2108DS - How to boondock

[Mono2]

I own a 2020 2108DS and can confirm that THE only things that operate with the battery selector switch in the OFF position are the slide out and tongue jack (and TJ light). With battery switch “ON” it’s what every one else stated: all AC devices do not work.
As far as taking a minimalist approach using only the TT battery, which we tried, it’s the WP, lights, awning, slide out, fridge (we switched to LP) and ours lasted about 6 hours overall. That’s with somewhat “normal” use with 3 people (WP, lights). I would NOT rely on just the TT battery for lights, etc. for more than a half day when operating the aforementioned under normal or even less than normal circumstances. It will drain quickly and then ur firing up your toad for power.

NOTE: Of course this is no genny power or shore power.

We did purchase a HF Predator 3500 invertor genny and it works GREAT and is a fraction of the Honda Jenny’s price. If you have a 13.5K btu A/C you’re in even better shape than me w/ the Predator. I have a 15K btu A/C and the Predator “just” manages to run it. We can’t operate much more when our A/c is running with the Predator but we seldom need the A/C so the Predator was still a sensible purchase as it powers everything else exceptionally well.
Finally, to prolong or enable TT battery usage solely, requires a solar panel system, or more batteries. Or an ULTRA minimalist approach.

[DavidM]

I have a minimalist T/T, a 16' Livin Lite, that I am about to sell, that I have made accurate current and amp hour measurements while dry camping.

About half of the time we don't bother cooling down the absorption fridge and just use an ice cooler for a day or so. We do wash dishes, take a shower with hot water, use the LED lights for an hour or so before bedtime, charge our cell phones/tablets and basically operate minimalistically. We average 10 amp hours each day and measurements of instantaneous amp draw run about 0.4 amps.

If we use the fridge on propane, that draw jumps up to about 0.5 amp or about 12 amp hours daily for the controls and igniter. In this mode we can camp for three days and at the end our Group 24 battery is at 50% state of charge which is as low as you want to go.

When the battery is down to that point and we hook up the trailer wiring connector to our TV and start the engine, it charges at about 10 amps dropping to 5 amps as it gets up to 75% charged.

These are real world values, measured with a clamp on ammeter and a shunt type battery monitor for amp hours.

David

[mcp]

I want to thank everyone again for all of the responses. This was my first post and I'm just tickled to get so much feedback. Having the benefit of other peoples experiences both positive and negative is invaluable.

Amazon was a day late on delivery, but I'm happy to say replacing the switch did resolve my issue. The lights and the water pump work now (which is all I've really checked so far). The world makes a little more sense again...

My wife is enamored with the idea of solar power, but it sounds like a generator is really going to be more practical. That's the solution I'm going to campaign for.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by mcp

I want to thank everyone again for all of the responses. This was my first post and I'm just tickled to get so much feedback. Having the benefit of other peoples experiences both positive and negative is invaluable.

Amazon was a day late on delivery, but I'm happy to say replacing the switch did resolve my issue. The lights and the water pump work now (which is all I've really checked so far). The world makes a little more sense again...

My wife is enamored with the idea of solar power, but it sounds like a generator is really going to be more practical. That's the solution I'm going to campaign for.

Solar + generator is the way to go. Generators are noisy and I prefer to rely on solar except for the microwave and battery charging when the solar can't keep up. A modest solar install, 200W or so, is a relatively small investment if you DIY. 200W served us adequately for years on our 25' TT. You can always add panels so allow for this in purchasing your controller.

An added advantage of solar is that it will keep your batteries charged while in storage as long as it's not enclosed storage. Mine even charged in open-sided, covered storage.

I don't think you mentioned what you had in terms of battery power but, at the very least, if you only have one, pair it with an identical or similar battery while it's still fairly new.

[mcp]

Originally Posted by BobC

Solar + generator is the way to go. Generators are noisy and I prefer to rely on solar except for the microwave and battery charging when the solar can't keep up. A modest solar install, 200W or so, is a relatively small investment if you DIY. 200W served us adequately for years on our 25' TT. You can always add panels so allow for this in purchasing your controller.

An added advantage of solar is that it will keep your batteries charged while in storage as long as it's not enclosed storage. Mine even charged in open-sided, covered storage.

