2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)
- Thread starter Chadx
- Start date
DickM
just a member
Could you expand a little on the rack system? Did they source it for you, or is it an in house, custom product?
Either way, it is an awesome addition! Thanks for sharing.
ontheroad22
Member
I wanted to share some interior images and ideas. Below the cabinets underneath the stove / sink / countertop area there is an indentation in the siding. While only the fridge can hold magnets, I have found the siding used in most of the camper works incredibly well with suction cups. I have also used velcro strips effectively. The first item I attached was a small dustpan and broom (velcro strip) right by the entrance next to the fire extinguisher:
The next item is a toilet paper roll holder (suction cup).
Speaking of toilets, the toilet cabinet fits the Thetford Porta Potti 345 perfectly. It's strange to get excited about toilets, but this is a great unit and it's been so easy to use. I added felt to the bottom (it does scratch the flooring) of the toilet and we move it by the door before we go to bed at night. Here it is in the cabinet:
and the toilet in place:
When the toilet is in the cabinet there is room above it which would be perfect for a shelf. Absent that, I have added some storage bins using velcro strips to hold a trash bag roll and the bungees.
Moving on to the bed. It came down to the Camp-X vs. FWC and the bed was a huge factor in going with the Camp-X. One of the most important aspects of a pop up camper that often gets overlooked is the height between the bed and the roof when popped up. My wife and I do a lot of sitting up in bed. Reading, working on the laptop, knitting, sipping coffee - whatever it is, it's great to do it comfortably sitting up in bed. Many pop ups just don't have enough room. The Camp-X absolutely does. I highly recommend getting a pair of backrest pillows to keep from leaning on the camper walls. Here is a photo of the bed made with the backrest pillows:
We have been using the king bed extension and leaving it extended full time. One of the biggest advantages over the FWC is that the sink and stove are fully accessible. They are not with the FWC. Here's a photo of the kitchen with the king bed pullout extended:
This has been mentioned earlier in the thread but it's worth repeating - when the top is down there is plenty of room to leave your bedding in place with pillows and all. You don't have to consider where to store your pillows and blankets and there's no setup process once you are at camp.
The last thing I wanted to mention is the lighting. The two lights in the camper are very bright. I wish they were dimming lights, but unfortunately they are not. I added string lights around the entire camper and it's completely changed the mood when inside. We really love it. They are USB powered and I just plug them in when at camp.
The next item is a toilet paper roll holder (suction cup).
Speaking of toilets, the toilet cabinet fits the Thetford Porta Potti 345 perfectly. It's strange to get excited about toilets, but this is a great unit and it's been so easy to use. I added felt to the bottom (it does scratch the flooring) of the toilet and we move it by the door before we go to bed at night. Here it is in the cabinet:
and the toilet in place:
When the toilet is in the cabinet there is room above it which would be perfect for a shelf. Absent that, I have added some storage bins using velcro strips to hold a trash bag roll and the bungees.
Moving on to the bed. It came down to the Camp-X vs. FWC and the bed was a huge factor in going with the Camp-X. One of the most important aspects of a pop up camper that often gets overlooked is the height between the bed and the roof when popped up. My wife and I do a lot of sitting up in bed. Reading, working on the laptop, knitting, sipping coffee - whatever it is, it's great to do it comfortably sitting up in bed. Many pop ups just don't have enough room. The Camp-X absolutely does. I highly recommend getting a pair of backrest pillows to keep from leaning on the camper walls. Here is a photo of the bed made with the backrest pillows:
We have been using the king bed extension and leaving it extended full time. One of the biggest advantages over the FWC is that the sink and stove are fully accessible. They are not with the FWC. Here's a photo of the kitchen with the king bed pullout extended:
This has been mentioned earlier in the thread but it's worth repeating - when the top is down there is plenty of room to leave your bedding in place with pillows and all. You don't have to consider where to store your pillows and blankets and there's no setup process once you are at camp.
The last thing I wanted to mention is the lighting. The two lights in the camper are very bright. I wish they were dimming lights, but unfortunately they are not. I added string lights around the entire camper and it's completely changed the mood when inside. We really love it. They are USB powered and I just plug them in when at camp.
Wow! Lots of great posts since I was last visited the thread. Here I thought all was quiet since I hadn't received an "watcher" email. I must have missed one. Once you miss one, the system doesn't send you another until you visit the thread.
