The Official Unofficial Super Pacific X1 Camper Thread

You know, I'm glad you said that.. because I forgot about that post, I'll edit it... Yeah.. ends up it was too thick. The camper would close, but not nicely, and I think that's what did it over time. ever since switching to fitted bed sheets and thin, warm blankets its been no issues, and still plenty warm.

 

XPOTRPR,
Thanks I’ll give it a try.

 

FWIW I now use that yellow portable battery air pump listed below to fully deflate the ExPed. It deflates it much more than I ever was able to by folding it and laying on it. I'm able to leave my VERY thin summer down bag (Big Agnes Camp Robber, good to about 45 degrees, or 35 with a blanket on top) on the mattress with no apparent problem.

 

Interesting.. I could not get it to deflate as good as I could manually do it. I use it to pump up the Exped, but to get it really flat, I just lay on it. it really doesnt take long at all for me to get it done. I have a system down and it goes quickly and smoothly.

 

Happy with it so far. The shower itself works great. Decent pressure, and can take 2 showers, sometimes 3 using 5gal in the jerry can. My only complaint was showering with cold water sucks when it is cold out. Tried using a solar shower bag at first to warm the water, but it wasn't warm enough last fall for that to work. So I added an electric immersion heater. That thing is awesome. Heats the water from 50's to 100+ in around 25min and uses around 40-50% of my battery capacity. The only issue with it is the jerry can needs to be mostly full in order for the heater to work. So if you don't have enough water, its a cold shower for you. I may add one more jerry can to make sure I can carry enough. I have a 6 gal aquatainer as well with a separate pump in each. I just plug one into the portable battery to power them. Very simple system.

I use the yellow pump as well. I find sometimes it doesn't work as well depending the angle and how hard to press it against the valve - for both filling and moreso for deflating. Pressing less hard and at a bit more of an angle seems to work better for me.

 

Yeah you definitely have to mess with it as to not let the foam get in the way or anything. Pumping up is no problem.. but I can definitely fully deflate it and do it easier with just folding and laying. That way I know for sure I got all the air out and it will close no problem. Peace of mind I guess at that point too.

 

Not to belabor the point, but I should have added I’m an old f… guy so crawling up there and folding the mattress in quarters tweaks my back. Also, that sleeping bag I mentioned is basically a down top zipped to a fitted sheet, so if I fold the mattress to deflate it it comes off in the process. Hassle to reattach every time. So… I have found as mentioned that the yellow pump has to be pressed against the exhaust valve just right, and it takes a while to deflate it well. Like several minutes. And it’s noisy. Irritating everyone nearby if it’s early morning. I happen to also have the ExPed electric pump as well (bought it off the guys at SP who were testing it). It’s nice cuz it also has a little light and is quieter, but it doesn’t have the power to deflate. I find it odd that ExPed doesn’t have a more powerful pump with an exhaust port that’s designed to attach securely like the inflate port does. Anyway…

 

All solid and valid points. I don't blame you one bit. and I agree.. the pump, or any pump for that matter, I think will struggle to deflate it fully. Just based off design of thar valve and power needed to compress the foam. For the sheets, we are running just Full fitted sheets, and it stays wrapped around while I'm folding it in half, etc. I did mention to my wife that I'd like her to sew on some elastic straps underneath attached to the sheet, to really keep it in place and allow for some movement/stretch for the mattress expansion. Maybe you can do something similar? They make them already.. with clips to attach to the sheets, I wanted them sewn to avoid having metal running on whatever and save on the bulk of a clip.

 

I bought the yellow pump and it worked fine for a few uses. Now it's dead and just clicks when I turn it on.

I just use the hand pump now and it's really not a big deal

 

Ugh! +1 Approaching 75 these things can be tough as we “mature”! LOL!

 

Couple questions my fellow X1 peeps, what do you advise:

Do the clamps keeping the top down eventually loosen up?
There's nothing keeping the top from closing.
I've lubed them with the suggested aerospace lube but they still need a 6" crescent wrench (rubber coated, or a stick of firewood) as a lever to open them.
Sometimes the amount of leverage needed feels like too much, almost like I might damage them and end up busting them open.
What am I doing wrong here?

Also, the shock brackets when closing/closed are wearing the fabric at the bottom.
I can see them eventually wearing through the fabric causing some hole(s) for water/dust/etc to get in.
This could also affect the keder system (drainage, structural) in the future.
Could see having to patch the fabric at some point.
Is this a design issue, adjustment issue? Is there a way to fix/ mitigate this?

 

The latches, clean them out really well when you can. Dirt can build up and cause some binding. Otherwise, check to make sure they are seating correctly and not hanging up one another as they drop in.

The fabric pinch point.. I'm getting that as well. Again, I believe this is just from the mattress/bedding pushing out on the tent and mounts if there's too much of it in there when closed. I'm hoping with the new bedding setup and being really diligent in deflating and prepping bedding, I can stop it from getting worse, otherwise.. yeah.. I think I'm going to patch it.

Notice the slight wear mark from the mount rubbing on the extrusion too. It's all part of it.. bedding and possibly a combo of that plus heavier off-road use.

 

I’m having the same issue with the blue clamps/latches.. I’ve been having to use a lever or thick plastic covered steel cable to unlatch it.

So far I’ve tried:
- Removing all the bedding and tucking the tent super neatly.
- Opening the tent partially and trying to engage and disengage the latch
Both attempts were unsuccessful without an additional tool.

 

I used garage door lube (silicon spray) and that works really well - doesn't gather dirt and resists water. Mine pop open easily with just fingers but I don't leave any bedding inside. I also just fold and lay on the mattress to deflate so you could try using that yellow pump to deflate more.

 

Boeshield T9.

 

@econwatch T-9 for sure and no problems so far.... for the X1 moving, I installed 4 aluminum flat iron pieces from the bed rail to a riv nut in each corner. I have pictures posted in this thread somewhere... I'll try to find them. I have a 2nd Gen so I also installed a support up front under the X1 lip; see below.

 

would for sure like to see more pictures of this

 

definitely looks like it'll work from keeping the camper from shifting forward. simple and works! and looks like you may be able to do it after an install. Is there still the composite between camper and bed?

 

I had an issue getting the blue latches to close within a week of picking up my X1. Some lube helped immediately and when I got home I ordered the recommended T9, and no issues since. The tent sides do show some black marks from touching the struts. I wipe those down every so often and it hasn't gotten worse. When I put the tent down I pull the material to the inside and toward the back to get the material away from the struts and the extrusion. I've found when I don't do that it can get trapped between either and it makes the top a lot harder to push down. No issues when I'm careful about tucking fabric in and deflating the mattress more.

 

This was the biggest thing for me too. Just taking more time to really ensure its all good.. havent had issues since (well after initially fixing the struts/mounts)