2020 Overland Explorer Vehicles (OEV) CAMP-X pop-up slide-in pickup camper (renamed "Back Country" as of 2023)

Chadx

♫ Off the road again. Just can't wait to get...
PK,
Yes, CAMP-X used to come with a single 11lb/2.6 gallon propane tank. I have two and usually leave one at home to save weight. Once it starts getting a bit light, I'll throw the second one in and use up the first then switch to the second. Once home, will immediately get the empty refilled, but not bring it with until needed. On an average season, we have about a dozen weekend trips and one or two week log trips. Usually only a few trips below freezing and not deep cold. When we are out in cool weather, we typically keep the thermostat at 60 - 65F when awake and 45 - 50F at night. I'd keep it lower, but wife likes it a bit warmer than me. In both our FWC and CAMP-X, an 11lb lasts about a year and half. Surprises me how long they last. Cold weather is an entirely different animal, of course.

Yours will have a horizontal 20lb and so you'll have a LOT of onboard and it should last a good while even in winter (unless you like to keep it 70F - 75F all day and all night). We haven't had a chance to do any really cold weather in the CAMP-X. In the FWC, we did some trips in the teens and it didn't use much propane and the CAMP-X is has much better R factor.

Not sure if you planned to have water in the holding tank/lines/fixtures on those cold trips, but if so, you'll have to run the heat a fair bit even when you aren't in the camper (and maybe keep the cabinets open to ensure warm air circulates in there. I believe your camper will have a shutoff valve for the external shower (mine doesn't) so be sure to use that. Unless you purchase the Truma 12v anti-freeze accessory for your hot water heater, you should bypass and drain it at the slightest hint of cold weather. Drain at anything less than expected 40F night time temps to give you some buffer as an unexpected dip below freezing and those water heaters can easily freeze up and break parts and most of those parts, I'm told, are not serviceable so that means new water heater. Better safe than sorry and it takes about 30 seconds to flip the bypass and go outside and pop open the cover, flip down the yellow handle to remove the screen, and let it drain and really doesn't waste much water. If bitter cold, might as well just winterize it and be safe and use a portable water tank and dishpans. That's my take on it anyway. Looking forward to some of you winter-use reports!
 

pk22

New member
Thanks to Chadx and all of your write ups on here, going to likely pull the trigger this week and custom order one from OEV and pick it up late in the summer ?
We are going to be living in it full time as we travel about so will post a bit on here if we buy it. thx again crew!
 

Chadx

♫ Off the road again. Just can't wait to get...
Myself and others have mentioned this previously in the thread, but to elaborate a bit...

Below is the Truma AquaGo Electric Antifreeze Kit. Note that it does not heat water; propane still does that. It is to keep the water heater from freezing, and breaking. Runs off of 12v and is plug and play. Not cheap at $199 MSRP but if one wants to use water heater in below freezing temps, it eliminates the need to bypass and drain the water heater after each use. By the way, one will need to be aware of draw. Hard to track down that info, but one person reports " The heater is 12VDC only, 54.8watt, 5amps. as shown on the attached tag on my heater. " While driving, the draw is no issue, but at 5amp draw, one would want to ensure you are on shore power, have good solar input or a large house battery if you are going to leave the water heater off and rely on this to keep it from freezing while parked for extended period of time. [Edit: I've added more info a few posts further down this thread. Truma recommends that the AquaGo Basic never be used below 39F/4C. AquaGo Comfort and Comfort Plus units can be and the intention of the 12v Electric Antifreeze kit is to keep those two models from freezing while driving because they can not be kept up to temp with propane while driving. Once stopped and operating on propane, they both have have Eco and Comfort modes to keep the unit from freezing. Our AquaGo Basic has not such setting. ]

https://shop.truma.net/products/aquago-electric-antifreeze-kit

accessories-aquago-antifreeze-kit_1024x1024@2x.png

The electric antifreeze kit allows you to protect your Truma AquaGo comfort or Truma AquaGo comfort plus from freezing without the use of LPG.
  • Keeps the AquaGo comfort or comfort plus frost-free down to -4 °F (-20 °C)
  • Runs on electricity only (12 V DC): Will operate without LPG even in stand-by mode when the burner is off or while driving when LPG cylinders are closed
  • Draining the water is not necessary.
  • Plug and play: Easily retrofitted in just a few minutes. The electric antifreeze kit is inserted into the "Easy Drain Lever" and plugged into the cable harness.
* The Truma AquaGo Antifreeze Kit is not an alternative to propane for heating water. It is solely intended to keep the Truma AquaGo from freezing when traveling or when the system is not powered via propane. The Truma AquaGo Antifreeze Kit warms the water within the AquaGo while engaging the circulation pump to continuously move the warm water throughout the system.
 
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john61ct

Adventurer
As in 500W of solar in good conditions and a 400Ah bank

just to keep the water liquid?

IMO not suitable for long term off grid, better / safer / cheaper to rig the system so it's easy to drain each time.
 

