Every guide on RVTrove starts from the same place: the manufacturer’s own documentation. Spec sheets, installation manuals and warranty terms say more about whether a product will suit your rig than any amount of marketing copy, and they are the only sources that can be checked.
Where a specification cannot be confirmed from a manufacturer document, it is marked as not specified rather than guessed. Where a product has been discontinued or superseded, the guide says so.
RVTrove does not claim to have tested the products it recommends, and does not publish scores or ratings that imply testing that did not happen.
Guides by Dale Whitaker
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RV Mattress Size Calculator: What Actually Fits Your Bed
Measure the platform and find the RV mattress that fits it — and see why "RV King" is published as three different sizes by three different sellers.
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How Much Solar Do I Need for My RV? Sized for the Month You Camp In
Size an RV solar array on NASA's monthly sun figures for where you actually camp — flat to the roof, not tilted — and on the roof space you actually have.
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What Size Generator for an RV Air Conditioner? (Altitude and Heat Included)
Size a generator from Dometic's own published minimum, then derate it for altitude and heat — and see why a 4,500-watt unit is already short on a 95-degree day at sea level.
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What Size Solar Charge Controller? The Cold-Morning Voltage Nobody Checks
Size an MPPT controller on the two figures that can destroy it — cold open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current — not on watts, which Victron says it simply limits.
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Trailer Lug Nut Torque Calculator: Ft-Lbs by Wheel and Stud Size
Look up trailer wheel nut torque from Dexter's and Lippert's own tables, in staged passes — and see where the two makers publish figures that do not overlap at all.
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RV Extension Cord Calculator: How Long Can a 30 Amp Cord Be?
Work out the voltage your RV actually gets through its shore cord and an extension — counting the round trip, the coiled slack, and the drop a portable EMS at the pedestal never sees.
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RV Tire Pressure Calculator: Motorhome Tire Pressure by Weight
Set your motorhome's cold tire pressure from weighed axle ends, read off Michelin's own RV tables — and see why dividing by the tire count leaves the duals 15 psi short.
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RV Water Pump Calculator: What Size Water Pump Do I Need?
Find the RV water pump that holds pressure with your shower and faucets open at once — read off each maker's own flow curve, not the GPM on the box.
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RV Propane Calculator: How Long Will a 20 lb Tank Last?
Weigh your cylinder twice and get your real propane use, or estimate it from the appliances. Includes the 5 lb an exchange tank does not have, and which cylinder lasts the days you want.
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RV Leveling Block Calculator: How Many Blocks Do I Need?
Turn a tilt reading into inches at the tire, then into a count of blocks. A ramp is not one block per inch, and every tire on the low side needs its own.
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RV Hot Water Calculator: How Long Does a 6 Gallon Water Heater Last?
Work out how many minutes of hot shower your RV water heater gives, from your own shower head, temperatures and heat source — and which free change buys the most time before you spend anything.
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RV Cargo Capacity Calculator: How Much Can Your Trailer Carry?
Your trailer's GVWR minus its empty weight is everything you may load, and water counts. See your margin in pounds, and which lever closes it — the free one or the expensive one.
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RV Winterizing Calculator: How Much Antifreeze, and Which Bypass Position
How many gallons of RV antifreeze you need, what skipping the water heater bypass costs, and why a tankless heater must not be bypassed at all.
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RV Tire Age Calculator: Read the DOT Code and What It Costs You
Decode the four digits on your sidewall, and find out how much of the five-year warranty was already gone when you bought the tire. The clock starts at manufacture, not purchase.
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Ball Mount Drop Calculator: How Much Drop or Rise Do You Need?
Two measurements and one subtraction give the drop your ball mount needs. Work out the number, see which way to miss if you cannot land on it, and where one-input estimators go wrong.
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Best Trailer Brake Controllers
Five controllers, organised by what actually rules them out — axle rating and brake type — because those differ far more than the prices do, and the ratings do not follow the money.
