RV solar and power systems explained
This week on the StressLess Camping RV Podcast, Peggy got a better understanding of RV power with Scott and Ben from ABC Upfitters. We reveal big plans for 2026.
Where in the Goofy USA did we visit? Find out here. And if it’s time for your morning or afternoon coffee, you’ll want to check our Gadget Report on the AeroPress. Tony shares another impressive overloading RV, and we have a hitch tip to support this season of safe and StressLess Camping.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
How long can you run your RV’s air conditioner on solar power? Here is one answer.
Planning our first Route 66 trip https://www.stresslesscamping.com/podcast/0101
Our ABC page https://www.stresslesscamping.com/power-package
The Aeropress - the ultimate coffee maker for RVers
Our article and video about the RoadKill Cafe on Route 66 in Seligman, Arizona
Our review of the Roam Resilient Baja Edition overlanding trailer
Our RV towing guide
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 309
Peggy
This week on the Stressless Camping RV podcast.
Tony
Peggy got a better understanding of RV off grid power with Scott and Ben from ABC Upfitters.
Peggy
And we reveal our big plans for 2026.
Tony
Where in the goofy USA did we visit?
Peggy
Find out here.
Tony
And if it's time for your morning or afternoon coffee, you'll wanna check out our gadget report on the Aeropress.
Peggy
Tony also shares another impressive overlanding RV, and we have a hitch tip to support this season of safe and stressless camping. Hey, welcome to the, uh, well, studio.
Tony
Yeah. I think only one or two more weeks and then we're we're off.
Peggy
Yes. Well,
Tony
we're always off. We're always off. We're always a little off.
Peggy
So we'll be back in the RV. Yeah. So who are
Tony
we? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Peggy
Yeah. I'm Tony.
Tony
I'm Peggy. Right. We're two RV industry veterans who travel
Peggy
part time. In a small trailer. Nope. That was last year. In a Rockwood mini light.
Peggy
Looking to share
Tony
big adventures and help you with great tips.
Peggy
309 times you'd think we'd figure
Tony
it out. Day. Same thing.
Peggy
Yeah. Every week, all the time.
Tony
Okay. We got some big plans.
Peggy
We got some big plans. Big big big big. So you may or may not know that Route 66, like, the route that goes between Chicago and Santa Monica or Santa Monica and Chicago, depending on what part of this country you live in, I
Tony
guess Right.
Peggy
It is turning 100 years old next year.
Tony
It is. It is.
Peggy
And we are so there for it. I'm ready. I'm ready
Tony
for it. Yeah. Well, we dig Route 66 quite a bit.
Peggy
We dig it. We did the whole route in 2021, but at a very fast pace. And we've been kind of looking for an opportunity to do it at not such a fast pace, and we are taking 2026 to make this our year of seeing Route 66.
Tony
But we're gonna do something very different.
Peggy
We are.
Tony
Uh, we're gonna start next year in Quartzsite, as we always do, uh, and then we're gonna go to Santa Monica, where Route 66 starts or ends, depending on which direction you go from.
Peggy
One of the ends of Yeah.
Tony
And we're gonna slowly meander across Route 66 and have many meet ups along the way.
Peggy
Many, many meet ups.
Tony
Many, many meet ups.
Peggy
Many, many meet ups.
Tony
Vegamito vitamins.
Peggy
So the plan is essentially this is, you know, kind of a really rough, loose, pencil it in in plan. Uh, the California to basically to Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque. In February. We'll take the whole month of February, essentially, to get from California through that first eight hundred and some odd miles into Albuquerque. Then we're gonna need to take a break.
Peggy
We have some other things that we have to do. But then in
Tony
Including not go through the Midwest during tornadoes
Peggy
season. Avoiding the Midwest. And then in
Tony
At least at that time of year.
Peggy
In probably July, beginning of July, we'll leave Albuquerque and make our way to Chicago and essentially take the whole month of July, maybe a little bit into the August to get to Chicago because, you know, we'll be in Indiana for the frog rally in August anyway. So, uh, thank you, by the way, to Kate for kind of instigating and and prompting this with just a little bit like, hey, we should take the road. And I said, okay, let's do it.
Tony
Yeah. Yeah.
Peggy
And so that's kind of the loose idea. If you are anywhere within driving distance of any part of Route 66 and you want I mean, we'd love it if you join the whole thing.
Tony
Oh my gosh. Wouldn't that be cool? A big old caravan.
Peggy
But if that is not in your 2026 plans, if you're any you know, and we'll be firming up locations and stuff, but just know that if you are somewhere in Arizona in February and you wanna meet up with us, I'm planning to, like, you know, choose locations where we can stay two or three days and make it a stopping point for, you know, a jumping off point for seeing other things in the area. It's gonna take a lot of planning. If you do have, like, some absolute must sees, I know we have some must sees that we wanna do again that we've done before, but we don't know it all, obviously. We know very little.
Tony
We know very little.
Peggy
And so if you want to kinda help me figure out places to stop or places to make sure that we see along the way, uh, please reach out and let us know. But that is kind of the very, very loose plan for 2026.
Tony
I think we'll probably put a special web page or even collection up.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And they'll be, you know, specifically, like, hey, here's where we're gonna be. Right. And you can join us, you know, like, we'll have links to wherever we're staying for a day or two or three or whatever. So we'll we'll make it more obvious and easier to participate. If that's something you're interested in, hopefully, we'll get to meet you.
Tony
In fact, if you heard the doorbell ring earlier, we just got a whole box of stickers.
Peggy
Yeah. They didn't hear it. I'm cutting it out.
Tony
Okay.
Peggy
But we did just get new stickers, and I should have brought one in to show. Okay. So that's 2026. How about the next, um, let's see, two days of May that we have remaining.
Tony
Yeah. If you don't know, our friend, Matt, from Liquefied is legitimately giving away a travel trailer. And we've actually seen the the actual travel trailer. We've actually touched it. And he is legitimately giving that away at the May.
Tony
Uh, so if you would like to enter to win, there's no cost. You just go to liquefiedrv.com, and there's a survey to fill out. And from now until the end of the month, Matt is actually quintupling. That means five times
Peggy
ing That's right.
