Questions on a PC

We just ordered our 2351 and asked about additional batteries, we put a 200 watt solar panel on the roof, there really isn't any room for additional batteries.  At least that's what we were told.

George and Jill,

Here's a post that might give you some additional ideas related to batteries...

Jim

Try this again with Tom’s sage advice:
My wife and I live in Alaska and we like to hang out in remote places that most people would consider cold. I first chose PC because it has all internal plumbing. I added 4x4 because I didn’t want to have to run at the first hint of snow or Icy weather. I also like to be able to get in remote areas. I seldom go anywhere I cannot get into with two wheel drive but I have the insurance that if the weather changes I have the 4 wheel drive as a backup. Winter driving in general up here is much safer on the highways if you have 4x4. Third I do only backcountry camping or “boondocking” so I upgraded the Inverter to a 3000 watt pure sine wave and upgraded the battery charger to a 45 amp Lithium battery charger. That leads me to the batteries; I had PC put in the largest battery box they could put in. It will accommodate an 8D flooded battery. I am installing 400 amps of Lithium or LiPo batteries. They weigh one third to half of a flooded battery but put out twice the usable power and maintain a constant voltage throughout. The other nice thing is they charge twice as fast, have very little loss of power over time and should last three to four times what a flooded battery will last. The down side is their cost but over time that should negate itself. I also had PC wire for 300 watts of solar power on the roof and an additional 100 watts that will be ground deployed. I will install this once I get home. I also had them wire most of the coach thru the inverter with only one plug and the AC on Alternate Current. I had a number of other small items done on the interior like a plug in the back closet and one under the bed to accommodate a cordless vac. and my cordless drill/impact-wrench/flashlight/screw-gun. Many other changes were just things that fit us best. Probably the change that maybe the most controversial is our paint; Flat Black with Camo trim. I know that everybody that lives in warmer climes are probably rolling their eyes. For us we wanted something that would blend into most environments and we could pick up some nice radiant heat especially early in the morning when we like to sit outside and watch the sun rise and later when we want to watch the sunset. The nicest part of dealing with PC is being able to get what you want. Our rig is not for everybody and that is the way it should be for everybody. This is the fourth rig for us and we have owned a large TT and a fifth wheel and a large camper which is a 4x4. Our favorite is still our camper for the places it can take us and ease of use but it does not do well in the cold and is very limiting on how long you can stay before needing propane and dumping. We hope we have built our dream rig. PC has been great at accommodating us even though they probably think we are nuts and we are but that’s beside the point. The only thing I could not get that I wanted and was out of PC control, was I would have preferred a diesel. I have several diesel trucks and my believe is they get better gas mileage and seem to last longer have a lot better torque than any of the gas engines I have ever owned. I know when I am towing large items they seem in a league of their own.
We also got the levelers because I am tired of trying to level rigs with blocks and we never seem to camp anywhere it is level. The satellite seemed decadent but it gets dark early in the fall and tv reception outside any city is nonexistent here. We spend the majority of our time outside but when it’s stormy sometimes the tv is a nice diversion when all the books we have brought are exhausted. We can also get the weather and watch the news.

With only 200 W of solar, you really don't need anymore batteries. You will have trouble keeping those two charged.
I don't know what PC is doing standard now but I would definitely go with 2 - 6v deep cycle Trojan batteries.
They can do this if you let them know before they start building. The batteries are about 1-1/4" taller.

6V batteries are already a lot taller than 12V as I learned when converting to 6V HERE.  In my case the easiest solution was to eliminate the battery tray and install maintenance-free sealed AGM batteries.  That was one of highest ranking changes I made to our 9 year old PC over the years.

Is our rig really 9 years old this coming June?  Wow how time flies.  It seems more like 5 years ago when we were placing our order.

The 6V trojan AGM batteries, rated at 385 minute capacity is what we went with.  The PC standard solar panel is 155 watt.  We wanted at least 200 watt and they are waiting to see if we can get the 260 watt.  Otherwise it will be the 200 watt panel.

To extend the twin passenger side they usually eliminate the pantry.  Has anyone else extended the bed another way? Per a previous post, can they extend the coach,  keeping the pantry?  That would be of interest to me.  Thanks

 

Ron

Ron sarz272000,

Regarding your longer twin bed inquiry, I am not sure people who are contemplating ordering a PC, understand how much linear wall is sacrificed when getting a slide out.  There are two influential factors.

1) The large angled transition wall just behind the Ford/Sprinter steel cab
The dinette best utilizes the transition wall, taking advantage of 8 inches to offer a larger table and more leg room.  It also  accommodates taller people when setup as a bed.

2) The thickness of the slide out walls seen as the framed wood border
You will have to ask people with slide outs about the distance between their fridge in slide out, and cabinet or bed outside the slide out, but the gap appears to be at least 4 inches x2 which is 8 inches total.

So the difference between a slide out and a slide-less can be as much as 16 inches of lost wall space.  So if the twin bed model you are considering is a much higher priority for you over a slide out, you can gain quite a lot of bed length by deleting the slide out.

I present this just so you understand the flip side to having a slide out.  I don't understand why, but every time I bring it up, I get dinged multiple times as being unneighborly :(

Here is a picture of our dinette utilizing 8 inches of the transition wall on the right side.


Here is a close-up of the wood trim framing the slide out wall.

If you buy a unit with a short queen bed I can tell you how to make it a full queen, I'm 6" 2" and its a real cheap fix/you probably have the material in your garage . Let me know....oh by the way, if you are tall you will suffer on those short beds, there is no way to get more length