site #29.  There is also a private RV dump across from the visitor’s center ($20).  The visitor’s center is stocked with some great souvenir values (we purchased a Red Rocks t-shirt and sweatshirt).

Red Rock Canyon State Park is true to its name, featuring brilliant red bluffs which are especially vibrant at sunrise.  There are trails that go up the bluffs, offering spectacular views of the surrounding desert.  It was around 85 degrees when we arrived, so we waited until sundown to hike.  The wind kicked up in the early evening, but didn’t exceed 30 mph and the gusts were minimal.  As we were getting ready to leave the next morning, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise (and the sounds and sights of two large owls perched on the bluffs directly above our Scamp 13’ hooting a friendly hello to start the day)!

We enjoyed this trip so much; we definitely plan to go back.  There is an area of free dispersed camping on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land, called the Buttermilks (between Bishop and Aspendell), which we were told are similar in their unusual rock formations to the Alabama Hills.  The Buttermilks access road was closed during our visit so we couldn’t check them out, but we plan to on a future trip!  The area acquired its “Buttermilks” name in the 1970’s when a dairy operated here, but the rock formations also look like piles of curdled buttermilk so the name stuck.

In a crown of jewels (camping areas of special parks offered in California), Four Jeffrey Campground and surrounding areas in the Eastern Sierra are hidden gems — few talk about and even fewer experience the magic of this place.  Highly recommended for the trip of a lifetime!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

 

Why & How I Easily Converted My Scamp Travel Trailer from a Lead Acid to Lithium Battery

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Why & How I Easily Converted My Scamp Travel Trailer from a Lead Acid to Lithium Battery

Why Switch?  The Benefits of Lithium Batteries
Our 2020 Scamp 13’ came with a wet lead acid battery (Northern brand Group 27 – est. capacity 67 -100 amp-hours) which was manufactured in June 2019.  [Note:  the term amp-hours (Ah) is a measure of battery capacity.  For example, a 100Ah 12-volt lithium battery can provide 100 amps to a 12-volt 100 amp device for one hour (after which time the battery would be completely depleted).  The same 100Ah battery could supply power for 4 hours to a 25 amp device (100/25=4).].  We find we use about 12 amp-hours per day (running LED lights, pumps, etc.) when boondocking (no electrical hookup), giving us about 8 days of power (100/12=8.3 days) if we don’t use any source to recharge the battery.

The lead acid battery is considered “wet” because it has liquid solution (battery acid) and requires monitoring levels.  If the liquid levels get too low, the battery can be damaged.  So, periodically, the plastic caps have to be opened on the top of the battery and distilled water added (other maintenance is also recommended on occasion such as periodic equalization and checking electrolytes – but, who does this?!!!).  These batteries can also off-gas hydrogen when charging, so they need to be vented to release the fumes (on a travel trailer, this means they are mounted outside on the trailer’s tongue).  The average lifespan of a lead acid battery is 3 – 5 years but can vary depending on the manufacturing process, the care it receives, and the conditions in which it operates (e.g. extreme heat may greatly reduce the life of the battery).  The figure of 1,000 charging cycles is often cited by manufacturers for this type of battery.

Our Scamp’s lead acid battery had served us adequately, although its limitations were apparent since day one.  First, lead acid batteries should not be discharged more than 50% (about 12.0V) or irreversible damage may occur.  So, effectively, only half of the lead acid battery’s capacity can be used (so the 100ah battery is equivalent to about 50ah)!  We needed to closely monitor the Scamp battery when using multiple appliances at night to make sure the voltage didn’t drop below 12.0 volts for too long. We spend a lot of time boondocking (without electric hookups) and the battery ran down fairly quickly (within two to three days of use running our LED lights, fan, water pump, shower pump, furnace, etc.).  Our 100 watt solar panels, though, had saved us on many occasions when hookups weren’t available by allowing us to charge the battery during the day in good weather.  The Scamp’s lead acid battery also had to be maintained periodically by filling it with distilled water (when levels were low).  Fortunately, our friend Phil helped us test and maintain the battery using distilled water and a kit to test electrolytes.

Our Scamp’s 2019 lead acid battery began to show its age this year.  At about four years old, it was nearing the end of the average lifespan for this type of battery.  We noticed that the full charge didn’t seem to last quite as long.  Instead of trying to milk it for a few more years, we decided it was time for a change.  We planned the switch to a lithium battery ahead of a big trip to the coastal California redwoods – knowing there would be long periods without electric hookups (under densely shaded heavy foliage in the forest which would limit solar charging).  Not wanting to deal with lead acid batteries any longer (or battery issues on our trip), I extensively researched lithium batteries.  The first thing I discovered is that modern RV lithium battery chemistry, LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate), is considered very safe (said to be the safest of the lithium battery types) and unlikely to catch fire (very different than other types).  They have a very low risk of overheating and catching fire due to their more stable cathode material and lower operating temperatures.  Additional benefits over lead acid batteries include increased capacity (about double lead acid batteries), faster charging (4 x faster), reduced weight (about ½ the weight), and longer lifetime (10 years or more — 2 to 3 times lead acid battery average lifespan).  Additionally, high quality LiFePO4 batteries have a built in BMS (battery management system) that protects the battery from overcharge, over-discharge, and short circuits.  Some even have a temperature controller to shut down charging when temperatures dip below freezing (which can damage LiFePO4 batteries).  After learning about these additional benefits in lithium battery chemistry, I was really motived to keep researching.

Trailer Converter & Wiring Compatibility
Before purchasing a lithium battery, I wanted to verify that I would be able to charge it safely with the Scamp’s Progressive Dynamics 45 amp 9245C converter (converts AC to DC 12V when hooked up to an AC outlet to run the Scamp 12V appliances, like lighting, and charging the Scamp battery) running through the trailer’s existing wiring (I was told by Scamp they used 12-gauge wire on 2020 models).  LiFePO4 lithium batteries generally require a charging voltage between 14.4 – 14.6V (higher than lead acid batteries).  So, the converter needs to be able to output this voltage for sufficient charging.  SOK Battery recommends 20 – 40 amps charging current (i.e. charging a 100ah battery at 20 amps will take it from 0 to 100% in five hours – very fast). However, I wasn’t too concerned about getting this many amps to the battery to charge it quickly because we generally stay at the campground at least 24 hours – so, slower charging would be acceptable.  So, the main questions I had were if the 12-gauge wire (rated for 20 amps — and there is a 20 amp fuse on the positive converter connection at the Scamp battery) would handle the current output by the 45 amp converter going to the battery (wouldn’t blow the 20 amp fuse at the battery) and if the converter could output a minimum of 14.4V.

I called Progressive Dynamics and spoke to a tech.  He told me that the PD9245C converter that our Scamp 13’ came with can charge lithium batteries with the optional pendant (sold separately here).  It’s a little box that plugs into the converter (less than $15 at the time I purchased) and has a button which allows the converter to output 14.4 volts in Boost mode (for four hours at a time when its button is pushed).  Otherwise, the converter won’t get up to the required minimum voltage (14.4V) to fully charge lithium batteries.  He also said that whatever current isn’t used in the trailer will be sent to the battery (potentially up to almost 45 amps!).  So, he strongly recommended changing the existing wiring going from the converter to the fuse box to the battery (both positive and negative wires) to 6-gauge wire.  He said that the 20 amp fuse at the battery would likely blow often if this wasn’t done.  Because our Scamp 13’ has a bathroom and the wires run behind it, the job would involve running the wire up to the refrigerator area in the front of the Scamp and then cutting a hole in the floor and running it under the front part of the trailer up to the battery.  I took a look under the bench seat where the converter is mounted and followed the wiring to the fuse box next to it (and removed the fuse box from the wall to look closely at the wiring) and then onto the side of the trailer by opening the side refrigerator panel.  From there, the wiring goes into the wall behind the bathroom and comes out the front of the Scamp through the front closet floor.  This didn’t seem like too difficult a job, so I ordered the copper 6-gauge wires, battery lugs, brackets, etc. ($271 altogether on Amazon at the time of my order).  Fortunately, all of the supplies I ordered were returnable, because, as you will read below, I ended up not using them!

Choosing A Brand
Once convinced our next Scamp battery would be a LifePo4 lithium battery, I shopped brands (and there are a ton of choices) and watched YouTube videos of experts taking apart these batteries to conduct extensive analysis on them to help distinguish between the high quality from the numerous poor quality batteries.  Here’s one such video that reviews a variety of Chinese brands.  After a couple of weeks of this type of research, I was able to identify some of the highest quality US and Chinese brands of LiFePO4 batteries.  I also called battery distributors carrying the best US and Chinese brands and asked about build quality and return rates between the batteries.  What I learned was that one of the leading Chinese made batteries, SOK Battery, is comparable in quality and return rates to one of the leading US brands but costing about half the price.  After doing this research, I purchased a 100ah SOK marine battery which has a battery management system (BMS, including low temperature charging shut-off) and Bluetooth.  This battery fits perfectly within the Group 27 plastic battery box that came with our Scamp 13’and sits outside at the front of the trailer near the hitch.  Many of the batteries I researched (including other SOK batteries) were too big to fit inside our existing battery box.  I ordered a marine battery version (water tight enclosure) because, although the battery goes inside a plastic battery box, the battery/battery box sits outside on the trailer’s tongue and is exposed to the elements.

I ordered the SOK 100ah marine battery with BMS and Bluetooth directly from the manufacturer’s website here, priced at $500 (free shipping) at the time of this article (in comparison, a decent new sealed 100ah AGM battery – an advance type of lead acid battery — cost between $200 and $300).  The SOK battery comes with a 7-year manufacturer warranty.  SOK ships to US customers from their US warehouse and I received the battery, which was well packaged in protective Styrofoam, in about five days.  The SOK marine battery is super clean looking in a nicely sealed black plastic case.  I weighed both the old lead acid battery (48 lbs.) and the new SOK battery (24 lbs.) and was pleased how easy it is to lift the new SOK battery.

Installation and Configuration
The SOK battery fits perfectly into the Scamp’s existing plastic Group 27 battery box, taking up about the same amount of space as the old lead acid battery.  It was easy attaching all the battery connectors from the Scamp’s various systems (e.g. converter, brake, electric jack, etc.) to the SOK battery terminals because I was careful to label each wire (and indicate which was positive and negative) before removing the wires from the old battery.  I downloaded the ABC-BMS app to my Android phone, opened it, and it did not connect to the SOK battery.  I guessed the battery was in a deep sleep after being shipped from China, so I plugged the Scamp into the AC wall outlet and the app quickly connected.  Note:  the battery also goes to sleep every six hours without use.  Simply turn on the shower floor water pump or other appliance that has significant current draw and the battery will wake up and the app will then connect.  Another way to wake up the battery is to plug in the trailer to shore power (and perhaps press the button on the Wizard pendant to get the voltage up over 14v).

