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Off grid camping update. - Printable Version

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Off grid camping update. - Ockrocket - 10-20-2019

Although I don't get time to check in here often, I just thought I'd give an update on my "off grid camping with CPAP" progress.

Motorcycle camping has become something I'm not really up for these days, the body just can't take the cold and sleeping on the ground in a tent, although I am keeping my tent and gear for bike overnighters during the warmer seasons. 
I have a small battery pack I made that can charge off the bike while riding, and will give me about 15 hours of CPAP use without the humidifier (which I don't use anyway).

However with the recent purchase of a Toyota Hi-Top campervan (an ex Britz Hire unit with now over 720,000 km on it, about 3K of which we have added since purchase.  Big Grin ) we are successfully camping off grid, so far my longest trip was from Sydney down to Ballarat in Victoria - Australia and surrounds for 12 days on a gold prospecting trip. 

The van is fully set up with fridge / sink with 12 volt water pump / LED lighting / gas 2 burner stove / table dining that converts to QS bed, and other stuff. 
With the 12 volt deep cycle house battery and the 160 watt folding solar panel I can keep up enough battery power for the most part, but I do have a 240 v generator that I take as back up on the longer trips, and the house battery also recharges off the engine alternator when the motor is running as well.

My apnoea is controlled sufficiently to keep me compliant for my professional driver licence endorsements, although I wouldn't mind if the numbers were consistently a bit lower ( thinking I may be better off setting to APAP rather than CPAP.. even though my specialist seems to think fixed gets better results, I was getting better results during the trial period when he was working out what pressure setting would work for me. )

I was trying to add an image of my campervan and solar panel set up, but it says the file is too large..  Thinking-about
None of my phones or cameras these days take photos that are only a small image file... long gone are the days of anything that takes a 5 MP photo. 
Sorry. Dont-know


RE: Off grid camping update. - Crimson Nape - 10-20-2019

There some free apps that will reduce a picture's resolution available.  Not knowing your OS type a program named GiMP is available for all platforms.


RE: Off grid camping update. - Ockrocket - 10-20-2019

(10-20-2019, 09:22 PM)Crimson Nape Wrote: There some free apps that will reduce a picture's resolution available.  Not knowing your OS type a program named GiMP is available for all platforms.

Thank you.. I will have a look for the app.

Photos downloaded from the phone via my laptop, I don't access the forum from the phone.


RE: Off grid camping update. - SarcasticDave94 - 10-21-2019

On photo edits, I take the photo on my Samsung Note 4 and just use built-in photo edit to Edit>Adjustments>Resize to 25% and it posts here fine. Maybe your setup is similar. BTW my Note 4 hasn't been connected to the service provider for several years, and since it's too old to be supported, it no longer gets system updates.


RE: Off grid camping update. - DaveL - 10-21-2019

Sounds wonderful!
Your van has a lot of klicks on it! kms I mean.
Enjoy. You're handling it better than I do; Ive not worked out how I shall have cpap use without power.

I've taken to watching videos by a fellow who describes himself as an "Overlander" who sleeps in a tent on the roof of his Jeep Rubicon. It's inspiring. I have a Jeep Wrangler now which has some ability, though not as tough as the Rubicon version.


RE: Off grid camping update. - Ockrocket - 10-22-2019

(10-21-2019, 07:54 AM)SarcasticDave94 Wrote: On photo edits, I take the photo on my Samsung Note 4 and just use built-in photo edit to Edit>Adjustments>Resize to 25% and it posts here fine. Maybe your setup is similar. BTW my Note 4 hasn't been connected to the service provider for several years, and since it's too old to be supported, it no longer gets system updates.

My Nokia 8 doesn't have a resize option.. 

And I had a look at the GiMP apps suggested by Crimson Nape, but none seem to genuinely reduce the file size, in fact some users report the resized files actually ended up larger than the original photo file.  Dont-know


RE: Off grid camping update. - Ockrocket - 10-22-2019

(10-21-2019, 10:07 AM)DaveL Wrote: Sounds wonderful!
Your van has a lot of klicks on it! kms I mean.
Enjoy. You're handling it better than I do; Ive not worked out how I shall have cpap use without power.

I've taken to watching videos by a fellow who describes himself as an "Overlander" who sleeps in a tent on the roof of his Jeep Rubicon. It's inspiring. I have a Jeep Wrangler now which has some ability, though not as tough as the Rubicon version.

Even though we went "metric" many years ago, we used to call miles "clicks" .. and refer to kilometres as either clicks or kays.