Chadx

♫ Off the road again. Just can't wait to get...
Agreed. As previously noted, CAMP-X and other OEV are rigged to drain the water heater in about 30 seconds. This is just an option for specific use cases (such as while driving since Truma notes to not run an AquaGo while driving).
 
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Chadx

♫ Off the road again. Just can't wait to get...
To expand on the conversation above, I'll note that I have the AquaGo Basic installed in our CAMP-X and I assume others do as well (vs the AquaGo Comfort or Comfort Plus). This is an important consideration as it relates to winter use as the two Comfort series have an Eco mode where it will keep the unit above 41F/5C and so they can more easily be used below freezing. Our Basic units do not have this feature and so Truma recommends draining, and not using, them if below 39F/4C. The addition of the 12v Electric Antifreeze kit is primarily for the Comfort and Comfort Plus and to keep the units from freezing while driving. Once stopped, those units can be operated in Eco or Comfort modes to keep them from freezing with no reliance on the 12v antifreeze kit. Our AquaGo Basic has no such setting.

Page 13 of the owners manual:
AquaGo.JPG
 
Quick mod for the spring. The stock USB plug has an internal backlight that is on 24/7. The REDARC only calculates down to the tenths rather than hundredths (0.1 rather than 0.01). This USB backlight likely doesn't draw a full 0.1 amp (I've not tested) but I assume it is at least above 0.05 amp. The REDARC shunt rounds to 0.1 Amp and so the REDARC calculates the SOC is dropping 2.4% (on my 100Ah battery) every day just from this backlight. The CO2 monitor does the same (registers draw of about 0.1Amp on it's own). I've experimented with pulling the fuse for each, one at a time, to see how it impacts the REDARC. When both fuses are in place as usual and the REDARC backlight is not on, the display changes between 0.2 amps and 0.1amps being drawn so must be very close to 0.15 amp combined and flip flops back an forth. When one or the other fuse is pulled, it would primarily stay at 0.1amp draw with occasional drops down to 0.0 amps. Both pulled would sit mostly at 0.0amps draw with occasional flicker up to 0.1amps (presumably for the REDARD display and Truma display (when not backlit; with one or both backlights on, it draws more as expected).

Wanting to get rid of the parasitic draw of at least the USB light, I replaced it with another unit. Took longer to browse and order one off amazon that install it. Ha. Install utilizes the factory wiring so takes about 30 seconds. Unplug wires, unscrew backer nut, replace USB socket, new backer nut, plug in. One could replace with a USB outlet with no backlight, but I chose one with a power button so it would have no backlight when off and backlight when on. The power button is a "touch" button rather than one you physically push in (which seem to wear out over time). Also chose one with QC3.0 for faster charging when paired with certain devices.

When I power on the new USB outlet and it's backlight is on (and fuse is pulled for the CO2 monitor), the REDARC reads that it is pulling the same 0.1A as the stock one, but when I turn it off, REDARC drops to 0.0A. No more pulling the fuse for the USB outlet circuit. Now I just need to figure out best way to eliminate draw of CO2 monitor when not using the camper. This must be in a way that I won't forget to turn it back on so putting an inline switch to only the monitor is not an option. Would really like an master 12v disconnect, like our previous camper had. But would like to do it in a way that doesn't require clock reset of REDARC or Truma display so don't want to trip the master battery breaker every time (plus tripping them wears on them...at least with some types of breakers it does). Short of putting in a master disconnect to disconnect all circuits except the REDARC and Truma, not sure what else can be done.
Any ideas out there?

In any case, much happier that this one small mod avoids the REDARC reporting SOC dropping by 2.4% per day.




Both USB plugs side by side.
View attachment 651580

Hole is 3cm and USB outlet body is standard 1.13 inch / 2.87cm.
View attachment 651581


Power on so backlight on.
View attachment 651582

Power off so backlight off so now no parasitic, 24/7 backlight.
View attachment 651583
I like that mod as our camper has an annoying dual USB charger with bright blue battery voltage readout in the middle which is permanently illuminated and annoyingly bright at night. I'd meant to look at the wiring and check for alternates versus covering the display with electrical tape.

To expand on the conversation above, I'll note that I have the AquaGo Basic installed in our CAMP-X and I assume others do as well (vs the AquaGo Comfort or Comfort Plus). This is an important consideration as it relates to winter use as the two Comfort series have an Eco mode where it will keep the unit above 41F/5C and so they can more easily be used below freezing. Our Basic units do not have this feature and so Truma recommends draining, and not using, them if below 39F/4C. The addition of the 12v Electric Antifreeze kit is primarily for the Comfort and Comfort Plus and to keep the units from freezing while driving. Once stopped, those units can be operated in Eco or Comfort modes to keep them from freezing with no reliance on the 12v antifreeze kit. Our AquaGo Basic has no such setting.

Page 13 of the owners manual:
View attachment 653384
I just picked up the electric anti-freeze kit as Truma had a sale a few weeks ago on their site. But from memory I'd thought our camper had the "comfort" model when I'd tried to work that out before, now I need to go read the manuals and check if it's just the "basic" again.
 