For our updates, my wife and I had a great season. Temps dropped to single digits a couple weeks ago and wife said we might as well take it off for the season. We've done some fun trips other years down to 15 degrees so was looking forward to comparing the CAMP-X but rest of our year is busy so cold weather camping test will have to wait. I have no doubt it will perform well. I do still need to add thermal tape around the top extrusion as that is about the only place we get condensation. The main walls extrusion came with thermal tape and no issues there. Have been extremely happy with lack of condensation on the pop-top walls, ceiling, walls and especially under the bed. Zero dampness under the mattress all year so gone is the morning ritual of flipping up the mattress and mopping up water with a 4 or 5 paper towels.
I did recently discover our REDARC would throw an error message and would not charge when battery temp sensor fell below 32 F. / 0 C. This with it set to AGM battery type. The REDARC manual notes that the various lead acid battery settings should charge down to -14 F. I searched around and found a few other REDARC users had experienced this and it turns out that early REDARC shunts/battery sensors would not allow charging below freezing for any battery type. REDARC has a newer part that remedies this. I reached out to them an they had me send a photo of the serial numbers on my shunt/battery sensor. It was the old part. They made the change somewhere in 2019 and so come units may have the old version of the shunt/battery sensor. REDARC sent me a replacement which I installed last week. Note this only replaces the shunt/battery sensor, so was a quick and easy replacement. Weather was unseasonably warm last week, but finally fell below freezing for the last few days and I've confirmed that the replacement shunt/battery sensor allows charging below freezing for lead acid batteries (presumably, Lithium setting will still cut off at 32 F. / 0 C. ). REDARC was very responsive. They requested I ship the old shunt/sensor back, which will be on my dime, but small price to pay for the immediate remedy. I let Overland Explorer know they may want to give owners a heads up if their units are effected as it would be inconvenient to throw an error while out camping and not be able to charge. Luckily, I found this out in the shop rather than camping. All good to go now.
I also finished installing the raised dinette floor and new cushions and we really enjoyed the more comfortable seating position without legs dangling.
Having spent the season using the camper, I have formed new ideas on batteries and solar. Our CAMP-X came with no solar panels but with one solar input plug on the side of the camper. Also came with a 100A AGM giving us 50A usable. Our previous camper had 150amp of AGM and a 180watt panel on the roof. In the spring, I was going back and forth on adding a roof solar panel, a portable solar panel, switching from 100a AGM to 100a lithium or some combination of the above. I ended up adding a Renogy 100watt portable solar panel. Some of my reasoning related to there being no rooftop solar plug and prewiring. Also, I had no experience with a portable solar panel an thought it would be fun to get experience. Plus, would be able to park in the shade and put solar panel in the sun. In my opinion, I made the wrong decision. For our use, the setup, take down, constant babysitting of the panel by moving it around as sun and shadows move is a pain and distracting. Luckily, our current battery gives two days of battery power and most of our trips were only 2 days in a single place.
New plan is to replace 100a AGM with 100a lithium in the spring. I need a new AGM for my boat anyway so no wasted money.
Going to a 100a lithium will give us these benefits:
Nearly 100amp usable compared to current 50amp usable will give enough battery power for 3 or 4 days with zero recharging
100amp lithium will allow up to a 1000watt inverter
Will save 30+ lbs compared to current 100amp AGM and would save about 90+ compared to two AGM (which there is not room for anyway)
Can plug vent holes in battery box, since lithium doesn't need venting and needs to stay warmer, which will keep the battery box, water compartment, and possibly entire camper a tiny bit warmer/cooler in extreme cold/hot outdoor temps. Will at least keep more dust out.
After that, we'll need the solar input much less as we typically do 1 or 2 night trips or are on a 10 day road trip and drive 2 to 5 hours per day. But we'd like to long term add a rooftop panel. Will be complicated since it's not prewired and will require a roof penetration, wire run, and determine best place to tie into the existing sidewall solar wiring or eliminate that and wire all the way, and directly into, the REDARC solar input. We just like the simplicity of a roof top mount. It is either getting sun or not; no constantly feeling like I have to check on it and move it constantly like I catch myself doing with the portable solar. And the REDARC is smart enough to favor solar over AC and DC puts. One thing I'll add is a cut off switch to the solar like I have for the DC truck charging circuit. There are multiple reasons it's a good idea to be able to cut current on all inbound circuits, but especially for lithium. Since lithium doesn't like to be stored at 100%, particularly in hot weather, it would be nice to arrive home with the battery at less than 100% state of charge for parking in my uninsulated, hot shop. Then charge up the day before the next trip, probably via parking outside and solar input.
