My Quartzsite preparations.

IBTripping

IBTripping

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Just want to run by the Forum members my preparations so far for the Quartzsite 2025 Rally. I've installed 200 AH of house 12 volt batteries. I'm bringing my 2800 watt generator. The refrigerator is DC power only, so I've increased the house batteries capacity to 200 AH. Since it has a medium size refrigerator, I'm also taking my good quality, well insulated, 22 quart, DC refrigerator/freezer chest. I've purchased a DC/AC 24 inch TV and a 600 watt power station. I plan to use the power station to run the TV, DC refrigerator chest, and CPAP when I'm not running the generator. The heat in my trailer is provided by an AC only fireplace. But, since I'll be boondocking for the first time, I'll bring my propane Mr. Heater.

I'm open to suggestions to improve my planning. Also, I have a couple of questions. (1) I plan to arrive in early January before the rally and may stay after a couple of weeks. Should I bring my blue boy? (2) Is there a nearby place that I can refill or trade my 20 lb. propane tanks? (3) Can I assume there is a nearby gas station to refill my 5 gallon gas cans?

Thanks all.
 
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1) depends on how long you can manage with your tanks before emptying and filling.
2) yes, several places in town for propane refills.
3) several within a couple of miles (sorry about the bold type, it turned on but darned if I can turn it off🤔)
 
Good thing to get your planning done early! And it can get pretty cold even in southern Arizona with lows that can be below freezing. How are you going to protect your pipes from freezing?
1. You can bring a Blue Boy. There is a special dump for them without rinse water that seldom has lines. There is always a line at the main dump station. This is maybe 4-5 miles from where we camp.
2. A number of places can refill your propane tanks. I just check out the prices for each when I am in town and choose based on that. I haven’t ever looked for exchange places, but they probably exist.
3. Since Quartzsite (town) is right on I-10, there are a number of gas stations and even multiple stations with truck lanes. Pretty common to see someone pull in with gas cans for generators.
 
If your batteries arent lithium it will take a long time to top off the batteries with a generator. A small portable solar setup like this will help a lot. Once i had one it cut my generator use by a lot. That was on an old rv with agm batteries. I only needed to run the generator for an hr in the morning and the panels got me charged enough to make it to the next day.

 
Water is the elephant in the room. You can run a generator a little longer if you need more power, but you can't generate water. It's implied that with a blue boy you'll have a toad to schlep water and gas around, so maybe resources won't be as critical than if you were totally off grid. Yes, there are facilities in town to get water, dump and get gas. When I went we made it 9 days on what we carried, with 2 adults and 2 dogs. In addition to the fresh tank we had a case of bottled water plus a couple of those 2.5 gallon jugs strictly for drinking, and I think that offers a tangible buffer to making the fresh tank last. Gas and propane were no concern, it wasn't what I'd call cold out there even in January so fuel use was minimal.

Are your new batteries lead acid? If so, I would advise you cycle them a few times before you go as new batteries have reduced capacity. We didn't have any issues with power management, as we don't have satellite and there's no OTA TV or cell service, so no TV load. Just lights and furnace at night we can go days between genset runs with 220Ah of LA.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
 
Heli_av8tor said:
Don't forget the DC only Fridge. IDK how many amp-hrs to plan for that?
Click to expand...
Furrion gives the daily watt-hour consumption of their DC refrigerators on their web site. They range from 1080 watt-hours (1.08 kWh) a day for their 8 and 10 cu ft refrigerators to 1800 watt-hours (1.8 kWh) a day for their side by side 16 cu ft model. Divide watt-hours by 12 to get amp-hours and you get 90 and 150 amp-hours a day.

Interesting enough, the Magic Chef 10.1 cu ft. 120 volt Energy Star refrigerator I bought for $350 at Home Depot last year uses the same amount of power as the Furion 12 volt version even after accounting for the inverter overhead.

 
Mark_K5LXP said:
Water is the elephant in the room. You can run a generator a little longer if you need more power, but you can't generate water. It's implied that with a blue boy you'll have a toad to schlep water and gas around, so maybe resources won't be as critical than if you were totally off grid. Yes, there are facilities in town to get water, dump and get gas. When I went we made it 9 days on what we carried, with 2 adults and 2 dogs. In addition to the fresh tank we had a case of bottled water plus a couple of those 2.5 gallon jugs strictly for drinking, and I think that offers a tangible buffer to making the fresh tank last. Gas and propane were no concern, it wasn't what I'd call cold out there even in January so fuel use was minimal.