I don't think you mentioned what you had in terms of battery power but, at the very least, if you only have one, pair it with an identical or similar battery while it's still fairly new.

Single battery, now going on 2 years old I guess. Both solar and a generator would be ideal, but we need to see if dry camping/boondocking is something we want to do enough to justify the expense. We probably won't do any of that until next year at this point but I'll start doing some research on solar. The camper is 'solar ready' which from what I can tell just means it has a connector on the side running to the battery. It's a Zamp connector (the label says use Zamp panels only) but from what I've read so far any panel will work but the polarity will probably need to be reversed. There's no controller in the camper, so I'm assuming I'll just need panels and a controller(?)

[mcp]

Originally Posted by tinglett

Wow...I can certainly see how you got so confused so fast with that happening! Still, it does seem to be to be a bit odd that the slide out and jack both work with the battery disconnect off. I can kind-of see the value of the jack so you can setup without having to hit the switch, but seriously how hard is it to open the cargo area? You need your levelers and chocks anyway (though they might be in the tow vehicle). I'd actually prefer to have the jack killed so nobody can play with it when the TT is in storage.

We just got back from 5 days of boondocking for the first time ever in our 2108DS. It went good and bad. We were out of juice on the 2nd day, but I've determined that was because out battery has somehow already gone bad. Maybe another thread is needed on that topic. But we still gimped along just fine.

I won't claim to be any kind of boondocking expert, but I believe BobC absolutely hit the nail on the head. If you are boondocking you are camping vs. "RVing" (or whatever term you want). I've tent camped for years and years and NEVER once got the hair brained idea that I wanted to have my drip coffee maker work in the morning! And yeah, you can make things work out if you must if you really don't want to be "camping", but in my opinion that's heading down the wrong rabbit hole.

Because our brains were in "camping mode" I believe if our battery was good we would have (barely) made it. The crude control panel showed we still had 1/3rd supply of fresh water left, and we only made it to 2/3rds on black and gray. We were often using external water, though, and washing dishes outside by the campfire. We did shower each day and used our own bathroom facilities the whole time, but we followed some of the boondocking tricks of catching shower water to use for the toilet, dumping any inside wash water down the toilet (i.e. black tank) and so on.

The dead battery did teach us the lesson that you are pretty much screwed without a generator, though, even if you have no intent to be "RVing". We could run the water pump (i.e. shower) with the camper jumped to the car, but it was a pain and I'm sure did the battery no good. But I decided even before we did this trip that I didn't give a rip about this battery as it's going to get replaced with a lithium pretty quick anyway.

I think from everything I've read here we'll want to have a generator. I am curious about one thing - when you don't have the benefit of a dump station like you have at a campground, what do you do with your waste water (especially the black water)?

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by mcp

I am curious about one thing - when you don't have the benefit of a dump station like you have at a campground, what do you do with your waste water (especially the black water)?

Wait until you are somewhere that has a dump station. Some of the larger truck stops have dump stations as do some state rest areas.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by mcp

I think from everything I've read here we'll want to have a generator. I am curious about one thing - when you don't have the benefit of a dump station like you have at a campground, what do you do with your waste water (especially the black water)?

You find a dump station on your route to your next destination. If you don't want to be forced to pull up camp just to go dump, you minimize use of your toilet. If dry camping, you can use the park restrooms whenever convenient. When boondocking, you can use the "outdoor facilities" as much as possible to fill your black tank slower. I've heard of boondockers converting their black tank to fresh, and going without an indoor toilet. I don't see my wife going for that...

[BobC]

Here's an example of a good quality 200W solar kit for a very reasonable $315 price:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Renogy-2...ND30/308808609

Note that this uses monocrystalline panels, which are more efficient than the less expensive polycrystalline panels. The controller is a PWM controller which is less expensive than a more efficient MPPT controller, but the difference in efficiency isn't too significant with smaller systems.

All you need to add is wiring, some panel mounting brackets and a fuse.

[Old Navy]

Originally Posted by mcp

It's a Zamp connector (the label says use Zamp panels only) but from what I've read so far any panel will work but the polarity will probably need to be reversed.

