Sanibel 3250 v. 3251

jarbay · 11-23-2014, 02:58 AM

Hi All,

We are looking to upgrade from our Keystone 250RS. In 5th wheels, we've narrowed it down to a Bighorn product or a Sanibel 3250/3251.

We do a lot of dry camping in national parks where generator use can be highly restricted of even prohibited. I'm curious about what kind of a battery and solar set up you've come up with to deal with no generator and no shore power. We're looking to keep power to the trailer for 10 - 14 days or until we fill the grey tank.
We understand that we won't be using AC in these situations.

When generators are allowed, I'm debating on whether to buy a mate for my EU 2000, thus having 4000 watts or springing for the Onan. What has your experience been in terms of weight/storage/cost v. convenience? How do you handle fuel storage?

Thank you in advance.

Jim.mcgallan · 11-25-2014, 09:58 PM

Hello there, we have the Sanibel 3250 and have a great solar system that work like a charm. We have 400 watts of panels up top and a Magnum 2800 pure sine wave inverter. I use 6 6 volt golf cart batteries for power. This system runs everything except air conditioning. The longest we have dry camped with it was just about 3 weeks and not once did we even come close to running out of power. You do have to be careful not to use power hogging appliances to often though. This system I have was a little over $7000.00 Can installed. As you can see it is not cheap for a quality system but it is well worth it. I would not give mine up for anything. As well to turn it on and off we just push a button at the door entrance on the remote panel. Don't have a genset and don't want one either so can't help you there. Good luck and happy camping.

jarbay · 11-27-2014, 01:56 PM

Thank you

clr · 12-02-2014, 03:30 PM

The Sanibel 3250 has a camping type refrigerator that can run on either LP gas or electric. The 3251 has a residential type refrigerator that only runs on electric and has an inverter to convert the DC to AC for the refrigerator. I have a 3601 Sanibel and the battery will only last at most 1 day with no AC power.
On the road the TV powers the refr and its works fine. This is just FYI for you.

DKRITTER · 12-04-2014, 10:20 AM

I'm curious, can you add additional batteries to a xxx1 Sanibel, if so how many?

wmcclay · 12-04-2014, 09:28 PM

You have room for many batterys, would put a plywood base in front storage first floor material a little thin. Only limited by weight of batterys

Team Wilhelm · 01-10-2015, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clr

The Sanibel 3250 has a camping type refrigerator that can run on either LP gas or electric. The 3251 has a residential type refrigerator that only runs on electric and has an inverter to convert the DC to AC for the refrigerator. I have a 3601 Sanibel and the battery will only last at most 1 day with no AC power.
On the road the TV powers the refr and its works fine. This is just FYI for you.

I'm being told I should get 2-3 days on the battery inverter to run the fridge on a 3901.

rracer5 · 01-10-2015, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Wilhelm

I'm being told I should get 2-3 days on the battery inverter to run the fridge on a 3901.

Dealer told you? They'll tell you almost anything to get the sale. Don't forget there are other parasitic draws on the battery besides the inverter. CO detectors & antenna amp are hard wired to the 12v system. Ambient temps and how often the fridge is opened will also have an effect on battery longevity.

goduc · 01-12-2015, 02:11 PM

Look at the watt draw for the fridge. That will determine how many batteries you need for the amount of the time you're off grid. IMO adding solar would extend the run time for the batteries while using a res fridge. Easier to do the Natl parks without a gen.

southsaskfarms · 03-16-2015, 01:16 PM

We are considering a residential model with the domestic fridge and am not very familiar with inverters. If we were on a road trip and dry camp for a night in a parking lot somewhere and never unplugged the rv from the truck, am I right in assuming it would drain the batteries in the truck as well as the rv battery?? If we added a second battery to the rv would we get twice as much time running the fridge as you would get with one battery? I am just a little concerned about the rare time when you are without 110v power.

Team Wilhelm · 03-16-2015, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southsaskfarms

We are considering a residential model with the domestic fridge and am not very familiar with inverters. If we were on a road trip and dry camp for a night in a parking lot somewhere and never unplugged the rv from the truck, am I right in assuming it would drain the batteries in the truck as well as the rv battery?? If we added a second battery to the rv would we get twice as much time running the fridge as you would get with one battery? I am just a little concerned about the rare time when you are without 110v power.

I'm interested in the excactly the questions your asking. Hoping you get a answer

Team Wilhelm · 05-12-2015, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by southsaskfarms

We are considering a residential model with the domestic fridge and am not very familiar with inverters. If we were on a road trip and dry camp for a night in a parking lot somewhere and never unplugged the rv from the truck, am I right in assuming it would drain the batteries in the truck as well as the rv battery?? If we added a second battery to the rv would we get twice as much time running the fridge as you would get with one battery? I am just a little concerned about the rare time when you are without 110v power.

