2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)
- Thread starter Chadx
- Start date
thegoldrun
Active member
Headed out Friday afternoon for a weekend trip to Steamboat Springs Colorado. Camped outside Silverthorne in a snow storm Friday night, and a more mild Saturday evening on the Colorado River. We're loving the Camp-X!
Nice!
Shower curtain setup will be fairly straightforward, but very interested in what you use for a shower basin and how you drain it (be that during or afterwards). A hard sided storage tub? Cooler? Half barrel? Some type of soft membrane to make storage easier?
I’m going to experiment with three different basins. One is a black plastic bus boy bin, another is a tall clear plastic bin, and the last is a doggy pool. I am thinking the doggy pool will work best because it packs down small and has a side drain. Ideally I can hook a hose to the side and drain away from the truck. We’ll see how that works in practice. Still need to buy some more parts to hang the shower curtain.
Love it! That doggy pool looks like the perfect basin.
Four or five of the 3m hooks and shock cord around the top of the shower curtains seems to be a common and non-permanent, non-intrusive method. Plus, the vent is right overhead.
Will be watching to see what ingenious method you employ...so I can steal it. Ha.
Four or five of the 3m hooks and shock cord around the top of the shower curtains seems to be a common and non-permanent, non-intrusive method. Plus, the vent is right overhead.
Will be watching to see what ingenious method you employ...so I can steal it. Ha.
Couple of questions. Does the Truma hot water heater only operate in eco mode? I thought there was a true on demand? With that said, can you only get hot water out of the sink on full open? I wish there was a way to trickle hot water instead of just full blast before it gets to hot mode. On a bummer note, it appears the frame to my maxxair fan cracked while driving. Winds around Hood River were strong, so maybe swirling wind grabbed it, but it does seem like cheap plastic. I guess I will need to remove the entire fan to repair. Bummer as it's barely over 1 year old.
Truma AquaGo water heater has a few different modes. If the various settings (ECO, COMFORT, etc.) are not available via your Truma controller, the Truma controller was probably powered up the first time with the truma heater itself powered off and/or no water in it and/or propane valve not open. With water heater powered on, water and propane available, you may simply need to reset the factory settings and then it will do a one-time "learn" of what is connected to it (how water heater and cabin heater). Once learned, they will be saved and you won't have to do that learning procedure again. (For awareness, I'm not 100% sure if that is the case if one disconnects the battery completely. Something to be aware of if one disconnects the battery completely, then reconnects and discovers the Truma water heater features are missing from the control panel when you power the water heater up again). Once the controller learns what is active, functioning and connected to it, your controller will then give you access to the hot water heater settings.
I had the same issue with my camper when I first took delivery and it was an embarrassing long time before I figured that out why it would only function in eco mode. At first, I thought OEV had only sourced the the economical "AquaGo Basic" water heater model, but others of that year confirmed they had the "AuqaGo Comfort" controllable one. I did find a work around at first. The owners manual mentioned the power switch direction on the water heater has two "on" positions and they function the same, but for my unit, before I reset the Truma controller, I noted that if I flipped to the up "on" position, it powered on in ECO mode and if I flipped the power switch to the down "on" position, the water heater powered on in "COMFORT" mode. I keep that nugget in the back of my mind in case the Truma controller ever fails or is damaged. In any case, once I read up and suspected the Truma controller simply had never been allowed to "learn" the Truma water heater was there, I reset the controller with the hot water heater powered on and filled with water and propane on and it learned it was there. After that, I had access to all the features via the control panel.
It is an on demand system but still uses a small tank to buffer and be "ready". Maybe a liter or so. Compared to 3 or 5 gallons of a typical camper water heater. The mode impact stand-by and on demand water temps. In ECO mode, it is still on demand, but keeps the water temp at 41F/5C. Basically, antifreeze mode while operating on propane (but not to be confused with the true "ANTIFREEZE" setting which requires the 12v DC electric antifreeze kit). In ECO mode, as soon as hot water is called for, it the AquaGo fires up and heats the water to 120F/49C, but it takes much longer to come up to full temp and wastes a lot of water. In "COMFORT Mode", the water is kept at the ready at 102F/39C and when called for, bumps that temp up to a default of 120F/49C so the fully hot water comes almost immediately (run just enough water to get water from the heater to the open fixture). I believe one has the option to control/adjust the output water temperature as well. The heater does cycle off and goes back into its ECO or COMFORT standby temp when water flow is below .4 gallons/min. but even then, in COMFORT mode, the temp will stay above 102F/39C so is usable.
Sorry to hear on the maxxair damage. It was the frame itself and not the vent?
