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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. 

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!

 

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