Aluminum Camper Forum

No experience in them whatsoever but I'd check what the charging profile is so that you know if you have to make modifications on that front.

We took the jump too. Went with a Winnebago View 24V floorplan, s/b delivered in August.

EDIT 06/08/2020  SOLD


For sale 2013 13 ft Camplite QBB model. All aluminum including the roof and floor. Queen size bed, dinette that converts to sofa, bunk over the bed, furnace, AC, 6 gallon hot water heater, 5 cf 3-way fridge, 2 burner stove, wet bath.

We've added the following items:
A comfy backrest for the couch so you're not leaning against the hard window edge when it's not in dinette mode.

A small sink in the bathroom.

Victron BMV-700 battery monitor so you can really keep track of power when boondocking.

Insect screens on all vent openings.

Comes with a 120 watt folding solar setup with quickconnect ends so no removing the battery cover and using alligator clamps.

New Maxxis 8008 tires in 2018

This camper has all the amenities in a small package that's easy to tow with many types of vehicles due to its low weight of roughly 3,000lbs. It's been well maintained and stored under cover. Pictures in the link. Asking $10k. Email me at MitchB6248@gmail.com with any questions, this camper is ready to camp!

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TSVesOiXjMdRaw8AfRky9P_l-evquEUx?usp=sharing

Edit: Located near Albany NY

I'll have to try and find out exactly which fridge is being used so I can find the specific draw.  I want to be able to boondock and some generic references seem to be 5 amp draw, 50% duty cycle so that's 60 Ahrs/day. 200 watts of solar at 5 hrs of sun a day doesn't quite cover the fridge.  My overall usage in the past has been similar to yours but I don't know the parasitic draw of a View.  My gut tells me I'd go 400 Watts of solar and that would give me some wiggle room.

The other stuff about the PD 9245 wasn't my comment it was ADR's. I have PD4045 which is 3 stage.

Hey David, what are you thinking for daily Amp hour usage on a View with a 12v fridge?  I'm guestimating around 70 to 75 based on average air temperatures, sound fair?   

As I thought about it more the unit's I looked at may have had 12 Volt compressor fridges.  I didn't ask but I vaguely recall one of them having a sticker on the fridge door that said 12v.  At the time I dismissed it because I don't usually think about compressor models but now it makes more sense. 

I'm not sure how I feel about them, on one hand the ability to cool is really nice but as you pointed out 50-100 Amp hours/day is a whole lot more then I have to think about now.

The View is a nice layout, my wife and I were having trouble finding a layout that met both of our requirements/concerns but the View ticked all the boxes.   Unfortunately the closest one for me to look at is 3 hours away, well, new one anyway.

None of them had a DC compressor fridge although that would be a nice upgrade.  We're still pretty far off timewise on a purchase but I keep looking.  There's so much out there and some is good and some is utter crap, but that mid-level (and therefore price) stuff seems harder to find. I'll take a gander at the View.

We've been thinking of Class C's also so yesterday took a trip to local RV place to look around. This dealer sells Forest River, Coachmen Leprechaun and Chateau RV's.  The criteria I gave to the sales rep was reasonably well built, 24ish foot in size, walk around bed or 2 twin beds, priced between $70k and $110k.  I also made it clear that we weren't in buying mode and only mildly interested. 

We saw three units, a Leprechaun 260DS, a Leprechaun 210RS and a FR Forester 2401wsd.  The Leprechauns were on Chevy 4500 chassis, the Forester on a Mercedes Sprinter.  All were new.

Without going into boring detail the things that stuck out the most were the huge difference a big slide makes in living space.  I'm not really a slide fan because it's just something else mechanical to keep up on but the benefit is tremendous. The smaller Leprechaun had only a bedroom slide and it wasn't nearly as roomy feeling.  The other two had full side slides.  The other item I focused on was fit and finish.  The Leprechauns really seemed to have much better fit and finish then the Forester, I had expected it to be the other way around.     

Ultimately I left leaning towards the Coachmen even though the 260 was bigger then I want to drive and the 210 was too small on the inside.  They do make a 230FS that seems to fit the bill though they didn't have one on the lot.

I have the same chassis dilemma, i.e. diesel vs gas, Ford E-450 or Transit vs. Chevy 4500. I don't know how to reconcile that since I have no experience with any of them.

Anywho, just some thoughts based on recent activity, keep us informed of your thinking, I for one, am interested in your observations.

Mitch

I've seen some with a Ford Transit chassis, still diesel but not Mercedes sprinter if that matters.

Oops, yah, 30 lb not 30 gal.  What you don't want a couple hundred pounds of highly flammable compressed gas on the tongue of your trailer?

Another option is to split the difference and go with a single 30 gal tank.  That's what I did.

My bad, I didn't read your original post closely enough. Sorry

If you contact dexter support and give them your serial number they will email you the exact specs for your specific axle. Lots of info, I have no diea what half of it means 

No fan came on mine either and as Merlin said that compartment gets very hot.  There is essentially no air circulation around the cooling fins because they are  above the highest vent in the vent panel. I thought about a baffle above the fridge but the available space is small and a baffle would still be above the vents and mounting would have been a challenge. Last year as I was pondering this issue I even thought that perhaps the fridge wasn't installed correctly given the tight space but it is.  I think my solution will help, we'll see. It can certainly stand some refinement if I find it's worthwhile.

I'm with you! My 2013 13QBB has been flawless.