Hey there,
First post, new X22 owner as of last week (first trailer ever, fair weather roof tenter previously). I was told i got one of the last 2 off the production line before they stopped production. Trailer is coupled to a new f350 6.7 tremor.
Anyone know of a dedicated old school X22/XR22 forum? I have an allergy to social media so steer clear of it all with the exception of Utube/rumble for some DIYs, entertainment and info.
So the unit.... we picked it up in Utah, upgrades, 2000W inverter, 190W flexi solar panels (not sure if these are any good), 4 parallel 120A e360s, 30# prop tanks, prop tank heaters (draw about 8A, didnt use them much) thats about it of note. Put BFG KO2s on the trailer for winter, left the spares stock.
Pretty killer except.... We made our way back to Golden, BC, Canada where temps ranged from 10C/50F down to -20C/-4F and the particular unit we received didnt quite perform to what we thought we were getting based on the Utube vids and manufacturer specs. The furnace (set to 20C/70F) was on 90%+ of the time the first night with outside temps around 0C/32F, but this may have changed once the internal "shell" warmed up with consistent heat over the next 24 hours at that outside temp or warmer. The batteries, which sit under the boxed in area under the flip up bed, had about a 20% drop in amperage every single day with no new charge coming in. They went down to 10% when i plugged the unit into a 15A circuit a day before we got home, no charge, had it plugged into 30A RV plug when we did get home, no charge. Lifted the bed up to expose them to the 20C/70F internal temps for 12 hrs, no charge. Finally put a small fan forced space heater with a thermal dial around 20C/70F on top of the batteries overnight (horizontal orientation, take care if you do this that it has solid footing or functional tilt cutoff) and came out the next day and the batteries were charging and went back up to 480Ah later that day, phew, thought i was in for a serious troubleshooting solar system session. Being new to trailer camping and solar systems, found out lithium doesnt charge when they cool off to 0C/32F range temps and only discharge down to -20C/-4F. Boxed in area was in that 35F range according to the max air remote temp sensor.
The other major thing was the water lines also stopped circulating when i tried a quick shower, had to prime the pump via the winterizing line to get it circulating again, this happened three more times before i winterized, circulating antifreeze in the sink, bath sink and shower (outside shower frozen stiff, hopefully it was never used) and city line when i got home. Dropped some down the fresh tank inlet and gray tank obviously got some.
Wanted to relay the above because i could not find an x22 experience with the battery lack of charging anywhere like this on the interwebs (although i use duckduckgo and brave, no googul). The expion battery warmers do not look like they would fit the parallel kit and bar connection setup on the x22 so looks like an option is to rig up some tank pad heaters, switches and some rigid insulation around the battery bank. And the expion ones are $200USD each which is like $2000 in canuck pesos so not sure i want to cough up too much more after initial purchase.
I think there is also something not quite right about the furnace installation either to make this the actual efficient winter trailer it is marketed as. Havent looked into it too much but for sure the flip out stairs on the x22 leave a gap under the door for a whislin cold breeze to come through no matter how flush the stair plate is with the entrance floor. Covered that up with a rug and towel to limit that draft. But also the fresh air intake, cold air return and heat ducting does not appear ideal. Cold air and 4" heating duct (shortest run) are co-located, thermostat is right above the 4" duct and 2" ducting goes to the bathroom (shortest 2"), tank(s), and to the middle of the unit. I think in terms of electrical and the bulk of the heat takes the low resistance path out the short 4" duct and the cold air at the back of the unit is stagnant. 10% and air out setting on the maxair bathroom vent helped a bit.
Immediate upgrades i'd like to do, battery compartment supplemental heat, tongue jack swap (wabbly stock POS), stabilizers to actual load bearing jacks for side to side leveling, mattress (topper or just replace the thing, stock one didnt agree with my back), possibly reconfig the furnace ducting, saw a utube vid for a hot water diverter, this would be clutch to address the line circ issue (modify for auto temp sensing range) and a couple portable solar panels to chase the sun. Getting a couple 2200 honda gennys for parallel 30A support as needed.
Not sure if this post is making it to too many eyes so ill wind er up. Overall, killer unit. i dont think there is anything available quite like this (and somewhat affordable) and i believe i can get it to accommodate the temperatures i will be seeing here in the west rockies canukistan Dec to Mar, where it will range from -30C/-22F to -10C/50F (there will be a couple days between -30 and -40C/F). During this time I will be taking winter trips in the mountains for back country splitboarding and we are planning to head down to Arizona for the month of February (winging it, no idea what we are doing or what we are up to).
Thanks,
Slim
