RV Moochdocking! | Cheat Boondocking Like a Pro!

2020-01-05
Tara

⚠️⚠️ PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE UPDATE HIGHLIGHTED BELOW

Want to MOOCHDOCK at a friend or relative’s house in comfort? With a little know-how and careful resource management, you can leave the generator off and visit friends and family in true glamping style! Check out these tips and tricks!

Water

Roll in with empty freshwater tanks and hook up to an outside water spigot!

Why carry hundreds of pounds of water when you don't need to? Be sure to use a pressure regulator to protect your RVs water system, and monitor your usage with an in-line meter.

Use regular boondocking water-saving measures as we outlined in our Water Management Video (youtu.be/bR7e7XViI3o… ), but also take advantage of the inside shower, sinks, etc!

Internet

If your host has good internet and strong wifi, mooch on that also! If you have a centralized internet system as we do with our WiFi Ranger (youtu.be/gTaJdOSFwps…), just connect it up and drink up the bandwidth!

Power

This is where the benefits of moochdocking are realized the most!

Using dogbone adapters, you can dogbone-down your RV's electrical connection to fit a basic 15A wall outlet. Plug that in via an extension cord and you have 15 Amps available, which is typically enough to run basic electronics and a single AC! TV and AC at night with no generator noise? Yes, please!

If you have access to two separate 15A circuits, you can use a 50A to 30A+30A splitter with two 30A to 15A dogbones to get 15 Amps to BOTH sides of your 50A RV circuit. This will get you TWO functional AC units!

What's better than 15A + 15A power? If you have a hybrid inverter, you can (temporarily) draw even MORE power when needed for something like the microwave without shutting off an AC!

Note: We will have a separate video and blog post getting into the nitty-gritty of the advanced topic of hybrid inverters. Stay tuned and be sure to subscribe to our blog! (at the bottom of the page)

UPDATE!

One thing we forgot to mention and another thing brought up in the comments that are valid concerns:

➡️ EXTENSION CABLES: Be sure to make sure any extension cables you use are rated for 15A. For longer runs like 100ft, these are NOT the cheaper cables. They should be labeled with rated amperage. Also, the longer the cable the more the voltage will drop, so keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't drop below 108v (90% of 120v).

➡️ HOUSEHOLD CIRCUITS: When a household outlet/circuit is rated at 15A, that rating is generally for short term (under 3 hours). The real rating for long term load (over 3 hours) is 80% of the rating. Meaning, on a 15A circuit, if you’re going to run it over 3 hours, you should be at 12 Amps or less. An AC is like long to cycle less than 3 hours anyway, but on a hot day, it’s something to be aware of.

➡️ HEAT: When connected to 15A or 15A+15A and running for about 30 minutes under load, do a check of the entire line from your RV to the adapters, to the extension cables, and to the wall outlet. Do a touch test to make sure the lines and/or connectors are not getting hot.

➡️ 30+30: If you decide to use the 30A plus 30A setup, try to connect them to separate LEGS, not just separate circuits. If you have to connect them on the same leg (still separate circuits), be sure to stay under 50A TOTAL for both legs. The reason is, if you draw the max (30A) on both legs and they are on the same leg in the house, the legs are IN PHASE and will cause 60A on the Neutral line.

➡️ POWER PROTECTION: We HIGHLY recommend using a Surge Guard Total Electrical Protection device (see: youtu.be/4FNtBtE_x2s…), or some type of EMS that validates your power source voltage, frequency, wiring, etc. These are a great safeguard against bad RV park wiring as well as bad household wiring and just plugging things in wrong.

PRODUCTS IN VIDEO!

➡️ Valterra Water Pressure Regulator
➡️ Water Flow Meter
➡️ RV Dogbone Adapter (30A Male to 50A Female)
➡️ RV Dogbone Adapter (15A Male to 30A Female): (two of these in our setup)
➡️ RV Y Adapter (50A Female to (2) 30A Male
➡️ 50 AMP Locking Male/50 AMP Locking 90 Degree Female (for side of RV)
➡️ Surge Guard Total Electrical Protection
➡️ Inverter Gear
➡️ Victron Battery Monitor
➡️ Battle Born 100Ah Lithium Ion Battery 

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