dstefan
Well-known member
Yes, it’s a Vario. No, Truma will only sell through dealers who install as far as I could find out. Apparently they’re wary of US litigiousness. All of which makes it hard. A lot of RV dealers handle Truma, though.Thanks. I saw that Crollison had his on the side of his two campers. I would like to have it plumbed through the camper, but probably wouldn't keep it connected while in route. It looks like you have a Truma Vario. Is that correct and do you like it? Did you install it yourself?
Thanks
Kelly
I do like it a lot. Very quiet on night mode, pretty simple interface, heats up the camper quick once it’s all initialized. Can be set as low as 40º and as high as in the 80ºs IIRC. It’s very effecient on both propane and electricity, but most of all, it could fit out of the way on the camper since I couldn’t fit a Propex on the floor to handle the intake and exhaust and didn’t want to have a big structure on the wall like Crollison/YetiOverland. I really like the combined intake and exhaust in one hose assembly. The external exhaust hose heats the intake hose inside it which adds to the efficiency and means only one hole in the camper or truck bed is necessary.
The only downside is that the first startup can be fussy, but that’s because it’s pulling propane from the tank on the ground through 6’ of supply hose from the outside which is full of air the first time and the error overrides shut it down too quickly requiring several tries. Once that happens, it’s no drama, including turning it off (ie, temp down to 40º) overnight and just bumping the thermostat to mid 60s in the morning to get the chill off in cool, but not really cold weather (ie, 20ºs).
I really like that enclosure.![]()
RV Propane Hookup with Locking Hatch Door
Upgrade your RV with RecPro’s durable brass propane hookup with easy-to-use thumb latch door. The ¼” Quick Connect Adapter lets you turn off gas with a flip of the switch.www.recpro.com
I'm looking at changing my propane set up to an exterior door mount with this hatch on the side. Looking to maximize interior space since I'm starting with a new truck.
FWIW, here’s how I did a door mount. I’ve still got to get a short hose with a better regulator set up to avoid the air lock situation I mentioned above.
I reinforced the frame inside the door like I did for the non-window door that holds the Trasharoo and extra gas. It’s VHB’d 10 series 8020 with through bolts sealed with 3M 5200. The 2’ L brackets at top and bottom are just VHB’d to Jay’s internal frame around the widow
![1700424368046.jpeg 1700424368046.jpeg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/709/709917-141714b42786a0b5a3ec6bbbbeeee2a9.jpg)
Outside is two vertical rails of 1/2” single channel 10 series that’s VHB'd bolted through the door to the internal bracing. The horizontal rails are the 4 side channel 1” 10 series. I might get away without the middle one, but the Powertank mount for the propane I’m using had 6 bolt holes, so . . . I expoxied Tnuts in the back channel for the Powertank bolts to through bolt into.
![1700424625522.jpeg 1700424625522.jpeg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/709/709918-49dee948dd283be6276e615a5f0bcb71.jpg)
Powertank mount. It mounts on and off easily with a drill driver and 6 bolts into the epoxy captured Tnuts. It has to be removed not to tear up the cover over time.
![1700424933398.jpeg 1700424933398.jpeg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/709/709919-48a715c37897cdefeee7caed5aec7720.jpg)
Propane tank mounted:
![1700425079376.jpeg 1700425079376.jpeg](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/709/709920-fe21caf8a64400395d621da70793ebe6.jpg)
I found a screaming deal at Uhaul on a Manchester aluminum 10lb tank. Full it weighs 18lbs and IIRC the Powertank mount weighs 8lb, plus about 1.5 lbs of 8020 mounting.
I still need to source a much shorter hose and better regulator for this setup. Amazingly it clears the external connections when folded back.
Full disclosure — I haven’t bounced down a rough trail with it all yet, but I’m pretty confident it’s robust enough. It gets the tank out of the way and I won’t have to pull the tank in and out to use, but it will collect dust (I found a small pack cover in my closet for that though), and I’m not sure if opening and closing it night and morning won’t be more of a pain the butt than just storing the tank inside, but at least its an option.