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Old 02-29-2016, 10:37 PM   #1
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My question thread, first time out with the tt

Out my first week camping in my Denali 287RE. Went fairly smooth once I got my hitch issue worked out.

I do have a couple if questions, will probably have more later.

1. I am hooked up to the city water connection. I have water fine. However my freshwater tank only shows 1/4 full which is what it had before I hooked up. Do I need to connect somewhere else to fill it?

2. The potable / freshwater connection has an odd connection. A regular hose couple is far too small. What connector does that use?

3. My fridge wont startup on propane. It tries to light but then the imdicator just flashes. Tried to call the manufacturer but no answer.

4. I can't find a 12V socket anywhere to plug an inverter into. Any ideas?

Thx in advance.
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Old 02-29-2016, 11:24 PM   #2
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Your fresh water tank won't fill while you are using city pressure. City pressure goes directly to the plumbing circuits.
The fresh water fill for the tank is made to stick the garden hose into it and doesn't need to be screwed on. The fill is made larger than a garden hose so when the tank is full it'll kick out the excess. If the hose was screwed on the chance of over pressuring the tank is possible.


You may have to try several times to get the refrigerator to light on propane. Probably air in the line and it needs to be evacuated either by cracking the line and bleeding it out or keep trying to get it to light. You can get a lot of it out by using the stove burners too.


No sense in inverting 12 volts if you have a generator. If you don't have a generator then you are stuck with 12 volt stuff.
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Old 02-29-2016, 11:25 PM   #3
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1. YES. Your city water hookup is just that. It does not fill the tank. You will find a white cap on the side of the trailer that allows you to put a hose into it and fill the tank.

2. The very end of the hose should fit, otherwise there is a hose filler tube you can purchase from your dealer or camping world.

3. The LP line may be full of air. make sure your propane tanks are open and have propane in them, then keep trying to bleed the lines of air. usually take around 10-15 tries with air in the line.

4. Yep. You don't have one. depending on the trailer, it's not that unusual.
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Old 02-29-2016, 11:29 PM   #4
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Also I would caution you on an inverter plugged into a 12v cigarette outlet. the wiring in your trailer was not designed for these. But more for charging a phone. Our neighbor had friends staying with them and decided to use there trailer as a guest suite. Long story short, burned the trailer down when the wiring behind the wall got HOT from too large a draw from the inverter and caught something on fire while they were thankfully out to dinner.
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Old 02-29-2016, 11:32 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeF View Post
Out my first week camping in my Denali 287RE. Went fairly smooth once I got my hitch issue worked out.

I do have a couple if questions, will probably have more later.

1. I am hooked up to the city water connection. I have water fine. However my freshwater tank only shows 1/4 full which is what it had before I hooked up. Do I need to connect somewhere else to fill it? you need to fill up the tank via the fresh water connection

2. The potable / freshwater connection has an odd connection. A regular hose couple is far too small. What connector does that use? Stick the hose in and fill. This is the inlet for your freshwater tank. I always use this filter for my fresh water. http://www.amazon.com/Camco-40043-Ta...h+water+filter

3. My fridge wont startup on propane. It tries to light but then the imdicator just flashes. Tried to call the manufacturer but no answer. Try running your stove and water heater on propane for a few minutes. Most likely the lines need to be purged some. Just keep trying and I bet it will start.

4. I can't find a 12V socket anywhere to plug an inverter into. Any ideas? On my model, the only one that I had was located behind the TV. I have since added a few throughout the TT.

Thx in advance.
I hope you had a great time your first time out!!
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Old 02-29-2016, 11:54 PM   #6
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Awesome thanks everybody.

Only reason I wanted the 12V and my inverter was to be able to run my CPAP Machine at night without needing to run the generator just for that. Especially if I am at a someplace like a Walmart or rest stop for a quick nap.
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Old 03-01-2016, 12:05 AM   #7
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We don't know the current draw of your machine but I'd be concerned if it would run all night off the battery and through the inverter. Your inverter would have to be super efficient so as not to kill your battery or batteries over night.
Even a 12 volt one might draw quite a few amps over night.
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Old 03-01-2016, 01:24 AM   #8
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Ok just took readings in my machine.

117 volts constant
.08-.19 Amps changing as I breath
5-15 watts chaning as I breath.