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Do I Need a Brake Controller?
Answer it from the trailer, not the tow vehicle. Work out what your brakes draw, which controllers are actually rated for your axle count, and when a controller does nothing at all.
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Proportional vs Time-Delay Brake Controllers
Every guide answering this question was written between 2014 and 2017, when there were two kinds of brake controller. There are now three, and the cheap one is more compatible than the expensive one.
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Tekonsha P3 vs REDARC Tow-Pro Elite
Almost every comparison of these two is published by someone who sells one of them. Here is what both manufacturers print in their own manuals — including an axle limit that rules one out entirely.
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Trailer Brake Controller Not Working
Everyone lists the causes. Three measurements from the axle manufacturer's own manual tell you which one you have — controller, wiring or magnets — before you buy anything.
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Best Weight Distribution Hitches: Sorted by How They Work
Four different ways of controlling sway, and the choice is between mechanisms rather than between brands. Plus the legal claim this category keeps making, checked against the actual statutes.
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What Size Weight Distribution Hitch Do I Need?
The question has three answers — the hitch load, the shank rise or drop, and your receiver's own rating. Every page ranking for it gives you one.
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Why Does My Trailer Sway? The Question Behind the Question
A crosswind did not cause your sway. Every rig meets crosswinds. What matters is why the oscillation grew instead of dying out — and the fixes for that are ordered by cost, starting at free.
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Best RV Battery Monitors
Four monitors compared on published accuracy, and the one engineering trade-off the category never mentions — coulomb counters drift when you never reach a full charge, which is most of boondocking.
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Andersen vs Equal-i-zer Weight Distribution Hitch
The category calls this chains versus spring bars. That is the weight distribution half. Both control sway by friction — the real difference is what the friction is made of, and what it weighs.
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Equal-i-zer vs Blue Ox SwayPro
Two hitches that control sway by opposite means — friction against geometry. Both manufacturers agree on what that costs you, and no comparison in this category mentions it.
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RV Towing Payload Calculator: Tongue Weight, and What It Costs You
Works out your tongue weight, spends it against the door sticker, and turns it into the hitch rating you need. No green light or red light — the margin in pounds, and the assumptions behind it.
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Do You Need a Shunt If Your Battery Has Bluetooth?
Depends entirely on which kind of Bluetooth battery you bought — and the word "smart" covers three products that answer this differently. Victron sells two of them, with opposite answers.
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RV Battery State of Charge Calculator: What Your Voltage Reading Is Worth
Enter your voltage and what is running, and see how much of the reading is load sag rather than charge level. On lithium the answer is usually that the number cannot tell you.
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Victron SmartShunt vs BMV-712 Smart
Same shunt, same accuracy, same resolution — Victron's own datasheet lists exactly two differences. Which means this is not a measurement decision at all, and the relay matters more than the display.
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What Size Shunt Do You Need for a Battery Monitor?
A shunt has two ratings, not one — full-scale amps and the millivolts it puts out at that current. Get the second wrong and every reading is quietly scaled by a fixed factor.
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RV Water Tank Calculator: How Many Days Can You Stay?
Work out how long your fresh, grey and black tanks last on your own usage — and which of the three actually ends the trip. It is almost never the one people plan around.
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12V Wire Size Calculator: Gauge, Voltage Drop and Fuse Size
Size DC cable for an inverter, a DC-DC charger or any 12V circuit. Shows the gauge voltage drop needs, the gauge ampacity needs, which one binds — and whether it will fit your device's terminals.
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RV Battery Charge Time Calculator: How Long to Full?
Work out how long your bank takes to charge from your own numbers — bulk and absorption separately, and whether your converter or your battery is the thing setting the pace.
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Best RV Water Filters: We Checked Every Certification Claim
Four RV water filters, with every certification claim checked against the public NSF, WQA and IAPMO databases. Three publish nothing, and the fourth's listing could not be found.
