Ok without built-in Propane?

[3GKnight]

Hello all,

For anyone who built a camper and did not include a built-in propane system, did you regret it?

I generally like to (or try to) cook over the camp fire. My little Coleman stove is generally a coffee/hot water for chocolate maker and we might burn through a little 16 oz tank in a couple 2-night trips. I hadn't planned on putting in a built-in system but wonder if I should while it's easiest.

Thanks!

[KennethW]

I when old school with coleman fuel. Works better in the cold. A gallon can of fuel last a long time and the empty cans can be crushed.

[tony.latham]

Hello all,

For anyone who built a camper and did not include a built-in propane system, did you regret it?

I generally like to (or try to) cook over the camp fire. My little Coleman stove is generally a coffee/hot water for chocolate maker and we might burn through a little 16 oz tank in a couple 2-night trips. I hadn't planned on putting in a built-in system but wonder if I should while it's easiest.

Thanks!

We have a propane stove that is hard-plumbed into one of the so-called disposable containers. You pull the stove out and light it. We refill the containers. Two nights, one container.



The propane bottle is in the drawer below the stove. You can see the hose slot in the above photo (below the stove).



We keep two extra propane containers behind the seven-gallon water jug. Works great for us.

Tony

[S. Heisley]

Hello all,

For anyone who built a camper and did not include a built-in propane system, did you regret it?

I generally like to (or try to) cook over the camp fire. My little Coleman stove is generally a coffee/hot water for chocolate maker and we might burn through a little 16 oz tank in a couple 2-night trips. I hadn't planned on putting in a built-in system but wonder if I should while it's easiest.

Thanks!

Of course it's okay. It's your trailer, your dream, your fulfillment!
A lot of people use white gas or those little 'use & lose' propane canisters. You do what you want.

[Redneck Teepee]

I also use the disposable bottles on my cooktop, they work very well for me. I do have the ability to hook up a big 20 lb tank but never have. By all means do what you think will best meet your needs.

[JaggedEdges]

I'm gonna have all three... I've got a coleman fuel stove, a 2 burner electric hob and a propane stove... I will make a place for "a" stove to sit and bring whatever I feel like, electric if I get an electric site, coleman if I don't, propane if I get any more pissed off at coleman fuel prices round here.

[GuitarPhotog]

I carry a 20# propane tank on the tongue, but it's not plumbed to anything. I use it with my Coleman propane stove and my Camp Chef propane fire ring. I still use 1# propane cans for the coleman lantern because having the hose hanging down is a PITA.

I wanted to hard-plumb my propane, but investigation taught me that it was going to be more work and cost than benefit. If you hard plumb and want to use a fire ring or lantern, you have to install quick disconnects, which then require a low pressure (11"w.c.) regulator which then requires your appliances to be converted to low pressure propane. Way too much work and complication.

I like the convenience of propane, and I like the economy of bulk tanks (I bought propane yesterday for $1.25 per gallon, those 1# cans hold about a quart and are >$3 ea) so I'm willing to just carry the tank to the galley or to the fire ring.

Your mileage may vary

<Chas>

[booyah]

Hello all,

For anyone who built a camper and did not include a built-in propane system, did you regret it?

I generally like to (or try to) cook over the camp fire. My little Coleman stove is generally a coffee/hot water for chocolate maker and we might burn through a little 16 oz tank in a couple 2-night trips. I hadn't planned on putting in a built-in system but wonder if I should while it's easiest.

Thanks!

We have a propane stove that is hard-plumbed into one of the so-called disposable containers. You pull the stove out and light it. We refill the containers. Two nights, one container.



The propane bottle is in the drawer below the stove. You can see the hose slot in the above photo (below the stove).



We keep two extra propane containers behind the seven-gallon water jug. Works great for us.

Tony

Do you like that primus stove? I was checkign them out but the reviews I saw didnt make it look that much more favorable than the standard coleman setup.

[tony.latham]

Hello all,

For anyone who built a camper and did not include a built-in propane system, did you regret it?

