Does anyone run the 8ga Lance plug?

[Supercharged111]

Just curious if anyone here runs it? Is it worth the asspain? Do I need a beefed up alternator to keep up? I usually just run the fridge on LP without any issues as it murders the batteries with a quickness in DC. My camper came with an extended cord to plug in at the hitch so it plugs in at a y down there with the trailer. Were I to add a connection inside the box, I'd prefer something gooseneck compatible.

[BradW]

There are at least 3 folks on here with similar looking rigs, you, me and bighatnohorse.

I think I was traumatized as a young person to have an automatic transmission hatred/phobia. My parents had a huge white Chrysler Town and Country station wagon. Must have been about a 69 or 70 model. My dad thought he could pull anything with it and burnt the tranny out of it several times. Seems like every time we got ready to go on vacation or whatever, that tranny would go out. I guess I'm finally over it after 50 years. 🙂

bradw

[NRALIFR]

That’s great! :B

I like the layout of the 1062. The bathroom is in the same place mine is, and looks very much the same size. You know, before seeing my camper for the first time almost 20 years ago, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a TC with a dry bath and a slide. I was blown away. The boss and I use the shower in mine all the time.

I like the fact that the fridge in yours isn’t in a slide. I know they CAN work fine in a slide IF they’re installed correctly, but they can also be a little more troublesome there.

I laughed when I read that you’ve grown to appreciate the slush-box. It was a big adjustment for me as well when I went from my ‘95 F350 to a 2010 F450. It is a nice transmission. It was good in 2010, and great in 2016, and makes the truck a joy to drive all day. I think my left leg and right arm appreciate the rest too.

Sounds like the battery meter in your camper is representing the battery voltage, possibly with some LED’s, so yes, if the fridge 12 volt heater was on (and it probably was) then it would have been loading the battery voltage down quite a bit. Something you might consider adding to your camper is a meter that can measure amp-hours in and out of the battery bank. Trimetric and Victron are two decent brands.

As for the extra attention your rig is attracting, I’d bet it’s a combination of that pretty new Lance, and the ruby red truck it’s sitting on. You just can’t beat that ruby red color. I’ve told you I’m sorta partial to ruby red, right? :W

:):)

[BradW]

And another thing. Over the last 40 years or so, we have towed or hauled all kinds of strange/unique things, ski boats, bass boats, canoes, kayaks, TTs, TCs, tractors, race cars, modified jeeps, racing dirt bikes, etc. In all that time I never had as many people come up to me to compliment our rig. I had 4 different people come up at one fuel stop in Ashville.......it was weird.

bradw

[BradW]

Back on the 8 ga wiring. The first test of the wiring was driving about 8 hrs up there running the frig on 12v. So when we finally got there, I was real interested in checking the battery meter in the camper to see if it was charged or dead like our old camper. Jumped in there and pressed the battery button and sure enough it read 1/3 charged. I was pretty pissed off after all that work/money/time running that big wire and the batteries were only 1/3 charged. Then I remembered the frig was still on 12v. So I turned the frig to gas and checked the batteries again and they were 100%. I guess the 30 amp draw was pulling the voltage down.

The big test will be when we go out west and drive all day in +100 degf heat and see if the batteries stay fully charged and the frig stays cold.

bradw

[BradW]

One thing to add. I hardly ever wore sun glasses in the past. But since my cataract surgery, my eyes are clearer and I started wearing them. I had driven through several short tunnels on the BRPKY without incident. Then we came rolling into a long curved one and everything went BLACK. 100% BLACK, I could not see anything. Apparently DW had turned the headlight switch completely off the evening before. I have become overly dependent on that auto setting. The first thing I did was slap the sunglasses off my head; still couldn't see anything. Reached for the headlight switch, but then realized I wasn't sure were it was or which way to turn it.....only had 1,800 miles of mostly daylight driving on the truck. I had to come to a very rapid complete stop inside the tunnel before I hit the wall. Luckily there was no one coming at me or behind me. Finally got the headlights on and proceeded out. Very scary.

bradw

[BradW]

We love that camper. Some many things are 1000% better. Only a very few are worse. I can actually use the shower now. I only used the shower in our old Lance 1 or 2 times in 23 years. We were at Mt Pisgah NF CG on the Blue Ridge Parkway last week. I had been using the CG bathhouse, but then the weekend crowd rolled in. So I said I would just try the shower. It was great. More room than a cruise ship shower.