Chadx

♫ Off the road again. Just can't wait to get...
I just picked up the electric anti-freeze kit as Truma had a sale a few weeks ago on their site. But from memory I'd thought our camper had the "comfort" model when I'd tried to work that out before, now I need to go read the manuals and check if it's just the "basic" again.

Your early version may have something other than the Basic. Easiest way to tell is if you have a way to set it to "Eco" or "Comfort". The basic has no controller and you turn it off and on only by flipping the switch on the unit itself and it turns on "on demand". The Comfort and Comfort Plus have a control panel inside the camper (either a stand alone or shared with the Truma heater control panel). Ours does not.

Dug a little and found they are upgradable. Per someone that did it last year:
"The actual part is just over $200 but the labor added an additional $200-300.
Basically they remove the unit. Cut the inlet and outlet lines and install a recirculation pump. This pump provides enough flow to keep the unit hot go when you turn on the hot water tap the unit is already hot and the hot water reaches your tap in about 1/2 the time required to start up and get balanced out. "
 
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Your early version may have something other than the Basic. Easiest way to tell is if you have a way to set it to "Eco" or "Comfort". The basic has no controller and you turn it off and on only by flipping the switch on the unit itself and it turns on "on demand". The Comfort and Comfort Plus have a control panel inside the camper (either a stand alone or shared with the Truma heater control panel). Our does not.

Dug a little and fond they are upgradable. Per someone that did it last year:
"The actual part is just over $200 but the labor added an additional $200-300.
Basically they remove the unit. Cut the inlet and outlet lines and install a recirculation pump. This pump provides enough flow to keep the unit hot go when you turn on the hot water tap the unit is already hot and the hot water reaches your tap in about 1/2 the time required to start up and get balanced out. "
We have the shared control panel, no "comfort" mode iirc, which is the higher model hot water on demand, ours takes a few seconds to get the hot water through to start with. Water system is still winterized for another month probably before I can check it.
 

victorc

Active member
Any recommendations for an external privacy / shower curtain for the Camp X. Thanks!

I am happy with my Alu-Cab Shower Cube, but only for showers. The problem is because of my 37" tires and lift, the curtain does not reach the ground so I can't really use it as "privacy" cube (aka as a toilet).

Sorry I haven't a better picture that this one for now.

IMG_2608.jpg
 

Crux

Member
We setup the Joolca tent next to the truck and feed the shower hose in the side zipper.

We like it because it’s is fully enclosed which is nice when it’s cold or windy out.
Also it has two compartments, so you shower in one and dry off / change in the other.
It packs up and slides between the truck and camper.

Plus their ads are hilarious :)

 

anthonym

Member
First the good news: Finally got a hold of a truck (2021 Ram 2500) and brought our 2020 Camp-X from Boulder Vehicle Outfitters back home to Utah last weekend! Thanks to everyone on this thread—you helped us make a decision and go with the Camp-X. I had very high expectations of quality, and it's even better than expected.

Now the bad news: We had ton of rain, graupel, snow, wintry mix, you name it last week in Salt Lake combined with very high winds for a day or 2. When I opened up the camper on Saturday to see what was going on I found about an inch of standing water in the low point (under the fridge for us, given a driveway that slopes towards the driver's side) and lots of water basically anywhere near an outside wall. Surrounding the mattress on all sides (mattress was soaked), under some of the bench cushions, etc.

The worst was in the front driver's side corner where the soft wall was soaked. This is where I noticed water dripping off the front of the camper all week (it's the low corner due to driveway slope). Some drips occurred along the whole driver's side.

Any thoughts on what could let in that amount of water and soak the softwall in the process?

My thoughts:
  • Incorrectly closed/sealed rubber gasket when closing the top: We aligned it carefully when closing but it's possible something was off. I've since tightened the buckles a little bit and inspected the gasket and it seems unlikely as an ingress point but who knows. It does seem like the most likely way to let a bunch of water in.
  • Some seal issue on the roof itself: I looked at the caulking and noticed separations at each corner (pictures below). Do you think this could be a culprit?
  • Perhaps improperly closed windows in the softwall, but you'd still need some way of water getting past the rubber gasket before that was an issue
Driver's front (where the softwall was soaked):
IMG_2285.jpeg

Driver's rear (softwall also wet, but not soaked. 1/4" Standing water in the stove and sink)
IMG_2287.jpeg

Passenger rear (small amount of water under cushions, hard to know if leak or condensation)
IMG_2288.jpeg

Passenger front (mattress was quite wet on this side too)
IMG_2289.jpeg
 

Crux

Member
We have driven and camped in our Camp-X in snow, rain, and sleet without any leaks from the roof.
The seal around the roof ‘cap’ does not look right with those separated gaps. It almost looks as if there is extra sealant on some of the corners.

I don’t have access to my Camp-X right now, but found a couple pictures of my roof. The seals are clean and uniform.

-Is the dometic window sealed and closed all the way?
-Have you had a chance to camp in it yet?

So sorry you have these issues. I would definitely contact BVO and OEV directly.
 

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