Boon docking with a Powerboost

[DBL R]

My wife and I have a new to us Roamin' Chariot Camper that we've been remodeling. This weekend was our first outing. We enjoyed the blood moon/eclipse lake side. Shout out to the Gaia app with helping to find a prime location. I was able to find a few things that I love about the setup, and a few things that I think @Ford Motor Company can change to improve the powerboost experience.

First the good. The pro power on board system makes cooking a breeze. This was our first time cooking with an induction cook top. Even running our dual "burner" setup with each "burner" running at 1400 watts, the truck only started and idled once while making breakfast. We also setup an immersion heater and a presurized lawn sprayer with a shower nozzle attachment. Its nice having warm water for cleaning and showers in the middle of no where. Also our weekend trip included over 800 miles of driving. Blue Cruise made the highway miles fairly relaxing.

The bad. Our camper is currently wired for a 30 amp service. Plugging it directly into the truck and using the powerboost in mobile generator mode allows us to be well lit and comfortable even in cold weather. However generator mode can have a few over the air improvements to help with improving the user experience. First it would be nice if users could completely turn off the interior lighting and dash/instrument cluster. Even turning off the main display, the instrument cluster, cabin buttons, and cabin ambiance stay lit. the truck should allow toggling the interior lights to be completely turned off, much like how law enforcement vehicles have the ability to black out the cabin. The picture below shows the darkest that you can make the interior.

Second the app should allow control over wifi connection. With no cellular service in most boon docking situations, it would be nice to have another means of controlling zone lighting and the generator mode when cellular service isn’t available.

Zone lighting could be improved by allowing users to select zone lights to be attached to the bed light button. For instance, it would have been nice to have the side zone light markers turn on (not just the side puddle lights) when turning on the bed lights, saving the additional action of having to open the cabin door to turn on the side marker zone lights.

all and all we are happy with the capabilities of the powerboost. Running our thermostat controlled heater all night only ate up 7 miles of range, pretty impressive.

Here are some more pictures from the lake side chateau. Definitely happy with our setup, even though we are still adding to it and making improvements.

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[UGADawg96]

very cool setup!!!

 

[JEB]

My wife and I have a new to us Roamin' Chariot Camper that we've been remodeling. This weekend was our first outing. We enjoyed the blood moon/eclipse lake side. Shout out to the Gaia app with helping to find a prime location. I was able to find a few things that I love about the setup, and a few things that I think @Ford Motor Company can change to improve the powerboost experience.

First the good. The pro power on board system makes cooking a breeze. This was our first time cooking with an induction cook top. Even running our dual "burner" setup with each "burner" running at 1400 watts, the truck only started and idled once while making breakfast. We also setup an immersion heater and a presurized lawn sprayer with a shower nozzle attachment. Its nice having warm water for cleaning and showers in the middle of no where. Also our weekend trip included over 800 miles of driving. Blue Cruise made the highway miles fairly relaxing.

The bad. Our camper is currently wired for a 30 amp service. Plugging it directly into the truck and using the powerboost in mobile generator mode allows us to be well lit and comfortable even in cold weather. However generator mode can have a few over the air improvements to help with improving the user experience. First it would be nice if users could completely turn off the interior lighting and dash/instrument cluster. Even turning off the main display, the instrument cluster, cabin buttons, and cabin ambiance stay lit. the truck should allow toggling the interior lights to be completely turned off, much like how law enforcement vehicles have the ability to black out the cabin. The picture below shows the darkest that you can make the interior.

Second the app should allow control over wifi connection. With no cellular service in most boon docking situations, it would be nice to have another means of controlling zone lighting and the generator mode when cellular service isn’t available.

Zone lighting could be improved by allowing users to select zone lights to be attached to the bed light button. For instance, it would have been nice to have the side zone light markers turn on (not just the side puddle lights) when turning on the bed lights, saving the additional action of having to open the cabin door to turn on the side marker zone lights.

all and all we are happy with the capabilities of the powerboost. Running our thermostat controlled heater all night only ate up 7 miles of range, pretty impressive.

Here are some more pictures from the lake side chateau. Definitely happy with our setup, even though we are still adding to it and making improvements.

You do (or should) have some limited generator control over Bluetooth. You can’t start it remotely by design unless the motor is already running—a remote start of the motor isn’t sufficient—but if the motor is on you can start and stop the generator and monitor it via Bluetooth in realtime without a cellular connection. If yours doesn’t work in Bluetooth, it might require a software update—I think to the truck’s APIM and/or TCU.