You can get a portable battery box with a decent deep cycle battery in it, and either mount a decent output solar panel on the front of a roof rack on an angle on the Wrangler.. or get a solar panel blanket that can be laid out across your windscreen or on the ground when camped.
Also get wiring installed that will charge the battery box from the vehicle alternator, normally with Anderson plugs to connect the battery box to both the vehicle and the solar panel.

With a large enough capacity deep cycle battery, and at least 160 W solar panel, you should be able to run a Waeco or Engel type chest fridge / freezer, some LED camp lights, and your CPAP machine quite successfully almost indefinitely. (if your CPAP isn't capable of 12v DC direct input like my Phillips Respironics Dreamstation, you can probably run it through a small 300 W inverter.. The Resmed units also have a DC cord available with a small 12v to 15v step up inverter I think.)
And with the ability to charge the battery box off the vehicle alternator when the engine is running, at worst you can fire up the vehicle for a while if the solar system hasn't had enough sunlight input.. make certain that the starter battery is isolated from the battery box so it can't be drained down as the battery box voltage is depleted. 

There are solutions.. get out there and enjoy.  Grin


RE: Off grid camping update. - DaveL - 10-22-2019

Thanks so much.
Chris Shontz has become a hero of mine; though he just had an accident sliding off road in Northern Quebec in his Rubicon. Frankly he could have died if he wasn't skilled and didn't have extremely good luck.
His videos are incredible. Scenery is beautifully shown on the internet. He went through Newfoundland/Labrador then Quebec in the last month or so. I've travelled through Newfoundland in October in exactly the opposite vehicle. Mine was Porsche 911. I was passenger as I had an injury. Escaped from Newfoundland 2 days before they had 21 cm snow at Gander on the TCH (Trans Canada Highway).
Your suggestions are incredible and will help me.


RE: Off grid camping update. - C0mbe - 10-22-2019

If you are resizing in Windows, right click on the photo in Win Gallery and click properties/edit then ‘resize’.   It will resize the original I believe.

It’s great to see off-grid success!  I’ve only had marginal success, but then again I’ve never been great calculating loads, and I need my humidifier in Colorado.


RE: Off grid camping update. - Ockrocket - 10-24-2019

(10-22-2019, 07:13 AM)DaveL Wrote: Thanks so much.
Chris Shontz has become a hero of mine; though he just had an accident sliding off road in Northern Quebec in his Rubicon. Frankly he could have died if he wasn't skilled and didn't have extremely good luck.
His videos are incredible. Scenery is beautifully shown on the internet. He went through Newfoundland/Labrador then Quebec in the last month or so. I've travelled through Newfoundland in October in exactly the opposite vehicle. Mine was Porsche 911. I was passenger as I had an injury. Escaped from Newfoundland 2 days before they had 21 cm snow at Gander on the TCH (Trans Canada Highway).
Your suggestions are incredible and will help me.

Happy to give suggestions, but you will still need to find what will work best for you.. and what is available in the way of solar panels and other "off grid" stuff locally.
But you will get it sorted I'm sure.
Bigwink

(10-22-2019, 07:21 AM)C0mbe Wrote: If you are resizing in Windows, right click on the photo in Win Gallery and click properties/edit then ‘resize’.   It will resize the original I believe.

It’s great to see off-grid success!  I’ve only had marginal success, but then again I’ve never been great calculating loads, and I need my humidifier in Colorado.

Calculations? What are they?  Dielaughing

I just experiment until I get something to do what I need the way I need it. ( but I do have basic knowledge of the things I try )

With my motorcycle camping set up I experimented at home with an old motorcycle battery that was still capable of holding some charge, and then when that worked for a night I bought a brand new battery and tried that.. which then showed I could get 15+ hours of CPAP use without the humidifier (no problem as I prefer no humidity, but do use the heated hose in winter.)
Then with the battery low on voltage I put it in the saddlebag of my bike and plugged it in to an accessory socket I have installed for charging my mobile phones, from this I established the battery is fully recharged after about two hours of riding. 

Running my CPAP in the campervan is easy, and I'm just trying to get it all to where I can run the fridge- LED lights and CPAP for a minimum two days without recharging.
And I'm looking at setting up solar panels that will have excess input available under normal conditions, but will still have sufficient input to keep the batteries topped up for an extended run of overcast days.

I am just making "educated guesses" as I go, but I'm looking at two AGM batteries with at least 100 aH each with two 300 W solar panels mounted on the roof of the van as probably what will do the job. 
But  Eat-popcorn may be required because it may take me time to be able to afford to do it all.