I initially liked the app because it not only shows State of Charge (SOC) of the battery in percentage but also a lot of other really useful data.  One extremely helpful piece of information on the app is the current flow (amp) into and out of the battery.  I relied on this extensively when testing the new lithium SOK battery and it allowed me to forgo rewiring the Scamp because I saw that the current flow to the battery when charging was never over 20 amps (the rating for the circuit breaker at the battery).  Eventually, though, I grew tired of having to wake up the battery to get the app to work and I also found the SOC value to become inaccurate when the Scamp was sitting for long periods in the garage.  The voltage would continue to drop over a couple of weeks, but the SOK app would still show 100% SOC.  The app fails to register small parasitic loads from appliances when calculating the SOC (which quietly drain the battery over time just by being plugged in, even when all accessories are off).  I contacted SOK and they advised that an external shunt would be much more accurate than the internal BMS for measuring SOC.  In turn, I purchased a Victron SmartShunt which is extremely accurate and works whether or not the battery is sleeping.  The external smart shunt, which sits between the lithium battery negative terminal and all negative loads, very accurately calculates SOC by effectively measuring all the current going out of the battery.  The Victron SmartShunt app shows that my Scamp has a drain of about .14 A when sitting in storage in the garage.  Here’s a video I made showing much more detail on how the Victron SmartShunt is installed and set up.

Victron calibration guide:  click here.

Testing New Battery
The first thing I did after installing the new SOK battery was plug in the Scamp to the AC wall outlet to see if I would need to change out the trailer’s existing 12 gauge wire.  The battery arrived at 60% SOC and I intended to charge it to 100% while carefully monitoring the amps received at the battery using the SOK app (after putting the converter into 14.4V Boost mode, by pressing the button on the pendant).  Without any electric appliances running in the Scamp, the SOK app showed 9 to 10 amps going into the battery from the converter (so nothing like the high number of amps the Progressive Dynamics tech warned about).  At 10 amps, the 100ah battery charges at about 10% per hour and would take 10 hours at this current to go from 0 to 100% charge.  Since the SOK battery was already at 60% SOC, it only took about 4 hours to charge to 100%.  During the charging process, I periodically felt the + and – converter wires at the battery.  They remained cool the entire time, the 20 amp fuse never blew, and the charging current never exceeded 10 amps (far below the 20amp rating of the existing 12 gauge wire on the Scamp).  I also tested the current from the 7-pin connector plugged into our Volvo XC40 tow vehicle when the SOK battery was at 82% SOC.  With the ignition off, the app showed no power coming or going from the SOK battery.  With the car running, the app showed the SOK battery receiving 4 amps from the 7 pin connector.

Because lithium batteries take more current and charge faster when they are at a lower state of charge (Ohm’s law:  Current (amps) = Voltage [voltage charging – voltage battery] / Resistance), I decided to run some additional experiments with the SOK battery at a much lower SOC.  I used the three way refrigerator in 12 volt mode to deplete the battery (at 82%) down to 20% SOC (it took about 6 hours to do this since the 12V refrigerator uses around 10 amps).  As expected, the charging current rates when the SOK battery was at 20% SOC were significantly higher than previous tests at 82% SOC.  But, were they high enough to heat up the wiring and blow the converter wiring’s 20 amp fuse at the battery terminal?  Fortunately, they were not.  With the Volvo XC40 plugged into the Scamp via the 7-pin connector, the SOK battery received between 8 – 10 amps when the car was running (no amps when the car was off) compared to only 4 amps previously when the SOK battery was at 82% SOC.  When the Scamp was plugged into the AC outlet, the SOK battery received between 14-16 amps.  As the SOK battery charged, the current rate fell back down to around 10 amps (at 45% SOC).  So, it seems the battery follows Ohm’s law and gets noticeably hungrier and draws in higher current when charging at very low state of charge (less than 30%).  But, even so, the wires remained cool the entire time, and the 20 amp fuse never blew (keeping below the 20amp rating of the existing 12-gauge wire on the Scamp 13’).

Charging Scenarios
There are at least four ways to keep a lithium battery charged when travelling.

  1. Electrical Hookup
  2. Solar Panels (optional)
  3. 7-pin car charging
  4. DC-DC Car Charging (optional)

Each of these methods is discussed below.

Real World Testing –20 Day California Coastal Redwoods – Oregon Adventure
As testing predicted, our Scamp’s existing 12-gauge wiring did work well for charging with the converter when staying at campsites with an electrical hookup and also with the 7-pin connector while driving.  But, a big question was whether the 100ah SOK battery would be sufficiently charged for our style of camping.  In other words, would the mix of our camping between campgrounds with and without electrical hookups (with solar panels when there was sunshine) and driving distances (charging with the 7 pin connector and running our 12 volt refrigerator while driving) be sufficient to keep our 100ah SOK battery charged on long trips?  Since we often spend long periods of time (up to a week) boondocking (no electric hookup – at one or multiple locations) and only periodically stay at campgrounds with electrical hookups, considering all forms of charging seemed like a good idea.  Fortunately, our recent twenty day trip up the California coast into the redwoods and beyond into Oregon offered a mix of different types of camping, providing perfect testing conditions for our lithium battery and insight into the best ways to keep it charged for our travelling style.

We travelled with the Scamp’s 12V refrigerator running to test the actual draw on the SOK battery while driving since the goal is to keep refrigerated food cold without having to run propane (we don’t want to take the safety risk of running the refrigerator from propane while driving and also the inconvenience of having to turn the propane off before entering gas stations).  We found that running the refrigerator while driving consistently depleted the SOK battery at about 10% of charge capacity per hour.  So, for example, when we left a campground with our SOK battery at 100% charge and drove four hours we would arrive with our battery at 60% SOC.  Fortunately, we had no issues on this trip because we used our solar panels to charge up at most campsites after arriving.  However, we decided to add a DC-DC car charger (see below) after this trip so we can run the refrigerator and charge our SOK battery at the same time while driving.

1.  Electrical hookup
Using shore power (AC outlet) is the simplest way to charge a lithium battery.  When the trailer is plugged into an AC electrical hookup, the trailer’s converter will provide around 14.4 volts power to charge the battery (as discussed previously, our converter required an add on “wizard” pendant to increase the voltage to 14.4 volts which is required for charging lithium batteries).  Standard (“non-lithium”) converters will not be capable of fully charging a lithium battery, so it’s important to research what converter is in your trailer and either replace it or upgrade it (like we did) if necessary so that it is capable of charging the new lithium battery.  Our 100ah SOK lithium battery charges at about 10% per hour when plugged into an AC outlet (mostly while in “boost mode”, which is when the pendant button is pushed on the “wizard” and the voltage is increased to 14.4 volts).  The SOK battery charged well at campgrounds with hookups.  We found our battery fully charged every morning on our recent trip.

2.  Solar Panels
We have a 100 watt solar briefcase which we had been using successfully to charge our old lead acid battery at campgrounds without hookups.  The panels are capable of supplying up to 8 amps (100 watts/12 volts, from the formula amps x volts = watts) of power.  So, on a sunny day, with eight hours of good sun, the panels could possibly provide the 100ah SOK battery up to 64ah of capacity (8 amps x 8 hours) or 64% of the total battery capacity!  Because we usually have good weather when camping (i.e. good solar charging conditions) and estimate our daily battery use at around 12Ah or less, the solar panel solution seemed like it would work great for the lithium battery.  The only change we made was replacing the existing inexpensive solar charge controller to one that has a LiFePO4 setting.  The solar charge controller sits between the solar panels and the battery and regulates the charge states so the battery is safely and properly charged.

We opted to purchase a high end charge controller since we are charging an expensive LiFePO4 battery with double the useable capacity (and ½ the weight) as our old lead acid battery.  This Victron Energy smart controller features MPPT technology (as opposed to the PWM technology that basic controllers have) with a long five year warranty.  Without getting into a lot of detail, MPPT is widely recognized as more efficient (up to 30% more efficient) than PWM technology, which generally means higher amps collected from the panels and sent to the battery (faster battery charging times).  The downside of MPPT controllers is that they are generally much more expensive and complex than PWM controllers.  The PWM controller we used for our Scamp’s original lead acid battery was only $16 on Amazon and seemed to do a good job charging it (although not compatible with LiFePO4 batteries).  However, because we wanted to make sure the much more expensive SOK battery is safely and efficiently charged, we decided to spend more ($112 at the time of this article) on the Victron smart controller which is compatible with LiFePO4 batteries.  Having the extra charging efficiency is helpful because there is more battery capacity to replenish with a lithium battery compared to a lead acid battery.  This is because a comparable lead acid battery should only be allowed to run down to about 50% capacity or 12 volts whereas a 100ah lithium battery can be safely discharged to a much lower SOC — some manufacturers say safely to 0%, others 10-20%.

The Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 75V 15 amp 12/24 volt solar charge controller with Bluetooth arrived quickly after ordering from Amazon and was easy to install.  I removed the old controller (which I had attached to the back of the solar panels with Scotch extreme fastener tape), screwed down both the positive and negative wires from the panels and the battery leads into the new Victron controller (being careful to make sure the red positive wires and black negative wires went into their respective slots), and used extreme fastener tape to secure the controller to the back of the panels.  Fortunately, the thickness of the new Victron controller was thin enough to allow the panels to fully fold up into a briefcase and lock.  To program, I opened up the panels inside my house and exposed them to some outdoor light to power the controller (the panels were not connected to a battery).  I used my mobile phone’s reader app to scan the QR code on the controller, which opened up the Victron app page on the Google Play store to download.  Downloading the Victron app was fairly quick and it required a couple of updates after downloading.  The only thing I adjusted in the settings was for the battery type, LiFePO4, which sets the parameters for this type of lithium battery.  After the quick setup, I took the panels outside and connected them to the Scamp.  All the information shown on the Victron app is amazing.  The app shows voltage generated by the panels and the regulated voltage and current going into the battery.  There are also graphs that can be generated showing a variety of different parameters.  It was interesting comparing the Victron data against the SOK battery data in real time, which, it turns out, were very similar.  For example, the current and voltage coming from the panels as displayed on the Victron app was very similar to the current and voltage going into the battery shown on the SOK app.

The solar panels coupled with the Victron controller did a great job recharging our SOK 100ah lithium battery on our recent trip.  We often arrived at campgrounds without hookups with our lithium battery depleted to between 60% and 80% SOC as a result of running the 12v refrigerator.  In most cases, placing the solar panels out in the sun resulted into a full charge to our SOK battery in less than 6 hours.  Under partly cloudy to sunny skies, the panels usually output between 6 to 7 amps per hour to the SOK battery.  The panels didn’t produce much if any electricity at all under heavy cloudy skies or no sun conditions (like we experienced in the dense redwoods forests).  In these cases, the DC-DC charging scenario of charging comes into relevance (see below).

