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solar extension cables

Central Sierras (Huntington & Shaver Lakes)

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Central Sierras (Huntington & Shaver Lakes)
July 9th – 19th, 2022 (10 nights)

Summer is usually a great time to head for the mountains (which are often inaccessible other times of year due to harsh weather).  A neighbor recommended we visit the Central Sierra, specifically Huntington Lake and Shaver Lake. He has spent a lot of time in this area and reported the lakes to be spectacular.  Because the drive directly from our home in San Diego to Huntington Lake is a long one (over seven hours), we decided to make a couple stops in between to make the drive easier.  We first stopped at my brother’s house in Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles area) for a night.  Then, we headed to a stop in the Central Valley.  Our neighbors, Phil & Claudia, also joining us on this trip with their RPOD trailer, recommended we stay at Success Lake in the Central Valley.  The only hitch (pardon the pun) with this plan is that the temperature during this time of year is often over 100 degrees at Success Lake and our Scamp 13′ didn’t come with AC (see article, “No AC, No Problem”).  Fortunately, I had a couple of weeks to prepare and I was able to build a mounting system for a mini window AC unit.

We were curious about the fully loaded (full Fresh and Hot Water tanks) weight of our Scamp 13’ (with front bathroom), so we stopped at one of the many CAT Certified Scales (big yellow signs with a Cat head) prevalent throughout the Central Valley.  California’s Central Valley, which provides a quarter of the nation’s food (including 40% of the nation’s fruits and nuts), has many public weigh stations due to the considerable amount of trucking in the area.  The California standard weigh fee is currently $13.  At the weigh station, there are multiple scale platforms (designed for tractor trailers) defined by bright yellow outlines.  Just make sure the trailer is on one and the tow vehicle is on another to get an accurate weight.  Push the Call button and the weigh master will print out a weight certificate for you.  Our Scamp weighed in wet (full Fresh, Hot water, and Propane x 2 tanks) at 1840 lbs., which is considered a light trailer.

Success Lake is a recreation lake in the Central Valley and is popular for boating, waterskiing, sailing, kayaking, swimming and fishing.  There are about 103 campsites at the campground, called Tule Campground, and a small marina which has boat rentals.  The campground is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is a dammed reservoir.  We had an electric hookup site (water also included, free central Dump), site #54, which was $30/night and has a view of the lake.  There was good cell service during our visit (three bars on Verizon and good streaming).  We were also able to pick up 11 clear HD channels over the air on our HD TV.  The campground was nearly empty during our stay and it was easy to understand why – the temperature was well over 100 degrees.  However, the lake was busy with families enjoying the water.  As soon as we hooked up and set up our new window mini air conditioner, we spent most of our time in the Scamp playing games.  We set the temperature inside the Scamp at a nice cool 74 degrees.  The hot weather outside during the day was inhospitable.  Just a short walk was very uncomfortable.  However, the heat cooled a bit by early evening allowing us a walk with our friends along the lake and marina.  The next morning, we left right after breakfast, avoiding the extreme heat of the day (dumping at the free central dump station on the way out).

The flat and arid nature of the Central Valley changes to a mountain landscape with dense pines, after passing Fresno and climbing high up into the lake country.  Once we left Success Lake, it took us about three and a half hours to reach Rancheria Campground (no hookups or dump, but shared water spigots) at Huntington Lake (elevation 7,028 ft.).  Rancheria Campground is a beautiful lakeside campground nestled among tall pines.  There are beaches along the lake and the crystal clear water wasn’t too cold to take a dip.  The lake is known for being windy and popular for sailing.  There is a marina close to the campground.  Our campsite, #74 ($37/night), has a nice view of the lake and is well spaced between other campsites.  This campground has numerous sites with nice lakes views (our favorite sites are #65, #68, #71, #70, #69, #72, #81, #67, #66, #74, #69, #76, #82, and #81).  A bear paid a visit to the campground one night and enjoyed some s’mores left out by campers.  We enjoyed hikes along the lake as well as a long hike up to Rancheria Falls (about four miles from the campground, which took us about 3 hours).  Despite it being July, the waterfall had a really lively flow.  We also had some really fun games of the board game Sequence with our friends.  For an overview video of our stay at Rancheria Campground, click here.

