Stuff I Need that didn’t come with the AS

[Pappy3393]

Now that I have ordered a 28FC AS and a TV, I need to start thinking about the stuff I need to buy that doesn’t come with the AS from the factory. Please help me develop a list of necessary items and I will compile all of your inputs and post the compiled list. I am interested in just the stuff that is absolutely must have items not discretionary or nice to have items. I am also interested in what electrical connections you had to make at home or at a storage facility to connect power to the AS. Thank you in advance for your feedback. You have educated me on towing and other matters so I thank you for that as well..

[moosetags]

First off, you need to contact you Airstream dealer and ask what accessories they include with the purchase of a new Airstream. Some dealers include some of the basics and some don't. When you find that out, we can help you identify the the things that you absolutely have to have.

As far as electrical connection at your house, I would highly suggest that you install a 50 amp RV outlet as you can hook up a either a 30 amp or 50 amp RV cord. Make sure to tell your electrician that this hook-up is for 110 volt, NOT 220 volt.

Brian

[starfishscub]

The short list: Anti sway trailer hitch, Jack stand which can range from wooden blocks to plastic square levers, wheel chocks trail leveling kit, level bubble such as carpenter level, a trailer hitch lock, surge protector, extension cord, 50 amp to 30 amp adapter and 50 amp to 15 amp adapter and the final basic is a Sewer hose kit. A fresh water hose and filter completes the start up list to get you to your first shake down camp site. The above items cover towing, parking trailer, leveling trailer, able to check toilet, sinks, shower and the electrical systems.

[eubank]

Black tank de-stink'm.

Lynn

[Mollysdad]

Here's my list. Thankfully, after you buy this, the spending slow down a bit.
1. Surge protector.
2. Tongue lock.
3. Blocks for leveling. Keep a small level in the trailer.
4. Power adaptors (dogbones)
5. Sewer hose.
6. Water hose and filter.
7. Tire pressure monitor. (not critical, but will be)
8. Tow mirrors. Unless stock on TV.
9. Wheel chocks.
10. Dishes and storage containers. Can be items from home, I like Corelle.
11. Sheets and towels.

The more you have dedicated to the Airstream, the less time spent transferring goods. (which gets old fast)

[Dennis C]

I bought my trailer at Airstream of Chicago. It came with a power cord. That’s it.

When I put my lists of essentials together, they fell into three major categories:

1. Functional items. This included things like sewer hoses, wheel chocks, security and locks, etc.
2. Tools and utility items. This includes the basic tools you should have, things like zip ties and duct tape, etc.
3. Comfort, convenience, and lifestyle items. This includes things like camp chairs, bedding and pillows, lighting, etc.

I’d be happy to send you my lists in excel spreadsheets if you’re interested. I’ve also got towing and camping checklists. I had those laminated and we use dry erase markers on them, which works great when camping.

[BayouBiker]

Originally Posted by moosetags

First off, you need to contact you Airstream dealer and ask what accessories they include with the purchase of a new Airstream. Some dealers include some of the basics and some don't. When you find that out, we can help you identify the the things that you absolutely have to have.

As far as electrical connection at your house, I would highly suggest that you install a 50 amp RV outlet as you can hook up a either a 30 amp or 50 amp RV cord. Make sure to tell your electrician that this hook-up is for 110 volt, NOT 220 volt.

Brian

As a note, 50A RV outlets are 220V 50A four wire service (2 120 lines, 180 degrees out of phase, one 50 A neutral, one ground). The 50A to 30A converter uses line A only so 120 Line, neutral and ground. In the trailer the 50A service is isolated into two separate services, one feeds half the branch breakers the other feeds the other half, so two 120V isolated services and a total of 100 A capacity. The Neutral is common 50 A capacity but since the two lines are out of phase, the neutral will have between 0 and 50 A max depending on the load imbalance.

Anyway I mention this so nobody confuses the electrician. You don't want them to accidentally wire both 50A lines to the same phase. This can cause the unprotected neutral to get overloaded in rare cases.

[Kittycatcat]

I would add to the above lists a "dirty water" hose - we used an old garden hose, different color from the fresh water - use it for hooking up to the black tank clean-out, rinsing out the stinky slinky, etc., pretty much for anything other than filling fresh water tank.

[drbrick]

Here is a couple of lists to ponder...
gear-and-equipment-list/
thing-to-buy/

[M. Smith]

What they said, plus a box of spare fuses.

[bcheever]

Originally Posted by moosetags

As far as electrical connection at your house, I would highly suggest that you install a 50 amp RV outlet as you can hook up a either a 30 amp or 50 amp RV cord. Make sure to tell your electrician that this hook-up is for 110 volt, NOT 220 volt.

Brian

We are picking up our Caravel 22FB in February and I had a question along these lines I'd love to get some advice on.

We plan on doing a lot of boondocking and live in an HOA which restricts trailer parking in the neighborhood. We'll be OK pulling it up the afternoon before a trip, loading it up and then leaving the following morning, maybe 12 hours at home +/-. I'm hoping to top off our two AGM batteries while we are loading. Will that be enough time to charge our batteries from a standard outlet, or should I be looking at installing a 50 amp outlet?

For the OP, I found the book "Newbies Guide to Airstreaming" by Rich Luhr super helpful. And to mirror Pappy3393, and as a new AS owner as well, I have to say much thanks for all of the great advice I have found on these forums!

[djb75]

What is absolutely necessary will depend on what you are planning to do with your trailer. For instance, if you will never camp at a site without electric, you won't need solar or a generator. On the other hand, if you'll never have electric, you would probably need at least one of these items. How risk-tolerant are you? Depending on that, you may or may not consider hitch/wheel locks, water filters, or surge protectors as "necessary".
So - how do you envision yourself using your trailer?