Tony
Your points. So if you fill out the survey, you get a certain number of points.
Peggy
If you buy something, you get not only a discount, but points. And those points are being five times also. Right. Five x'd, I think he says.
Tony
One of the neat things about the way they've done this, even if you find Liquified at your local, like Walmart or something, you can upload your receipt to them and you get points for buying Liquefied. They're they're really doing a good job with this, and they do an exceptional job with Liquefied. It's a Liquefied is an RV tank treatment that in a test that we shared with you, was the highest performing RV tank treatment. We use Liquefied ourselves, and I can honestly say after half a year of really using our trailer, the black tank still shows empty That's amazing. When it's empty.
Tony
Of course.
Peggy
Not always. Just when
Tony
it's empty. When it's empty. It's a great American success story. The product is made right here in The USA by good people, and you could win a travel trailer. So
Peggy
Can't go wrong there.
Tony
Just buy it because it's it works or enter the contest. You'll be flushed with excitement.
Peggy
Okay. Sometimes, you know, Peggy's out doing other things and Tony is the interviewer, and I miss out on a big part of the podcast. Well, this time, I actually got in front of the camera. Tony wasn't gone. He was standing behind the camera, so you can still hear him sometimes.
Peggy
But I interviewed Ben and Scott from ABC Upfitters to learn about RV electrical systems in general and what ABC Upfitters does and our specific upfit that we had just had put in, like, the day that we talked to them.
Tony
And the interesting thing to me about this is I tend to be very nerdy. No kidding. Right? Well, Peggy is a normal human being, so she asked questions I think you will probably want the answers to if you're considering any of these advanced power systems. So without any further ado, let's go back to Indiana.
Peggy
Well, here we are. We're still at ABC Outfitters, and I am fortunate enough to be joined by Ben Miller and Scott Herman from ABC Outfitters. And actually, Ben Miller from ABC Marketing. Right? So tell us a little bit about what you do besides Upfit.
Ben Miller
Yeah. So ABC Marketing is our our parent company, and we've been, uh, selling products to the RV builders for now forty one years. Uh, so we're a manufacturer's rep and distributor. So we find companies that wanna sell their products, uh, you know, to to manufacturers, uh, and then we go sell those products, and then we have some of those products here. Um, others other stuff shipped directly from the best the, uh, manufacturer.
Ben Miller
So, um, we do a lot of 12 volt electrical items. Uh, we do, uh, shower doors. We do a lot of lights. Uh, we do wheels. So that's not we're not just doing lithium and solar, but, obviously, on the ABC Outfitters side, we take the company, we represent MasterBolt, and then we offer those products along with some of our other cool stuff like lighting, uh, that you'll see on Tony and Peggy's trailer and, uh, some of those other things that so we incorporate some of those products into our Outfit valve as
Peggy
well. And on the outfitter side also, you do aftermarket, which we're gonna mostly talk about, but you also provide systems, kind of prebuilt systems that OEMs can put directly in while they're building an RV.
Ben Miller
Yeah. And that's really where ABC Outfitters came came from. So we, uh, we've been doing these off grid systems for about six almost six years now and building and designing these systems for Radford Flagstaff, uh, for, uh, motor coach. We do some for Airstream, uh, and some other other companies in designing those. So after some time, we started getting calls from customers saying, hey.
Ben Miller
We want, you know, we want this system in our 2,018 Mini Light that you have the power package, uh, uh, for for a new unit. And so we got about five or six of those calls, and we're like, the rain was on the wall. We have to we have to do something to, you know, meet those requests. So, um, that was about three years ago, and now here we are, uh, at our new facility here and have done what's got I
Scott Herman
think we're I grew over a hundred at this point. So
Peggy
I just
Ben Miller
other customers. So, uh, and, uh, yes. So that's been good and definitely a lot of interest, but it gives us the opportunity to see, you know, the trailer when it's being built and with our customers, with the OEMs, all the way to the customer ownership experience. So we can see it, you know, the whole way around, which is it's really cool. And not a lot of, uh, definitely not a lot of, you know, shops that do solar and lithium have that opportunity.
Ben Miller
So, uh, uh, it's really cool to be a part of this.
Peggy
Yeah. I had a great question. I forgot what it was, but that's okay.
Scott Herman
I think one of the advantages for us so for example, this unit which is yet to be identified, um, we were able to go walk the line at Rockwood and see exactly, you know, step by step as it progressed down the production line to kinda go, what can we do with this to make our system integrate into this? Um, and, you know, what are the options? Because the components themselves can be arranged in different ways that allows us to kinda go and go, what are the possibilities? What could we do in this unit? And, uh, I think that, again, that's just another thing that kinda separates ABC Upfitters from what some of the other Upfitters that are, uh, uh, that are putting systems in, uh, travel trailers and and in
Ben Miller
different RVs. So Yeah. And and it's not just the Rockford Flagstaff. We've done that several times with other manufacturers too. 90% of the manufacturers are here in Elkhart County.
Ben Miller
So we do have the opportunity to visit the production lines because we sell product currently to all those manufacturers. So we have pretty much free reign to go and and look at floor plans and integrate, uh, our systems into those. So, uh, again so that once the customer shows up, we're not sitting here guessing what we're gonna do and how we're gonna install components. Typically, especially a floor plan like this in a front kitchen, uh, we have a pretty good idea of what's what's gonna be happening. So
Peggy
Yeah. So, uh, so you might wonder why we're here if we just bought this Rockwood. Why didn't Rockwood just put this system in? And in our case, as Ben said, the front kitchen unit, Rockwood doesn't feel comfortable with how that's gonna set up at this point. Maybe they will now because we can show them what you did.
Peggy
And so that's another advantage being here close and being able to work directly with the OEMs and the customers, and then you, you know, you can help them understand what the system might work into.
Ben Miller
Yeah. It it's a custom experience, uh, with every customer that that comes in here. So, you know, Rockwood Flagstaff, they have a a very, uh, put together production line, uh, and so they have certain systems that they work the same way in every floor plan. Certain floor plans don't don't allow that, um, and disrupt the, you know, how that production is going.