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RV Amp Draw Calculator: What Can You Run at Once on 30 or 50 Amp?
Tick what you run at once and see the amps against your service, the start-up spike that actually trips the breaker, and what to switch off — with the protection sized to your rig.
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RV Battery Calculator: How Many Amp Hours, Batteries and Inverter Watts You Need
Tick your appliances and hours to get daily watt-hours, the amp-hour bank that covers it in lithium or AGM, the inverter that clears your biggest load, and the batteries that make that bank.
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Clearsource vs Beech Lane RV Water Filters
The premium system has the shorter warranty and the cheaper cartridges. The budget system has the lifetime warranty and the unpublished specs. Decided on what each maker documents.
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How Often Should You Replace Your RV Water Filter?
Every guide gives a different number of months because months is the wrong unit. Filters are rated in gallons — here is the maths that turns capacity into your replacement schedule.
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Is Campground Water Safe to Drink?
Usually yes at the source — the real risk is everything between the well and your tap. How campground water is regulated, where it goes wrong, and the layers that protect you.
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Why Does My RV Water Smell Like Rotten Eggs?
Hot side only means the water heater — and the fix depends on which heater you have, a fork every guide skips. Both taps means the source or your tank. Diagnosis and fixes, in order.
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What Micron Rating Does an RV Water Filter Need?
5 micron for most hookups, 1 micron absolute where cysts are the worry, 0.2 for the finest protection sold — and why "lower is better" is only half true.
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The Best Fifth Wheel King Pin Locks
Four king pin locks compared on what their makers actually publish — and only one of the four states a warranty term on its own product page.
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Do Trailer Hitch Locks Actually Prevent Theft?
An honest answer using what lock manufacturers publish about their own limits — including the one that states in writing it is not an insurer.
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Proven Industries vs Ft. Knox Coupler Locks
The shortlist RV owners keep arriving at on forums, settled on what each company publishes — and the built-in versus replaceable cylinder that actually separates them.
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What Size Coupler Lock Do I Need?
Ball size is only the first of three measurements that decide whether a coupler lock fits — with a diagram for identifying your latch style, the step every other guide skips.
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Inverter vs Inverter/Charger: Which Does Your RV Need?
One makes 120V from your batteries. The other also replaces your converter and switches automatically between shore and battery. Your existing converter decides which one you buy.
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Renogy 3000W Inverter Review: The P2, on Paper and in Owners' Rigs
A documentation-based review of the Renogy 3000W P2 — the battery bank it actually requires, the cables not in the box, and a one-year warranty against what owners report.
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Can You Run an RV Air Conditioner on Batteries?
Yes — with a 3,000W inverter, a soft starter and more battery than most rigs carry. The arithmetic, the parts list, and when shore power remains the right answer.
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Victron vs Renogy Inverters: The Real Difference
One sells you an inverter, the other sells you a power system. Compared on published output, idle draw, warranty structure and what each purchase actually commits you to.
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The Best Trailer Hitch Locks
Six trailer hitch and coupler locks compared on cylinder grade, coupler fitment and warranty terms — including which widely recommended locks have been publicly demonstrated as easy to defeat.
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Battle Born vs Dakota Lithium: Which 100Ah RV Battery?
The two best-known US lithium RV battery brands compared at 100Ah on published specifications. One includes heating as standard and fits a smaller tray; the other publishes what everything costs.
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The Best RV Inverters for 12 Volt Systems
Seven RV inverters and inverter/chargers compared on continuous output, idle draw and warranty terms — and sized against the battery BMS limit every other roundup ignores.
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The Best RV Lithium Batteries for 12 Volt House Banks
Five 12V LiFePO4 RV batteries compared on charge temperature, continuous discharge current and warranty terms, using manufacturer datasheets rather than invented test scores.
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Do You Need a Pure Sine Wave Inverter for Your RV?