Have also since purchased a Bluetti AC200 for the house, but brought it with to play with it and run a induction burner. Have confirmed burner draw with AC200 gauge and Kill-a-Watt sensor and determined draw of each burner setting. If we get a 100amp lithium, that will handle a 1,000 - 1,100 watt inverter and this induction burner will run just fine on that if kept below setting 6 or so, which is plenty high even for boiling water. In our tests, setting 5 or 6 still boiled water faster than propane stove on about 2/3 flame. Setting 10 in boiled in 90 seconds...but we are not in that much of a hurry. Ha.
For our updates, my wife and I had a great season. Temps dropped to single digits a couple weeks ago and wife said we might as well take it off for the season. We've done some fun trips other years down to 15 degrees so was looking forward to comparing the CAMP-X but rest of our year is busy so cold weather camping test will have to wait. I have no doubt it will perform well. I do still need to add thermal tape around the top extrusion as that is about the only place we get condensation. The main walls extrusion came with thermal tape and no issues there. Have been extremely happy with lack of condensation on the pop-top walls, ceiling, walls and especially under the bed. Zero dampness under the mattress all year so gone is the morning ritual of flipping up the mattress and mopping up water with a 4 or 5 paper towels.
I did recently discover our REDARC would throw an error message and would not charge when battery temp sensor fell below 32 F. / 0 C. This with it set to AGM battery type. The REDARC manual notes that the various lead acid battery settings should charge down to -14 F. I searched around and found a few other REDARC users had experienced this and it turns out that early REDARC shunts/battery sensors would not allow charging below freezing for any battery type. REDARC has a newer part that remedies this. I reached out to them an they had me send a photo of the serial numbers on my shunt/battery sensor. It was the old part. They made the change somewhere in 2019 and so come units may have the old version of the shunt/battery sensor. REDARC sent me a replacement which I installed last week. Note this only replaces the shunt/battery sensor, so was a quick and easy replacement. Weather was unseasonably warm last week, but finally fell below freezing for the last few days and I've confirmed that the replacement shunt/battery sensor allows charging below freezing for lead acid batteries (presumably, Lithium setting will still cut off at 32 F. / 0 C. ). REDARC was very responsive. They requested I ship the old shunt/sensor back, which will be on my dime, but small price to pay for the immediate remedy. I let Overland Explorer know they may want to give owners a heads up if their units are effected as it would be inconvenient to throw an error while out camping and not be able to charge. Luckily, I found this out in the shop rather than camping. All good to go now.
I also finished installing the raised dinette floor and new cushions and we really enjoyed the more comfortable seating position without legs dangling.
Having spent the season using the camper, I have formed new ideas on batteries and solar. Our CAMP-X came with no solar panels but with one solar input plug on the side of the camper. Also came with a 100A AGM giving us 50A usable. Our previous camper had 150amp of AGM and a 180watt panel on the roof. In the spring, I was going back and forth on adding a roof solar panel, a portable solar panel, switching from 100a AGM to 100a lithium or some combination of the above. I ended up adding a Renogy 100watt portable solar panel. Some of my reasoning related to there being no rooftop solar plug and prewiring. Also, I had no experience with a portable solar panel an thought it would be fun to get experience. Plus, would be able to park in the shade and put solar panel in the sun. In my opinion, I made the wrong decision. For our use, the setup, take down, constant babysitting of the panel by moving it around as sun and shadows move is a pain and distracting. Luckily, our current battery gives two days of battery power and most of our trips were only 2 days in a single place.
New plan is to replace 100a AGM with 100a lithium in the spring. I need a new AGM for my boat anyway so no wasted money.