 3.  7-pin car charging
Connecting the travel trailer to the tow vehicle with the 7-pin connector not only allows the trailer’s tail lights to mimic the tow vehicle’s signal lights (e.g. turn signals, brake lights) and control the electronic brakes, power can also pass through it between the tow vehicle and trailer.  On our twenty day trip to the California redwoods and Oregon, the power flow was usually around 4 amps from the tow vehicle into the Scamp lithium battery.  However, on some occasions, the flow was actually negative, with power going from the Scamp battery back to the tow vehicle’s battery.  Current usually flows from high voltage to low voltage (known as “potential”), so when the travel trailer battery has a higher charge than the tow vehicle, current may transfer from the trailer battery to the tow vehicle battery.   Since we like running our 12V refrigerator while driving, we found that even with the 7-pin connector providing some power, our new SOK lithium battery usually loses about 6 to 10 amps of capacity per hour while driving.  So, after a typical four hour drive with our 12v refrigerator running, our SOK lithium battery state of charge (SOC) would often be around 60% (when starting at 100% SOC).  The bottom line is that the 7-pin connector cannot be relied on to charge the trailer battery while driving as it puts out very little current for this purpose.

4.  DC-DC Car Charging, “The Game Changer”
We chose to install a DC-DC car charger so we could drive with our 12 volt refrigerator running without depleting our 100ah SOK lithium battery.  It allows the tow vehicle (assuming the tow vehicle’s alternator can output enough amps) to charge the trailer battery at a very fast rate.  Heavy gage cable (6 gage cable in this case) is run from the tow vehicle battery (hidden under the cars body panels) to Anderson SB50 quick connectors at the back of the tow vehicle.  The DC-DC charger is installed next to the travel trailer battery.  The DC-DC charger takes power generated by the tow vehicle’s alternator and regulates the voltage up to a certain amount (just over 40 amps in this case).

Without the DC-DC car charger, our lithium battery generally is depleted by about 10 amps or 10% of its charge per hour when driving with our 12 volt refrigerator running (as mentioned above).  In many cases, we can make up this shortfall in capacity by using our solar panels at the new campground.  However, in some circumstances (like we experienced in the dense foliage of the redwoods on our last trip) arriving with 100% SOC is a better plan (especially if staying for a long period of time).  Bad weather (e.g. windy, rainy, heavy clouds, etc.) or being in a sketchy environment (where risk of solar panel theft might be high) may also throw a wrench in charging plans, sidelining the use of solar panels.  So, after reviewing experiences from our recent twenty day trip we decided integrating a DC-DC car charger would be desirable for how we travel.  The DC-DC car charger gives us peace of mind, ensuring that our lithium battery will be fully charged when we arrive at the campground (even when running our 12V refrigerator).

We did a lot of research and purchased a RedArc 40amp DC-DC car charger (RedArc BCDC1240D) with the RedArc 60A Fuse Kit (FK60).  RedArc is one of the highest regarded manufacturers of these chargers and makes some very powerful ones (like 40 amp and 50 amp versions).  A 50 amp DC-DC car charger can charge a 100ah battery in about two hours of driving!  This brand is one of the most expensive (and based on our experience worth it!), but there are also other brands (such as this Renogy 40 amp DC-DC charger) which may do a good job.   We chose a local company, Basil’s Garage, to install the charger as it requires removing body panels within the tow vehicle and installing heavy gage wiring from the engine compartment within underbody panel compartments to the back of the tow vehicle (installation was about $500 and took about 3 hours).  The techs at Basil’s Garage are excellent and really know their trade.  Additionally, a cable is needed to the tow vehicle’s fuse box to keep the DC-DC charger from stopping when the smart alternator drops the voltage to save power.  After the installation, the SOK app showed 42 amps going into the battery (vs. about 4 amps from the 7-pin connector when the DC-DC connector was disconnected).  And, after turning on the 12V refrigerator, the SOK app showed 32 amps still going into the SOK battery with the tow vehicle running!   We put our new DC-DC car charger to the test with a trip up the coast to several beach campgrounds (see trip report here).  Indeed, the DC-DC charger worked wonderfully during our trip supplying our Scamp’s lithium battery up to 32 amps of power when needed while powering our 12 volt refrigerator at the same time.  The system worked so well that we didn’t even need to use our solar panels (we arrived at each campground with cold refrigerated food and our lithium battery SOC at 100%)!  We consider DC-DC charging a real “game changer”.

Final Thoughts
Now that the price of high quality LiFeP04 batteries for travel trailers has come down to more reasonable levels, it seems like a no brainer to swap out a trailer’s lead acid battery for a LiFePO4 lithium battery.  For just two to three hundred dollars more, one can buy a lithium battery that compared to a lead acid battery is ½ the weight, gives 2x the capacity, doesn’t off gas hydrogen, doesn’t require maintenance, lasts 10 years or more (2 to 3 times lead acid battery average lifespans) and charges much faster.  Additionally, the LiFeP04 battery in a travel trailer sitting in storage can sit a lot longer without getting depleted by parasitic loads from appliances due to higher useable capacity.  This can mean fewer trips to the storage facility to charge the battery.  Lastly, there are a lot of great optional methods (e.g. AC hookup, solar panels, and DC-DC charger) available to quickly charge up a travel trailers LiFePO4 battery when travelling.  And, because LiFePO4 batteries charge much faster, there’s a better chance of having battery capacity when it is needed!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Southern California Beach Camping

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Southern California Beach Camping
August 5th – 11th, 2023 (6 nights)

When the weather gets hot, the best place to direct your travel trailer is toward the California coast.  And, with so many fantastic locations from which to choose, it may even be possible to book a few beach campsites at the last minute!  That’s exactly what we did when we needed a short trip to test out some new systems on the Scamp (and also enjoy some cool ocean breezes).  Using the Reserve California website, we were able to find stray single night availability campsites (often from last minute cancellations or gaps in reservations) and piece several together from different beach campgrounds to create a nice trip along the coast.   The Reserve California website is great because it shows many campground locations within a given area, so that if the one you are searching is booked there are others pictured which may show availability.  To see a short video we made on our trip, click here.

Gaviota State Park (Gaviota, “meaning Seagull in spanish”)
Located about thirty minutes north of Santa Barbara, Gaviota State Park is a small parking lot style campground adjacent to a nice beach.  We were camped in site #038 ($45/night + $7.99 reservation fee, good Verizon cellphone coverage) toward the back of the campground.  There are water spigots, but no other hookups here.  We read it can get quite windy here (sometimes blowing away tents), but it was calm during our stay.  When we arrived, we inadvertently started testing our Scamp systems when we discovered that, even though our water pump was on, we had no water at our sink!  Fortunately, I remembered what our plumber Oscar had taught us – if you don’t use your plumbing for a while, your water pump can lose its prime.  I removed the PEX connection at one side of the pump, and, with the pump on, let the water squirt out for a couple of seconds.  Then, I reattached the PEX and the pump’s prime was restored and the water worked!  Phew!

The public pier (with a boat hoist) is now closed due to damage sustained from past storms.  One of the most striking features at the campground is the 811-foot span, 80 feet high Gaviota railroad trestle (erected by Southern Pacific Railroad in 1900) which towers over Gaviota Creek as it enters the Pacific Ocean.  The trestle is one of Amtrak’s most photographed landmarks anywhere in the country.  To capture a photo of the trestle with a train passing over, use Amtrak’s train tracker to get an idea when the train is coming.  We found that trains arrive at the trestle within about 15 minutes of leaving or arriving at Gaviota station.  Freight trains also pass over the trestle but their schedules may be harder to determine.

In addition to enjoying the beach (swimming, relaxing, kite flying, fishing), there is a nice trail (strenuous, 3 miles round trip) that goes to the Gaviota Wind Caves up in the mountains behind the campground.  Walk up Hollister Ranch Road toward Hollister Ranch (adjacent to the campground station entrance) and access the trail at the top of the grade through the gate on the right.  The dirt path leads up a strenuous mountain trail to the striking sandstone caves with distant ocean views. Hollister Ranch Road also makes for a nice walk adjacent to and above the ocean and we could spot several dolphin pods on a morning walk.  You can also drive north down the road, but there is a guard gate at the entrance to Hollister Ranch which is only open to residents and workers.  Hollister Ranch is a gated 14,000 acre private residential community amidst a working cattle ranch.  Some of the residents include filmmaker James Cameron, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, and musician Jackson Browne.  There is much controversy here about the ranch and its residents blocking public beach access to its pristine beaches (among some of the best surfing beaches in the country).  For a detailed article on this click here.

An interesting recent study by UC researchers using motion activated cameras found a myriad of unexpected animals visit the beach here (including coyotes and bears)!

Emma Wood State Beach (Ventura)
Emma Wood State Beach is about an hour and a half south of Gaviota State Park.  We stopped along the way at the Winchester 76 gas station in Goleta to dump ($7.50).  Emma Wood State Beach campground is “primitive” with no hookups (no bathrooms, electricity, or dump, not even water spigots).  Only travel trailers are allowed and they must be self-contained with bathrooms (tents are not permitted).  We had site #055 ($40/night + $7.99 reservation fee, good Verizon cellphone coverage) which was incredibly close to the water’s edge (we estimate waves breaking less than 30 feet from the rear of our Scamp at high tide!).  A notice on the parks website says “high tides may close the campground at any time.”  Looking and listening out the Scamp’s back rear window facing the ocean made us feel like we were on a boat.  The breaking waves were loud, masking any possible road noise from Pacific Coast Highway above.  Even the occasional train passing by was hard to hear.

Due to the proximity to downtown Ventura and an excellent bike path, there’s a lot to see and do at the campground.  We went out to lunch with our friends Cheryl & Hugh to Andria’s Seafood Restaurant in Ventura Harbor.  They serve nice salads and all types of fish as well as burgers.  We hadn’t seen our friends for some time, so it was nice catching up.  We strolled through the harbor after lunch and checked out the boats and shops.  We also stopped in the Channel Islands National Park visitor’s center and at the transportation company shop, Island Packers Cruises, to find out about how to visit the Channel Islands (boats to the Channel Islands National Park islands leave from this harbor).  Back at the campground, we walked along the bike path which goes on almost all the way to downtown Ventura.  Many of the campers here brought their electric bikes and were riding the path.  Downtown Ventura is really quaint and inviting with a lot of interesting shops and restaurants.  The old Mission Basilica Buena Ventura here can be viewed for free during masses or by paying the $5 entrance fee.  We will bring our bikes the next time we visit this campground.

Thornhill Broome Campground (Pt. Mugu State Park, Malibu)
Only about thirty minutes south of Emma Wood State Beach, Thornhill Broome Campground is right on the sand (quite a distance back from the water).  We had site #17 (31 foot maximum length, $35/night + $7.99 reservation fee, water spigots, no cellphone service, no visitor center or store).  There’s a nice wide sandy beach here with a scenic view of Pt. Mugu.  There’s also significant road noise (as well as headlight glare at night) from car traffic on Pacific Coast Highway just behind the campground.  We needed to use ear plugs to sleep so we wouldn’t hear car and truck traffic noise.  The closest stores or town is downtown Malibu (about 8 miles south).