Peggy
Yeah.
Ben Miller
Uh, but that's what's great about us is, you know, we treat every unit here as a custom unit and, uh, you know, be able to with the research and the expertise we have, we can you can fit these systems in very small spaces as well.
Peggy
So you probably will remember, the first time we really talked to Ben was when we first got our twenty two zero five, the one we only kept for the summer. That was a prototype of the new system. And then in December, we got a twenty two zero five that had the full system put in and installed. And so we now we get to say we are official actual Upfit customers because we didn't we we didn't come out of the dealership with the system already in. So let's talk a little bit about I went to, uh, kind of maybe some super basic information about about army power in general.
Peggy
Some people, myself included, until we really kind of met you and I got to learn some things, I said I go inside, I flip the switch, the light comes on, that's all I need to know. It works. Right? But now I'm starting to understand things like inverters. Most, maybe all, RVs have a converter.
Peggy
So when you plug into shore power, it converts into 12 volts so that your 12 volt systems, like your light switches and your water pump still work. Right? But not all RVs have an inverter, but kinda maybe more and more or for certain reasons or, you know, certain RVs do. And so we had a rig with an inverter, but now we have a different inverter, right, and a different battery system. And so on the super, super basics, that's what we have a different battery and a different inverter.
Peggy
But let's go a little deeper than that. Yeah.
Ben Miller
Yeah. So 95% of travel trailers or fifth wheels that are built are built like what you talked about. There's basically a converter, uh, and then an inverter, uh, in the system. The the converter provides 12 volt power when you plug in, only when you plug in. If you're not plugged in, then you have the little lead acid battery that the dealer sells you, um, to provide your lights on 12 volts.
Ben Miller
So we really take that concept and just scrap it with this system, and we completely remove the converter, uh, and replace it with a giant 12 volt power supply in our 460 amp hour lithium battery. So that becomes your your 12 volt supply for your lights, um, and, you know, some of your other 12 volt items, fans, your slides, and all that. Uh, so whether you're if the system's on, whether you're plugged in or not plugged in, you're always gonna have 12 volt power, uh, as long as that battery is fixed up. So then beyond that, this big battery also powers a much larger inverter. So standard on the Rockwood, for example, you have an 1,800 watt inverter that provides power to your resets, your 110 resets.
Ben Miller
So Resentacles. Yep. Yep.
Peggy
The power outputs.
Ben Miller
Yeah. You plug in your phones to charge your phones, laptops, coffee maker, and what whatever. And, uh, so this inverter in here is actually a 3,000 watt inverter, uh, that's powered by the battery. So what that allows you to do now instead of just doing recess, you can do everything on the trailer. So that's including your AC microwave, you know, a coffee maker, which usually draws more than what the inverter can provide sometimes.
Ben Miller
Hair dryers are famous for,
Peggy
uh, you
Ben Miller
know, for blowing blowing circuits and fuses. So, um, this really gives you the freedom and power to operate 100% of your RV wherever you are at. That, you know, that's great for, uh, national parks, harvest hosts, uh, just being able to stop, you know, alongside the road during a trip and, uh, fire up your AC and cool it down, maybe do some work, take a nap, that type of thing. So it really expands your your experience with your RV, uh, with one of these systems.
Peggy
Okay. So we have a good great battery. We talked about that. We talked about our inverter. What are these other two boxes here?
Ben Miller
Yeah. So, uh, in addition to the battery and the inverter, uh, we have a solar controller, which most RVs have some type of solar controller in them. Uh, this one's a little bit bigger. This allows, uh, for up to six 200 watt panels on the roof, which is what we have on, uh, on Tony and Peggy's trailer. Uh, so there's 1,200 watts of solar coming in, and that can really do a lot to help offset your 12 volt stuff.
Ben Miller
So, like, your lights, uh, your refrigerator are two main items that you're that's on most of the time. With that much solar up there, that will definitely help offset and even charge batteries.
Peggy
Right. So I wanted something that another one of those things that maybe you kind of take for granted if you don't think about it. The solar panel is not powering the refrigerator. The solar panel is keeping the battery charged so the battery can power the refrigerator, the lights, the slide room
Ben Miller
Yep.
Peggy
Those kind of things. And I think if you if anybody stops and thinks about it, hopefully they know solar panels don't they aren't powered.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
I mean, they aren't they don't power things. Yep. Right? They power the battery.
Ben Miller
Stored energy. They're for they're providing energy to charge the battery.
Peggy
So sometimes I'll see a question like, you know, how much solar do I need to run my refrigerator? Well, you're missing the final part of that equation if that's your question. So that was something that I just wanted to, like, remind people and put out there. And, um, okay. So this so Tony explained to me, he said because I, you know, I I need some other kind of visual.
Peggy
He said, think of it like you're going to the gas station. Here's your gas tank. Here's your gas pump the gas station.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
And then here's your pump that shuts off
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
When your gas tank is full. Yeah. So this helps make it so that you're not constantly sending too much power to the battery that the battery can't use.
Ben Miller
Yep. Absolutely. And that the inverter, we you can kind of call the engine too. So the fuel tank is providing fuel to the engine, which is the inverter that provides 10 volt power to the trailer. So
Peggy
Oh, you know that cars
Ben Miller
too. Yeah.
Peggy
That's a whole
Ben Miller
different car. Yeah. Don't even come here and talk to me. But, uh, so, yeah, I like to refer to that as as kind of the engine. This component right here is a new component that we're that we're offering.
Ben Miller
It's a master bolt part. It's called a DC to DC converter, which is yet another, you can call it, kinda gas pump. It's a it's a battery charger, another charge source for your battery that you can utilize your tow vehicle motor to charge the batteries. Um, so you think, well, doesn't my seven way do that when I'm plugged in going down the road? Right.
Ben Miller
Yes. It does. But that's usually only like five to 10 amps.
Peggy
Just a little bit. So when
Ben Miller
you have a big fuel tank like this, five to 10 amps really is not gonna do a lot to help charge that.
Peggy
It's like putting in with a high dropper. Exactly.