Usually yes — the price gap has collapsed. But the honest answer depends on your load list, and the published distortion figures show exactly what the modified sine discount buys.
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Do I Need a DC to DC Charger for My RV?
The RV forums genuinely disagree about this one. The answer turns on four things you can check — your alternator type, your battery chemistry, your cable run and how long you drive.
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Lithium vs AGM RV Batteries: Which Should You Actually Buy?
Most comparisons of these two are published by lithium manufacturers. Here is where lithium genuinely wins, where AGM still does, and what switching really costs once the charger is included.
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What Size Inverter Do I Need for My RV?
Three numbers size an RV inverter — your biggest simultaneous load, its startup surge, and what your battery bank's BMS will actually pass. Most guides stop after the first one.
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What Size Lithium Battery Do I Need for My RV?
"Size" means two different things — the case that has to fit your tray, and the capacity that has to last the night. Published dimensions for real batteries, and the arithmetic for amp hours.
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30 Amp vs 50 Amp RV: What the Difference Actually Means
A 50 amp RV gets more than three times the power of a 30 amp one, not 67% more. How to tell which you have, what each will run, and what adapters do and do not give you.
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The Best RV Converter for Lithium Batteries
Five RV converters compared on output voltage, lithium charge profile and fitment, plus how to tell whether your existing converter is quietly stopping your lithium bank at 80%.
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The Best RV Surge Protectors for 30 Amp and 50 Amp Hookups
Eight RV surge protectors and EMS units compared on joule rating, voltage protection and warranty, using manufacturer specifications rather than invented test scores.
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Do I Need a Surge Protector for My RV?
Probably — but first check whether your rig already has one, because a transfer switch is not the same thing. Plus the insurance gap that makes this decision cost more than it looks.
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EMS vs Surge Protector: Which Does Your RV Actually Need?
A surge protector stops spikes. An EMS also disconnects on bad voltage and miswired pedestals — which is what actually damages RVs. How to tell them apart and when the cheaper one is genuinely enough.
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Hardwired vs Portable RV Surge Protector: Which Should You Fit?
Portable units get stolen and rained on. Hardwired units have to be uninstalled to claim a warranty. The trade-offs nobody spells out, and how to decide.
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Hughes Power Watchdog Review: The Gen II 30 Amp Surge Protector
A documentation-based review of the Gen II Power Watchdog, including the warranty clause that catches second-hand buyers and the WiFi requirement behind most connection complaints.
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Progressive Industries EMS-PT30X Review: Still the Default 30 Amp EMS?
A documentation-based review of the EMS-PT30X, including the staged voltage response that sets it apart and the warranty conditions that have caused owners real trouble.
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Progressive Industries vs Hughes Power Watchdog: Which 30 Amp EMS?
The two leading 30 amp RV surge protectors compared on published specifications. One protects better per pound spent; the other tells you more about what the pedestal is doing.
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Why Does My RV Breaker Keep Tripping?
Most tripping RV breakers are a load problem, not a fault. How to tell an overload from a genuine fault, work out which breaker is actually tripping, and know when to stop and call an electrician.
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Charging RV Lithium Batteries in Cold Weather
Every RV lithium battery refuses to charge below some temperature, and the threshold varies by 16 degrees between brands. What each manufacturer publishes, and what a heated battery costs you.
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9 Mistakes People Make Buying an RV Surge Protector
Joule ratings mislead, transfer switches are not protectors, and every major warranty in this category is narrower than its name. What we found reading the manufacturers' own documents.
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RV Surge Protector Error Codes Explained
What each EMS error code means, taken from the manufacturers' own charts — Progressive Industries E-codes and Surge Guard LCD messages — plus what to do about each one.
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Surge Guard vs Progressive Industries: Which 30 Amp EMS?
Surge Guard has more joules and a live display. Progressive cuts power sooner. And the connected-equipment warranty people buy Surge Guard for excludes the damage RVs actually suffer.