I used the app PhotoPills to time and plan an aerial sunset photo; the app has an AR mode which shows where and when the sun will be throughout the day.  Just a little ways down the road, Sycamore Canyon Campground is across the street from Sycamore Cove beach and offers a quiet canyon campground setting with an abundance of sycamore trees (free dump here).  A number of trails start at this campground.  We hiked the Scenic Trail and Overlook Fire Road Trail (about 2 miles round trip).  We would stay here if passing by again instead of Thornhill Broome Campground (due to less road noise, available dump, and easier turn around).

We had an unexpected surprise on the morning of our departure.  We found out the campground turnaround was washed out during a recent storm, so turning the trailer around would be difficult (as there was only about a car length of open width on the road).  I tried lifting the Scamp’s tongue to see if I could manually turn the Scamp around 180 degrees.  However, the tongue was too heavy for me to lift (somewhere between 100 and 200 pounds).  I think it would have been easy for me to turn the Scamp around manually  if I had brought my trailer dolly, but we didn’t know about the closed turnaround so we didn’t bring it.  (My friend Perry had a great idea which he suggested after the trip — try having someone sit on the Scamp bumper to help reduce the tongue weight).  We ended up getting a bit stuck in the sand (while being directed during our turnaround by another trailer owner), but finally managed to get out of the sand by unhitching the Scamp.  The other trailer owner helped us lift our Scamp by the tongue and physically pick up the trailer and turn it around.  We then hitched up and were able to get out of there!  Phew!  Life lesson – never drive in soft sand if there isn’t concrete under it!  Yikes!

Overall Thoughts on Beach Camping
The beach camping experience was a fantastic time (overall).  The scenic beauty of the ocean and trails, the sounds of the waves and nature, and the friendly people (and family) we met along the way made it all worthwhile.  It was also very satisfying experiencing how all the systems and knowledge in our Scamp we put together over the past several years really came together to make the trailer very self-contained.  And, the new lithium battery and DC-DC charger allow us to use our 12 volt refrigerator while driving and greatly extend the time we can stay without electrical hookups (almost indefinitely) (article forthcoming).  And, we seem to get stronger and learn whenever we have adversity on an adventure.  Fortunately, we didn’t have any issues we couldn’t solve during this trip!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

How to Repair A Scamp Toilet (Dometic 711-M28)

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How to Repair A Scamp Toilet (Dometic 711-M28)

IMPORTANT — make sure to order the correct flush ball / spring cartridge / shaft kit for your toilet. I was originally given incorrect information on the type of kit, and the black faced cartridge in this video should not have been used for my Dometic 711-M28. I was told by Dometic a toilet with a metal lever has to use a white faced spring cartridge and toilets with all plastic pedals use a black faced spring cartridge. The spring cartridge cams are placed in different locations depending on color which will affect rotation. Additionally, the plastic shaft has been switched to brass for better wear. Here’s the kit I switched to after this video.  This is an essential tool which makes the job much easier.

When placing the seals on the toilet, make sure the cutouts on both seals are stacked on top of each other (the lower seal saying “This Side Up” and both stacked seals are aligned with the cutout on the toilet base). Also, the screw on the metal clamp band should be at the very back of the toilet (otherwise, there is a risk of seepage).

What happened to our toilet?
Our 2020 Scamp 13’s toilet has worked really well until very recently.  Two days into the start of a twenty day trip up the California coast into Oregon, the flush ball stuck on our Scamp’s toilet.  The white plastic ball is the main barrier between the toilet bowl and the black tank which sits below (preventing odors from coming into the bathroom).  The flush ball opens when the flush pedal is depressed (which also causes water to be released into the bowl simultaneously).  In the past, lubricating the seals around the ball with silicone has worked well to get it moving again after being stuck.  This time though, the ball was really stuck and I put a rubber glove on and forced it open.  Unfortunately, this resulted in the ball becoming completely inoperable.  We made it through the rest of our trip by plugging the hole at the base of the ceramic toilet bowl with a rubber toilet bowl plunger (saving us from having to cancel the trip).  This solution worked really well, but was only temporary.

What Else Can Go Wrong?
According to the Dometic parts list, there are 23 parts to the 711-M28 model toilet.  So, there are a lot of possible points of failure.  However, the usual culprits of toilet problems are a cracked water valve (results in leaking toilet), broken spring cartridge and/or rotor shaft (results in flush ball not opening/closing), and a dirty or damaged flush ball and/or bowl seals (results in flush ball not opening/closing, water not holding in bowl).  Dometic has a handy trouble shooting guide on page 6 of its handbook.

How can these issues be repaired?
Fortunately, it’s not impossible to trouble shoot and take apart the mechanisms of this toilet.  And, parts can be ordered online.  I’ve created a step by step video showing the disassembly of the toilet.  Often, just the first few steps will be necessary if one just wants to clean or replace the seals (flush ball seal and bowl seal) between the toilet and the base (e.g. for when the toilet bowl stops holding water or the flush ball becomes stuck).  To repair other parts though, the flush pedal cover and mounting screws may need to be removed to provide access to the water valve, spring cartridge, rotor shaft, and flush ball.  Make sure to dump and flush the Blank tank and turn off the water supply when working with the toilet.  Note:  be careful not to overtighten metal clamp (just tighten until snug and toilet bowl is secure and stable).  If the clamp is too tight, the flush ball may be compressed too much against the seals and the flush ball may get stuck, water may leak out of the bowl and/or the plastic half clamps may crack.

How to diagnose what’s wrong?
In addition to reviewing Dometic’s trouble shooting guide, the company has great customer service and will be happy to assist (800-321-9886).  Our issue was a little strange (inverted flush ball) and we were referred to a local tech center.  The guy who answered the phone was extremely helpful and answered all my questions.  In the end, no one really could explain how our flush ball became inverted.  The advice was to get the Flush Ball & Shaft Kit and replace the flush ball, rotor shaft, and spring cartridge.  After this repair (as documented in my video) everything worked great!

How to prevent toilet issues?
First, always keep water in the toilet bowl when travelling (except when driving) to prevent odors from coming up from the black tank and also to keep the seals between the toilet and its base from drying out.  Additionally, since one of the most common issues is the toilet flush ball getting stuck and/or the toilet bowl not holding water (e.g. water drains quickly into the black tank even though the flush ball is closed), a good preventive solution is to use plumbers grease and toilet seal lubricant regularly between trips to keep the seals from drying out and the flush ball moving smoothly.  One of the first signs of trouble is if the toilet bowl can’t hold water.  As noted above, water is important in the bowl because it keeps black tank odors from escaping.  Additionally, water draining from the bowl when the flush ball is closed can indicate dry or dirty seals or even damaged seals.  Before taking the toilet bowl off its base though, try using plumber’s grease and toilet seal lubricant (as shown at the end of my ten minute video).  If that doesn’t work and the toilet still can’t hold water, then remove the toilet from its base and try cleaning both seals (or replacing the seals if they appear damaged).  The company says the seals can last 15-25+ years, so it’s likely the seals will just need a good cleaning with soap and water and a toothbrush.  It is recommended to occasionally remove the seals between the base and the bowl when not holding water.  Soak them in warm water with a little dish soap to loosen any calcium scales, iron deposits or dirt build-up.  Let dry, then spray very lightly on both sides with silicone.  Note:  put seals back in same position with notch in the 4 o’clock position and the seal that says “This Side Up” under the black seal.  Also, make sure plastic half clamps come together at front of toilet bowl (they will have a gap at the back) and make sure the metal band screw is at the very back of the toilet (at the gap of the plastic half clamps).

Helpful items:

Toilet Seal Lubricant
Thetford RV Toilet Seal Lube & Conditioner

Plumbers Grease
Slik Seal Plumbers Grease

Dometic 711-M28 Toilet Parts:
Flush Ball & Shaft Kit:  Part #385318162
Genuine Dometic

Dometic Seal Kit:  Part#385311462
Genuine Dometic
Generic Version

Water Valve Kit:  Part#385314349
Genuine Dometic
Generic Version

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

California Redwoods & Oregon Adventure

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California Redwoods & Oregon Adventure
May 31st – June 20th, 2023 (20 nights, 2,425 miles)

This was the longest trip we have taken to date in our Scamp 13′ and one filled with the most adventures!  The reason the trip was long is because the farthest destinations on this itinerary are not close to our home in San Diego (and we try not to drive more than four hours per day and like to stay at least a couple of days when exploring notable sights).  We only packed enough clothes and food for ten days (our usual trip length) and, instead, did laundry once midway through our trip (at the Laughing Alpaca Campground) and shopped for food a few times.  We really enjoyed shopping at the outdoor farmer’s markets in Oregon and were able to purchase organic produce including fresh organic duck eggs, fruits and vegetables, and local honey.  We did have one notable mechanical failure at the start of our journey which could have meant the immediate end to our travels (more on this later).  This trip also was the first test of two new systems (new marine grade SOK lithium house battery and new Victron smart lithium solar controller).  Usually we would have done a shorter trip first to test new systems just in case, but we didn’t have time.  So, there was some degree of risk on going out on a big journey without trying out these new items in the field.  Below are some of the trip highlights at each location.

Santa Barbara (Cousin Jon’s House):  Days 1-2
This was the first and last stop on our journey and always very memorable because we get to see our cousins!  Santa Barbara is about 4 hours from our home and makes for a good starting point on the way north.  We took a hike during the day (Jesusita Trail) and then went out to dinner with my cousins at Ruby’s Mexican Food.  Whenever visiting my cousins in Santa Barbara, we stay in my Cousin Jon’s driveway and are fortunate enough to be allowed to pick fresh fruit from their orchard (lemons and oranges).  This time we took a bag of lemons which gave us enough juice to make lemonade for half our trip (we made sure to bring our hand fruit juicer).  Although short, we had a great visit with my cousins.

During the drive to Santa Barbara, I was able to use the SOK lithium Bluetooth battery smart phone app to monitor the Scamp’s new lithium battery status.  This was important to get an understanding of the power draw while running our Scamp’s 12 volt option to power the refrigerator while driving.  With our Scamp’s original lead acid battery, we didn’t use the 12V option to run the refrigerator because it would drain the Scamp’s battery quickly (and we also chose not to run the refrigerator on propane while driving for safety reasons).  In turn, in the past, the refrigerator would stay off during drives – it would be cool but not cold inside since it wasn’t running.  Fortunately, the new lithium battery provides plenty of power to keep our refrigerator running using 12 volts (on this drive, using about 5 amps power draw per hour, so about 5% depletion of the 100ah battery per hour).  Because our 7-way connector was providing about 5 amps of power from the car to the trailer during driving, we arrived in Santa Barbara at 100% State of Charge (SOC).  Based on this successful test of the new lithium battery, we continued to run the 12V refrigerator throughout the trip while driving and it worked great!

