2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)

[Zach_F]

You are correct, it's next to the breaker. What size inverter are you adding? The stock battery cables are only 6 AWG, I changed to 1/0 for my 2000W inverter.

1000W. I have a coil of cable at home that I bought for other wiring projects, along with a hydraulic lug crimper. I think the cable is 1/0 but I’ll have to check when I get home.

I was debating about running it off the breaker but didn’t want to risk exceeding the rating.

 

[Zach_F]

1000W. I have a coil of cable at home that I bought for other wiring projects, along with a hydraulic lug crimper. I think the cable is 1/0 but I’ll have to check when I get home.

I was debating about running it off the breaker but didn’t want to risk exceeding the rating.

Turns out it’s 4 gauge.

 

[Dunzee]

My apologies if this has been addressed before, but I could not find my answer in this forum. My BackCountry has a 180 watt solar panel on the roof feeding into my Redarc Manager 30, into a Relion RB100LT LiFeP04 100Ah battery. It all works well but this weekend we were camped in a provincial park with too much of a tree canopy and for the first time, the solar panel was having difficulty keeping the battery charged with only the Dometic fridge drawing power and a Maxxair fan at night.
I called Erik at OEV and he confirms I should be able to simply plug in a portable solar panel into the plug on the driver‘s side of the camper and the Redarc will draw from both panels. I realize I could have moved campsite because the rest of our trip had ample sunlight and the system worked as it should. I simply want to the option of deploying a solar panel away from the camper , knowing it will work well with the Redarc.
Has anyone here tried a portable solar panel to supplement the rooftop? I did learn from OEV that if I get a lower wattage solar panel, that it dumbs down my 180 watt rooftop panel to what wattage my portable one is. But if my rooftop panel is not keeping up, what’s the harm?

 

[Chadx]

I started out ONLY using the side plug with a portable (suitcase) panel because our CAMP-X didn't come with rooftop solar panel. Portal panels work very well with 30 foot extension cables when you park in the shade and want to locate your panel in the sun. Plus, a portable panel you can angle directly at the sun so a 100watt pointed directly at the sun will often generate as much as a 150 to 180watt laying flat on your roof when the sun is low (morning, evening, or fall/spring/winter). Sounds like you are already aware, but just for others info, choose a portable panel WITHOUT a built in solar controller. The REDARC (or Victron on late models) is the solar controller.

Using the portable panel lasted about one season and I got tired of setting it up and taking it down. I ended up mounting a rooftop 200watt panel. Since then, I no longer carry the portable panel and sold it since we haven't once needed it. Most of our dispersed camping has at least some sun each day, but our 100ah lithium battery lasts for about 3 days with zero solar input (and 4 or 5 day with a little bit of sun). By the time we need to charge, we usually drive to a new location and there is plenty of sun hitting solar panel when on the road. Or we can charge up while driving with the DC from the truck. Or both solar panel and DC from truck as the REDARC can take in both at once and it prioritizes "green" input, meaning the 30 amp max of the REDARC will first use 100% of solar input and then make up the remainder of the 30 amps with DC or AC input. Of note, though, I have a DC switch and usually keep the truck DC switched off because solar keeps us so charged up, but it's nice to have DC/DC charging from the pickup in those rare cases we've needed it).

 

[Dunzee]

I started out ONLY using the side plug with a portable (suitcase) panel because our CAMP-X didn't come with rooftop. Portal panels work very well with a 30 foot pair of cables when you park in the shade and string your panel into sun. Plus, a portable panel you can angle directly at the sun so a 100watt pointed directly at the sun will often generate as much as a 150 to 180watt laying flat on your roof when the sun is low (morning, evening, or fall/spring/winter). Sounds like you are already aware, but just for others info, choose a portable panel WITHOUT a built in solar controller. The REDARC (or Victron on late models) is the solar controller.
Using the portable-only lasted about one season and I got tired of setting it up and taking it down. I ended up mounting a rooftop 200watt panel. Since then, I no longer carry the portable panel and sold it since we haven't once needed it. Most of our dispersed camping has at least some sun each day, but our 100ah lithium battery lasts for days with no solar input. By the time we need to charge, we usually drive to a new location (plenty of sun hitting solar panel when on the road) or we can charge up while driving with the DC from the truck. Of note, though, is I have a DC switch and usually keep the truck DC switched off because solar keeps us so charged up, but it's nice to have DC/DC charging from the pickup when we need it).