I generally like to (or try to) cook over the camp fire. My little Coleman stove is generally a coffee/hot water for chocolate maker and we might burn through a little 16 oz tank in a couple 2-night trips. I hadn't planned on putting in a built-in system but wonder if I should while it's easiest.

Thanks!

We have a propane stove that is hard-plumbed into one of the so-called disposable containers. You pull the stove out and light it. We refill the containers. Two nights, one container.



The propane bottle is in the drawer below the stove. You can see the hose slot in the above photo (below the stove).



We keep two extra propane containers behind the seven-gallon water jug. Works great for us.

Tony

Do you like that primus stove? I was checkign them out but the reviews I saw didnt make it look that much more favorable than the standard coleman setup.

Yep. They make a good stove.

Tony

[bobhenry]

I picked up my little Sears cooktop at Goodwill for $5.00 in 2008. It has been on 35-40 outings and has served me well on about 1/2 of those.

I never plumbed him in as he may be with me and the barn or Chubby the teardrop or Rip van winkle the mini teardrop so I simply left him portable.

The RV stove in the chuck wagon was hard plumbed

However I am still a hard core cast iron kinda guy

Here is a little pork loin that spent some time in my dutch oven
You just can't do that on the stove !

[Tucguy]

I don't cook in my galley so it is not plumbed for propane. I keep the smell of food out of the tear because I boondock in bear territory often. I keep the cooler and stove in the car at night and cook on a table.

[JaggedEdges]

Lawn equipment batteries though are like car batteries, don't like deep discharge or to cycle much. So unless you've already got one you want to abuse, or can get them on deep discount, best leave 'em to the mowers. An alternative would be to look for surplus gel cell scooter or wheelchair batteries, which can be as small. Capacity wise, batteries like this will be about 10Ah so you'd figure on 5 hours run time for a 2 amp pump, some might be getting up there though 5A or so. Another thing that might appeal if they turn up cheap enough surplus are NiMh D-cells, which can be 10,000mAh or even 12,000 (i.e. 10 or 12 Ah) but at 1.2V each you're gonna need 10 or 11 of them, plus lookup a simple charge circuit, since they're a tad pickier than lead acid types. Anyway, with them you can get a piece of pipe and slide them all in nose to tail like a supersize flashlight, and put that along or across the frame somewhere out of the way. They'd be great for small needs but scaling up gets to be a pain in the ass, when multiple packs in parallel need balancing (Presuming you find them cheap enough to say, hey, gimme a thousand!) They're popular for rebuilding or supplementing the batteries of some mid 00s hybrid cars though which tends to keep price up, and surplus availability low, unless you find a local practically giving away a dud NiMh hybrid battery pack, which uses cells, and you test and salvage them ( a few duds kill the pack, the rest can be fine) , depends whether you're short on cash or time.

I'd go at least 40W on the solar, or dull days might screw you, plus when you've got any battery in there, you know you'll want 12V lighting, but nowadays you can use LED and barely notice drain. I'm one to talk though, my solar rig will be a frankenstein of various salvaged panels and might do 20W at the moment, but if I was spending money I wouldn't get smaller than a 40.

[Sierraguy]

I plan to use only disposeable propane cans in my current build. I do all my cooking at the campsite table with a 5 gal tank anyway. It will be rare that I use propane at my trailer and that will be just for my buddy heater (cans).

[Shadow Catcher]

We do have built in propane which powers a three burner RV cook top, the 6 gallon water heater and the Gas grill, My wife loves it, nothing more needs to be said

[booyah]

First, I dont have built in propane.

For my planning I planned on using a little 1 burner I had at the time with the intent of going to some thing nicer in the future. Now I'm buying the somethign nicer, as well as a grill, and still like the idea of the little green cans even though they are expensive and fairly wasteful.

The main benefit is how handy they are. I can use one for a lantern, one for a grill, one for a space heater, one for a coffee maker, or one for a stove.
This way my items aren't tied to the my galley, aren't forced to only use one or any number at a given time (cold morning hunting trip, I could run a lantern, a space heater and the stove and a coffee maker at once easily enough)