Yikes, is our RV falling apart?

So how do we like our new RV?

So how do we like our new RV? There were so many unexpected nice things about our new RV. Our new RV is actually older than the RV we sold. Our new RV is a luxury RV. Since we converted from an upgraded camper (I thought of it as a school bus) to an older luxury motorhome I have to say that I lacked the perspective of how this could be much better than our gasser. So how do we like our new RV, it is great.

Solid, Stable, and Quiet

So how do we like our new RV build quality? Our new RV is more solid than I expected. It is better insulated especially given the dual pane windows and thicker walls. We have noticed that our new RV is much quieter than we expected. Given that the engine is in the back, it is also much quieter when we are driving.

So how do we like our new RV ride? The ride of our new RV is more stable and softer than we expected. The air suspension gives it a floating feeling. This feeling is doubled by the cushion in the driver’s and passenger seats, which are like sitting on a pillow.

Our new RV front passenger seat is full-grain leather and very nice.
Our new RV front passenger seat (and drive seat too) is full-grain leather and very nice.

So how do we like our new RV floorplan? The floor plan of our new RV has only two chokepoints where only one person can walk at a time. One is in the hallway next to our bathroom and the other is at the front door. Of course, our bathroom is also one person at a time but has ample room. Getting used to one bathroom sink has not been a problem. We had two bathroom sinks in our old RV.

Our new RV has a unique floor plan  Its name is a 40QRP  Overall with the slides extended we have about 400 square feet of living space.
Our new RV has a unique floor plan Its name is a 40QRP Overall with the slides extended we have about 400 square feet of living space. One of the major improvements in our new RV is that it has four slide outs making the rooms much wider.

So how do we like our new RV kitchen? The kitchen is one of the best parts of our new RV. There were so many unexpected nice things about our new RV. Since we converted from an upgraded camper The huge residential refrigerator is a major benefit.

Our new RV has a laundry room. Actually it is really just in a closet. But our new RV has a washer and dryer. The washer is about ¾ size compared to a residential unit. The washer and dryer have turned out to be a luxury. At first, we thought that we would still have to use a Laundromat for bedding and towels but this washer is able to handle sheets and towels without issues.  To use the washer and dryer means that we need to be at places with electricity, water, and sewer.  These locations are not been my favorite places.

Our new RV has a built-in separate washer and dryer.
Our new RV has a built-in separate washer and dryer. Unlike single washer/dryer appliances, we can work on two loads at the same time making short work of the laundry. Of course, since we now have a washer and dryer, we don’t have to go to the laundromat.

Getting organized

So far we haven’t had to spend much time shopping for storage aids, one trip to Bed-Bath and Beyond and another stop at Walmart. We have plastic boxes for the drawers to keep things from shifting around. In our new RV, we have found places for all our clothes and most of our kitchen stuff. We don’t have a good solution for the wastebasket yet. Most likely our new RV will need a freestanding wastebasket. The bathroom storage is very limiting but robbing some of the bedroom cabinets has worked. The laundry soap lives at the bottom of the cabinet intended as a built-in hamper.  

Our new RV has plenty of kitchen storage with solid surface countertops.
Our new RV has plenty of kitchen storage with solid surface countertops.

So how do we like our new RV — Geek stuff

Inverter/Charger

So how do we like our new RV electrical system? The inverter/charger is a real plus. I am so happy about our inverter/charger which is already installed and fully operational.   A critical part of our old RV, that made our old RV so much fun last year, was the solar we put on at the end of 2018. In fact, it took the entire 2018 year to design the system and it did a good job keeping us off-grid and happy.

So how do we like our new RV battery charger setup? The reason solar was critical on our old RV was that our inverter/charger & battery was very limiting.  When our batteries needed recharging starting on day one while we were moving from one RV to the other, we started the generator and I was shocked to see that our batteries were being charged at 125 amps per hour. I know that this number doesn’t mean much to some of you but my old RV inverter/charger was 20 amps per hour.  This inverter is going to make my battery upgrade much easier.

One of the geeky things about our new RV is the inverter charger.  It is much better than the inverter charger in our old RV.
One of the geeky things about our new RV is the inverter charger. It is much better than the inverter charger in our old RV.

The inverter part of the inverter charger is wasteful I am thinking that the inverter may be wasting about 12% of the battery charge, but I don’t know if this is the maximum or all the time. I am going to have to measure it. There is nothing wrong with it, when you make a change from DC to AC it isn’t free. This waste is part just of the cost of using it.

Solar

So how do we like our new RV solar setup? On our new RV, the existing 2008 solar install is not capable of doing much of anything. Nor can I tell that it is even functional.  I am so accustomed to having fabulous control over the operation of the system that I can’t even tell if it is working.  A new charge controller would change this and then I could tell if it is even working. For now, shore power is mandatory to keep the refrigerator working.  I don’t think there is anything wrong with the panels, but I do know that they are not nearly big enough to camp without lots of outside electricity.

Our new RV has two solar panels. In 2008 the manufacturer thought that this would help provide power for the residential refrigerator.
Our new RV has two solar panels. In 2008 the manufacturer thought that this would help provide power for the residential refrigerator.

Batteries

So how do we like our new RV battery setup? In terms of electricity, we have twice the energy storage in terms of batteries as we did on our old RV. The batteries are first-rate Sealed-Lead-Acid and are less than two years old. The issue is not the batteries, but rather the power consumption of the RV is roughly four times greater than our old RV. Simple math would say that we need four times the battery (not twice the battery) and if we were to get serious about solar, four times the solar.  The batteries have shown to be able to run the RV for about five hours. Our old RV could go from sunset to sunrise without a problem.

Our new RV has two storage bays dedicated to storing these very large, very heavy batteries. The batteries were top-of-the-line only a few years ago.
Our new RV has two storage bays dedicated to storing these very large, very heavy batteries. The batteries were top-of-the-line only a few years ago.

So how do we like our new RV in terms of battery management? Honestly, it feels like I am polking around in the dark. I can’t tell my battery’s state of charge. So, the answer is I critically need a battery monitor. (edit 2022, we installed a battery monitor on our first RV and it was great. Here is an article about a battery monitor system. Battery Monitor

Kill-a-Watt

We have full hookups in our current location. We are going to try to replicate camping today and downsize our electrical draw so that we can measure the “camping” level of the electrical draw. I hope that a device called a kill-a-watt will function as a power meter and tell us over a period of time how much electricity this RV will use. It will be a starting point to calculate how big a battery we would need and how much solar we would need to get our new RV up to speed with regards to operating off-grid.  I will let you know how this experiment works or does not work, probably next week.

In case you missed it here is the post where we show off our new (to us) 2008 Tiffin Allegro Bus.

2 thoughts on “So how do we like our new RV?”

  1. I took the first picture, it is not our RV or our location. I hope that in the near future, we will be able to get back to the locations we love.

  2. Jan and I know the headache that come from moving from one coach to another. We did the same thing back in 06′, moving from our old gas MH to our new diesel pusher. What a job!
    Good luck. Hope all goes well.

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