Ben Miller
Exactly. So this this charger here provides 50 amps, uh, to the battery to charge it while you're going down the road. So
Peggy
So even if it's a snowy Yeah. Not sunny day. Right. Your solar panels aren't getting much for you.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
You've got that from the truck coming in so that when you get to your destination your battery's full and you're ready to go and boondock all night.
Ben Miller
Yeah. It's
Peggy
a great beast.
Ben Miller
It's a great integrated option. Um it's not you know not everybody, you know, wants that option, but it's a great charge source to utilize your your motor as a as a charging source for your battery. Um, the other thing is it's great in these conditions like you mentioned. Uh, the 50 amps is equal to approximately a thousand watts of solar. So Okay.
Ben Miller
If you think about that, um, and that's rain or shine. Right? So that's
Peggy
So that's almost the same that the solar panels do.
Ben Miller
Yeah. So if you combine if you're, you know, noon in June with the solar panel and you have the DC to DC running, that will offset your air conditioner
Peggy
Yeah.
Ben Miller
And and run it, and you basically would not be drawing it off in in those conditions.
Peggy
You're bringing in as much as you're putting out.
Ben Miller
Yep. Yep.
Peggy
Yep. Great. Great. So just happened that I love this color, but it's also all Master Gold. Yep.
Peggy
Right? They're all Master Gold products. They are from conception ready to work together.
Ben Miller
Yep.
Peggy
That's what Master Gold does is make sure that all these pieces talk to one another without the frustration of putting your whole system in and then going, oh, but I'm gonna have to get some kind of a translator between this and that because I use different brands.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
So that's an important part of what you do is make sure that everything seamlessly works together.
Scott Herman
Yeah. No. I think that that's one of the things that really separates us is there is no finger pointing. When an issue arises, like, you're calling us and you're talking to us, whether it's me, Ben, Mike, or Josh, um, because we did the entire install, because we know each component, and because they're actually all physically connected with communication cables, um, it makes it really simple for us to, uh, diagnose. But there's no finger pointing whatsoever.
Scott Herman
It's not, well, we gotta get in touch with the guy that made the inverter or the battery or the solar controller. It's all the same guy. It's all Mastervolt. One of the, uh, features on there that we haven't touched yet is this white USB cord and, uh, that's really, um, uh, special to us because that hooks into your laptop, um, and there is master adjust, which is Mastervolt software, Um, and it allows us here in Elkhart to remote into your system wherever you are. You guys travel all over The States.
Scott Herman
Um, we can see what's going on without you having to come back to Indiana, And it's just a great way for us to stay in touch with our customers. And also, um, if we need to help troubleshoot something, you know, that's what we're here for. And that tool is, uh, invaluable for us. We we we have that ability to look at each individual component and see how it's functioning.
Peggy
Now we have not ever had to use that. Um, the only time that we've ever had any kind of problem, and it's absolutely not on Master World or on ABC or anything. Uh, there's a panel on the inside of the camper where you can monitor and turn the it's called the combi master, the inverter on and off. And there's like three screens. Right?
Peggy
And so Tony was sliding from one screen to the other and accidentally turned the entire system off. And we had just got the system and we couldn't remember what to do. And we called and Ben said, well, do you remember the big yellow button? And we said, we don't remember the big yellow button, but we'll get a good video. There's big yellow button.
Peggy
And that's your kinda your battery off switch like a lot of us have on the tongue. Right? So if we do want to turn everything off, we can, but then we have to remember that big yellow button to reset it. We don't forget anymore.
Ben Miller
Yeah. But
Peggy
we haven't had the problem again. Yeah.
Ben Miller
But once
Peggy
you did that once, you didn't forget.
Ben Miller
That's the storage mode button. So it's got safety relay and again something that really no other manufacturers offer this type of safety and it also acts as a storage mode too. So, um, if the battery was to go to 0%, that relay would disengage and can't, you know, shut everything down in order to protect the battery. Mhmm. It also is constantly communicating with the battery.
Ben Miller
And if the battery doesn't like something it sees, high voltage, low voltage, temperature issues, it will automatically shut off to protect the system. So, um, and then you do have the ability to use that for storage mode too. So you don't have to worry about plugging this huge battery out and keeping it in your garage over the winter. Uh, you can set it and forget it here, activate storage mode, and you're you're gonna be safe for storage time. So
Peggy
So this is really not a concern for us, but just so other people know. I know that, uh, lithium batteries don't like to charge below freezing or below zero or whatever that number is. I don't care because I don't charge below that. Not your issue. Uh, but
Ben Miller
It is today. Yeah.
Peggy
From the oh, but if it's all turned off and it's just in storage mode, does it hurt this to be in a situation that's super cold? No. You can just sit there and rest. It's not doing anything in the place. It's gonna bother hitting the opponent.
Ben Miller
It's gonna be fine, especially if it's sitting doing nothing. And the smarts in this battery really don't allow the battery to be damaged in any way. So for example, if it was 10 degrees outside, if the cell temperature is below 32 degrees, the battery simply will not take a charge. Any batteries don't have that circuitry built in. Correct.
Ben Miller
So if you plug it in and it's 10 degrees, it's just gonna charge, and it could damage damage the battery or kill totally kill the battery. Uh, this battery simply will not take a charge if it's below that. And once the temperature, uh, of the cell is met with a higher temperature, then it will automatically stop charging. You can still use the battery Okay. Over time.
Peggy
We can all use we can all learn about self care from this battery. Don't let yourself be charged if you're not in a situation that you need to charge. You need to be resting. Yeah. Okay.
Peggy
So maybe why Masterbuilt?
Ben Miller
Well, I think, uh, the integration, uh, as Scott mentioned, just how everything's designed to work with one another. A lot of the batteries you see in other companies are group batteries that are automotive style or designed to go in different applications, uh, whereas this battery is designed to operate, you know, high level systems like ACs, microwaves. Um, you'll see a lot of different master whole product in high end luxury marine. So it's it's highly engineered. Um, and, again, as Scott mentioned, all these components are designed to work with one another.