It has so much more floor space than our old Lance that its crazy.

Came away with a list of things I need to do/fix/add/mod.

We got the truck a year ago. We got the camper in November. But for several reasons this was the first time we got to try it out........and that truck.....OMG. Motor is unreal. And I have even come to like the auto tranny (never thought I would say that). Tow/Haul mode....love it. Exhaust brake, no more smoking brakes at the bottom on mountain passes.

bradw

[NRALIFR]

That’s good to hear, Brad. I love it when things work like they’re supposed to.

How do you like the new camper? Quite a change from the old Lance I bet.

:):)

[BradW]

OK, 8 ga wire direct to the battery worked great. Finally got to check out our new 1062. Spent several at Mt Pisgah NF CG this week. Ran frig on 12v whenever we were on the road including 8 hr drives up and back at +90 degf outside temp. Batteries were always fully charged when we arrive back at camp/home. We also tried running the frig on gas for about an hour when we were on the interstate. Unlike our 1996 Lance, the pilot light stayed lit. So we have two options for running our frig while driving. I definitely regret not running the direct wire on our first 3 truck.

bradw

[NRALIFR]

That’s the way my fridge used to work in DC mode: poorly even in mild temps, and terrible in the Southwest. I do travel to the southwest frequently. It also gets hot in Arkansas and the surrounding states, too. Before installing the DC-DC charger, the fridge in DC mode absolutely couldn’t keep up in temps above 80, and all I’d end up with is a depleted camper battery and food I couldn’t trust to eat. For several years, I even pulled the fuse on the control board for the DC heater so I wouldn’t accidentally switch it to that mode.

The point I was making is that since I installed the DC-DC charger, the DC mode on the fridge actually works! Even in extreme temps, it will hold a temperature that is well in the safe zone for meat and milk.

Here’s a post I made last year after driving from Tucson to near Joshua Tree NP in very hot weather.

Link

:):)

[Kayteg1]

Each fridge has a label that says the power draw on each mode.
Usually 12V element is 70% of 120V element.
12V might be good in Washington, or Alaska, but forget about it in southern states.

[NRALIFR]

You might become a fan of 12 volt fridges if you saw how well they will work when supplied with the right power. I hated mine until I installed a DC-DC charger in the TC, with properly sized wires connecting it to the truck batteries.

The charger maintains the camper voltage at a max of 14.6, and can supply a max of 25 amps while the truck is running, day or night. That’s more than the fridge needs to run in DC mode, with some left over to actually charge the TC battery, not just maintain it. You can’t do that with upgraded wires alone, or even a roof full of solar.

If all you want is for the TC turn/brake/clearance/backup lights to work, the RV 7-way blade connector will get the job done. If you want to provide correct charging voltage and current to the TC battery, you’ll need to upgrade the both the OEM wires and the connector. Neither is capable of supplying the voltage and current needed to actually charge a battery.

The reason a 3-way RV fridge running in DC mode typically doesn’t work well is because the fridge is taking more out of the camper battery than the truck can replace. The camper battery voltage then goes lower and lower while driving, the fridge DC heater is putting out less and less heat, and the fridge temperature goes up.

:):)

[Gary_Morency]

On my new truck I just bought a new cable from Lance and added a 7 pin to the end and plugged into the outlet at the bumper. I never was a fan of 12v fridges and this works just fine.

[BradW]

Finally finished installing the Lance plug and running the 8 gage wires to the battery. Will report back on how well it works running the 12v frig.

Photos

bradw

[Freep]

I ran for a year without the Lance plug and wiring and hated it. Fridge would switch to DC and drain the battery while driving. That never happens now. Batteries are fully charged when I arrive and now I deliberately run the fridge on DC when driving.