Morro Bay (Morro Strand State Park):  Day 2-3
About two hours north of Santa Barbara, Morro Bay is best known for the giant rock that sticks up from the water.  Morro Rock is actually a volcanic plug formed about 23 million years ago when it exploded off the top of a volcano.  It’s been used as a navigational aid for over 300 years since it stands at around 576 feet tall.  In Spanish, “Morro” means crown shaped hill.  It’s also known as the “Gibraltar of the Pacific”.   There’s a road (causeway) that connects the rock to the mainland.  This is the first time we have visited Morro Bay when it was actually sunny.  On all our other visits, Morro Rock had been shrouded in fog.

On the drive up to Morro Bay, the SOC on the Scamp’s lithium battery ran down from 100% to 86% SOC.  We learned that there are many variables (including the tow vehicle’s battery charge) that may affect the current draw on the lithium battery while driving with the 12V refrigerator running.  On this drive, the lithium battery depleted at about 7% per hour of driving.  No worries though as this was the perfect opportunity to try out the new Victron smart lithium solar controller on our 100W solar briefcase.  And, it performed really well – providing over 6 amps per hour of energy back into the Scamp’s lithium battery under partly cloudy skies!  The Scamp’s new lithium battery was fully charged to 100% SOC within a few hours!

We had the opportunity to stay on the beach at Morro Strand State Beach Campground.  Morro Rock is visible from the campground and is a little over three miles south.  Normally, the campsites here are very difficult to reserve.  However, because our Scamp is only 13’ long, we were able to fit into the van and tent camp area (which was relatively empty).  There are water spigots in this area and good Verizon service.  The RV area down the beach has full hookups (water, electric, sewer) and was very crowded.  We had spot 001 ($35/night) and really enjoyed it.  We had a very memorable visit partly because we had a fantastic bike ride from the campground along the beautiful bike paths (some along the beach and others in wooded areas) all the way to Morro Rock (via the causeway)!  We saw seals and sea otters during the journey.  And, the bike ride took us through the charming seaside village of Morro Bay (with its quaint shops and restaurants).  It was a leisurely four hour ride which stretched into the early evening.

After sunset, we tried out a new 4K Roku stick which allows phone mirroring (our old Roku stick gave out after years of use).  So, instead of having to hook up our laptop to play downloaded movies, we were able to connect our phone wirelessly to the Scamp’s television through the quick pairing setup and play a movie from the phone to the Scamp’s TV.  The mirroring on the device works really well and makes playing movies much easier than the laptop setup.  Note:  we had previously played movies from a Samsung Galaxy S9 directly to the TV via a cable, however, once we upgraded phones (to a Samsung Galaxy A52 5G), we discovered the new phones do not support HDMI video out.  In turn, we switched to the laptop method of playing movies.  So, it’s great to be back to the phone method since some services (like Paramount Plus) only allow downloading of content to mobile devices like phones and tablets (and block downloading to laptops / pcs).  For more information on how we play movies in our Scamp, click here.

The next morning we took a long walk along the beach, almost reaching Morro Rock.  We found a lot of sand dollars along the way and the fog had returned to Morro Bay.

Oakland (Sister’s House):  Days 3-4
We made it up to my sister’s house in about 4 ½ hours (parking in her driveway for the overnight stay), just in time to have lunch on College Avenue in Berkeley.  The area is usually buzzing with activity and this visit was no different.  We went to Rockridge Market Hall, a large indoor marketplace and deli, and ordered a garbonzo salad, some cooked bbq chicken and ravioli and sat at a table on the sidewalk to enjoy the meal.  Later, we had a great dinner with family and did a nice hike the next morning with everyone before heading farther north.   Just before leaving though, the mechanism that closes the ball in the toilet valve (which separates the contents within the black holding tank from the toilet bowl and preventing odors from coming out of the black tank below) broke (leaving the valve open)!  I was later told by the toilet manufacturer, Sealand, that it is likely the spring snapped in the mechanism and needed to be replaced (specialty part that needed to be ordered).  Just two days into our twenty day trip, we were presented with an obstacle that had the potential of turning us back towards home.  Instead, we borrowed my sister’s toilet plunger, removed the stick, and used it to cover the hole when the toilet was not in use.  It turned out to be a perfect fit and worked as well as the ball valve to close off the black tank!  Crisis averted!  Phew (Not Pew!)!

Bodega Bay (Wright’s Beach State Campground, Sonoma Coast State Park):  Days 4-5
With our toilet issue controlled, we still needed to dump our tanks before our next stop at Wright’s Beach campground in Bodega Bay.  This campground doesn’t have a dump station, but its sister campground, about five miles south, offers a free dump and water filling station for those staying at Wright’s Beach campground.  After dumping, we set up our Scamp 13’ on the beach (campsite WB13, with slight view of the ocean, across from the campsites directly on the sand which weren’t available when we made our reservation) at Wright’s Beach Campground.  There are no electric or dump services here, but there are some water spigots.  The Verizon service here is poor (although there is better reception above the campground when walking the Kortum trail).  The highlight here was walking the beautiful Kortum Trail high above the campground along the bluffs.  This easy flat bluff trail offers beautiful views of Bodega Bay.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park (Burlington Campground):  Days 5-7
We reached our first stop in the California coastal redwoods (Humboldt Redwoods State Park) after a five hour drive from Bodega Bay (with a brief stop in beautiful wine-country Healdsburg to break up the trip).  Our redwoods campsite, 037Bu ($35/night), was great – very private, spacious and within beautiful old growth giant redwoods.  There is a water spigot close to the site and we had poor Verizon service (although across the street on Grove Trail there was better reception).  There’s also free WiFi (about 3Mbs download when we were there) at the Visitor’s Center.  Because the water spigot was threaded, I was able to connect two hoses together (“two hoses” trick) to fill our Scamp’s fresh tank (and avoid having to use a water jug and dolly to move the water).  The campground is located within a dense forest which results in shade throughout the day, so using solar panels to recharge our Scamp’s battery was not possible.  Fortunately, our new SOK lithium battery has the equivalent energy of roughly two equivalent lead acid batteries – so, being in the forest for a week without electrical hookups or solar power wasn’t a problem.

There are a variety of great trails in the redwoods and we walked a lot of them.  They are mostly “easy” paths which meander through beautiful redwoods.  The size of these old trees is amazing (width as well as height).  We particularly enjoyed the Drury-Chaney Loop Trail, Founder’s Grove Trail, and Hidden Springs Trail (which leads down to the Eel River).  You can watch a video we took of the area here.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park:  Days 7-10
Driving about four hours farther north, we reached Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (about 18 miles east of Crescent City, California).  We stopped in Crescent City for gas and groceries (Wild Rivers Market, good selection of organic and healthy food) before heading inland to the campground.

The first thing we did when driving into the campground was use the free Dump and water fill.   We were fortunate enough to have reserved one of the premium river campsites (#56, $35/night) for three nights.  There was no Verizon reception, but we did get it on some of the trails (most notably on the Hiouchi trail, where we were able to stream the morning news from Sling while walking to the Hiouchi Café).  We were also able to use the “two hoses” trick to fill our Scamp’s fresh tank from the water spigot located across the road from our campsite (best done in the early morning before anyone is awake and driving around to avoid having your hose driven over).  This was an awesome campsite, with a private trail directly to the Smith River behind it.  Just like the Humboldt Redwoods, there was mostly shade at this location.  There are two visitor centers here with similar goods and services – however, the Hiouchi Visitor’s Center offers ranger talks.  We went on an afternoon Ranger led walk on the Simpson Reed Loop Trail (one of our favorites).  The Ranger had a particular interest in forest bathing (like sun bathing, but in the forest) which we learned is the process of calming and healing just by being in the forest and exposed to the oxygen producing trees for a couple of hours.  We really did feel a quiet calming being in the redwoods.  We learned that the redwoods are the tallest trees (like NBA players) while the sequoias are the biggest volume trees (like NFL players).  Grove of the Titans Trail is another great trail which leads through spectacular old growth redwoods.  We met a very friendly deer on the trail who followed us for a little while and didn’t mind being close.  On our last day, we tried the Hiouchi Café and ordered their famous 16” giant pancake (although we couldn’t eat much of it).  We were told by our waitress that in the four years she has worked at the café, she has only seen four people finish the pancake (and one was a skinny 14 year old girl)!

Click here to see a video we made while visiting Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

Cave Junction, Oregon (Laughing Alpaca RV Park):  Days 10-12
We made it to our first stop in Oregon, Cave Junction, in an hour’s drive from the redwoods.  We had a beautiful campsite (#19) along the river at the Laughing Alpaca RV Park ($35/night, full hookup site).  There was free WiFi, cable TV, and good Verizon coverage at this park.  The owner, Jeff, is very gracious and greeted us upon arrival, helped us back into the campsite, and spent time telling us about all the things to do in the area (including a weekly farmer’s market which we attended).

The main draw for us here was to visit Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve (we had reserved the Discovery Cave Tour long in advance).  But, the short two day visit turned out to be much more.  We made friends with the owner of this RV park (along with his family and alpacas) and made a promotional video for his business (click here to watch).  We also found ourselves in the middle of an RV club outing (The Rogue River Ramblers), became friends with a number of the Ramblers, and were invited to their meals!  They were very generous and we had a fantastic rockfish dinner which was freshly caught and cooked up by one of their members from Newport, Oregon.

On Friday afternoon (starts at 4 p.m. on Fridays), we went to the Cave Junction Farmers Market in Kerby, OR, just down the road from Cave Junction.  It was a lively affair, with plenty of seller tents and a lot of produce.  We purchased organic duck eggs ($5/dozen), fresh strawberries, and local honey.  The next morning we drove to the caves (about 45 minute drive) to take the two hour cave tour.  There are some parts of the tour where low crouching is required and there are a lot of stairs and climbs.  Some of the rooms are very cavernous.  Overall, the caves were spectacular and the tour given by a park ranger was excellent.  Click here to see our video in the cares.  We did a little hike outside the caves which offered fantastic views of the Siskiyou Mountains.  Later in the day we washed our car because it was really dirty and a little sappy from sitting in the redwoods for a week.  I also purchased a really nice super slim and bright rechargeable flashlight (Nebo ) at NAPPA Auto Parts that works really well in the Scamp (it has a magnetic base so I can hang it on the wall).  We also fit in laundry and the Rogue River Ramblers’ fish dinner, making it a very long day.  The next morning we left for Ashland.