Ben Miller
So you get a system from us. You can know you have peace of mind that it's turnkey. All the information comes into one touch screen, so you can monitor all your devices from that one screen. Um, and then the other thing is is it really does a lot of that work for you behind the scenes. There's it's primarily just a monitor.
Ben Miller
So it's doing all this for you. You don't really have to think where do I need to charge my battery to and stop. Um, how do I have to adjust my, you know, AC limit, those types of things. There's a lot of things that this does that really don't have to think about. So that's that's something that's nice.
Ben Miller
Um, and just the advantages of us with our support and being able to back up, um, back up the systems, Uh, we have highly trained, uh, techs here and engineers that that look at these systems both on the OEM and the other side, uh, aftermarket side. So, um, that that is a huge advantage in being able to, uh, to service that on back end. And then just, uh, really just, you know, how everything works together, like I said, and having this, you know, this all set up, uh, we we do everything to our BI inspect. So all the components that we use and the spacing that we put in into the system, the next components, we make sure that's to, uh, a compliance spec and that everything's gonna be safe. Mhmm.
Peggy
So that's good to I mean, I knew this, but it's good to reiterate that if you have a system from ABC, if you have the master volt system, the ACE PROM ABC, you're not just a person who's gonna come in here, they're gonna throw the batteries in, You're gonna drive out that bay, and we'll never get in touch with you again. Like, we know even when we weren't as close to as we are now, that day when in the beginning when we accidentally turned off the power, we were able to just call, get a hold of someone. Remember the yellow button? And and that is and that is what Scott and I talked about. We're kind of a family.
Peggy
Right? We have support of one another. We have other customers that we've become friends with or other friends that we've become that have become customers. That's beautiful. And we know that when there's an issue or a question, we can get a hold of you to ask it.
Peggy
But also, I like this, you know, if you know that something needs to be upgraded, you can reach out to us and make sure that our system is always working at its best.
Ben Miller
Yeah. And that's another thing with the Masterpold setup too. There's a lot of systems out there that are just, this is the package that we have to offer on the shelf, you know, if you want this package. Right. This system is completely modular in that, you know, if you wanna add more solar, if you want to add another battery, or if you want to add a larger inverter, those things can all be changed and that we can actually put in another Mac Plus on board.
Ben Miller
So now you have a hundred amps going and charge your battery. So those things inform
Peggy
Maybe never turn off your air conditioner. Exactly. You gotta use that power.
Ben Miller
Some people some people want that.
Peggy
Yeah. They are
Ben Miller
heavier boondockers that spend a lot of time, you know, in the desert Sure. And want to have that, uh, peace of mind. So, uh, and that can be done. A large percentage of our customers come back to us for, you know, upgrades later to add on to the system based on their experience.
Peggy
We know that Bill was just here in the summer. Yep. Doing that. He was your very first upgrade. Right?
Peggy
Our friend Bill?
Ben Miller
Yep. Absolutely. He was our, uh, first mini life.
Peggy
First mini life. Yes.
Ben Miller
But not only that, we kinda cross cross thread here at ABC Outfitters into the OEM systems that we provide too. So just like we support you guys as an ABC Outfitters customer, we do that with power package and some of our third customers as well too with the the class b vans. Um, we're always communicating and talking to them, making sure they understand systems, uh, you know, through and through. So, uh, we have a large Facebook group for power package owners on any MicroLite, uh, that we have on the foreign members. And now I talk to members all the time.
Ben Miller
They call me, ask questions. Uh, something that's included we offer with those systems, so retail walk through. So if there's a dealership that's selling a power package and the customer wants a walk through on the system, we can do, you know, like a Teams a Teams video, a week live walk through in the system. But of course, we do that here too. Sure.
Ben Miller
Any ABC Upfares customer, we take quite a bit of time to go through. So what so when they leave, they're very confident on how how to reach the system.
Scott Herman
Okay. Yeah that's a big part of of what we enjoy is that the actual customer interaction. So typically I get a call from somebody, hey I don't know what this is, I don't really know what I need, and then we kind of talk through the process of what do you guys do? What do you how do you like to camp? Are you I don't wanna ever see another camper, I'm a % off grid.
Scott Herman
Or maybe you're just a guy who's like, you know what, uh, I'm traveling from Minnesota in the summer, uh, down to spend the winter in Texas or Florida. And from A to B, I'm gonna stay in Harvest Host. I'd like to be able to use my trailer when I don't have the ability to plug in. Um, so it it really is an interaction of what do you need? What do you want?
Scott Herman
Because if you're not a hardcore off grid a % of the time, we're not gonna sell you the same system, um, as we would somebody who wants to do that. But then I always tell people, you know, at the end of your upfit, say you're here for a a three day upfit, um, We'd like to get done with the job sometime early afternoon that allows us then to do some education, um, because we know we install great stuff, but it's only as good as our customers understand it. And so, um, I don't want somebody leaving here that isn't confident in their abilities to understand what it is and how to use it. And typically, uh, our dream is when somebody likes to stay, you know, uh, at a campground, you know, within a half an hour of here. Um, and then pull into that campsite.
Scott Herman
Don't plug in. And don't plug in and use it and see, well, what is my actual run time if I am, you know, running my air conditioner and watching a movie and, you know, those kinds of things. And then you have a pretty good understanding of, you know, the shakedown. But yeah, I would say the typical customer will call us usually one or two times after that and just say, Hey, question. And whatever it is.
Scott Herman
Um, and then we rarely hear from people after that. And so for me, that's that is the importance of educating the customer because I want them to go and do cool stuff. Not, hey. What you know?
Peggy
No. Go Means you guys began.
Scott Herman
Be stressless. Go enjoy. Have fun, uh, using your RV. So you've always been part
Ben Miller
of our family, but now you are a So officially a part of the the family. And you're going on the hard wall. Yeah.
Peggy
Yeah. Okay. So Scott said, you know, a three day update. You can get they it takes them two, two and a half days, and then you've got some time for the new user to go through and learn the systems and stuff. So three days, um, DIYers, uh, tell me you put in your own system.
Peggy
Did you get it done in three days? Honestly. I mean, we were off doing other things. We got some work done. We did, you know, we didn't have to fight with this.