My previous camper's fan did not have a locking fan vent. Same on my current enclosed trailer. Both would work their way up on bumpy roads or high wind. I'd arrive and my vent would be open. Thought I forgot it but after tests, proved it was working it's way open on it's own in certain situations.
Now, my particular CAMP-X fan vents can lock (once black knob is used to crank it close, that same knob can be pushed up to lock the know from turning on it's own). Is your fan vent have the same knob that can lock? Do you think the frame can be repaired (epoxy) or remove and move fan/motor etc. to new frame? Hopefully don't need to replace the entire fan.
I had the same issue with my camper when I first took delivery and it was an embarrassing long time before I figured that out why it would only function in eco mode. At first, I thought OEV had only sourced the the economical "AquaGo Basic" water heater model, but others of that year confirmed they had the "AuqaGo Comfort" controllable one. I did find a work around at first. The owners manual mentioned the power switch direction on the water heater has two "on" positions and they function the same, but for my unit, before I reset the Truma controller, I noted that if I flipped to the up "on" position, it powered on in ECO mode and if I flipped the power switch to the down "on" position, the water heater powered on in "COMFORT" mode. I keep that nugget in the back of my mind in case the Truma controller ever fails or is damaged. In any case, once I read up and suspected the Truma controller simply had never been allowed to "learn" the Truma water heater was there, I reset the controller with the hot water heater powered on and filled with water and propane on and it learned it was there. After that, I had access to all the features via the control panel.
It is an on demand system but still uses a small tank to buffer and be "ready". Maybe a liter or so. Compared to 3 or 5 gallons of a typical camper water heater. The mode impact stand-by and on demand water temps. In ECO mode, it is still on demand, but keeps the water temp at 41F/5C. Basically, antifreeze mode while operating on propane (but not to be confused with the true "ANTIFREEZE" setting which requires the 12v DC electric antifreeze kit). In ECO mode, as soon as hot water is called for, it the AquaGo fires up and heats the water to 120F/49C, but it takes much longer to come up to full temp and wastes a lot of water. In "COMFORT Mode", the water is kept at the ready at 102F/39C and when called for, bumps that temp up to a default of 120F/49C so the fully hot water comes almost immediately (run just enough water to get water from the heater to the open fixture). I believe one has the option to control/adjust the output water temperature as well. The heater does cycle off and goes back into its ECO or COMFORT standby temp when water flow is below .4 gallons/min. but even then, in COMFORT mode, the temp will stay above 102F/39C so is usable.
Sorry to hear on the maxxair damage. It was the frame itself and not the vent?
My previous camper's fan did not have a locking fan vent. Same on my current enclosed trailer. Both would work their way up on bumpy roads or high wind. I'd arrive and my vent would be open. Thought I forgot it but after tests, proved it was working it's way open on it's own in certain situations.
Now, my particular CAMP-X fan vents can lock (once black knob is used to crank it close, that same knob can be pushed up to lock the know from turning on it's own). Is your fan vent have the same knob that can lock? Do you think the frame can be repaired (epoxy) or remove and move fan/motor etc. to new frame? Hopefully don't need to replace the entire fan.
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My Redarc Manager 30 screen went in an inverse mode-- dark background and white letters. You just need to unplug the screen to get it back to normal mode. Emailed Redarc directly for this answer. Redacr has great tech support so email with any questions or warranty issues.
Good tip. I had that occur one time in the last couple years and did the same to resolve. Since it's only been once, I wasn't able to determine what I was doing at the time it happened. Do you recall? Or was it just that way when you went to use it?
PaulPritchard
ArizonaPaul
Any of you taken your Camp-X to Vancouver Island, BC? We're thinking of going next month to escape the Arizona heat. Curious if it gets crowded there in the summer and if there's decent camping available. We will likely take the ferry from Port Angeles WA to Victoria. Thanks
I can't answer your question, but wanted to mention we did an Orcas Island trip in our previous pop-up camper. Ours was our first pickup/camper ferry trip which was neat. It was a rainy Sept. trip and mopping up 1/4" of standing water (condensation; not a leak) from under our mattress was what instigated the sale of that brand camper and purchase of our CAMP-X. We planned to take the CAMP-X to Vancouver Island but then the borders closed.
Would expect crowds in the summer but no first hand knowledge so your trip report will help us plan for next year. Ha.
Just the stuff you've likely already done: Check Ferry schedule as they had some things out of whack/closures last time I checked. And the boarder-crossing requirements are still changing now and then so be prepared to adapt.
Would expect crowds in the summer but no first hand knowledge so your trip report will help us plan for next year. Ha.
Just the stuff you've likely already done: Check Ferry schedule as they had some things out of whack/closures last time I checked. And the boarder-crossing requirements are still changing now and then so be prepared to adapt.