 

[Dunzee]

Thanks again for your insight Chadx. I was pleased with the amount of sun we received during our February, March trip to New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. So much dispersed camping and so much sun! Welcome to eastern Canada and the Boreal forest cover lol. Sounds like I’m on the right track, just trying to decide if it’s really advantageous to double up with a movable panel. Thank you, much appreciated.

 

[Chadx]

Hiya everybody. I'm starting a new project on a different pickup next spring (to be revealed at a later date) so I'm listing our CAMP-X for sale. Located in Bozeman, MT. We'll continue to use it until it sells. It's well documented throughout this thread above, but also have all the details in my Expedition Portal 'For Sale' ad: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/...-camp-x-slide-in-pop-up-pickup-camper.239674/
Edit: Sold. Off to a good home!

 

[PaulPritchard]

Hiya everybody. I'm starting a new project on a different pickup next spring (to be revealed at a later date) so I'm listing our CAMP-X for sale. Located in Bozeman, MT. We'll continue to use it until it sells. It's well documented throughout this thread above, but also have all the details in my Expedition Portal 'For Sale' ad: https://forum.expeditionportal.com/...-camp-x-slide-in-pop-up-pickup-camper.239674/
Looking for a good home!

Good luck with the sale. Your camper looks brand new! Are you changing trucks, too?

 

[Chadx]

Admittedly, some of the photos were not taken this week to expedite the listing, but yes, the camper is in extremely good shape. We definitely are not scared to use our things rigorously, but we aren't abusive and keep things clean and maintained. We have small quilts that we use to cover the dinette seat cushions so that has protected those quite well. Outside has some pinstripes that I need to take photos of in the right light to show (and I need to polish the acrylic window as mentioned in the add and then add close-ups of that). We are still using the camper so didn't want to pull out our memory foam mattress, put in OEV mattress and install king pullout for new photos of cabover.

The impetus for the new project is, indeed, a different pickup. I keep my pickups for at least 10 years and would keep my Tundra for longer if it had higher payload. Every year I'm less and less inclined to overload a Fullsize. First decision was that it was time for an HD truck, which is a better platform even for a CAMP-X. Then the 'slippery-slope' wheels started turning because now HD payload opens up the options considerably, weight-wise, for slide-in and flatbed campers.

Not in a hurry to sell and will continue to enjoy the camper until it does. No worries if we have it over another winter because it has a designated, indoor sleeping spot in my shop. Ha. I'll be working through the pickup thing between now and next summer, too. If I had a different pickup already, I'd offer up the entire rig (camper and Tundra) but just not there yet.

 

[Zach_F]

@chadx Really curious what you have in mind truck and camper-wise.

 

[Chadx]

Lots of moving and dependent pieces so nothing to report until camper sells so I know things, like working to source a pickup, can proceed.

 

[Zach_F]

It’s been pretty hot here (90+) and my LP alarm has been going off almost daily in the late afternoon. The camper has been closed up for a couple weeks save for the times I open it to reset the alarm and vent it out.

Propane is turned off and no discernible leaks inside. I ended up disconnecting the hose just in case and still get the alarms. The chemical off-gassing smell is particularly strong when I open the door and I wonder if that’s the culprit throwing the oxygen level out of balance. A bit concerning and more than a little annoying.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

[DesertT4R]

It’s been pretty hot here (90+) and my LP alarm has been going off almost daily in the late afternoon. The camper has been closed up for a couple weeks save for the times I open it to reset the alarm and vent it out.

Propane is turned off and no discernible leaks inside. I ended up disconnecting the hose just in case and still get the alarms. The chemical off-gassing smell is particularly strong when I open the door and I wonder if that’s the culprit throwing the oxygen level out of balance. A bit concerning and more than a little annoying.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I experienced a similar issue with the LP alarm last week. It occurred in the afternoon, parked outside in the sun with the door, window and vent closed. I'm in the desert outside of Phoenix, so it is HOT. The alarm has only gone off once. I opened the vent a bit and it hasn't reoccurred. I also have the off-gassing smell. We need to find some cool mountain air.

 

[Mr. Nobody]

I was having issues on the last trip to low temps with the LP alarm as well. As soon as it got into the mid 40's the alarm would go off multie times. Tank closed, disconnected, it didn't matter the alarm still went off.

I contacted OEV and they mentioned they can eventually start to fail and the best bet is to just order a new one online. So that's my next step.

 

[sportsbriefcase]

Dark Horse Customs in Bozeman is now an OEV dealer.


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