 Bob finished upgrading our RV’s power, and we left our rig for three weeks to go on our annual bomber tour with the Commemorative Air Force, hopeful that the efforts we had made to rewire our fifth wheel were successful. It never dawned on us that we might not be able to open our RV slideouts upon our return. Stuck Closed The weather warmed in Michigan, where we left Gulliver and Tagalong at my brother’s, but we had left the air conditioning off to save on unnecessary power consumption. It didn’t make a lot of sense to cool the trailer with nobody spending any time in it. We did keep it plugged into shore power to run our refrigerator, and that was about it. We took comfort in knowing that Bob could monitor our RV’s power remotely while we were away. About one week into our three-week excursion, Bob noticed a low level on our trailer power. “What could be wrong?” we wondered. A check of the weather confirmed my brother’s farm had been subjected to thunderstorms. That could have caused a neighborhood power outage. My brother verified a temporary power outage had been restored. So he went to investigate the electrical connections for our rig and quickly discovered the problem: It appeared an animal of some sort had stepped on the cord and managed to disconnect it in the process.  Steve reconnected the power cords and fixed the issue — or so we thought. Wanting validation that our refrigerator was indeed running, we asked him to open our dining room slideout so that he could get into the kitchen. After holding down the slideout rocker switch for a full minute, nothing happened. The slideout wouldn’t budge. Since we’d had difficulty with that particular extension opening in the past, we suggested Steve expand the bedroom one. That didn’t move either.  Troubleshooting Steve confirmed that shore power was on to the trailer and that the batteries were charged. He asked if there was a breaker box he could check. Unfortunately, the breaker box also required opening that one slideout to get to it. He plugged his electrical tester into an outlet he could access and found that the trailer did indeed have AC power inside. The lights turned on inside the rig, proving that it also had DC power.  Bob guided Steve through trying to open the slideout using the onboard digital control panel, which we’ve found success with in the past. It still wouldn’t budge.  Completely stumped, and unable to do anything about the situation, we asked Steve to see if he could hear the refrigerator running from outside the rig. He could, and he verified that our propane was still working. We had left the fridge on the electric/propane setting so that it would run off electricity if available and switch to propane if not. We rested easier knowing the refrigerator was working properly and went on with our bomber tour, pushing thoughts about not being able to open our slideouts to the backs of our minds. Finding a Solution At the end of our tour, we returned to Steve’s house, opened the door to our RV and, sure enough, the slideouts wouldn’t expand. Bob tried using an app on his phone to no avail. Unsure what to do, he tried one more option: He turned the battery disconnect off and then back on. After that, we were able to open the slideouts as usual.  It seems either the animal issue with the power cords or the outage caused a problem with the slideout controller. As with a computer (Bob was an IT guy most of his career), when something goes wrong, restarting it should be one of the first troubleshooting steps.
Thankfully, the power upgrade turned out to be a success. We have no power issues whatsoever and are able to operate both air conditioners, the refrigerator, and the microwave all at the same time — even when not plugged into 50 amps. You might also like When Things Go Wrong in RV Life.
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 Our Jayco fifth wheel came with a charger converter — a device that converts shore power to DC power for use by the trailer’s battery-operated devices, such as the roof vent and fan, lights, and water pump. It also charges the batteries, if needed, when connected to shore power. Before we set out on our first RV adventure, we replaced the factory charger converter with one compatible with lithium iron phosphate batteries — another upgrade we had done for greater power and reliability. Had we not updated the charger converter, the unit wouldn’t have been able to charge our batteries, as it was designed to work with standard lead acid batteries. Replacing the factory charger converter involved changing out the guts, or wires, at the power distribution center. This enabled us to operate our rig from the batteries alone for boondocking ease. The converter allowed our essential appliances and normal household outlets to work off the batteries. That came in especially handy during our summer in Alaska. Powering Up In our fifth year of RV travel, we decided to head east. With limited boondocking options in that region due to less forest and Bureau of Land Management land, we took advantage of more moochdocking opportunities — and quickly learned that not all moochdocking power setups are the same. (We already knew this, but it became more obvious in the hot, humid months of June and July.) When we found ourselves driven out of the RV in Massachusetts, we decided the time had come to combine our trailer’s power charging, converting, and inverting functions into a single device. That would allow us to take advantage of solar power, shore power, and battery capacity all at the same time. Preparing for the New Unit Before Bob could install the new system to manage all of our RV’s power, he had to rig up three battery trays that would allow our batteries to securely lay on their sides. This enabled him to lower the shelf above the batteries, a necessity to ensure the new unit, which would rest there, would have ample air and space around it.  He also installed a fan in the RV compartment door, triggered by an electronic thermostat, to release heat produced by the batteries and power system. Most importantly, Bob had to secure everything in place for travel. We couldn’t have anything bouncing around, which could create a fire hazard. The new unit needed complete power control, including up to 50 amps of shore power. To make it work, Bob had to install a high-tech 50-amp circuit breaker. He also upgraded our three DC battery buses from something that could handle 150 amps to 500 amps. And he installed fuses for the DC system — two 300-amp DC fuses.  Rewiring an RV The bulk of the project, however, involved completely rewiring our rig to connect our power cord (for shore power) to the distribution box (charging station) to the new power system. Previously, shore power ran from the rear of the trailer to the distribution center in the middle of the coach. With the new system, we needed to run new six-gauge cable (⅓-inch thick) from the distribution center to the new unit in the front of the rig and then also run wires from the new unit back to the distribution center, like an artery and a vein from and to the heart.  Bob and I had to feed two sets of red and black wires through two 25-foot flexible conduits. He pushed, and I pulled until we got the wires through. In reality, that was the easy part. The more complicated part was running those two conduits through Tagalong’s belly. The heavy cords proved bulky and awkward, yet somehow we managed to weave them into place. Bob drilled holes in two different locations to feed the conduits through, securing the tubes as he went to keep them from moving around in transit.  With the job complete, we’re able to run one of our 30-amp air conditioners, our refrigerator, and our microwave all at the same time when plugged into a standard household outlet. And Bob can easily monitor our power usage from his phone.