Peggy
We didn't have to bend into some of those places I saw Mike get into. And in others, things like b vans, the contortions that he has to do, I don't know how I would get him to assist him in my own rig, but three days is not very long, you know, for someone who knows what they're doing and just focuses on that. If you're DIY, you've got 50 other things you have to do in your life, and this takes three months, and then something doesn't talk to something.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
Right? So maybe some people might say, oh, but it costs so much. I could do this for half that price. Okay. Maybe you can buy a bunch of mismatched pieces for half that price, but are you gonna get a fully integrated system put in beautifully in three days?
Peggy
And then have support of someone who can answer a question when something doesn't work.
Ben Miller
Yeah.
Peggy
Right? So, yes, your systems are not cheap, you know, but they're worth paying the money that it costs to have everything worked together and work all work right from the start and Yep. Keep on working. And if something goes wrong, it can help us figure out what's wrong.
Ben Miller
Yeah. Absolutely. And and, you know, we get that all the time, calls in, like, hey. This is a really expensive package compared to what this inverter, this battery, and solar panels go for online. Um, and what you have to understand is there's so much more than that.
Ben Miller
I did a estimate this morning for a customer, um, and it takes me couple hours to put together an estimate from scratch based on the consultation I had on the phone with the customer. Um, and that estimate's roughly three pages long. Um, it's not just the battery, the inverter, the solar controller.
Peggy
It's all wires and plugs and tots.
Ben Miller
Makes of wires, proper connections, the proper gauge of wire based on the run and the amps that are going through the system, proper fusing, the right type of fuse to use. Um, so you have all these items that people don't really when you're thinking DIY and like the cost of the battery, which are the larger
Peggy
Cost out this and cost out this and
Ben Miller
then you
Peggy
think you're done and you forget about all those other little pieces.
Ben Miller
And not to mention, you know, the labor that's involved as well too, and just making sure we're putting the components in an area that's safe, that allows the components to breathe. Uh, so there's design, engineering, consideration, time involved with this in addition to all the other parts that you see. Um, one thing I wanted to mention too with the Mastervolt system. So Mastervolt is a part of a much larger company, Navico, and they have a lot of sister companies that manufacture electrical items such as Lucy Systems, BEP. Uh, so you'll find that our fuse holders, bus bars are all the same in that same product family with Mastervolt.
Ben Miller
So, um, that's yet again a reason, you know, all our stuff comes from the same same place. Same parent. Yep. Parent company. So
Scott Herman
I think the only other value add there, uh, that I just wanna mention is that, uh, you have us. Like, a DIY person is they have my respect. I mean, I've talked to a lot of them, but who are they calling if something happens or when they have a question? Well, which company is it? And, of course, then that company is gonna say, well, who did the install?
Scott Herman
And then, well, what other components are involved? And that's where it gets a little bit, um, uh, challenging.
Peggy
Yeah. Even if you're able to put it all in there, getting a hold of all those different companies and getting them to all talk to one of the the finger pointing thing. Right? Yeah. Well, there's nothing wrong with my inverter.
Peggy
It must be your battery.
Ben Miller
Yeah. I would
Scott Herman
say we've had at least 10 people come in here who had DIY systems, and we've taken their nice different batteries and inverters out that they have purchased and tried to do on their own or paid somebody else to do. And the the story is always the same. I wish I hadn't wasted the money on that because what I'm after is a turnkey system. I I I thought I was gonna be able to do that and I just couldn't achieve what I was after. Um, and that to me speaks to the process of what do you want?
Scott Herman
What are your goals with this? Because if you just wanna run your AC and cool things off for two three hours, sure we can do that. Versus the person who's, I've got to run my AC overnight. Okay, well those are two different packages, let's talk about that. What are you gonna do?
Scott Herman
So, um, um, that's that's the custom nature of what we do and and getting the customer exactly what they're after.
Peggy
Alright. Well, Ben, Scott, thank you so much for everything. For not just these last three days, these last two years
Ben Miller
Yes.
Peggy
These last hour of talking, walking me through this, making sure I understand in a way that I kinda didn't care before because Tony understood. And I think I actually understand the system now. So thank
Ben Miller
you for that. And welcome to Samsung.
Peggy
Thank you. And let's take our picture and get us on the wall.
Scott Herman
Yeah. Shamir quickly.
Peggy
So you heard us mention snow. That was back in November. Yeah. This interview took place. It's I don't know that it's snowing in Indiana right now.
Tony
We're really good at picking up our trailer at,
Peggy
uh, a
Tony
lousy time of year, but, no, it's never a bad idea to go get yourself a new RV. Right?
Peggy
Anyway, if you wanna talk to Ben or Scott or anyone from ABC and talk about getting an upfit for your own RV, give them a call at (574) 333-3225.
Tony
5 7 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 5. And, of course, we have links to interviews, other information at our home on the web at stressescamping.com. Now, some of you have asked, can you run your RV air conditioner on solar power?
Peggy
We then that was part of the conversation that I had with Scott, first of all, or Ben, you don't run anything on solar.
Tony
Right.
Peggy
You run it off battery. But you did a little experiment.
Tony
I did. So I basically ran our RV air conditioner on solar and battery power to see how long it would work, what the results were. And I actually did a pretty nerdy job of writing this up in an article with charts and pictures and all of that. So if you're like, oh, can you run an RV air conditioner on solar power? The answer's in that article, which we'll have linked in the show notes, but, um, yes, it's cuckoo.
Tony
And we also talk about not only present condition, how long we are able to run the system, but what's coming. The numbers are going to change significantly.
Peggy
Right. Okay. So we said we're taking Route 66. Yep. One of the one of our favorite stops, whether we're technically honored 66 or just happen to be in the area, is to go to the town of Seligman.
Peggy
This week's Goofy USA destination is the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona. If you are watching this on video, you know that we make a separate video now, so head on over or stay on YouTube when you're done here and check out our Goofy USA segment on the Roadkill Cafe in Seligman, Arizona.
Tony
If you've seen the movie Cars, you know about Route 66. But the popularity of Route 66 can kinda be traced back to two brothers who happen to live in Seligman, Arizona.