Ashland, Oregon (Ashland Creekside RV Park):  Days 12-14
We made it to Ashland Creekside RV Park in about 1 ½ hours.  Our site, #24, was by the river with partial hookups (electric & water).  There is a free central dump station which we used when leaving.  Although the park offers free WiFi (which we found to be slow at our campsite), the campground does have fast (120Mbps download/16Mbps upload) Verizon connectivity.  There was a nice bench alongside our Scamp, so we were able to set up an outdoor mobile office with our laptop plugged into power from the Scamp’s external 120 volt outlets.  There are a few wineries in the area (we visited Weisinger Family Winery), but the main place to visit is the cute little town of Ashland which is about 5 miles away.  We walked Lithia Park, browsed the stores on Main Street, had homemade ice-cream (cherry-oatmeal flavor) at Mix Bakeshop (which was very refreshing on this sunny and warm day), and saw historic Victorian homes.  The town has a very friendly feel and is home of the world famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  We stopped for a visit at the Rogue Valley Growers Market (Tuesday mornings) on the way out of town on our last day.  It’s a very large farmers’ market and offers a wide variety of produce (among other things).  We purchased some local honey, coffee beans, and jams.

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park:  Days 14-16
We drove the 5 Freeway south along Siskiyou Pass over Siskiyou Summit on our way back towards California.  It’s one of the most hazardous stretches of road along Interstate 5.  The summit is at an elevation of 4,310 feet and is the highest point along the 5 Freeway.  The road goes straight up and straight down (a steep 6% gradient) with plenty of curves!  In the winter, it can be covered with snow and ice.  Fortunately, we had no issues with our tow vehicle and trailer.

McArthur-Burney Falls is a special hidden gem (a couple of hour’s drive south from Ashland).  It’s located at the top of California about an hour north of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We had a nice quiet campsite, #86, in Pioneer Camp (with great spacing between other sites).  There was enough sun at our campsite that we were able to recharge our Scamp’s lithium battery to 100% SOC every day.  We are glad we didn’t stay at Rim Camp because it was loaded with lots of tent campers and families all packed in fairly close together and there was a lot of noise and smoke whenever we walked through it.  There are threaded water spigots (and the “two hose” trick worked again to fill our Scamp’s fresh water tank!) and a central dump station here.  We had no Verizon reception at our campsite, but there was fast free WiFi and electrical outlets for charging devices at the visitor center (walking distance from our campsite).  Since the area is along the PCT (Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail), lots of hikers with big backpacks would often congregate at the visitor center in the morning (there’s a PCT camp here as well here).  Note:  plan your visit mid-week and make campsite reservations as far in advance as possible, as this campground is extremely popular (especially among day use visitors on the weekends).

The main draw here is the falls, which are spectacular.  They are visible right near the park entrance.  But, if you are willing to do a short hike (about a mile), there is a great loop that goes down to the base of the falls (highly recommended).  Click here to see our video.  This hike is minimally strenuous (it’s on both flat pavement and groomed dirt).  There are some really nice bridges that cross the river along this loop.  We did this hike every day.  There’s also a hike, Pioneer Cemetery Trail, which goes to an old settler cemetery and then on to Lake Britton (there are boat rentals and fishing).  The small town of Burney is about 10 minutes’ drive away and is the closest place to get gas and groceries (the visitor center does sell snacks).

Update:  8/26/23
An article came out today in the LA Times about the new found over popularity of McArthur-Burney Falls!  However, if you reserve a camping spot here midweek, you can avoid most of the problems mentioned in this article!

Castle Crags State Park:  Days 16-18
Only about half hour’s drive from McArthur-Burney Falls, Castle Crags State Park is very close to the 5 Freeway.  We decided to stay here because we had seen the unusual rock formations in the past while driving by on other trips and wanted to explore the area.  There is good Verizon reception at this campground.  We stayed at a campsite, #26 ($25/night), on one of the lower campground loops on our first night (we could hear freeway traffic from the campsite).  We were planning on leaving the next day, but decided to stay another night to avoid extreme heat at our next planned campground.  Our original campsite was rented for the following night, but the Ranger gave us a list of available openings and we found a really nice site, #54 ($25/night), at the top of the upper loop that didn’t have traffic noise.  The site did require us to use our Anderson leveler to its maximum position so we would be level.  There’s a nice trail, River Trail, which crosses a train track and then a pedestrian suspension bridge which goes over the Sacramento River and follows the river for some time.  But, the hallmark trail here, which we completed twice, is the View Trail.  As you may have guessed, the trail ascends up to a spectacular viewing area where both Mt. Shasta and the unusual granite rock formations (formed more than 170 million years ago) of Castle Crags are visible.  There are even free viewing telescopes and benches at the top.

We stayed overnight again in Oakland (Days 18-19) (about 4 hour drive from here) on the way to our next destination of San Luis Obispo.

Harford Pier, Port San Luis Harbor District (San Luis Obispo):  Days 19-20
Four hour’s drive south from Oakland is the small beachside community of Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo county.  Harford Pier is a commercial pier located on a beautiful seaside bay.  We stayed at one of their premium campsites, site CG8, which has full hookups (although the sewer hookup is at the very back of the campsite which was too far a reach for our Scamp’s short hose).  Even the big rig RVs staying at these campsites either had very long sewer hoses or two long sewer hoses connected to each other.  That being said, it wasn’t a big deal since we didn’t need to dump– but, since this is the most expensive campsite we have ever stayed at ($100/night), we did expect better hookup service.  However, the campsite views and location more than made up for this inconvenience.  We were located right across the street from the water and had a spectacular view of the entire bay.  Additionally, the tourist town of Avila Beach is a short bike ride away and is loaded with nice shops and restaurants.  We had a great meal at Fat Cats just a brief walk from our campsite along the water.  The fresh fish and chips and crab cakes were excellent (just make sure to arrive early as they fill up fast and it’s first come first served!).  The cherry on top of staying here was being able to ride our bikes (we also walked it) on the Bob Jones Trail (also known as the City to the Sea Trail, about 4.6 miles one way from the Harford Pier to the Bob Jones Trailhead).  This is a wonderful environmental trail (mostly smooth and flat) that wanders next to San Luis Obispo Creek and passes through many natural scenic locations.

We ended our trip back in Santa Barbara (Days 20-21) with some more great times with our cousins before heading home to San Diego.

Final Thoughts
Taking a longer trip is definitely worth doing as it can lead to more interactions with locals, more experiences, and more adventures.  This trip seemed a more immersive and present experience than our usual trips as we weren’t thinking about an imminent return to home but were more focused on enjoying the present moments. The usual thoughts of the responsibilities regarding our home seemed to drift farther and farther out of our minds as we moved forward on our journey.  We found we were very busy every day and didn’t really even have time to sit in our Scamp for any significant amount of time.  We learned that being flexible and thinking out of the box was essential to making such an adventure work (such as the time we had to come up with an immediate solution to solve the toilet valve crisis).  Also, being prepared with the proper tools and equipment paid itself off with dividends.  For example, upgrading our Scamp’s house battery to lithium right before the trip saved the day when we realized there would be no solar charging for a week in the redwoods.  And, having two hoses really made things easy (I actually didn’t use the dolly/jug I brought to move water the entire trip)!  We learned that slowing down and appreciating nature can be very healing (as we witnessed and experienced during our time Forest Bathing during our stay in the redwoods).  We were blessed with perfect weather the entire trip which was almost unbelievable (our rain gear stayed neatly packed away in the back of the Scamp closet)!  Our top favorite new places we visited during this trip were: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Ashland, McArthur-Burney Falls, and Harford Pier.  Our favorite local experiences were shopping at the farmers’ markets in Oregon and interacting with other campers.  It seems campers are some of the nicest people.  Usually, they have a similar mindset of wanting to be out in and enjoying nature.  Now that we are back home, we can’t wait to plan the next long adventure!

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

How to Replace a 7-Way Flat Pin Socket Connector on Your Tow Vehicle

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How to Replace a 7-Way Flat Pin Socket Connector on Your Tow Vehicle

On our last trip, the plastic flap covering our tow vehicle’s 7-way hitch socket connector broke.  This doesn’t seem like a big deal, but without the flap, the trailer cable won’t stay in the socket since it relies on the flap’s flange to keep it in place while driving.  While we were descending a steep hill on our final leg home, our 2020 Volvo XC40’s brakes began to pump.  We had never heard this noise before, and then at about the same time an orange warning light lit up indicating a failure with the trailer cable connection.  We pulled over and found that our Scamp 13’s cable had pulled out.  This would explain the noise of the Volvo’s brakes working hard, since our Scamp’s brakes were disconnected.  The trailer cable is essential for the operation of the trailer’s brake and safety light system,  powering the trailer’s turn signal lights, brake lights, hazard lights, running lights, and also activating the trailer’s brakes. When the connector broke, all of these critical features no longer worked.  Fortunately, we had some zip ties which we used for a temporary fix to get us home.

I called Volvo when we returned home and was told that the connector is molded into the entire Volvo wiring harness and they don’t sell just a replacement flap.  They said the only way to fix it with Volvo parts is to replace the entire wiring harness, and the harness cost would be $167 plus labor!  This seemed to be a very high cost for just a broken plastic flap replacement.  Our 2020 Volvo XC40 has been a reliable workhorse for us, and I wanted to find a simple inexpensive solution to fix the broken flap.  Since we sometimes do off road boondocking, we wouldn’t want to have to replace the entire wiring harness any time the little plastic flap breaks.  Fortunately, I was able to find another solution at a fraction of the cost.  This inexpensive 7-way socket and mini harness currently sells for around $17 on Amazon.  I was easily able to replace the broken Volvo 7-way socket connector with this new connector by joining this new mini harness to the existing Volvo wiring harness.

This new 7-way flat pin socket connector should work with most tow vehicles as long as the wiring colors/pin locations are the same as the existing vehicle’s wiring harness colors/pin locations.  To make sure everything works well, the first thing to do is test the continuity of each of the new connector’s 7 wires (with a continuity tester) to verify that the wiring and pin locations are identical by color to the tow vehicle wiring.  If each of the wire colors is continuous with the same pin locations on the new connectors as the tow vehicle’s 7-way socket connector, everything should work great.   I noticed on our Volvo, the center pin wire on the Volvo wiring harness is purple, but the center pin wire on the new connector harness is red.  So, I just had to connect the purple wire to the red wire so the Volvo continues to send the correct signal to the center pin of the new 7-way socket connector.  All the other wire colors/pin locations on our Volvo’s old connector did correspond to the new connectors’ wire colors/pin locations.

Once confirming wire colors and pin locations are matched, I verified that our Scamp cable plugs securely into the new 7-way socket connector.  I then clipped the wires from the existing Volvo 7-way socket connector, unbolted it and removed it from its mount.   Once removed, I also verified its wire colors and pin locations with a continuity tester.  I then attached the new 7-way socket and mini harness to the Volvo’s existing wiring harness, making sure to pull the new mini harness through the mounting hole before making the connections.  I stripped each wire and then used the provided preinstalled butt connectors to join each of the wires (by color, except for the purple/red combination).  For the white wire, I used a WAGO connector to connect the two white wires since the white wire on the original harness is already grounded (I just clipped the circular grounding connector from the white wire on the new mini harness and joined it to the white wire on the Volvo wiring harness).  After the wires were all connected, I mounted the new connector with the existing bolts and tucked the wiring harness up behind the bumper (and used Gorilla tape to help keep it in place).