Going to a 100a lithium will give us these benefits:
Nearly 100amp usable compared to current 50amp usable will give enough battery power for 3 or 4 days with zero recharging
100amp lithium will allow up to a 1000watt inverter
Will save 30+ lbs compared to current 100amp AGM and would save about 90+ compared to two AGM (which there is not room for anyway)
Can plug vent holes in battery box, since lithium doesn't need venting and needs to stay warmer, which will keep the battery box, water compartment, and possibly entire camper a tiny bit warmer/cooler in extreme cold/hot outdoor temps. Will at least keep more dust out.
After that, we'll need the solar input much less as we typically do 1 or 2 night trips or are on a 10 day road trip and drive 2 to 5 hours per day. But we'd like to long term add a rooftop panel. Will be complicated since it's not prewired and will require a roof penetration, wire run, and determine best place to tie into the existing sidewall solar wiring or eliminate that and wire all the way, and directly into, the REDARC solar input. We just like the simplicity of a roof top mount. It is either getting sun or not; no constantly feeling like I have to check on it and move it constantly like I catch myself doing with the portable solar. And the REDARC is smart enough to favor solar over AC and DC puts. One thing I'll add is a cut off switch to the solar like I have for the DC truck charging circuit. There are multiple reasons it's a good idea to be able to cut current on all inbound circuits, but especially for lithium. Since lithium doesn't like to be stored at 100%, particularly in hot weather, it would be nice to arrive home with the battery at less than 100% state of charge for parking in my uninsulated, hot shop. Then charge up the day before the next trip, probably via parking outside and solar input.
Have also since purchased a Bluetti AC200 for the house, but brought it with to play with it and run a induction burner. Have confirmed burner draw with AC200 gauge and Kill-a-Watt sensor and determined draw of each burner setting. If we get a 100amp lithium, that will handle a 1,000 - 1,100 watt inverter and this induction burner will run just fine on that if kept below setting 6 or so, which is plenty high even for boiling water. In our tests, setting 5 or 6 still boiled water faster than propane stove on about 2/3 flame. Setting 10 in boiled in 90 seconds...but we are not in that much of a hurry. Ha.
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That is tight! I imagine the battery and wiring were installed and cabinets went in around it afterwards so there wasn't much thought given to removal. Since I'll likely add only one 100amp lithium (likely BattleBorn), mine will fit fine. If I wanted two of them, I'd likely have to remove the battery box to make room. I glanced at it when I was in there replacing the shunt/battery sensor, but didn't really think it through. Does the battery box look reasonably easy to remove?
Steve, looks like you about covered it and I saw some others have answered, but will reiterate, the two most important things are draining the water heater and pumping antifreeze through the rest of your plumbing. I'll go into more detail for other owners or potential owners.
The techs at BigSkyRV said these instant water heaters freeze and get damaged very easily and don't have many replaceable parts which means replacing the entire unit. The good news is, like you discovered, it is extremely easy to drain them and one should do so as soon as temps lower than 40 are expected. Important to first flip the valve inside the camper behind the control panel to isolate the water heater from the water supply. This also keeps one from pumping RV antifreeze into the water heater. Once isolated, it's as easy as opening the exterior water heater access panel, flipping out the yellow lever, and pulling out the filter screen and letting the water drain. Note that you do NOT want to put the water screen back in when you close it back up. Leave it out until you are going to next use the water heater.
Draining the water storage tank and then running the faucets until the pump starts to gurgle is a ok first step for those borderline nights, but for long term winterization, you must pump the pink RV antifreeze through the system.
!!!Do not use regular automobile antifreeze. It is poisonous. It must be RV winterization antifreeze!!!
This is a bit more complicated than draining the water heater, but will take you about 10 or 15 minutes once you have supplies and have done it once. There are water pump fittings included in your Camper folder. Some are straight and some are 90 degree and a couple different sized hose sizes. I found the 90 degree worked the best for the CAMP-X. Bring the 90 degree fittings with to the hardware store and buy a 3 or 4 foot length of bulk vinyl tubing to fit one one of the two fittings. It will be drawing and not pressurizing this line so you probably won't even need a hose clamp, but add one if you like. One gallon of of RV antifreeze should be plenty (I used about 2/3 of one gallon when I did our CAMP-X).
- Drain the main water storage tank until empty. Leave the valve open.
- Put a towel or a few paper towels under your water pump to catch drips.
- Reach down and remove the inbound water line fitting from the water pump by first pulling up the retaining clip (this is shown in the water pump owners manual) and then pull out the fitting.
