Last summer I made a 4,000 mile loop through the Western US, sleeping in my travel trailer most of the 30 nights I was gone. The plan this summer is to drive down Mex 1 to Cabo San Lucas, and then return to the US via Mex 1 and Mex 5 through San Felipe, and then home via US 395 to I-80.
It was pretty hot last summer, but I always camped in campgrounds with electricity--and, thus, I always had air conditioning. I've read enough about camping in Baja to know that the electricity isn't always reliable or "clean" (high and low voltages are common) and some of the best places to camp are right on a beach with no utilities at all. Having been to Baja in the summer, I also know that it can be mercilessly hot there, and unless I want to sleep in my own sweat, air conditioning will be needed.
It's been 35+ years since I took any electrical engineering courses, but I remember two of the most basic formulas: V=IR and P=IV=I-squaredR. I comfirmed those in one of the few engineering books I didn't sell back: Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, 1979. Armed with these formulas, I made some simple calculations.
Voltage (V) is simple: 110 volts. The owner's manual for my trailer air conditioner said it requires 12.5 Amps, so I=12.5. Watts (P), then, equals 12.5(110)=1375 Watts. And wouldn't you know it, the label on my generator says it puts out only 1200W.
Time for Plan B.
(Note: the above is an excellent example of why a broad liberal arts education is so valuable!)
7 comments:
Whew...that's a LOT of desert driving.
Plan B = fire?!
No, Justin, not fire. I'll be breathing fire, it's so hot down there! I'm looking at a couple inverter generators on Amazon, and I also know someone who will lend me a big enough generator. I really only need this for the a/c, and then only for the couple days we'll be boondocking, as I can run the frig off propane. Perhaps I should just live with the heat those couple nights, or take my own generator and a big fan!
Pseudotsuga, I *like* desert! Rather, I can find beauty in desert, despite the ungodly heat. This drive to Cabo is probably a one-time thing just for the adventure, and I have a great book about RVing in Baja that takes away some of the risk.
It's hard to put into words how much I'm anticipating this trip!
Since we'll only be boondocking a few nights, I think I've decided to take my smaller generator and a large fan (which can be used inside or outside).
Changed my mind. Ordered a generator that can handle the load! Can't be delivered to CA, though, because of some recent law about gas generators, lawnmowers, weedeaters, etc, so I'm having it delivered to someone I know in a nearby state. Gives me a good reason to go visit!
How Cali-unicornia can ban generators in a state that shuts off the electricity when it gets hot or windy (and it gets both!) is far beyond me. I've never used my older/smaller generator (it came with the trailer when I bought it) so I won't use the new generator in CA unless the power goes out, and then only to keep my frig running. My frig is running, I better go catch it!
Here's a funny: the generator cannot be delivered to California, but it's shipping from a warehouse in California--about an hour from where I live.
The extra fuel required to get it to Nevada, and the fuel required for me to go to Nevada to get it, and the pollution the burning of this fuel will generate, is far more than that generator will *ever* generate here in California over its running life.
I'm off to Reno in a couple hours to go get my new toy!
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