To test the system, I connected the Scamp’s trailer cable to the tow vehicle and ran the Volvo’s automated trailer lights check.  I observed all lights working properly.  The key to doing this installation successfully is to make sure to correctly match each of the wires to the proper flat pin locations.

Project Supplies and Tools:

  1. Anto 7 Way Trailer Plug: https://amzn.to/3xXw11z
  2. WAGO 221 Connectors: https://amzn.to/3Nn2Hr8
  3. Wire stripper:   https://amzn.to/3M6CyME
  4. Continuity Test: https://amzn.to/39T82J7
  5. Gorilla Tape:  https://amzn.to/3Nh6y9a

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Idyllwild

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Idyllwild
April 17th – 20th, 2023 (3 nights)

Idyllwild is a small mountain town located high up (elevation 5,300 feet) in the San Jacinto Mountains (above Palm Springs) about two hours’ drive from San Diego.  The town is known for outdoor activities, art galleries and quaint shops.  The town hosts a variety of cultural events, including the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (March) and the Jazz in the Pines music festival (July).  For hiking, the best time to visit is spring and fall as the temperatures are moderate and pleasant.  Summer can be hot and crowded and winter can bring lots of snow (making certain trails inaccessible).  A few weeks before our visit, the campground and town area was covered in snow (heaviest snow fall in decades)!  We were lucky that the weather warmed up and the snow cleared by the time we arrived (for the most part)!   For those without trailers, consider staying at the historic Idyllwild Inn (est. 1904) right in the center of town.  This hotel gets good reviews and is reasonably priced.

We chose to stay at Idyllwild Campground (Mt. San Jacinto State Park) which is right in town and an easy eight minute walk to all the shops and restaurants.  The other main campground (Stone Creek), which is about a ten minute drive from town, doesn’t open until May 1st.  We found that even though Idyllwild Campground is close to town and adjacent to the main road (Hwy 243), it was relatively quiet during our mid-week visit.  The 28 campsites are well spaced apart and three (01, 02, 26 @$45/night) have full hookups and three have electric hookups (04, 05, 06 @ $35/night).  The tent campsites are $25/night.  There are water spigots throughout the campground (and flush toilets), but no dump station (other than the sewer hookups at the campsites that have full hookups).  We found Verizon mobile phone service to be very good.  There is a PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) campsite section that accommodates many of the PCT hikers that pass through the area and need a place to set up tent for a night or two.  We saw many of these hikers in the campground!

We reserved site 02 with full hookups (which allowed us to leave our solar panels at home and travel with an empty Fresh tank).  The maximum trailer length listed for the campground is 24 feet, although we saw some spaces that possibly could accommodate much longer trailers (e.g. our friend’s campsite, 04, looked like it could fit a 30 foot trailer along with a tow vehicle).  We met another couple who fit their 27’ Class A motorhome in campsite 26.  So, if you stay within the 24’ maximum, there shouldn’t be any issues fitting into the campsites.  However, one thing we did notice though is that the angle between the road and the campsites isn’t correct if following the direction of the signs, making backing in almost impossible.  So, we drove into the empty campsite opposite ours to make backing into our campsite easier and our friends (with their longer RPOD) could only get into their site by driving the opposite direction of the implied traffic route.  Though, some of the campsites are pull through.

The weather during our stay was ideal for hiking and shopping, with sunny cool days (in the high 50’s) and chilly nights (30’s).  We rarely saw any bugs as well with the cool temperatures.  We brought our new, small, lightweight, electric, ceramic space heater and we left it running all night long every night and it worked great (quietly keeping our Scamp as warm as we wanted and saving from having to use our propane).  We very much enjoyed hiking the trails with our friends Phil and Claudia on this trip.  Many popular hiking trails include:  Devil’s Slide Trail (2.5-mile), Ernie Maxwell Trail (5.2-mile), Suicide Rock Trail (6-mile), Mount San Jacinto Peak Trail (10.6-mile), and South Ridge Trail (7.6-mile).  We could not complete the Ernie Maxwell Trail because the river was running too hard to cross.  We instead hiked a portion of the Deer Springs Trail which is very scenic.  Make sure to get a free Wilderness Permit at the campground ranger station before going on any of these trails (one copy immediately goes into the permit box and the hiker submits the white copy when they return — this allows the rangers to see who didn’t make it back safely at the end of the day and send out a search party).  One day we drove over to the closed Stone Creek Campground to hike Saw Mills Flats Trail (1.7 miles).  We made it about halfway before getting stopped by very heavy snow on the trail (hip deep).

In addition to hiking and enjoying the campground, we also had fun strolling through town.  There are a number of fun shops selling all sorts of tourist novelties (e.g. tshirts, cups, etc.) as well as some good places to eat.  We purchased t-shirts and local blueberry jam.  One morning, I spotted the mayor of Idyllwild (Mayor Max) and his assistant (Assistant Mayor Meadow), both golden retrievers, along with their handler in front of one of the local donut shops, Donuts and More!  The handler let me sit down with them and hug both.  To learn about the history of Idyllwild dog mayors visit here.   We had great burgers for lunch at The Lumber Mill Bar & Grill.

Idyllwild is a fantastic place to relax and rejuvenate for a few days or even a week.  Breathing in the fresh mountain air and smelling the pines are great ways to de-stress and reinvigorate oneself!  And, being able to stay at the campground amongst giant trees … well, we hope it stays idyll and wild!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Building an Interior Closet Shelf for a Small Travel Trailer

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Building an Interior Closet Shelf for a Small Travel Trailer

Our 2020 Scamp 13’ is loaded with more things than most people can believe – including a full size bed, kitchen dinette, kitchen (with two-burner gas stove, sink and refrigerator), furnace, bathroom (including shower), HD TV, and storage cabinets.  However, being only 10 feet long (3’ is the hitch length), there isn’t a lot of interior storage space in our Scamp.  I like to keep my laptop inside the Scamp because I load movies onto it before each trip (see How To Watch Movies in the Wild) which we often watch at night.  I used to place the laptop on the kitchen floor underneath the kitchen table, but wanted to find a more secure and out of the way storage location.  When looking for possible storage areas in such a small space, one has to keep an open mind and keen eye to identify any space which isn’t being used.  I found one such space in the main clothes closet just above the clothes hanger.  The unused empty space seemed perfect to suspend a small shelf which could be used to store a laptop as well as a few other small items.  Having just completed my AC window project, I had some leftover ½” thick plywood.  I took some measurements, and using my jigsaw and belt sander it was a quick and easy job to create the shelf.

The first thing I did was measure the space to calculate the maximum shelf measurements which would fit.  I calculated that a shelf 14” wide in front, 12” deep (10” on the shorter curved side), and with 5” high walls would accommodate my laptop and maximize the storage space in this area.  Since the Scamp main closet curves at the back, I had to cut a corner in the rear shelf tray (reducing the rear right side tray by 2” to 10” deep).  I thought I might need a wall piece for the back corner, but it was unnecessary as the tray rests against the back wall (which acts as a shelf wall).  The back wall piece came out to 9” long x 5” high.  After all the pieces were cut, I drilled pilot holes and used glue and wood screws to join all the pieces.  Lastly, I cut 4 small pieces of plywood and used them as mounts.  These mounts are glued and screwed into the top of the shelf side walls (see video).

Once the shelf is fully built, it’s just a matter of having an assistant hold it in place inside the cabinet.  After positioning in the right area, use screws to attach the mounts to the wood ceiling.  Once I secured the shelf, I decided to cut some holes on the left side wall so, if necessary, I could insert a screwdriver through the shelf to tighten the collars on the hot/cold PEX lines (in case there was a drip).  The only thing left is to create a front cover (if desired).  I wanted the ability to be able to quickly see inside the shelf but needed a front cover so my laptop wouldn’t fly out while driving, so I opted to use a clear Lexan (high strength plastic) polycarbonate piece (which I attached to the cabinet using rare earth magnets hot glued to both the Lexan and plywood) (5” high x 15” wide).

I have used this shelf on several trips already and it has performed very well.  The rare earth magnets have always held securely during travel.  Hinges might be considered to avoid having to pull the Lexan off the front and setting it aside while putting things in and out of the shelf.  Though, I’ve found the magnet solution to work really well and don’t mind setting aside the front piece while accessing the gear inside the shelf.  So, if you have any small items in your small travel trailer that you need a home for, consider shelving them!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

How to Stop Your MaxxFan From Beeping & Shutting Down When Using Solar Power

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How to Stop Your MaxxFan From Beeping & Shutting Down When Using Solar Power

Our 2020 Scamp 13’ was delivered from the Scamp factory with a Maxxair MaxxFan, an incredible fan which can either blow or suck air into the trailer (depending on the setting).  Since we don’t have air conditioning in our camper and use it off grid quite a bit, we really depend on this fan to keep us cool during warm weather (as well as blowing out smoke when cooking and also clearing humidity from the trailer when showering and sleeping to prevent detector alarms).

We soon discovered that our MaxxFan doesn’t like voltage variations beyond 12 volts.  When boondocking (without shore power), we usually use our solar panel briefcase to provide power to our Scamp 13’.  Voltage in our trailer can vary quite a bit when on solar power and is usually higher than 12V, sometimes reaching just over 15 volts (based on our internal voltmeter).  It’s common for our MaxxFan to complain (beep and stop) when we are running solar.  It especially doesn’t like it when our Scamp 13’ is running on solar and simultaneously running another appliance (like a water pump to provide water pressure to our sink when boondocking).  It generally will beep and stop in this situation.  We’ve learned that we can often keep it running as long as we don’t exceed the 30% speed setting.  On one occasion, our fan stopped altogether and wouldn’t restart.  To get it to run again, we had to pull the fuse (fuse labeled “rear of trailer”) to reset the fan.  Ughh!

