Setting up the Jeep and the RV for extended traveling

Setting up a vehicle for extended travel is already a big task. It takes experience, several tools, and some electric and mechanical work familiarity.
Adding an RV to the equation makes the problem much more extensive.

In preparation for my US coast photography trip (and any future trips), I decided to complete my setup and get the Jeep and the RV ready for long and remote traveling.
This required extensive electrical work, which took me a few days to complete.

The most important thing for a content creator is never running out of power and charging his gear daily.

In the last few years, things have changed quite a bit regarding how much power we can carry: portable electric generators have changed the game regarding power supply. Instead of a two-battery setup in my Jeep, I bring my Ecoflow River Pro 2 everywhere.
This choice has multiple reasons (I will write a post about this separately).

The Ecoflow unit has about 800W/h of charging power, which is enough to charge all my gear a few times: camera batteries, monitor batteries, drone batteries, etc.
Of course, it will eventually run out of juice and must be charged. At 600W/h, it can be fully charged from a wall plug in just over one hour.
The problem is that I am always on the go and often stop and camp in remote places without electricity; this means I need to be able to charge it effectively while driving.

The solution to this problem was to add a small pure sine inverter behind the Jeep's rear seat. You can watch the installation video on YouTube. I opted for a 500W unit, limiting the Ecoflow charge speed to 400W/h. This way, my River 2 Pro is fully charged in less than two hours of driving.
I could have installed a bigger inverter, but I did not feel it was needed. The most I would use from the inverter is about 460W if I charge the electric generator and run Starlink simultaneously. Being able to reduce the charging rate of the Ecoflow unit is also very handy in case I need to manage the inverter power differently.

Being a good-quality pure-sine inverter, it can also charge my gear directly as I drive, which is also a great plus. My portable charging box (YouTube video here) can charge almost all my gear in one go, and now I can do it while driving. This allows me to use the eco flow for other things, which brings us to the next problem.

If all I had to do was charge my gear, the Ecoflow/Inverter setup would work flawlessly. And it does, for short, daily, or weekend trips.
But if I am on a long trip and towing my RV, things are different because I often have to work with my laptop (and possibly my second monitor).
The laptop uses a lot of power, about 130W/h. Starlink adds another 40-50W/h. On average, the second monitor uses about 100W/h.
Adding these up, you can see that I need about 300W/h of power to work comfortably.
This means the Ecoflow River Pro 2 will only last for about 2 hours and some.

The RV has two batteries that power everything: lights, fans, fridge, heater fan, etc.
I try only to use those batteries for the RV and avoid using them to power my gear.
This gives me a good backup in case my portable generator runs out of power.
A 200W solar panel on the roof constantly powers the batteries, and an external 100W Ecoflow Solar Panel can be added to the system.
That might not be enough when it is not sunny, and eventually, they need to be charged as well.
I risk running out of power if I cannot find a place to wall-power the RV, which is very common during fall and winter (my favorite time to go out and shoot).

To solve this issue, I added a set of 4GA fused wires from the Jeep's battery to the hitch in the back, where I added an Anderson connector. I did the same thing with the RV battery and the trailer tongue, and when I drive, I can connect them and charge the RV batteries on the go.
For the charge to happen properly and safely, I added a DC-to-DC charger that works at 20 amp/h. In hindsight, I should have gone for a higher charging rate, 30 or maybe 40 amp/h, but that is an easy upgrade for later if I need it, as the wiring is already thick enough to accommodate the power draw.

One important thing you want to consider when setting up this kind of system, is the strength of your vehicle’s alternator. My Jeep Gladiator has the Tow-Package which comes with a whopping 240amp/h unit.
This is plenty to accommodate the 40amp/h of the inverter (500W/12v) and the 20amp/h of the RV battery charger (and future upgrades).

With this setup, I can always have my RV batteries and electric generator charged and topped up.
If you are driving, that is.

When I reach a location with good potential for shooting, I have to stop for a few days. That is when the little River Pro 2 is not nearly enough to work remotely for an extended time.
For this reason, I decided to get a dual-gas generator to have more redundancy and flexibility.
I went for a Champion 2500W propane-gasoline generator to extend my power options.

Fueled by propane and gasoline, I can run the whole RV from it and charge my Ecofow at the full 600W/h speed for a rapid charge.
The generator can run for about 11 hours at about 500w load with 1.1 gal of gas.
Given that I also have two 20-lb propane tanks in the RV and an extra 20-gallon fuel tank in my Jeep, I have all the electricity I need for several days.

Even though I have not tested its limit, this whole setup allows me to not worry about electricity while on my trips. It has enough redundancy and flexibility always to have a way to power everything I need powered, no matter where I am.