[starfishscub]

I also have a 22fb Caravel, our first camping trip we had battery trouble wife's cpap machine used up the power by 3:00 in morning. I might suggest a suitcase solar panel or generator. Be sure to check polarity of the external zamp plug, I believe the top port is positive. You will a $8.00 adapter from Amazon to make other brand solar panels work to charge battery. Zamp is different than most solar products. I do not use Zamp panel (excellent products but are to expensive for my budget). You are going to love your Caravel, so much fun.

[link2dks]

Airstreams come with a spare tire but not the things you need to change a tire!!!

The Airstream Life Store sells a tire changing kit (see link.)

https://store.airstreamlife.com/prod...bad8e27f&_ss=r

You don't have to buy their kit but it will outline what you need to do the job.

Dave S

[MrStreamer]

Great suggestion. I had incident in Durango, CO last year; Good Sam took too long to respond, used small bottle jack to raise of ground and needed larger bottle jack to raise to install inflated tire. Glad another RV stopped to help with the extra tools. Road side protection plan is highly recommended.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

Anyway I mention this so nobody confuses the electrician. You don't want them to accidentally wire both 50A lines to the same phase. .

The good news is that a 50 amp outlet for 240 v is wired exactly the same way as a 50 amp outlet for 120 v. . (Unlike a 30 amp RV plug vs. a dryer plug)
It's pretty hard to wire both legs accidentally to the same phase since in the main breaker box a 50 amp breaker has two circuits side by side, and as he snaps it into the breaker panel, it finds different legs by design.
The only way to mess it up would be to install one breaker here and another there. (separated). Would anyone do that?

[smsasf]

Originally Posted by Pappy3393

Now that I have ordered a 28FC AS and a TV, I need to start thinking about the stuff I need to buy that doesn’t come with the AS from the factory. Please help me develop a list of necessary items and I will compile all of your inputs and post the compiled list. I am interested in just the stuff that is absolutely must have items not discretionary or nice to have items. I am also interested in what electrical connections you had to make at home or at a storage facility to connect power to the AS. Thank you in advance for your feedback. You have educated me on towing and other matters so I thank you for that as well..

May a word to the wise be sufficient. Do not fool yourself regarding costs and what you will spend in the first few months. The purchase date of my 2020 Bambi 20’ was June 2, 2020 and that included the $715 Blue Ox WD Hitch at that time. I went on three multiday trips in NC and SC during June-August and just finished a 54 day trip out west that had me going through 21 states by the time I returned. My camping was to include dispersed dry camping in addition to private pay and paid federal and state parks. I mention the dispersed because that drove purchase of portable generator and additional solar.

I just went back and looked at my list of intial purchases (prior to seeing your post, btw) from Lowe’s, Agri Store, RV Stores, and Auto-Zone starting late May and those starting June, most all of which were through Amazon. I count minimum 52 purchases. Six (6) were high dollar $870 portable Zamp solar panel, $518 portable Champion generator, $399 Additional Zamp 90W roof solar panel, $241 Victron 100/30 Solar Charge Controller, $212 Megahitch Coupler Lock, $205 Dewalt Air Inflator/Lithium Ion Battery. The other 46 purchases were $150 and under. Total so far about $4750. This does not include some plastic plates, bowls and cups, place mats, wash cloths, pot and pan, plastic utensiles, tea kettle, French Press and cleaning supplies from Walmart.

Out of all the $$ purchases (that were either single or multiple item purchases) the only item I have not used is the collapsible dish washing sink (about a $15 purchase). Yes, I’ve used all the high dollar items as well as the torque wrench, rivet gun, 7-way connector tool, aqua filter, hitchgrip carrier, air inflator, orange traffic cones, mobility step (since toilet sits a bit high), to name just a few. Good luck and don’t be surprised or shocked.

Stephen

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

The good news is that a 50 amp outlet for 240 v is wired exactly the same way as a 50 amp outlet for 120 v. . (Unlike a 30 amp RV plug vs. a dryer plug)
It's pretty hard to wire both legs accidentally to the same phase since in the main breaker box a 50 amp breaker has two circuits side by side, and as he snaps it into the breaker panel, it finds different legs by design.
The only way to mess it up would be to install one breaker here and another there. (separated). Would anyone do that?

Just keep in mind that if you put tremendous engineering effort into making something absolutely foolproof, Mother Nature will promptly come up with a better fool. Murphy’s law often trumps the law of gravity as well.

And yes, I have seen weird wiring by “professional electricians” more than once in my career...like totally swapped phases and neutral on a three phase system. It took an hour of my life to figure out what manner of an animal that made a nest in that wiring, once the smoke cleared. Totally screwed it up, and that company was never invited back to do anything at our facility ever.

[kscherzi]

Unless you want to run the trailer air conditioner in storage or at home along with the microwave or second air conditioner at the same time, you really don't need a 30 or 50 amp electrical connection. I think such a special purpose outlet falls into the "it would be nice" side of the ledger.

A standard 15 amp wall plug, utilizing a $10 adapter to the stock airstream extension cord, is sufficient to keep the batteries charged. Or, simply disconnect the battery from the trailer by removing the battery cables and they'll stay charged for a few months.

[pontzdav]

Unless you have powered stabilizer jacks you will want a battery powered drill-driver with the correct socket to wind em up and down. A bit of experimentation is needed to set the torque just right to equal about a full turn after contact with the ground. On my Dewalt the setting is 11. This is especially important when camping next to the Provost Class A. You will have to go outside to lower your stabilizers but at least you won’t be cranking on that manual wrench. Ha.