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Old 10-16-2021, 07:55 AM   #1
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12V in Minnie Winnie 25B

Hi everyone,
We are in the search to upgrade from a pop up camper, after tenting for many years, as we are getting older and want to make camping a bit less work and more time for fun. We have narrowed it down to a Minnie Winnie 25B as we are a family of 3. I keep reading that the 25B does not have a 12V option. Since I am new to camping in this way, what does that mean for us? Does that mean it does not have a way to plug into campground electric? Would we be able to add a 12V plug?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks all,
t
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Old 10-16-2021, 08:31 AM   #2
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I am not sure what a "12V option" means. It may mean a 12v powered compressor fridge instead of the more traditional propane/110V absorption fridge.

If that is what it means, consider carefully if it will work for you. 12V compressor fridges use much more DC power, at least 50 amp hours daily vs 5-10 amp hours for a propane fridge which uses DC for controls and the gas solenoid valve.

If you dry camp a lot, having a 12V comrpessor fridge probably means switching to lithium batteries to have enough battery capacity to run for more than a day or two as well as adding solar panels to keep them charged up. OTOH with an absorption fridge I can usually go 4 nights of dry camping without discharging my batteries too much.

But if you always camp at full hook up sites, then a 12V compressor fridge cools better in hot weather and is generally simpler.

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Old 10-16-2021, 09:28 AM   #3
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I think DavidM is correct.

The Minnie Winnie 25B definitely has 12v batteries, a 12v converter and charging system. And, this "no 12v option" likely refers to the type of refrigerator.

There are plenty of 12v items inside the RV. For instance the lights inside and outside are all 12v.

When you are not plugged into 110v power - what we RVers call "shore power" even though it's a boating term - your RV runs off of the 12v power in the RVs "house batteries." When plugged into shore power or when running the generator a device called a "converter" converts the 110v shore power into 12v power to power all of your 12v items.

The Converter is also a battery charger and when plugged in your converter will also charge those house batteries.

The Minnie Winnie is a Class C motorhome - so, it has it's own engine and drivetrain. This means it also has an additional 12v battery just to start the engine of your motorhome. This battery would be known as your "chassis battery" to differentiate it from your House batteries.

If you get a new RV - and if you do you'll have a blast - there are a great many new things to learn. An motorhome is a truck... and a house. And, there are dozens systems and items to learn to master in both parts of the RV.
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Old 10-16-2021, 09:42 AM   #4
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A big point to throw in on shopping is the amount of bad info that we get when reading on the internet as it is true that much of it is simply written by people who heard something "somewhere" rather than actually true info!

So when you read that an RV does or doesn't have some feature which makes it sound really weird, consider where you are getting that info?
Consdier what you and many people consider to be true and then check to see if you are right or the person whose info you are getting!
When much of the world thinks something is true but a small portion or group says it is not, check very carefully before "drinking the Kool-Aid"!

When dealing with the idea of a motorhome with no 12 volt system, that's time to check
how they start the engine!
You've done well to ask before accepting the idea. Most likely there was a post for one specific item like the frig, which then became a "well known " fact applied to way too much.
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Old 10-16-2021, 09:47 AM   #5
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I decided to look into the Minnie Winnie 25B a little further and the new 2022 model comes with 2-12v House batteries. Which is a plus and it comes standard with a 1000w inverter as well. Which is another plus.

The inverter will allow you to use some 110v appliances (TVs, and a few plugs for chargers, etc) from your 12v house batteries even when not plugged into shore power.

It's not a large enough inverter to operate your microwave or air conditioner from your batteries - but it's very handy to have and nice to see it as standard equipment.

The model does have a built in 4,000w generator - so with that running you'll have plenty of power for the microwave and A/C.

I checked and there does appear to be only one fridge available. The specs don't detail if it's a propane/electric absorption fridge (what we call an "RV Fridge)" or a 12v compressor fridge. But looking at the photos I see the side vents on the outside of the RV that indicate it has an "RV fridge."

RV fridges are different from home (compressor) fridges. They run on 110v power AND the can run on Propane. Folks that do a lot of camping without power hookups like RV fridges because they can work without using a lot of power from your house batteries by using the Propane option.

Compressor fridges are simpler, colder and more like your home fridge. So, folks like this - but then when they try to camp without a power hookup find that they don't have enough battery power to last more than a day or two with their compressor fridge.

RV fridges generally work well and have been the standard of the RV world for 30-years. It's only lately that many RVs have added a "12v Option" to run the fridge via a 12v compressor.
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Old 10-16-2021, 02:20 PM   #6
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more info

Thanks so much for all the info. I went back to the review (it's on rv insider and it's about a 2014 MW 25B) it says, "Lack of 12v fridge operation while traveling". So, it does have to do with the fridge. It goes on to say that the fridge won't cool while your traveling. So, how would we keep the fridge running while moving? Is that where the propane comes into play? We would have to run the propane while we are moving? Is that safe?
Thanks again for helping the newbie!
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Old 10-16-2021, 03:00 PM   #7
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Certainly a 12v compressor fridge can operate while driving so i have no idea why they have said it can't run while driving. With the RV Fridge (electric/propane), yes, you run the fridge on Propane while driving.