Are your new batteries lead acid? If so, I would advise you cycle them a few times before you go as new batteries have reduced capacity. We didn't have any issues with power management, as we don't have satellite and there's no OTA TV or cell service, so no TV load. Just lights and furnace at night we can go days between genset runs with 220Ah of LA.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
Click to expand...
The Quartzsite rally location is in the Tyson Wash LTVA. Water and the dump are both across Hwy 95 in La Posa South LTVA. If he has a Blue Boy, he can get water using 5 gallon cans or something similar then pouring them into the rig via a funnel or a small pump. We have been to Q in both a trailer and a motorhome, and we just drove them to the dump and to get fresh water without hassling with a Blue Boy. Doing that once a week or so wasn’t a big sacrifice for us.

Temps can vary widely. Two years ago it was really quite cold with temps in the mid 20s at night with lots of wind that kept us from having a fire most nights. Tenters and vanners were complaining no end! Last winter was pretty mild. The long term forecast shows mild weather this winter in Q, but we all know how valid that is!

I always tell folks that if you have a generator, power is the easiest thing to handle when boondocking. Just make sure you have a decent power meter for your batteries, not one of the idiot light versions. We did 5 years with lead acid batteries, but we have had lithium the last 2 years. You just have to run the generator more often with lead acid. ETA: Solar is helpful, but the winter sun has a low angle and not many hours available. We can go days without a generator in summer, but we need to run an hour or so each day in winter, more if I decide to cook using the oven. Then again, I use a propane furnace with electric fan, and I like it warm!
 
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IBTripping said:
Just want to run by the Forum members my preparations so far for the Quartzsite 2025 Rally. I've installed 200 AH of house 12 volt batteries. I'm bringing my 2800 watt generator. The refrigerator is DC power only, so I've increased the house batteries capacity to 200 AH. Since it has a medium size refrigerator, I'm also taking my good quality, well insulated, 22 quart, DC refrigerator/freezer chest. I've purchased a DC/AC 24 inch TV and a 600 watt power station. I plan to use the power station to run the TV, DC refrigerator chest, and CPAP when I'm not running the generator. The heat in my trailer is provided by an AC only fireplace. But, since I'll be boondocking for the first time, I'll bring my propane Mr. Heater.

I'm open to suggestions to improve my planning. Also, I have a couple of questions. (1) I plan to arrive in early January before the rally and may stay after a couple of weeks. Should I bring my blue boy? (2) Is there a nearby place that I can refill or trade my 20 lb. propane tanks? (3) Can I assume there is a nearby gas station to refill my 5 gallon gas cans?

Thanks all.
Click to expand...
As a back of the envelope estimate, If your converter can charge your batteries at a sustained 50 amp rate (600 watts) you're looking at running it 2-3 hours a day to replace the power used by the refrigerator. Proportionately longer or shorter if your converter delivers a different charging current to the batteries. The converter is probably about 75% efficient so a 600 watt charging rate may draw 800 watts from the generator.

While the generator is running you should have enough surplus power to run that electric fireplace, a coffee maker or the microwave.

If you have lead acid batteries most people stop charging when the charge rate starts to taper off when the battery is 80% full as it can take a long time to gain that last 20% charge. Lithium batteries will continue charging at full speed until they're completely full.

Of course you should plan on charging the power station and any other devices directly from the generator while it's running.

A shunt based amp-hour battery monitor is really handy to keep track of how much energy is in your batteries. Amazon has them ranging from $60 for a generic wired display monitor to $165 for the Victron bluetooth monitor that displays the information on your cell phone.

Bring your blue boy. There's a separate blue boy dump station you can use and avoid waiting in the long lines at the regular dump station. A couple of 5 gallon fresh water containers can handle the other half of the water issue, letting you keep your fresh water tank topped up without having to move the trailer.
 
If you stay in the Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA) the fee ($40 for 14 nights or $180 for seven months) includes potable water, dump sites, and dumpsters.

Prior years some RV repair services and mobile RV repair guys had water delivery and tank pumping services for a fee. In town you can purchase deep well water and there are roving honey wagon service.

Perhaps someone will be at Q when you arrive.
Jennifer
 
It's only a 3.3 cu. ft. 12 volt refrigerator and uses about 15 amps when the compressor is running.
 
IBTripping said:
It's only a 3.3 cu. ft. 12 volt refrigerator and uses about 15 amps when the compressor is running.
Click to expand...
15 amps at 12 volts is 180 watts. That sounds high. 180 watts x 24 hours is 4320 watt-hours or 360 amp-hours a day. Even if the compressor only runs 1/3 of the time that's still 120 amp-hours a day.
 
I was there last winter, there are several gas stations, the one on the east end of town is said to have the best prices. You can use the RV pit stop and the RV Care places right on the 95 north of town. You pull in, dump, then get propane, then fill with water, pay and drive right out the other side, its a great set up. RV care had the cheapest propane last March.

December is the coldest month for Quartzsite, it gets a little warmer in January and then climbs from there. Food is expensive in Quartzsite, the Walmart in Parker is only marginally better. I think the best place might be the Albertsons over in Blythe.

As for your set up, you wont know until you try and if you need anything critical, the big tent will probably have it.
 
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