Ever since our visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway two years ago we’ve been anxious to return and test our dry camping capability with our newest upgraded equipment. That time we were running an efficient Norcold chest style refrigerator off a Group 24 deep cycle marine battery and our only recharging capability was our 80 watt Zamp Solar. Two years later we have the same solar panels, and a refrigerator with the same amp draw, but now we have an AGM battery with 185 usable amp hours, about five fold greater than before. And we have a Honda 2000 generator so we are not solely dependent upon the Zamp. Yet we’re still on a short lease. At best our solar can collect just enough power to replace what our refrigerator is using so we’re continually shifting the panels to achieve optimum and during one such shift this morning we snapped off a part of the Zamp plug. Now we are connected using clamps on the battery terminals meaning that we can’t use our extension cord and that we have to keep both the hatch above the battery and the cargo hatch open. That means the interior of the camper is not sealed off and even worse, we can’t use the bed for an afternoon nap! Hopefully it’s a temporary setback. We’re already making plans for a temporary fix and when we get back in internet range we should be able to order the needed part and have it shipped to a place we expect to be along our way.
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