After a couple nights at Huntington Lake, we headed down to Dorabelle Campground (at Shaver Lake, elevation 5,627 ft.) (only about 30 minutes away).  We needed to dump, so we stopped at the only dump station in the area (Camp Edison).  We were scheduled to spend the weekend at Camp Edison, but since we needed to dump outside our stay dates we were charged ($30) – the highest dump fee we have ever paid (it’s usually around $7 – $10).  Dorabelle Campground seems more oriented toward families with beaches jumping with children.  Unfortunately, almost all the campsites (except one) do not have a lake view.  There is no dump here or hookups.  There are shared water spigots.  The cell phone reception is a bit spotty.  Even though this campground did not live up to all our expectations, we still enjoyed our campsite (#31, $42/night) (which was located in a beautiful meadow).  Our Scamp 13’ was often in considerable shade, so we had a chance to try out for the first time our 50’ solar extension cables to allow our solar panels to be positioned out in the sun!  There are many hiking trails adjacent to Dorabelle Campground, giving access to walks through grassy fields filled with beautiful flowers (e.g. lupine) and tall pines.  On our hikes, we saw ospreys flying as well as tree top nests with osprey chicks’ heads bobbing above the rim high above the lake.  We also had the chance to go out on the water when our generous campsite neighbor offered us a lake tour. The lake was very active with people swimming, boating, jet skiing, fishing, and sunbathing.  During the boating excursion, we got out of the boat on a secluded beach and hiked up to Shaver Lake Falls!

We spent our last couple of days in the Central Sierra at Camp Edison, also on Shaver Lake (a utility run campground just 10 minutes down the lake from Dorabelle Campground).  Camp Edison has the feel of a privately run campground with many amenities (including well stocked camp store, adjacent museum, basketball court, volleyball court, walking trails….).  We were about 45 minutes early for the 1 p.m. check in, and, were told we couldn’t check in until exactly 1 p.m.!  This was surprising because we’ve never had an issue with early arrivals in the past at other campgrounds.  Our campsite also was a bit pricey (the most we’ve ever paid for a campsite at $70/night).  The site, #129, was listed as a premium lake side site and we were expecting a grand lake view given the price.  We were a little taken aback when we pulled in and found the site unpaved, not level, and without a lake view from our Scamp (although there is a lake view from the site’s picnic area above the site pad)!  We had electric power (which was good because there was a mini heat wave while we were there and we were able to run our AC system!).  There is no dedicated water hookup at this site, but there is a shared spigot close by.  Luckily, the shared spigot had enough threads that we were able to hook up our hoses (25’ hose + 50’ extension hose) to reach our Scamp without having to haul water up the hill.  Despite some of these issues, we did have an enjoyable stay at Camp Edison.  On our first night, there was a fantastic thunder and lightning storm and a tree was struck by lightning in town.  There is a great museum, The Museum of the Sierra, adjacent to the campground which has wonderful displays which show how the logging and utility industries developed in the area.  There were live demonstrations of machinery including steam engines moving heavy logs and hydroelectric turbines used for power generation.  There was even a free ice cream social put on by the museum volunteers!  And, on Sunday morning, we went on a great guided hike with a couple guides from the Forestry Service.  Overall, we had a really good experience at Camp Edison.

We decided to skip Success Lake (forecast was for 109 degrees) on the way home and head straight to my brother’s house in Pacific Palisades on the coast (about a 5 hour drive from Camp Edison).   A 6AM squirrel alarm allowed us to get an early start!  We had fun playing games and watching a movie with my brother and nephews before heading home to San Diego the next morning.  For an alternative to the Eastern Sierras (e.g. Mammoth Lakes), definitely consider a visit to the Central Sierras and enjoy equally impressive lake and mountain scenery!

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. 

Powerful Solar Power Solution for your Small Travel Trailer

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Powerful Solar Power Solution for your Small Travel Trailer

After a year of trips with our Scamp 13’ (33 nights, 23 locations, 7 trips), we’ve gained a good understanding of how the trailer functions and which accessories provide added benefit.  Because our adventures often involve locations without electricity (such as some State and National parks and boondocking campsites), one excellent solution we implemented is a solar panel system.  The system ensures that our small travel trailer has the power needed to run the most essential functions (e.g. indoor LED lights, water pumps, heater, fans, and perhaps an electric tongue jack).  Most small travel trailers are powered by an on-board 12 Volt DC battery when off-grid or 110V AC onshore power when hooked up to a campsite’s electrical outlet (which is then converted to 12V DC).

The trailer’s battery is usually around 12.7 volts when fully charged and a good rule to ensure long battery life is to keep the trailer’s battery charge level above 12 volts (about 50% of its capacity).  A battery voltage meter should always be used to monitor the trailer’s battery voltage throughout each trip (we had Scamp install a SeeLevel II system when our 2020 Scamp 13’ was being built and Scamp now installs voltage monitors on its 2021 models).  There are aftermarket voltage monitors that simply plug into the 12 volt DC port in the trailer.  Here’s one with a BLUE display and here’s one with a RED display.

We’ve found that a basic 100W solar briefcase (two 50W solar panels which fold up on each other into a briefcase when not in use) is all that is necessary to provide enough power for essential systems in our Scamp 13’ (as long as the camper has sun exposure every few days).  The solar briefcase is nice because it is relatively light and can fit in the back of the tow vehicle when not in use.  We use an auxiliary battery power bank, a Jackery 500, for charging our phones, cameras, drone, and television when boondocking to reserve all of our Scamp’s 12V battery power for essential devices/functions.