Have the 2 12vt battieries that came with the trailer.
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Old 03-01-2016, 01:35 AM   #9
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Let's just say it uses 1/4 amp. The old rule of thumb for inverters was it took 10 times as much amperage out of the batteries to invert and make the 1/4 amp.
So basically you'll be pulling 2.5 amp out of the batteries. Multiply that by hour many hours the CPAP will be running. The normal OEM RV battery isn't a true deep cycle battery but I think you should be OK to run during the night.
I may be all wet with my calculations but the multiplier of 10 was what I used for my battery bank of 6 deep cycles and an 85% efficient 2400 watt inverter.
As always, with batteries, time will tell.
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Old 03-01-2016, 01:40 AM   #10
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Let's just say it uses 1/4 amp. The old rule of thumb for inverters was it took 10 times as much amperage out of the batteries to invert and make the 1/4 amp.
So basically you'll be pulling 2.5 amp out of the batteries. Multiply that by hour many hours the CPAP will be running. The normal OEM RV battery isn't a true deep cycle battery but I think you should be OK to run during the night.
I may be all wet with my calculations but the multiplier of 10 was what I used for my battery bank of 6 deep cycles and an 85% efficient 2400 watt inverter.
As always, with batteries, time will tell.
Thanks for the math. Will get good stats in my inverter when I get back there. Any guess on how many amps each battery may be good for?
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Old 03-01-2016, 02:18 AM   #11
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The only guess I have on the OEM batteries is that they probably are Interstate batteries. There should be a label on them giving the CCA or MCCA capacity. Essentially they are starting batteries and not deep cycles. They'll work, just not that great. That's my opinion of Interstates but some may differ.
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Old 03-01-2016, 02:53 AM   #12
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They will have an amp hour rating, without knowing your batteries there is no way for us to tell. Just google the manufacturer and model.
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Old 03-01-2016, 02:59 AM   #13
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Also, look at my photo album. It will show you what I had installed for the same reason, to run my cpap.
Click image for larger version

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Old 03-01-2016, 03:37 AM   #14
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Also, look at my photo album. It will show you what I had installed for the same reason, to run my cpap.
Attachment 2935

Attachment 2936
Yea eventually I will be adding a lot of that. Wonder if you can use an auto start generator on a Honda.
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Old 03-01-2016, 04:32 AM   #15
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Don't modify your camper. Instead use something like this. There are many variations. I'm sure it would run your CPAP overnight, perhaps for several nights. You can recharge it during the day, or from your truck when running. Plus, you have the jump start, and all the other features. We keep ours in the home when we are not on the road, to provide backup power for the modems/router when we get a power failure. The cable is still on, we just need the modem for internet. VERY handy in many situations! 5-in-1 Portable Power Pack with Jump Start
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Old 03-01-2016, 06:00 AM   #16
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Don't modify your camper. Instead use something like this. There are many variations. I'm sure it would run your CPAP overnight, perhaps for several nights. You can recharge it during the day, or from your truck when running. Plus, you have the jump start, and all the other features. We keep ours in the home when we are not on the road, to provide backup power for the modems/router when we get a power failure. The cable is still on, we just need the modem for internet. VERY handy in many situations! 5-in-1 Portable Power Pack with Jump Start
Lol I have the craftsman version sitting right in my truck. Never even thought about using that. That will be awesome if it will run my cpap all night.
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Old 03-01-2016, 06:04 AM   #17
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Lol I have the craftsman version sitting right in my truck. Never even thought about using that. That will be awesome if it will run my cpap all night.
Glad to hear! Try it at home for a night or two! Let us know how it works!
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Old 03-01-2016, 01:32 PM   #18
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Don't modify your camper. Instead use something like this. There are many variations. I'm sure it would run your CPAP overnight, perhaps for several nights. You can recharge it during the day, or from your truck when running. Plus, you have the jump start, and all the other features. We keep ours in the home when we are not on the road, to provide backup power for the modems/router when we get a power failure. The cable is still on, we just need the modem for internet. VERY handy in many situations! 5-in-1 Portable Power Pack with Jump Start

Unfortunately that's a high cca battery made to discharge a lot of amps at one time to start a car, and not a deep cycle battery. While it would easily run a cable modem that draws very little power, if you discharge this type of battery past 80% you will cause acid stratification and destroy it in no time, aside from the fact it is only rated at 18ah and will not run your cpap for more than a few hours before reaching the 80% threshold especially if it has a humidifier.

Theres some good reading info on batteries here: Battery Information Table of Contents, Basic to Advanced
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Old 03-02-2016, 07:51 AM   #19
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Thanks WMac, that was a good read. I r a smarter about dem der battieries now.
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Old 03-02-2016, 12:39 PM   #20
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What's a CPAP???
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