One of RVing’s most common questions, particularly from those considering off-grid camping, is “Are RV Lithium Batteries worth it?” Even experienced RVers have had a tough time determining whether the investment will pay off. “Should I just stick with the lead-acid batteries that came with the rig, or will it be a meaningful upgrade to …
Xantrex
Want to know more about RV Solar? Join us for a special webinar this Thursday, 5/28/20 at 8PM Eastern / 5PM Pacific as we host a live Q&A with Don Wilson, the “Tech Doctor” from Xantrex. We’ll be taking your questions live on the air about RV solar systems and installation. As announced in RV Business, …
Our three original RV solar panels output a maximum of 375 watts. Switching from a standard RV refrigerator to a residential fridge meant that that wasn’t nearly enough to keep up. When we upgraded our house batteries from AGMs to our new Xantrex eGEN Lithium battery, we saw a big improvement in our ability to …
It’s time to start Phase 2 of our big RV Battery & Electrical Upgrade Project by installing the ultimate protection for our RV’s electrical system: a Hughes Autoformer & Power Watchdog. A massive solar upgrade will be the main event this time around, but first we’ll focus on protecting our entire electrical system and all …
We generally do our own RV mods, and shoot all of our own video footage. But Xantrex did our lithium installation, and interviewed us, too. For a change it felt nice to sit back and let someone else do the camera work and ask the questions! ? We wanted to share these short videos (about …
If you’ve been watching our video series about upgrading our batteries and electrical system, you’ll surely want to see our first update on how things are going so far. We’ve been putting the systems through their paces for the past 3 1/2 months, and it’s time to share our first impressions of what it’s like… …
It’s time to install our new power cord reel, plus we’re excited to announce that Glendinning has agreed to become the latest manufacturer of fine RV gear to be added to our Discounts page, offering special savings on the same CRMA50-12-RV50 power cord reel that we’re installing in our RV. Glendinning coupon code RVGEEKS saves …
The big day we’ve all been eagerly awaiting has finally arrived. We’re at Xantrex headquarters in Burnaby British Columbia for the installation of our Freedom e-GEN Lithium Battery system! After months of planning and preparation, we’re so excited to be here, and to share this with you. This isn’t a DIY project, so the system …
We’ve had flawless service from our Glendinning power cord reel for the past 13 years. But now that we need more space in the electrical compartment, we’re switching to one of their newer models that takes up less room. An added bonus is that we’ll be gaining 15 ‘ of extra cord! Check out the …
In Part 2 of our battery & electrical upgrade project, we’ll be removing the battery tray, getting it cut in two and welded back together… just a little wider. While the Xantrex e-GEN lithium battery is over 100 lbs lighter than the four AGM house batteries it will replace, it’s about 3″ wider. Newmar had …
Major RV Project Announcement: We’re upgrading our RV to lithium house batteries and AGM chassis batteries, while re-vamping and upgrading our electrical compartment. This is the official project intro, to be followed by a series of videos detailing the various steps in the project, as well as our experience using and living with the new …
After installing our new Xantrex inverter/charger last summer, we promised to provide an update. Now with 6 months of flawless performance under our belts, we’re also sharing our AGS system and our ComBox, which is one of the coolest pieces of elec-tech ever! Not only can we set our generator to operate autonomously, but we …
Xantrex has just released the second video in their series about our 13+ years of experience as full-time RVers. This short video touches on some of the reasons we hit the road in the first place. We also visited Xantrex headquarters in Burnaby, BC, Canada recently, where we hosted a meet & greet on board …
Xantrex recently interviewed us about our switch to their Freedom SW 3012 inverter/charger. They created the above video about it, plus you can read their companion article about us here. Our decision to replace our Magnum inverter/charger with a Xantrex unit was a long time in the making. We’d been having some minor glitchy behavior with …
Our RV’s original inverter/charger has been acting up a bit lately. So when Xantrex asked us if we’d be willing to test out one of their Freedom series Pure Sine Wave models, we said “Sure!” Since we’d had a trouble-free experience with a Xantrex inverter in our first RV, and they’re now included as standard …