Prybry
Adventurer
Well everything worked out...
I just wanted to give a quick update on how everything worked out...
Setup the camper at the road crossing at 4:30pm on Sunday 1/30, temp was about 15 degrees F with the sun just starting to set. Started the buddy heater for a few minutes inside the camper to warm up the canvas and most important the vinyl windows. I spent about 20 minutes working outside stashing gear boxes and getting camp setup... mean while the camper got up to roughly 50 degrees inside.... so I unlocked the top and went in a cranked her up. No problems, everything straightened out just fine. While setting up I also put on my thermal blankets which hung over each side bed. Those seemed to really help.
Once I got the top up and sides dropped out I tried starting the furnace... promptly blew a fuse in the power panel. Swapped in a spare and blew that one two. Evidently the fan is too stiff in the cold and draws more than the typical 5 amps... so I swapped in a 10 amp fuse and everything started up fine. So I let the furnace and buddy heater run together for about 30 minutes and the camper interior temp came up to about 65F. Outside the sun had gone down and the temp had dropped to 8F.
I shut down the buddy heater and the furnace alone was able to maintain a comfortable 70F. If we left the door open too long it would take 15 minutes to recover but it seemed to be workable.
My generator was too cold blooded to startup so I ended up letting the truck idle to run the furnace, lights and radios. If I would have gotten the generator running I was planning to stay all night. As it was I went through a 1/4 tank of gas running the truck for 12 hours.
By 1:00am in the morning the outside temp had dropped to 2F and the camper was still 65F inside. The only problem I had with condensation was on the upper part of the top where the aluminum frame is exposed on the interior... it got all frosty. By 3:00am the end canvas was getting a little frost haze too. The side bunk canvas was still clear of frost, I'm guessing due to the thermal blankets doing their job.
Started to break camp at 4:00am... took out the buddy heater and fired it up, to get the top warmed up for folding. Camper came up to 80F inside just before I started to drop the top and fold in the sides. Canvas had a bit of frost haze but was still flexible so folding it up went ok.
I still haven't checked the LP tank to see what I used... started with a fresh tank so I can get it filled and find out.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the outcome... I just need get my generator problems sorted out. Next year I'll be back to work the John Beargrease sled dog race at one of the check points... So I can leave the camper up and stay in it, and I will likely have shore power to plug into.
Thanks for all the helpful comments...
Prybry
I just wanted to give a quick update on how everything worked out...
Setup the camper at the road crossing at 4:30pm on Sunday 1/30, temp was about 15 degrees F with the sun just starting to set. Started the buddy heater for a few minutes inside the camper to warm up the canvas and most important the vinyl windows. I spent about 20 minutes working outside stashing gear boxes and getting camp setup... mean while the camper got up to roughly 50 degrees inside.... so I unlocked the top and went in a cranked her up. No problems, everything straightened out just fine. While setting up I also put on my thermal blankets which hung over each side bed. Those seemed to really help.
Once I got the top up and sides dropped out I tried starting the furnace... promptly blew a fuse in the power panel. Swapped in a spare and blew that one two. Evidently the fan is too stiff in the cold and draws more than the typical 5 amps... so I swapped in a 10 amp fuse and everything started up fine. So I let the furnace and buddy heater run together for about 30 minutes and the camper interior temp came up to about 65F. Outside the sun had gone down and the temp had dropped to 8F.
I shut down the buddy heater and the furnace alone was able to maintain a comfortable 70F. If we left the door open too long it would take 15 minutes to recover but it seemed to be workable.
My generator was too cold blooded to startup so I ended up letting the truck idle to run the furnace, lights and radios. If I would have gotten the generator running I was planning to stay all night. As it was I went through a 1/4 tank of gas running the truck for 12 hours.
By 1:00am in the morning the outside temp had dropped to 2F and the camper was still 65F inside. The only problem I had with condensation was on the upper part of the top where the aluminum frame is exposed on the interior... it got all frosty. By 3:00am the end canvas was getting a little frost haze too. The side bunk canvas was still clear of frost, I'm guessing due to the thermal blankets doing their job.
Started to break camp at 4:00am... took out the buddy heater and fired it up, to get the top warmed up for folding. Camper came up to 80F inside just before I started to drop the top and fold in the sides. Canvas had a bit of frost haze but was still flexible so folding it up went ok.
I still haven't checked the LP tank to see what I used... started with a fresh tank so I can get it filled and find out.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the outcome... I just need get my generator problems sorted out. Next year I'll be back to work the John Beargrease sled dog race at one of the check points... So I can leave the camper up and stay in it, and I will likely have shore power to plug into.
Thanks for all the helpful comments...
Prybry