As for zone lighting, that also used to work over Bluetooth but an update broke that function and now it works only over cellular. Hopefully, Ford will restore Bluetooth operation in a subsequent update.

 

[LHoffmanjr22]

I second having an option to black out the cabin while in generator mode. Not only does it draw even more attention to the truck overnight, but I imagine those lights draw down the battery while on. It's probably not much of a power draw, but every little bit counts when you are using battery power. It seems like a pretty logical option to have, and not sure why Ford would have missed it. Still though, its a great platform for all kinds of uses, from camping to job site to emergencies.

 

[ClayBell]

Yep, love your setup; i do kinda the same thing but with a large percolator and electric warming trays (feeding more like 30-45 ppl). Like you; I’d like to see the black-out mode, a remote generator start (maybe a pop-up on your phone/app when you plug something in), but also red led’s in addition to the white for zone lighting, a high voltage dc tap (maybe an external “Ford made”? DC air conditioner/heat pump), and turn off the horn beeps for f’s sake.

 

[Bugzuki]

I agree, it is one thing to have it honk the horn when you just get out with the engine running and have the key in your pocket, but still dumb. But it is completely retarded to have it honk when the Generator is running. Of course you closed the door with the engine running and of course you are not going to leave the key in the truck. That is just mind numbing. I can't wait until I get back home to Forscan it. At least I found that when in the campground late at night and I have to get into the truck I can open the back door and close it without the horn honking and waking up all the neighbors. You can also put the key in the rear cup holders then get out, close the front door, then open the back door and get the key out. Makes me so irritated especially when I accidentally open the front door when I grab the handle to unlock the truck.

But back to the topic. Nice setup. Is the camper a little small for the truck? It looks like it is narrower than the wheel wells. And can you close the tailgate? The only ones I have found so far that appear to work for the 5.5 bed are "Four Wheel Campers".

 

[RedLightning86]

If Forscan will turn off the honking horn, I am down for it. I love Gen mode w my PB, but the horn is ridiculous.

 

[DBL R]

I agree, it is one thing to have it honk the horn when you just get out with the engine running and have the key in your pocket, but still dumb. But it is completely retarded to have it honk when the Generator is running. Of course you closed the door with the engine running and of course you are not going to leave the key in the truck. That is just mind numbing. I can't wait until I get back home to Forscan it. At least I found that when in the campground late at night and I have to get into the truck I can open the back door and close it without the horn honking and waking up all the neighbors. You can also put the key in the rear cup holders then get out, close the front door, then open the back door and get the key out. Makes me so irritated especially when I accidentally open the front door when I grab the handle to unlock the truck.

But back to the topic. Nice setup. Is the camper a little small for the truck? It looks like it is narrower than the wheel wells. And can you close the tailgate? The only ones I have found so far that appear to work for the 5.5 bed are "Four Wheel Campers".

Yup the external width of the camper is 60.5” and the length is made for a 6ft bed. The inner wheel well diameter is 44.5”. The extra room in the bed allows for water and gear storage. The camper also only weighs 600lbs, that lower weight compared to other campers is huge, especially with the reduced payload of the PB. I’m able to close the tailgait, and continue to use the factory 360 camera system, which is definitely needed for tight terrain or Parking spots. I also wanted something that didn’t stick out too much so I could fit down narrower forest service roads. The camper is wired for 30 amp service. The interior has a full dinette with seating for 4 comfortably and the upper area has a slide which turns into a residential sized queen sleeper. The 60x80 6 inch mattress is very comfy. Beats tent camping for sure.

We originally wanted a 4 wheel style camper but waiting 6-12 months wasn’t realistic for us.

 

[05RubiconLJ]

If Forscan will turn off the honking horn, I am down for it. I love Gen mode w my PB, but the horn is ridiculous.

The horn was one of my first complaints about the truck. My Tacoma had a very benign 3-chime warning that sounded when the truck was on and you walked away. Knowing that the truck is designed to be in generator mode, they could have come up with a better way to do it.

That being said, it was the first thing I deactivated using Forscan. Life is much more peaceful now.

 

[DBL R]

We’ll we upgraded our setup. Palomino ss500. More comfortable and much more space compared to the roamin’ chariot.

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