Reviews of products found inside the RV
I’m back showing another piece of my boat’s off-grid power setup. After covering the solar panels and one lithium house bank, this time I’m looking at the second bank made up of two Xantrex 240-amp-hour lithium batteries plus the main 2000-watt Xantrex marine inverter charger that handles shore power or generator charging at up to … Read more
I’m back with a quick review of a couple of new fans from BougeRV, the F01 and F02, which should be perfect for keeping us cool this summer on the boat. Our trawler doesn’t have air conditioning, though I do carry their portable BougeRV AC unit for desperate days running off solar. Fair Disclosure: I … Read more
I’m back with another review for Bluetti, this time on their new Elite 300 series portable power station. I’ve previously checked out their smaller AC70 and Elite 100 models, which are great for easy carrying, but this one packs a serious punch. It’s the smallest unit on the market with 3,014 watt-hours of LiFePO4 battery … Read more
I’m back with another DJI product review (Link to my DJI Power 2000 Review), this time on their new Power 1000 Mini. They call it the smallest 1,000-watt-hour power station on the market, and it really is compact at just over a foot long, 8 inches wide, and 8 inches tall. Inside is a 1,000 … Read more
In this video, I’m checking out a new product from Haloview, the same folks who make the wireless rear monitoring system and cameras I use on my RV. I’ve tested several of their models, including the BT10 model, but I really prefer the BT7 with its square design over the long rear-view-mirror style. One cool … Read more
Today, I’m upgrading the 30-amp power inlet connection on the RV to a SmartPlug. I’ve been wanting one for a while. I already have one installed on our boat, and they’re so much safer than the old twist lock style you see on a lot of boats and RVs. Recently, my twist lock arced, so … Read more
In this video, I’m checking out a new power station from DJI, the company famous for drones. They have the Power 500 and Power 1000, but this is their new Power 2000. They asked me to review it. I’ll split it into a few videos. This first one covers the main features and tests the … Read more
In this video, you will see how I put together my cables for my off-grid systems in the RV and especially on the boat. I’m crimping some common sizes today, 2/0 gauge and 6 gauge, using my new hydraulic crimper that makes a nice clean hex crimp. It’s fast and does a really solid job. … Read more
Werewolf (Tundra Labs in Green Bay, Wisconsin) sent me their VFLEX gadget to test. It’s a small USB-C adapter that lets you program the output voltage to power devices, like, say, for example, 12V gear common in RVs and boats. Fair Disclosure: I received a free review sample of the product The starter kit included … Read more
I’m back with a first look at Bluetti’s new Charger 2 DC-to-DC charger. If you remember, I reviewed their Charger 1 last winter, did a couple of videos on it, and we ran it all summer on the boat with great success. I was able to draw up to 500 watts from the engine alternator … Read more
In this video, I check out the Topdon TC004 Mini thermal imaging camera. It’s a compact, budget-friendly option. I’ve used their Tornado 30000 battery charger before and love it. I have also tested other thermal imagers on the boat to spot hot spots in wiring, monitor the diesel engine, and more. They are super handy … Read more
Over the years, I’ve had requests to do a video series showing the installation of a typical boondocking system from start to finish. Something a little more basic than the complex systems I usually show. In this first video of a multi-part series, I begin a fresh installation of a Renogy-based off-grid power system for … Read more
Today I’m checking out this handy KAIWEETS articulating borescope camera, great for peeking into tight spots on the RV or boat. It’s got a 5-inch screen, a 5+ foot flexible cable with a camera tip you can bend and twist using the big red dial (it folds right back on itself for 360 views), bright … Read more
In this video, I take a look at an interesting thermal imaging gadget from GOYOJO. The G210 thermal monocular detects different levels of heat and displays them as a visual image on an internal screen or phone app screen. A photograph or video recording can be taken and stored on 16GB of internal memory. There … Read more
In this video, I tested BougeRV’s new DC-to-DC alternator charger (model DC600) for charging portable power stations from your vehicle’s battery. They call it a charger, but in reality, it’s a voltage converter that steps up 12 or 24 volts from your vehicle’s alternator/battery system to 15-60 volts for the power station’s DC input. The … Read more