I was under the impression that 2020 Winnies had ditched the Zamp connector and gone to standard MC4's on the roof. That is what my trailer has, despite the salesman telling me it was Zamp. Maybe this doesn't apply to Micros, or was a mid-year change.

Originally Posted by BobC

All you need to add is wiring, some panel mounting brackets and a fuse.

Here's a similar kit at Amazon a few $ cheaper (as of today) that includes z-brackets.

If you don't want to run wires through your roof, there is a "suitcase kit" that can be adapted to the Zamp port (after verifying/changing polarity), or just connected to your battery. Similar Zamp kits are much more expensive, and Renogy seems decent quality. I have the above suitcase kit and will eventually add some panels to my roof.

[tinglett]

Originally Posted by Old Navy

I was under the impression that 2020 Winnies had ditched the Zamp connector and gone to standard MC4's on the roof. That is what my trailer has, despite the salesman telling me it was Zamp. Maybe this doesn't apply to Micros, or was a mid-year change.

Not sure of the 2020's, but the 2019 2108DS has a 2-wire SAE connector which is labeled as "Zamp". IMHO it isn't really "backwards", but is wired as a 12v powered device rather than a battery. In this case, the solar panel is the power source, so the panel is wired male/female the way a battery would be wired and the connector on the RV is wired the way a power using device would be wired. It took me a bit to get that in my thick head .

But this is useful to know. It is connected straight to the battery (no controller) so you can use as a battery power source if you get a gender adapter like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z7SV3TD

I use one of these gender adapters and a 2-wire SAE extension cable (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JGRWPL6) to power my Flojet macerator. It works really well since the connector is at least on the correct side of the RV.

That all said, I maybe would have preferred the connector on the roof. But still, if you go with portable panels that would be a bit of a pain, right? Maybe the thinking is the roof is for permanent install and portable panels could clamp to the battery? Not sure that's really forward progress.

[mcp]

Originally Posted by Old Navy

I was under the impression that 2020 Winnies had ditched the Zamp connector and gone to standard MC4's on the roof. That is what my trailer has, despite the salesman telling me it was Zamp. Maybe this doesn't apply to Micros, or was a mid-year change.

Originally Posted by tinglett

Not sure of the 2020's, but the 2019 2108DS has a 2-wire SAE connector which is labeled as "Zamp". IMHO it isn't really "backwards", but is wired as a 12v powered device rather than a battery. In this case, the solar panel is the power source, so the panel is wired male/female the way a battery would be wired and the connector on the RV is wired the way a power using device would be wired. It took me a bit to get that in my thick head .

The 2020 has this same 2-wire SAE connector which is labeled as "Zamp". I've read some conflicting information on Zamp connectors, some saying you need to reverse the panel polarity and other saying no. Doesn't really matter; I'll verify with a volt meter either way before hooking anything up.

Thanks for the links!

[RDP]

This is great example of why all people who own a RV should own and know how to use a multimeter for troubleshooting electrical problems. Multimeters are cheap or even free (Harbor Freight). Search on YouTube on how to use a multimeter. A voltage check at the battery, then the cut-off switch is where I would start.

[SonofBert]

Here's what I do boondocking (not dry campground). Propane-powered Yamaha 2kW inverter gen, dual batteries, two extra 20lb LP tanks, two 5g Coghlan collapsible water containers, WeBoost cellphone booster. Did try a portable 200W solar panel, but was inconvenient since the genny runs often enough powering laptops, cellphones, etc, to keep the batteries topped up. Can switch the fridge to AC when running the gen to save LP for the furnace and cooking.

The propane gen is usually good for 3-4 days on one 20lb LP tank (equivalent to ~ 4g's of gasoline), I've considered putting two 30lb tanks on the tongue, but two 20's can go 3-4 days. We have a rechargeable Ryobi fan from Home Depot that has been effective at times rather than AC. Micro-Aire SoftStart for the AC unit.

Have to be conservative with fresh water and the black tank. Paper towels and handiwipes for meal cleanup and personal hygiene. 3-4 days is easily doable completely offgrid 40 miles from the nearest town the way these Micro-Minnies are equipped. The huge fridge/freezer combo, dual LP, good-sized fresh and holding tanks, plenty of cargo capacity, tandem axles.