The items needed to create a reliable solar system for your small travel trailer are:

  1. High quality 100W solar briefcase (monocrystalline)
  2. 2 pin waterproof male/female connector for the plastic battery box (houses the trailer battery)
  3. 20 foot solar extension cables
  4. 50 foot solar extension cables
  5. Solar crimper tool
  6. 12AWG (thickness) Wire (about 12 inches black / 12 inches red)
  7. Solar panel cable connectors
  8. Solar panel connector assembly tool
  9. Multi-meter Tester
  10. Portable Power Station

Update Sept. 2022:  after a few years, the bag that came with our solar panels split apart (it was always too small and difficult to deal with).  Here’s a much better bag!  Also, we’ve found having 50 foot cables which can extend the 20 foot cables to be a great option when the campsite is in shade most of the time and the longer cables can get the solar panels out into the sun!

Monocrystalline solar panels have the highest efficiency rates (more power per square foot) and perform best in low light conditions, so that’s the type we chose and we’ve been very pleased with the performance.  Make sure you choose a solar panel briefcase which comes with a charge controller.  The charge controller will keep your small travel trailer’s battery from overcharging.  On a recent trip to Joshua Tree National Park, we were down to 12.3 volts one morning.  As soon as the solar panels were plugged into the battery, the power registered 13.6 volts and maintained that steady voltage through most of the day.  When the solar panels were unplugged at sunset, the Scamp battery registered 12.7 volts (100% charge)!  We were staying at a Boondockers Welcome location without any hookups and relied on our Jackery 500 to charge our phones and other non-essential devices (including watching TV at night).  So, as long as there is sun every few days, the solar panel setup will keep the small travel trailer battery charged almost indefinitely!

Once you have the items needed to create your solar system, you will need to connect everything together.  Solar panel briefcases which come with charge controllers usually have a couple of metal clips on the end of each cable (black and red) which attach the solar panel cables directly to the small travel trailer battery (similar to the clips on car jumper cables, by clipping on to the red and black terminals of the battery).  Sometimes these clips are attached directly to the cables coming out of the solar controller and in other cases are separate and have connectors that plug into cable connectors coming out of the charge controller.  In any case, it is cumbersome to use the clips if your small travel battery is covered by a plastic housing box (like with our Scamp 13’).  We would have to take our plastic battery housing on and off each time we used the solar panels if we used the clips.  So, to make things easy, use a waterproof 2 pin male female connector port on the case.  Before installing onto the plastic battery case cover, some black and red 12AWG wires need to be soldered onto the inside port half, and ring terminals crimped onto the ends of the wires so they can connect to the trailer battery (Ring Terminal 12-10 Crimp Connectors, 5/16” Home Depot).  (If you are not familiar with soldering, either have a friend do it or hire an expert.  Otherwise, skip this step and just use the clips directly onto your battery terminals and omit the battery port.)  Once the inside port half has its cables, drill an appropriately sized hold in the plastic battery case cover and mount the port (the outside piece of the port screws into the inside piece to hold it in position on the case).  Then, screw down the ring terminals to the red and black battery terminals and close the battery housing box.  The last step is to solder the outside male connector (which plugs into the battery port) to the 20’ solar extension cables.

Depending on how the solar briefcase is configured, it might be beneficial to create two short cables (red/black) with the 12AWG wire and add MC4 connectors at the end which the 20’ solar extension cables can plug into (they should already have MC4 connectors on them, sometimes male on Black and female on Red).  Some solar briefcases are already configured with these short cables and connectors and it’s important to understand which connectors are male and which are female so they plug in appropriately.  Having short cables connected to the charge controller will allow the solar briefcase to be folded with the short cables still attached to the charge controller.  With this setup, all one needs to do when arriving at the campsite is open and position the solar panels, lay out the solar extension cable, and then join the connectors at the solar panels and plug the other end of the solar extension cable into the small travel trailer’s battery port.

It may be helpful to have a digital multimeter to check there is continuity from one end of the extension cables to the other and also to verify power is coming out of the extension cable at the male side of the port.  On my first attempt, no power was coming out of my extension cable.  So, I tested the continuity of the cable using the meter (makes a tone when the connection is continuous).  I found that one of the factory installed connectors wasn’t making a good connection and, after I reinstalled the connector, everything worked great!  You can also tell right away if your system is working just by checking your voltage.  If everything is good, the sun is out, and the panels are plugged into the system, the voltage will go up to the 13 voltage range right away (almost like the trailer is plugged into an electrical outlet).

Once you discover solar and how effective it is, you will never want to leave home without it!

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.