- Push in and clip the accessory fitting to which you've already attached the 4 foot piece of hose. I ended up using a much shorter piece of hose, but depends on where you want to set the one gallon RV antifreeze jug while you do this.
- Once fitting is clipped into the water pump, submerge the other end of the hose in the RV antifreeze jug.
- Turn on the water pump power and run all the outside shower and then the inside faucet (both of them on 100% hot then 100% cold) until the running water is replaced by pink RV antifreeze and has flushed all the lines of water. Again, that used about 2/3 of a gallon for me.
- Pull the hose out of the RV antifreeze jug and let a faucet run a bit longer to clear the hose of antifreeze.
- Disconnect the fitting and hose from water pump and refit the water tanks water line and fitting
- Do NOT fill the water tank with RV antifreeze.
- Do NOT pump antifreeze into the water heater (this will not happen if you have correctly bypassed the water heater with the valve behind the control panel as you did before you drained the water heater and removed the screen for the winter)
These camper sink drains do not lead to a septic system or blackwater tank so there are no drain traps and no need to keep the drain filled with antifreeze. You can drain out all the water and antifreeze that filled the sink when you opened the faucet while winterizing.
Pulling battery is up to you, but for those with lithium, note that lithium will not take charge below freezing and your REDARC will not send a charge to a lithium battery when on Lithium setting. If you keep it connected, there are items in the camper (fire detector, usb socket lights, etc.) that will draw down your battery and potentially ruin it even if you have your REDARC plugged into shore power or a solar panel attached. I wish there was a master switch to isolate the battery from all DC draw like my previous camper, but that is another story. All we can do is remove the negative battery cable to isolate. I tend to long term store my various lithium batteries in climate controlled areas, but from my research, there seems to be no benefit to doing so. Lithium should be stored at 40 to 60% State of Charge. It is fine sitting all winter in any temp as long as it is 100% disconnected from any draw. Do not store lithium fully charged and do not store depleted. 40 - 60% is a reasonable range to be in for long term lithium storage. Unlike lead acid, lithium with no draw hold their charge very well long term.
Lead acid/AGM lose about 2 - 3% SOC per day even disconnected. More when it's extremely hot; less in cold. They will take a charge down to well below freezing. Unlike lithium, AGM/lead acid are best stored at 100% SOC. This means using a battery tender/smart charger or the REDARC (with shorepower or solar) to keep lead acid at 100%. If below 100%, plates will sulfate and overall capacity will suffer. If discharged below around 10.5 volts, the battery will literally freeze and can split the battery case. Lead acid batteries below 10.5 volts should never be charged if they are below freezing (even the REDARC has a provision to NOT charge lead acid if detected voltage is below 10.5 and temp is below freezing for this reason).
Of note, REDARC will not overcharge a battery (via AC, DC or solar). They are smart chargers and if set to the appropriate battery chemistry, they will adjust voltage and amperage. But, as mentioned, some battery chemistry are best not stored at 100% while others are. REDARC does not have provisions for this so the user must do so on their own.
Other than pulling out any small electronics, battery powered devices like lights and flashlights, and pulling out all the bedding, not much to these. Not sure how much an RV dealership would charge for winterization, but it's literally a 15 minutes job once you have all the parts and have done it once.
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Chadx I laughed when I got up to clean the solar panel and checkout the roof but I agree, good marketing!
seahaul
Active member
They make them in house and then sell them as a kit or install when you order. They are top notch and fit perfect!
shirk,
We didn't get in any sub-freezing camping this year like is typical, and we are bit less humid here in MT, but I can say the only condensation at all was along the metal extrusion along the top which they now cover in a foam tape as a thermal break like they did the side extrusion on mine. Really the only places that can get condensation is the extrusions and front and rear bracket mounts and that little bit of foam will eliminate it on anything covered by it. As for the rest of the camper, we have had zero condensation on the softsides, roofpanel, wall panels, under the bed panel, etc. That in stark contrast to the constant beads of condensation on our previous, aluminum framed camper on every single frame member in the walls/ceiling/cabover and the softsides that were dripping. Even in nice 50 degree nights, we were mopping up water from under the mattress most mornings. Became a morning ritual with the only surprise being if it was a 2 paper towel, underbed mop up, or 6 papertowel. Ha.