[F360Keith]

Originally Posted by mcp

We bought a 2020 2108DS early last year and have done maybe 10 or so short 3-4 day trips always with electric hookup. We've been discussing possibly boondocking for a couple of days but really find it impossible to even start to assess requirements because nothing works off of the battery with the exception of the slide out. There is an utter lack of useful documentation from Winnebago pertaining to this or any other routine maintenance or operational task (which is a major source of discontent with me).

Anyway, I'm hoping I can get some general info from some folks here on the following:

1. How to make things run off of battery
2. What will and will not run off of battery
3. A rough idea of how long one could go on battery using only the water pump and lights (in other words using that battery power very conservatively)

One other thing I'm hoping someone can speak to has to do with the battery disconnect switch located in the cargo area (accessible from outside). I had the understanding from the dealer this cut off all battery to the trailer, but no matter how I set it the slide works (and only the slide - no lights). I'm not sure if the switch is bad or if there is some other step I am missing.

Thanks in advance!

Hi, hope this is some basic help. Not knowing your background i’ll give it to you at a novice level. I never intend to insult one intelligence. Well maybe some people...

There are two systems. You probably know that. The 12vdc system battery, powers the lighting, slide, and furnace, carbon monoxide sensor. 120vac system will be active when plugged Into shore power (30amp 120vac). It will power the A/C, microwave oven, appliance plugs. In addition the TV and maybe a DVD player will run off an inverter. Inverter runs on 12vdc, and inverts it to 120vac. The inverter is most likely attached to the TV bracket. The 12vdc wires run to the back of the TV to a cigarette lighter socket and the inverter plugs into the socket. The TV plugs into the inverter.

The battery disconnect may be high current type where it truly breaks the circuit. Or it may be done with a latching relay where the switch operates a relay and the relay makes the break/connect function. Sounds like its just a high current switch on yours if it’s in the compartment.

The slide motor(s) should only operate when the master is on. Sounds like the power source wire is on the wrong side of the switch or relay.

How long will the battery last is hard to say. Totally subjective without good data. A single 12vdc group 24 deep cycle battery should last a pretty long time. I’m guessing over a week or more. The pump isn’t a big load like slide motor.

Hope to help! Keith

[djduncan]

i can tell you that I have 2020 2106DS also, I can run everything but the air and microwave off of the batteries. I do have 2 of them and have not had any issue with power. I have not tried turning off the battery and trying to run the slide out, but I will and let you know.

[68SILVER]

Your interior lights compartment lights and porch lights cc should work off the battery. Also the igniter for the fridge and gas water heater. They all seem to carry. The slide on my 32g will not operated with out the engine running. It has to be in park with the parking brake set and the engine running. Also the leveling system will not operated unless all this is done.

[MainelyScott]

2108DS with the original (2018)battery, we stayed one night at a rest stop. We put the slide out, thought we were really fortunate that we could camp and have water and heat. Woke up about 1:00 a.m. with no heat (40 degrees outside). Battery was completely dead, was fully charged when we parked. Had to call AAA (RV Plus) to boost the battery and wind in the slide. I had unplugged the car because I wasn’t sure if the camper could draw the car battery down. I now carry a booster with me. I’m sure that a new battery would be an improvement, but not sure how long it would run the camper.

[TerryMA]

I have a 2018 2106FBS and the disconnect is in the driver side cargo space.

[DavidM]

Both kinds of problems have been reported above: no DC at any appliance when not plugged into shore power and the batteries running down to nothing overnight. Both indicate electrical problems that need to be fixed. It is almost impossible to trace down a bad electrical system over the internet except for simple things like a switch not being set properly.

Our camping trailer which we are selling to move up to a MH has a simple AC and DC electrical system. We almost always dry camp and routinely use a single Group 24 battery to supply DC to the camper. Our DC usage is small, about 10-12 amp hours daily, low enough to last about three days which is also the limit of our fresh water supply.

This 10-12 amp hours is broken down very roughly as: 2-3 for fridge controls and burner ignition, maybe 2 for the water pump, 1 for hot water heater, 3 for cell and tablet charging, 2 for lights. We do not use the furnace but if we did it is a power hog, about 4 amps when running so could easily use up 20 amp hours overnight if running 50% of the time.

David