Peggy
They're the Delgadillo brothers and they were business owners in the town with one owning the snow capped cafe and the other a barbershop.
Tony
Yep. Absolutely. In fact, one of these gentlemen as we record this is still quite alive, uh, in his nineties and occasionally still cutting hair. Yeah. We will definitely do a future episode about their influence on Route 66 as the mother road is poised to celebrate its hundredth year, but that's not what this Scoofy USA segment is out about.
Peggy
No. You can still visit the Snowcap Cafe for, uh, most of the year. But another place to stop and eat all year long is the Roadkill Cafe on the other end of town.
Tony
It could be argued that the Roadkill is simply a diner with a diverse menu. But as the name implies, it's so much more than that.
Peggy
The legend of the place is that if you happen to hit some critter while traversing the Mother Road, you could bring it in and they'd cook it up for you.
Tony
Well Yeah. That's the legend.
Peggy
The legend. Yeah.
Tony
But today, they offer traditional diner food, but with a real twist on the names like High Speed Special or No Lock Buck or Varmint Vills.
Peggy
What are those items?
Tony
Well, high speed buck is a chicken sandwich, no luck buck is traditional French dip, and varmint vittles is a chicken wrap.
Peggy
Right. So they just have great food, but with really fun names. Yeah. Clearly, someone in charge has a heck of a sense of humor, but that's the kind of thing we appreciate.
Tony
Yeah. And the food's good, and it's plentiful, and the prices are fair, but you get a smile on your face, hopefully, when placing your order.
Peggy
We've also had some really good service, and, you know, we've been several times. In fact, the Roadkill Cafe has been lore on family travels through the area.
Tony
Yeah. You just gotta stop. Someone also visited a taxidermist who was in charge of decorating this place. And there are all kinds of creatures all over the walls who may have at one point wandered the desert, but now have a permanent home in this unique place.
Peggy
Yeah. And by the way, don't try to eat those. The servers do not like Yeah.
Tony
She was in all the shops.
Peggy
Every time we're
Tony
there. Crazy stuff.
Peggy
There are also plenty of fun things in the gift shop, which is substantial and reflects the same sense of humor as the menu.
Tony
Yep. Like this shirt. Yeah. Um, outside, there's also kind of a little mini Western town where you can put yourself in jail or just wander around.
Peggy
And there are, as with so many Route 66 places, a few old vehicles to look at and wonder what brought them there and how did they end up making their final destination at this unique eatery.
Tony
Did the Roadkill Cafe really ever prepare things you might have to scrape off the underside of your vehicle? I doubt it. I I really do. But it's part of the legend and part of the fun. So you can go and order things like Raka Raccoon, the chicken that almost crossed the road.
Peggy
Or the long gone fawn. Those are prime examples of
Tony
goofy USA. But something that's not goofy is the AeroPress.
Peggy
Something Something that's not goofy is the need for coffee.
Tony
Oh, dear. Yes.
Peggy
Uh, well, it might be goofy, but whatever. So this week's gadget report is the AeroPress. That is how we make our coffee when we are in the RV and fair amount of time when we're in the house.
Tony
Yeah. Bottom line, it's a gadget that makes really great coffee, but it requires zero electricity as long as you have heat, you know, from your stove or even a campfire. You could always heat water over the campfire.
Peggy
Yeah. They have a bunch of different models and sizes. We have a picture here of the extra large one that our friends Mike and Lisa use that the they're boondocking with us right now. Yeah. And so I got to do a little comparison on size and, whoo wee, imagine drinking that much coffee.
Tony
Well or you could share it.
Ben Miller
I mean
Peggy
Oh, I guess.
Tony
The AeroPress is sort of a French press, kinda sorta. But the neat thing, it's it's a plunger type arrangement. It's made out of plastic, which normally I wouldn't be a big fan of, but in an RV where it's bouncing around
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
We've never broken one. I've never
Peggy
broken it. Yeah.
Tony
We've worn them out.
Peggy
Yeah. The the plunging part is like a rubberized plunger thing, and we have used them so much that we are on our, like, fourth and fifth AeroPresses, I think.
Tony
But, essentially, you just heat water however you do on the stove or on campfire or in the sun under a magnifying glass.
Peggy
However you do you However you wanna heat your water, pour it over your coffee grounds, let it steep for a couple minutes, and plunge it into a cup.
Tony
Yeah. And the good thing is cleanup is just you just keep plunging once you're done with the with the coffee making. So when it's cleanup time, you just plunge the puck out, and you're done. And it's it's that simple. And so not only do you use less water if you're off grid camping, but you use a lot less in cleanup and the coffee comes out great.
Tony
That's the bottom line. It's super great coffee.
Peggy
Fantastic. So if you wanna actually see this in action, we did make a separate video and that is also on our YouTube channel which you're already on if you're watching this. And so again, stick around, watch Goofy USA and watch Tony use the AeroPress if you want to understand how easy it is.
Tony
As you know, last week, we were at the Overland Expo West, and we saw a few really interesting RVs, including this week's Rome Resilient Baja edition. This thing was just super impressive. It had a power lift on the back for a motorcycle. Uh, the construction was this aluminum outside vacuum laminated wall build. So it was just tough as nails.
Tony
They build their own suspension. And here's something okay. So as some of you may know, I really love going to car shows, and I like class cars. And one of the things going to shows where there's lowriders, I always wondered, you know, a lowrider can obviously adjust its suspension.
Peggy
They have, like, the hydraulics or something
Tony
in it. Right? Why wouldn't you put that in a RV and then be able to adjust the level of the thing, you know, with suspension. Right? I mean, it just makes sense.
Tony
It's like, okay. You're not gonna be bouncing your RV, I hope. Right? But It'd
Peggy
be funny to see in a campground.
Tony
It would be fun
Peggy
to see. Travel trailer, like, dancing and it's
Tony
Oh my gosh. Right? But it would be cool to be able to use a air suspension to level the RV. Well, this one does. It has an air suspension.
Tony
So the the logical reason to have that on a vehicle like this is you're going over rougher terrain. Or if you're just towing down the highway, you could have it sit a little lower.