Good question. I look forward to same answer.

goduc · 05-13-2015, 12:36 AM

You need more than one for the fridge. Most res fridges come with two batteries and an invertor. It won't run off the house batteries or the truck batteries. It should be set up to run off it's own batteries. If you aren't getting separate batteries and an invertor for the res fridge, look elsewhere or ask why not.

clr · 05-13-2015, 07:59 AM

I have a Sanibel 3601 and it is a great unit but if I dry camped I would have gone with the 3600 with an LP fridge. I get only about 24 hr with the inverter on and the fridge running. My TV is a Ford F350 and it has a relay on the pin 7 charge lead to the 5th wheel. So when the key in the truck is on pin 7 is hot to the trailer and charging the 5th wheel, when the key is off the relay opens and pin 7 is opened (no juice) so the 5th wheel will not run down the truck batteries. I have one size 27 deep cycle battery in my Sanibel but IMO that is not large enough. If I dry camped I would go with 4 6v Golf cart wet cell batteries and buy a unit with an LP fridge.

Team Wilhelm · 06-28-2015, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clr

The Sanibel 3250 has a camping type refrigerator that can run on either LP gas or electric. The 3251 has a residential type refrigerator that only runs on electric and has an inverter to convert the DC to AC for the refrigerator. I have a 3601 Sanibel and the battery will only last at most 1 day with no AC power.
On the road the TV powers the refr and its works fine. This is just FYI for you.

what do you mean on the road the TV powers the refr ? ...Ron

clr · 06-29-2015, 11:43 AM

The alternator of the TV provides power via pin 7 of the trailer connector to the trailer when the TV engine is running. So on the road the ref is being powered by the TV and not the trailer battery until you shut off the engine of the TV, then the battery in the trailer is being used to power the ref. Hope this helps.

Team Wilhelm · 06-29-2015, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clr

The alternator of the TV provides power via pin 7 of the trailer connector to the trailer when the TV engine is running. So on the road the ref is being powered by the TV and not the trailer battery until you shut off the engine of the TV, then the battery in the trailer is being used to power the ref. Hope this helps.

Thanks. Yes somewhat clearer now. Another question if I may. So the TV is not charging the RV battery but rather sending power to the invertor which in turn runs the Frig. (I understand the invertor powers the Frig) Why would it not also charge the RV battery at same time ? Seems strange it don't. I thinking if it don't then if I stopped for a hour etc I may have a dead RV battery and then the Fridge would not run till I started the truck again. Have I got this correct ? Thanks.....Ron

goduc · 06-29-2015, 01:05 PM

Once the truck is shutoff the connection between the trailer and truck ends.

clr · 06-29-2015, 01:15 PM

The TV is providing DC to the trailer when running. The TV is directly charging the Trailer batteries in the same manner that the TV batteries are being charged. An Alternator provides DC voltage that is higher than the battery voltage so it charges the batteries. Long and short here is that the TV should be charging your trailer batteries when the TV is running. You are correct the residential frig only uses 120v ac and that is being produced by the inverter to power the frig. The inverter is pulling its DC power input either from the TV or the RV batteries.

rracer5 · 06-29-2015, 09:47 PM

Your tow vehicle charge wire from the front of the vehicle to the trailer is not very big (12 or 14 guage wire). Compare that to the cables attached to the batteries in your truck and trailer, they are quite a bit larger. The larger the wire (cable), can handle more electricity being pushed through them.

The charge line from the TV to the trailer, is probably on a 30 to 40 amp fuse/circuit breaker to boot.

Your TV's alternator is capable of putting out somewhere in the area of 125 to 160 amps & a regulated voltage between 13.8 to 14.2 for proper battery charging (TV battery) which is distributed throughout the TV to run all of its accessories/components (and engine components).

Because the charge line from the TV to the trailer is, as mentioned earlier, much smaller than the battery cables and not as much "power" can flow through it, it can not charge the trailer/coach battery as well nor as fast as the truck battery gets charged.

The charge line charges the trailer/coach battery directly. All 12v power is therefore supplied by the battery (including the refer's inverter). The TV SHOULD be able to MAINTAIN the trailer/coach battery if the refrig. is running as long as the charge line to the trailer is hot. If you have NOTHING on in the trailer while driving, then the TV should in fact be able to charge the battery although slower.

Hope this helps clr's explanation.

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