The final straw was a trip last year to Orcas Island and Bellingham late in the year and temps just above freezing and rain for 5 days. We had not only condensation under the mattress but standing water to be mopped up. Those mornings called for more than a paper towel job. We were using towels and wringing them out muliple times. We always vented at night. No leaks; that was just condensation. That was all we could take. This spring, we bought a CAMP-X. Haven't been able to travel like we would have liked this year and several out of state and out of country trips were canceled, so no cold, damp-region test, but can tell from our local trips the huge difference. We used to turn the heater from 65 down to 45 at night and it ran a fair bit. In the CAMP-X in similar temps (low 40s), we set it at 55 and it often only runs once or not at all before we wake up and turn it up to start the morning and this with the over bed vent cracked open like usual (we ordered an extra vent/fan when we ordered our camper). The panel construction and insulated soft side is what is needed to get away from thermal bridging, and the associated condensation, of an aluminum frame.
We didn't get in any sub-freezing camping this year like is typical, and we are bit less humid here in MT, but I can say the only condensation at all was along the metal extrusion along the top which they now cover in a foam tape as a thermal break like they did the side extrusion on mine. Really the only places that can get condensation is the extrusions and front and rear bracket mounts and that little bit of foam will eliminate it on anything covered by it. As for the rest of the camper, we have had zero condensation on the softsides, roofpanel, wall panels, under the bed panel, etc. That in stark contrast to the constant beads of condensation on our previous, aluminum framed camper on every single frame member in the walls/ceiling/cabover and the softsides that were dripping. Even in nice 50 degree nights, we were mopping up water from under the mattress most mornings. Became a morning ritual with the only surprise being if it was a 2 paper towel, underbed mop up, or 6 papertowel. Ha.
The final straw was a trip last year to Orcas Island and Bellingham late in the year and temps just above freezing and rain for 5 days. We had not only condensation under the mattress but standing water to be mopped up. Those mornings called for more than a paper towel job. We were using towels and wringing them out muliple times. We always vented at night. No leaks; that was just condensation. That was all we could take. This spring, we bought a CAMP-X. Haven't been able to travel like we would have liked this year and several out of state and out of country trips were canceled, so no cold, damp-region test, but can tell from our local trips the huge difference. We used to turn the heater from 65 down to 45 at night and it ran a fair bit. In the CAMP-X in similar temps (low 40s), we set it at 55 and it often only runs once or not at all before we wake up and turn it up to start the morning and this with the over bed vent cracked open like usual (we ordered an extra vent/fan when we ordered our camper). The panel construction and insulated soft side is what is needed to get away from thermal bridging, and the associated condensation, of an aluminum frame.
I can confirm this observation. A few years ago we traveled to Inuvik in late August with an aluminum framed camper (FWC Hawk) and had the problems Chad described. We therefore convinced Marc to build the first prototype of the CampX. We tested it on multiple trips to the Northwest Territories for Northern Lights (beautiful but cold) and in Alberta and BC in 3 seasons and had the same experience as Chad. Some condensation on the lower and upper extrusion. As a result the design was modified and condensation on the lower extrusion should not be a problem any more. Closed cell foam on the upper extrusion has taken care of that problem. Now insulation is pretty good and the Truma (I still have the big Combi) keeps it cozy. Withsome ventilation condensation is not an issue. The CampX is much better in bad weather than a FourWheel style camper but not quite as good as my composite hardside camper.
Shirk - Last week I had the Camp-X out in cold and dry weather, the low was 9F and it was windy. I was at about 8,000ft and the Camp-X did very well. I set the Heat at 60F at night and 65F when I was hanging out. It wasn't a wet or humid night but even with the heat and the temperature difference I had Zero condensation. The only venting was slightly opening the fan (it was off). The Truma heat is impressive, I haven't tried the Night mode yet but will very soon and expect to try it in the single digits with snow. I installed the Electric Antifreeze Kit in the AquaGo as well. I am 5'11" and had my feet up against the wall when I woke up which was a bit cool. I didn't have the king bed extension with me, I think I will bring it next time and will sleep North - South even if it's just me. I will take it out this winter and see how much propane I burn camping at 10,000ft for Snowmobiling, OEV did a great job with the insulated soft walls.
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