You might also like 7 Best Boondocking Hacks.  Having traversed this great country as full-time RVers for about five years, we had heard about a gas station/store chain called Buc-ee’s but had never visited one. We just hadn’t happened upon a store on any of our journeys east, where most of them are located at the time of this writing (although they’re expanding west). That changed on a trip from Virginia to Charleston, South Carolina, for a cruise with friends Jim and Jenny, sans Tagalong. Our I-95 route passed right by a Buc-ee’s, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. What an experience! Fascinating Attraction As we pulled into the Buc-ee’s in Florence, South Carolina, myriad gas pumps (120) stretched across the property, attracting loads of people. With Tagalong temporarily out of the picture, we had no trouble weaving through the throngs of vehicles to make our way to a diesel fuel pump. That would have been much more challenging, but still doable, if we had been towing. Despite the mammoth size of Buc-ee’s locations, the chain doesn’t allow truckers to take advantage of its offerings. Jenny and I climbed out of Gulliver to work our way to the store. Our jaws dropped as our eyes scanned the massive amount of fuel pumps, cars, and people. The Buc-ee’s beaver mascot graced pool noodles and other merchandise lining the way to the door of the store, where visitors stood eating various delectables they had acquired inside. Nothing could have prepared us for what we’d find as we entered. The expanse of the 53,000-square-foot store took our breath away. We were at a loss for where to look, inundated by the noise of customers talking and cash registers ringing, and forced to navigate the labyrinth of humans and product displays.  On a mission, we dashed around hordes of people to get in the long and quickly growing line for the women’s restroom, afraid we might not make it to a stall in time. To our pleasant surprise, the line moved almost as rapidly as it grew. Buc-ee’s employs restroom attendants to point people to empty stalls for efficiency. Thanks to those attendants, the chain has also earned a reputation for having the country’s cleanest restrooms, according to Cintas. Plentiful Offerings With our bladders empty, we moved on to more important matters: filling our bellies. Bob and Jim joined us, and before we knew it, Bob and I had lost Jim and Jenny. We continued on, undeterred, to explore the seemingly countless hot food options: burritos, tacos, BBQ sandwiches, sausage on a stick, hot dogs, Buc-ee’s chips, and much more. We even found a beef jerky counter and a wall dedicated to prepackaged jerky.  Bob wanted to get a T-shirt, so we wormed our way to the clothing and merchandise area, where a plethora of T-shirt options, blankets, shoes, stuffed animals, and a whole lot more filled shelves practically up to the ceiling. Bob snagged a shirt he liked, and we headed back to the food.  By this point, the din of the many visitors and the explosive variety of goods and food choices overwhelmed my senses. I just wanted to hurry and get my food and get out.
After setting on a BBQ sandwich for Bob and a sausage on a stick for me, we maneuvered to the convenience store part of the establishment in search of a drink. We made our selections, and a nice young gal rang up our purchases, confirming that our experience was normal every day for her. We exited the building, thankful for relief from the cacophony, and stood outside to ingest our food while watching others enter the store to start their Buc-ee’s experiences. Monumental Destination Despite the overload to the senses, Buc-ee’s does a lot of things right. Unlike most of the truck stops we’ve visited across the country, Buc-ee’s has much cleaner restrooms and much better food options, both hot and healthy. For those reasons, we’d consider stopping again. Buc-ee’s also holds a couple of world records: one for the world’s largest convenience store, at 75,593 square feet in Luling, Texas, and one for the world’s longest car wash, at 225 feet in Katy, Texas. We recommend checking out Buc-ee’s for yourself if you ever get the chance. If you find it too overwhelming, you never have to go back again. But with the myriad food and product options, the fast-moving lines to the restrooms, and the numerous fuel pumps, you just might get in and out of it faster than you would at another stop. Buc-ee’s is sure to be an experience you won’t likely soon forget. You might also like What It’s Like to Stay in a Truck Stop at an RV. |
AuthorThis is the travel blog of full-time RVers Bob and Lana Gates and our truck, Gulliver, and fifth wheel, Tagalong. Categories
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