New 128S owner

[KG7DBA]

Greetings all. I gotta say I love that there are forums for these trailers. We'll be picking ours up in about 3 weeks in Gresham, OR. Not only do I plan to use this for camping/hunting, as an RTO with the Oregon State Defense Force I'll be pulling the AM/FM/CD out to swap for my HAM tri-band radio. The color is a really great Tan and we'll be towing it with a black and tinted 08 Nissan Armada that's all gizmo'd out. We have found this to be the perfect fit for family of 3 fun and as a mobile comms unit to boot.

I think we have settled on this great gray water idea: Gray water outlet for pop up camper - The DIY Girl

I'm still researching the best solar setup for these trailers. From what I've seen I'll probably double up the batteries once I find the right solar charger panel.

The Armada has a nice cage basket on top so there's plenty of storage for a cpl aquatainers. I think I'd like to build some kind of rack system on the trailer to if possible.

Eventually the Armada will be painted tan as well but in full LineX Premium

I had a Nissan Maxima once, then I found forums, then I built her into a 1/4 mile beast. Can't wait to start setting this bad girl up hehehe.

Any suggestions up front gear wise? I have a Water Thief already and rv water hose.

I look forward to this new experience. Be safe.

[ko777]

Congrats on your new toy and welcome to this forum...I got a 2012 A128S a year and half ago. I started a thread a couple of weeks before I picked it up and updated it like my own personal blog. You may want to check it out for all the pointers I got from this forum:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ad.php?t=27602

Enjoy!

[KG7DBA]

That's funny as I was just reading that thread when you posted. lol Some really good stuff in there.

[OutAndAbout]

Hi and welcome to the forum. This is what I use for a sink drain, it’s maid from standard kitchen sink drain fittings like you have in your house. The pipe sticking up acts as a vent to let air into the system. For a drain system to work properly they need to be vented, again just like in your house. The ¾ inch hose going to the blue jug acts as a siphon to pull the water down. It’s cheap and works great for me.

What kind of camping do you plan of doing most, no hook ups or hook ups? You might need electrical adapters to go from 50a to 30a and 20a to 30a. Some campgrounds only have 50a outlets.

The main thing is to have fun with your new adventures.

[ridgeline1]

thanks for post kg7gba /does your new sink adapter need a vent? I have built both/ have not had a chance to try each design out/will get it out of garage asap/I know the garden hose did not work well/ guess 11/2 pvc should work better than garden hose/I read some where that you should drill a vent hole in pvc elbow at the top/ I got 3 way T to vent my second design////

[Pooneil]

In my experience, a un-vented standard 5/8 garden hose will work, but drain slowly. While 1.5 inch hose of any kind will not siphon (that is, the water will not fill the diameter of the hose) and the sink will drain very well.

My prevous 1.5 inch drain system was passed on in the sale of my old camper. The currently garden hose works OK because I typically wash dishes outside to minimize the inside mess. With the small amount of water used inside, drain performance hasn't mattered.

[KG7DBA]

Originally Posted by OutAndAbout

Hi and welcome to the forum. This is what I use for a sink drain, it’s maid from standard kitchen sink drain fittings like you have in your house. The pipe sticking up acts as a vent to let air into the system. For a drain system to work properly they need to be vented, again just like in your house. The ¾ inch hose going to the blue jug acts as a siphon to pull the water down. It’s cheap and works great for me.

What kind of camping do you plan of doing most, no hook ups or hook ups? You might need electrical adapters to go from 50a to 30a and 20a to 30a. Some campgrounds only have 50a outlets.

The main thing is to have fun with your new adventures.

Huh...now I like that setup much better for gray water! I'm a geek so more parts that have defined rolls is just jazzy to me.

The ad on my 128S says it comes with a 30A adapter so does that mean I'm covered for 50 & 30 but still should have a 20 adapter handy?

I plan to do a combination of both styles of camping. There will be some boondocking adventures especially when we FTX or have mobile comms exercises in the "middle of nowhere". When the family goes out, it will most likely be a search for hook up sites to enjoy amenities.

Does anyone have a good line on a light, sturdy mount for a DirecTV dish? Has anyone DIY'd something together? I have an extra dish and DVR unit so might as well.

[OutAndAbout]

The electrical hookup cord that comes with your 128s will be a 30a cord. 50, 30 and 20 amp cords all have different prongs on them to plug into there respective outlets. The 50 and 20 amp adapters will allow you to plug your 30a cord into an outlet for 50 or 20 amps. You will not need to use them very often, and some campgrounds have adapters you can borrow. But you never know!

[KG7DBA]

Originally Posted by OutAndAbout

The electrical hookup cord that comes with your 128s will be a 30a cord. 50, 30 and 20 amp cords all have different prongs on them to plug into there respective outlets. The 50 and 20 amp adapters will allow you to plug your 30a cord into an outlet for 50 or 20 amps. You will not need to use them very often, and some campgrounds have adapters you can borrow. But you never know!

Ahhh that makes sense. Ok I've added a 20 and 50 adapter to the shopping list. Also on the list is a Cabela's Privy Hut for the outside shower (considering 2 of them, one for a potty closet outside lol).

I figure I'll just stick with our standard Coleman huge screen awning/hut/enclosure thing instead of going down the golden brick road of the FR awning kit. WOW that's a spendy sucker!

[thehamguy1]

Glad to have another ham on the Forum. That makes about five of us if I remember right. My avatar photo has my Outbacker antenna mounted at the peak. I've run 20m PSK from a campground but mostly play these days with APRS.

[KG7DBA]

Originally Posted by thehamguy1

Glad to have another ham on the Forum. That makes about five of us if I remember right. My avatar photo has my Outbacker antenna mounted at the peak. I've run 20m PSK from a campground but mostly play these days with APRS.

Love how you mounted that. I think I might just copy your design I am curious where the best place is going to be to cut a hole for a dual or tri band radio setup. I'd like to tie the audio into the stereo system direct (without using an AUX cable). Don't care if it's tied to the control panel but just something to feed the audio over the speaker network would suffice.

[thehamguy1]

The newer models use a different stereo than my 2011, so I can't speak of the connections available. My unit has an Aux2 jack on the back--had to take the unit out of the cabinet to get to it.

As to mounting rigs, think about making a removable cabinet that would straddle the gap between the front dinette seats. Lots of folks--myself included--have made or bought smaller tables; that would make some room for a radio setup.

[rawlus]

You probably will not need a 50A adapter. I've never seen a 50A post at a site that didn't also have receptacles for 30A and 20A.

20A can be handy for home if you say want to run the fridge the night before leaving, just keep in mind you can't/shouldn't run the CoolCat A/C on a 20A extension cord. The cord will get very hot and more importantly, it will stress your household wiring risking failure or fire.