Peggy
So you could have it lift up a little bit for higher clearance for the Yeah. Tougher roads. Okay.
Tony
But it also will let you level the trailer with the air suspension. Some of the other things I liked about this, the holding tanks are all stainless steel, not plastic. It was just built like a tank. It's got a 48 volt air conditioner that was really efficient, um, an incredible battery system. And just it was it was pretty impressive.
Peggy
Okay. Now I gotta move inside though.
Tony
Oh, yeah.
Peggy
It was gorgeous inside.
Tony
It really was. Some of these overlanding rigs are very stark, not this
Peggy
No. This was beautiful. It had a a really nice orange, you know, tone to the upholstery and the wall colors and stuff. I mean, you know, whatever. Everybody has their taste.
Peggy
But this, the bunk system in this trailer had like like a spiral staircase Yeah. Encased in in like upholstered wall. It was beautiful. It was just so pretty. It just, I mean, you know
Tony
It really it it really was
Peggy
It kind of doesn't seem necessary to have pretty and Overland matched, but my goodness, it was just gorgeous.
Tony
It it really was. It was well thought through. It was, uh, it's not cheap. It's about a hundred and $40,000, but it's about the price of a number of the things we saw there.
Peggy
Yeah. Okay. So it's almost the May. We haven't had hail for, like, three or four days.
Tony
What is up with the weather? My gosh.
Peggy
It is just after Memorial Day. So official, you know, the official beginning
Tony
of summer. Summer.
Peggy
And so a lot of people have uncovered and repacked their RVs, their travel trailers and RVs. And this is a good time to remind you that you want to go and get everything weighed now. Now that you have it all loaded up and you've got, you know, your new linens or whatever you have, your food, go and get weighed and check your weight distribution hitch because
Tony
We had somebody in one of the groups that we run, Facebook groups, they literally split the trailer frame right at the end of the a frame because too much pressure on the weight distribution hitch. And there were some other contributing factors, including some rust. But you wanna know what your RV weighs, not only front to back, but side to side if possible. And part of the reason is so you have the right gear. You can have too much weight distribution function on your hitch.
Tony
So do know what the RV weighs, and that's just scaling your rig is always important for so many reasons.
Peggy
Right. So this is one of those situate like, in a lot of situations, you know, bigger is better. Right? You can't you can you can tow a 16 foot travel trailer with a one ton pickup. Right?
Peggy
Too much pickup isn't, like, I don't think ever a problem. Too much weight distribution is a problem.
Tony
Yeah. Those frames are designed for a certain amount of weight and stress, and you can overstress them. So, I mean, we've all probably seen those pictures on social media of the one ton pickup that's split in half because the the darn camper weighed too much. So know your numbers, and we do have a whole towing calculator on our website.
Peggy
There will be links to that. I guess last week, you know, we honestly hadn't already planned to do a Route 66 trip when we asked the question last week. Route 66, retro or revised?
Tony
I think most of the people seem to agree with us. We love the retro Yeah. But also some of the tribute or new stuff is pretty darn cool too.
Peggy
Yeah. I and like some people said, if this is the way that it can be a thing, then then let's do that to make it be a thing. We just want it to be a thing. We want Route 66 to be a thing again, whether it's all the old neon or new fake neon that's more energy efficient. Whatever.
Peggy
Right? And I mean and and one thing that I it kind of I thought about, almost every town has a Route 66 Museum.
Tony
Oh, gosh. Yeah. There are so many.
Peggy
See the old stuff in the new buildings. So this week, our question of the week is can you tell me, show me, actually, your, the best mod you've ever done on your RV? And this is purely just because I I like seeing things like this. Right?
Tony
And then, any regrets? Did you make a mod and later look at it and go Oops. Oh, man.
Peggy
I should
Peggy
not have done that.
Tony
Well, that was a bad decision.
Peggy
I had some kind of a dream last it wasn't about an RV, but I I made some big major decision. And I was like, oh, this was, oh, this was a huge mistake. How am I gonna get out of this? I don't even remember what it was. It just struck me that I did dream something like that.
Peggy
Anyway, Route 66 and best or maybe possibly worst mods.
Tony
Love to see the goofs.
Peggy
You can answer those questions of the week at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group.
Tony
Yep. And did you know we do a once a week newsletter that's absolutely free? And just like Matt, until the end of this month, May 2025, we are still accepting entries to win the Air Gear Easy Air tire inflation remote gadget
Peggy
o matic. So make sure that you respond to this week's email by two days from then, whichever on by May 31, whatever day of the week that is. And because that is when we are gonna stop taking entries and choose one of the responses as the winner of the Air Gear thingy.
Tony
Yeah. And we've gotten a lot. We're just gonna randomly choose from the people who replied with I wanna win. Yep. And, uh, someone buddy is gonna get that Air Gear EasyAir tire inflation remote.
Tony
Gadget o matic.
Peggy
Know that you will find the show notes for this episode three zero nine on the podcast page at stresslesscamping.com, which is also where you can find our page called favorite RV products and services. You'll never guess what's on there.
Tony
Yeah. Our favorite RV products and services. I gave it away.
Peggy
And a lot of those things also have discounts. So it's not just our favorites, it's also our favorites with discounts.
Tony
Yeah. Of course, you'll find us in all the places you enjoy wasting time on the Internet, but you can start at stresslesscamping.com where we have links to the places we like to be social with you.
Peggy
If you
Peggy
don't wanna miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping audio podcast, it's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher, and we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Tony
And if you are more of a video person, don't forget to like and comment and all of that YouTube nonsense because it actually does help get the word out. Oh, heck. Share with your friends. Right?
Peggy
Share. Share. Share. Share all the things.
Tony
Yeah. If you think you're sunny, you'll wanna share. No way.
Peggy
What?
Tony
I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Sometimes being inside my brain is a weird place to
Peggy
be. Uh-huh. Alright. Well, I need some more Aeropress coffee.
Tony
Yep.
Peggy
You need to get back to your week. Have a fantastic week, and until next week's episode,
Tony
Stress Less Camping.
Speaker 6
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next Stress Less Camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure, and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.
