[VAC] Re: Boondocking; 3 weeks and longer

[Jim Dunmyer <jdunmyer@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Jack,
 There's really no 'retrofitting' required, unless you count the solar
panel installation as such.

An alternative to solar would be a good 3-stage charger such as the
StatPower or Inteli-Power, coupled with a little, quiet Honda genset. A
couple or 3 hours/day of generator would recharge your batteries for
another night. Not as nice as solar, but workable. (this will NOT work
well if you attempt to use the UniVolt for charging)

I got the idea for the tiny pump from another VAC'er on the List, but he
uses a blue bomber that he bought for the purpose and has clearly
labeled so as to not mix it up with the other one. Those cost too much
for me, so I bought that sprayer tank for about $50.00 or so.

Someone mentioned that the tank should be made out of "food grade"
material. I'd personally say that this is not really a consideration due
to a couple of points: 1. you'll probably use a tank made of some sort
of polyethylene, and that's probably all pretty safe. 2. the water won't
sit in that tank for very long, at least not the way I do things. I fill
the nurse tank and pump it into the FW tank in the trailer within 15 or
20 minutes. Besides, we don't drink much water from the faucet. I would
be VERY careful about using a tank such as a plastic drum that had been
used for another purpose. It should have had only one use, preferably
for some sort of food product, not an industrial chemical.

Sources: http://www.northerntool.com and http://www.micromark.com

I've heard of others using a regular ShurFlo RV pump to transfer the
water. That's a very good idea, as it's faster than my miniature job,
and it gives you a spare for the trailer. The only downsides are that
it's a bit more costly and takes up more room. Tradeoffs once again. :-)

                                       <<Jim>>