It was warm on our recent trip to Big Bear Lake and we really wanted to use our fan at a high speed setting, but it wouldn’t cooperate.  Our MaxxFan just kept turning off when turned up higher than 30%.  With our solar panels soaking up the bright mountain sunlight at Big Bear, the voltage coming into the trailer reached 15.6 volts.  At this point, we needed a better solution.  Upon doing considerable research, we found that, indeed, voltage intolerance is a known problem for MaxxFans.  When the voltage is too low or too high the fan will often beep and stop.  It seems this fan has “Goldilocks Syndrome” as the voltage has to be “just right”.  A call to MaxxAir, maker of the MaxxFan, confirmed that there have been considerable issues with voltage affecting fan operation which have prompted the company to update the motherboard to accept voltages up to 15 volts.  The MaxxFan tech I spoke to said the motherboard used to have a voltage range between 10.8 volts – 13.8 volts (our model), but once more people started using solar panels and lithium batteries (leading to higher voltages within their rvs) the company came out with a new motherboard (sometime after 2020) to accept a wider voltage range (10.3 volts – 15 volts).  The tech told me that even with the new motherboard, the fan will still have problems with voltages outside the new voltage range.  Although some people have gone as far as replacing their motherboards in the hope that the more recent circuit boards will fix this issue, others have taken matters into their own hands by implementing other solutions.  The simple and inexpensive solution we implemented was to install a voltage regulator between the trailer power leads and the fan (the MaxxFan tech agreed with us that this is a good solution).  The voltage regulator we chose accepts 9V – 36V input (a much higher range than the new MaxxFan mother board accepts) and puts out a consistent 12 volts, and is rated waterproof, dust-proof, moisture-proof and shock-proof (and currently sells new on Amazon for less than $15!).  It’s also really small and fits nicely in the MaxxFan housing.  So overall, the nice thing about this solution is that it’s inexpensive and addresses both very low and high voltages.

The installation of the voltage regulator inside the MaxxFan is fairly simple and just about anyone should be able to do it in less than an hour with the right supplies and tools.  A significant point to note is that it is very important to figure out the polarities of all the wires before connecting them because some trailers (and even the MaxxFan itself) have some strange things going on with polarity.  Specifically, for example, our Scamp trailer has a positive black wire and negative white wire providing power to the fan.  Additionally, MaxxFan also wires their fan this way with the black wire being positive.  This wiring convention is contrary to what most people learn, being that black is usually negative and red is positive.

A voltmeter is a good simple way to determine polarity (set your voltmeter on DC V and use the black probe on the black wire and the red probe on the other colored wire – if the voltage shows a positive number, then the black wire is negative polarity, if it shows a negative number, then black is positive polarity).  On our installation, we determined that our Scamp 13’ black wire is actually positive and the white wire is negative. These are the wires that provide power to the fan and attach to the input side of the voltage regulator.   On our voltage regulator, the input and output polarities are clearly labeled (with black being negative and red/yellow positive).  The MaxxFan wiring polarity matches our Scamp trailer with black being positive and white negative.

Project Supplies and Tools:

  1. MaxxFan
  2. 12V DC Voltage Regulator
  3. Voltmeter
  4. Wago wire connectors
  5. Scotch Fastener Tape
  6. Gorilla Tape
  7. Braided copper wire (AWG 14)
  8. Robertson Square #2 Screwdriver or
    1. Electric screw driver which accepts ¼” bits
    2. Robertson Square #2 bits 
  9. Wire cutters
  10. Wire stripper

Here are the Project Steps I took to install the 12V voltage regulator in the MaxxFan (also, reference video).

Project Steps:

  1. SAFETY: I made sure my Scamp 13’ was parked on a flat level surface (my garage), the tongue jack was stable, and I used heavy duty wheel chocks to prevent the trailer from rolling.  I also wore safety glasses to help prevent anything from getting into my eyes while working.  I made sure there was no power to the fan while working on it (by pulling fuse).
  2. Cut power to fan by removing fuse powering fan (fan won’t turn on after fuse is removed)
  3. Take off the fan screen by rotating the holders
  4. Remove the bezel/trim using the Robertson Square #2 Driver.
  5. Remove fan with Phillips head screwdriver (including screw on black manual fan knob).
  6. Unclip zip tie on the fan holding wires together
  7. Remove a bit more plastic sheath on each of the wires coming out each side of the voltage regulator to allow for more exposed copper to plug into the Wago connectors.
  8. Apply scotch Velcro tape (two sides) to the backside of the voltage regulator.
  9. Tape the voltage regulator into one corner of the inner casing of the fan.
  10. Cut trailer power wires attached to fan and test their polarity.
  11. Attach Wago connectors to the end of the trailer power wires as well as the voltage regulator wires and fan power wires.
  12. Create wire extensions and once polarities are identified, connect the trailer power wires to the voltage regulator and the voltage regulator wires to the fan (all using Wago connectors).
  13. Plug in fuse and test fan to ensure it works.
  14. Carefully insert wiring back into fan (using zip ties and Gorilla tape to secure loose wires)
  15. Screw fan back into place using a Phillips head screwdriver.
  16. Reattach bezel/trim using Robertson Square #2 Driver (and notch out bezel if necessary)
  17. Clean fan screen.
  18. Reinstall fan screen.

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Joshua Tree National Park – Ryan Campground

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Joshua Tree National Park – Ryan Campground
February 13th – 15th, 2023 (2 nights)

Joshua Tree National Park is a fantastic place in the high desert to visit in the winter, spring, and fall (too hot in the summer).  The Joshua trees (not really trees but succulents), unusual rock formations, hiking, rock climbing and dark night skies are the main draws.  The best reason for staying overnight in the park is because once the sun sets, the daytime crowds go, leaving quiet peacefulness.  And, the stars are so bright here; it’s the perfect place for stargazing (away from all the city lights).  It’s also not too far a drive for us from San Diego, making it a fantastic mid-week break for rest and solitude.  We chose to visit Ryan Campground (one of many campgrounds inside the park) because it is small and away from the busier tourist areas.  We purchased an annual park pass (America The Beautiful Pass, $80) when we visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in September, so we avoided the $30 entrance fee.

Located at an elevation of around 4,400 ft., Ryan Campground has only 31 campsites @$20/night (reservation only) and is centrally located within the national park.  There are also 4 equestrian sites ($15/night) and 3 bicycle sites ($5/night, first come first served).  There is no running water at the campground and only pit toilets.  There is no cellphone reception here, so if you want to be connected bring your Starlink (or be prepared to drive about 10 minutes back toward the entrance where the hilltop overlooks the valley below).  There are some nice hikes from within the campground and exhibits within a close drive.  On our first day, after setting up our Scamp 13’ in campsite #5 (a nice one) and having lunch, we hiked from the campground to Ryan Ranch and then onto Lost Horse Well.  It’s a short hike (only .3 miles) to the decaying adobe walls of the ranch house and bunk house (circa 1896).  Lost Horse Well is just a little farther.  We also walked part of the Geology Tour Rd. trail from the campground (6.6 miles).  Although we didn’t see any Bighorn Sheep (which are known to be in the area,  we did see a number of strikingly beautiful bluebirds (bright sky blue color) called Mountain Bluebirds.   After hiking, we drove to Keys View — a short drive up to the top of a crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains.  There are benches at the top and panoramic views of the Coachella Valley below– including the Salton Sea, Santa Rosa Mountains, 10,800 peak of San Jacinto Peak (behind Palm Springs), and the snow-covered peak of 11,500 San Gorgonio Mountain.  The San Andreas Fault can be seen below along the eastern part of the Coachella Valley with its jagged slabs of rock and other geological anomalies.

The wind started kicking up strongly on our first night with 20 to 30 mph winds with gusts up to 60 mph.  We had received a Severe Weather Advisory email from recreation.gov when driving into the park without further details (and we didn’t have internet access to research what was coming our way once we arrived at the campground).   Tent campers were having a rough time with their tents sometimes folding up in the wind; many of these campers slept in their cars for shelter.  One man, who is travelling the country by bike, told me he was almost swept off his feet when trying to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  Since campgrounds here have no water, we arrived with our Scamp 13’s fresh tank full (giving us some extra ballast).  Our rear stabilizers were down which also helped weather the gusts.  We were unhitched, but the Scamp handled the strong wind well (with only occasional shaking, despite the wind hitting the Scamp directly on its side – the Scamp’s aerodynamic shape likely helped).  The wind was so loud that, despite wearing earplugs and playing white noise, it was difficult to sleep (it sounded like we were on a boat in a fierce storm at sea).  Meanwhile, temperatures dropped into the 20’s and we cranked up our Scamp’s furnace to stay toasty.

The wind continued to blow hard the next day.  It was sunny, but cool and windy.  We bundled up in our down jackets with wind breakers over them.  We drove to the visitor’s center (about 30 minutes) to see their exhibits and souvenirs and also spent some time on our phones (since we had cellphone reception here).  On the way back to Ryan Campground, we stopped at numerous outdoor exhibits and trails which included Cap Rock & Intersection Rock (including .3 mile nature loop) and Creosote Trail.  We also stopped at some popular rock climbing spots.  Some of the names of these rocks are interesting:  Hemingway Buttress, Banana Cracks, Heart of Darkness, Target Rock, The Oyster Bar, Split Personality Rock, Agent Orange, East Wall Hall of Horrors, Exorcist, Diamond Dogs, and Nurn’s Romp.  We tried to visually connect the names of the rocks with the rock shapes, but they didn’t really match.  We guess the rock names are more aligned with the climbing experiences rather than the rocks’ appearances.  The most epic experience though, was walking along desert trails filled with Joshua trees (sights that cannot be matched anywhere else).  The trees, actually a type of Yucca, were, according to legend, named by Mormon immigrants crossing through the desert in the 1850s.  They saw the gnarled outstretched limbs of the trees as reaching their hands up to the sky in prayer (and/or pointing toward the Promised Land) and, so, named them after the biblical figure Joshua.

The wind calmed a bit in the evening of our last night, only to pave the way for an unexpected snowstorm!  Click here for a short video of the snowstorm at our campsite.  Yes, it was actually snowing!  We sure were glad to have two filled propane tanks on board (although we only used a small fraction of one) so we could run our heater all night.  We were very comfortable inside the warm cozy interior of the Scamp (watching movies and playing Sequence and Backgammon games). Looking out the Scamp’s panoramic windows watching the snow blanket the desert floor was a mesmerizing site.  Equally as captivating, was watching the tent campers scrambling to their cars for supplies during the blizzard.  It was difficult to imagine how they were able to bundle up enough in the cold to sleep in their tents (most likely didn’t have propane heaters and we witnessed some sleeping in their cars).  We heard some scary stories the following morning from tent campers who battled extreme cold during the night (temps in the teens).  People also exchanged hot food and hot drinks the morning after the snowstorm.

Our last morning at Ryan Campground was calm with blue skies (temperatures in the 20’s).  We had a chance to take a nice early morning hike (Keys View Rd trail) from the campground (around a two mile round trip flat desert walk) before heading home.  Because we plan to come back, we made note of a number of ranger programs which look interesting–including, Keys Ranch Tour  ($10 for adults, reservations the day before), All About Joshua Trees, and the Evening Program.  Although we experienced a wild weather ride on this trip, it was really exciting and satisfying.  It was great to see how our Scamp 13’ pushed through the challenges with flying colors.  And, these experiences will no doubt elevate our game for future trips.  Speaking of future trips, our next planned trip is back here next month at Jumbo Rocks Campground!  Stay tuned!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.