Some folks are against running the fridge on propane while driving... I'm not one of those. To each their own about some of these things.

I looked up that review on RV Insider. It's for a 7-yr old version that was built on a Chevy chassis. This model was, and still is, on a Ford E350 or Ford E450 chassis. The 25B is on the Ford E450, which is the preferred. Chevy all but ceased supplying RV chassis around 2015 and is only available on a select few Class C RVs these days.

Of course, that has nothing to do with the fridge - and the review just says "Lack of 12v fridge operation while traveling" which is cryptic at best. Who knows what they're referring to??
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Old 10-16-2021, 04:56 PM   #8
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But then there are lots of ways to go shopping! One of my favs when not able/willing to go out and actuallly deal with the trek, is to go online and look for info!
Cup of coffee inhand and set back to study things until I go blind?

Winnebago does a really good job of putting really indepth info online, so a search is often helpful.
But if you want to get into what minor parts may be found, the parts catalog is one great place to get lots of detail like the floor plans and where things like frig are located as well as lots of specs for things like how big the microwave might be!

Try giving this site a good look for any specific year/model you might spot and you can drill down to what size the drain might be!

https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm

It takes some practice to learn to drive but test out looking at the list on the right and highlight something of interest and it shows inyellow onthe drawing when clicked. Or click a part on the drawing and it pops up on the list!

Enough info to entertain you or is it enough to drive you mad?

Click this snip to get a better view and idea?
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Old 10-22-2021, 01:53 PM   #9
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Family of 3 adults from SD here in a 25B. 3rd year of ownership. Bought new 3 years ago. Camp (mostly boondocking) locally March thru May and Sept to Nov.
Travel Rockies & east May to Sept mostly on hookups.
We went tent, van, TT then 25B. We wanted simple-no slides, self contained etc.
No 12v fridge available when purchased.
Glad it wasn't there to tempt us. In hindsight I wouldn't want a 12v fridge.
OE batteries (for us) from WB was a pair of dual purpose, 60ah Napa batteries. Completely inadequate for almost everything. We stumbled thru a full year trying to make them work. Always tested good just not enough AH.
1000watt inverter that we use every day--for everything from our egg cooker to our nightly Netfilx fix.
Ours is on the E350 chassis (no choice at the time) wishing it was the E450. Understand they are all built on the big chassis now.
Adding a Hellwig sway bar front, using 80psi rear and 70psi front and a GOOD front wheel alignment after 7k miles (shop advised us to wait a year to let everything settle in) made a huge improvement on handling to my E350. I'd guess the E450 would not have a fraction of the "wander/wind" problems I had with the lighter, stock, chassis.
Added a 5 Star Tune, 400watts of solar on top, suitcase solar and 2 100ah WM batteries.
Cry a little everytime I have to winterize it this time of year.
Just did 4 nights/5 days at Nomad View in the SD Badlands.
Loving the life.
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Old 10-22-2021, 08:51 PM   #10
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We love our 25B. We travel in it five months out of the year. Great for the two of us. We do boondock a lot. Converted to Lithium and solar.
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Old 10-27-2021, 04:38 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gurroz View Post
We love our 25B. We travel in it five months out of the year. Great for the two of us. We do boondock a lot. Converted to Lithium and solar.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Gurroz,
Curious, did you put your Lithium under the steps in there OE position?
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Old 11-03-2021, 12:54 PM   #12
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I also am wondering about the standard Fridge. Most fires occur with the propane fridge......If you could put a couple good solar panels on the roof and add a good battery, the 12 Volt Fridge would be the way to go.......Just my $.02.....thanks and have fun.

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Old 12-29-2021, 08:25 AM   #13
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paof6, We installed one Ohmmu group 31 156ah battery under the steps. If you are not familiar with Ohmmu, they make Tesla replacement batteries. We replaced the original two FLA 75ah batteries. We also use a 500w portable battery pack which is 50ah so, we have a total of 206ah usable which allows us to boondock without thinking of power. Also, propane frig is not a problem they have been using them for decades.
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Old 12-29-2021, 09:36 AM   #14
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A good point on the fires in propane frig is that we often see statements made with little to back up the claim.
Since the propane frig has been around a long time and used in millions of RV, there have been firesbut does that mean they are mre prone to have problems or only that there are a certain number of failures in any item?

I'm betting there are far more fires from other failures, like the pan of grease left on the stove or the campfire left overnight!
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