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TheFerge51's avatar
TheFerge51
Explorer
Oct 09, 2013

Lots of Questions on Fire Damaged Trailer

Howdy! I'm Ryan. I'm 24 and I'm from Indiana. This is my first post on the forum but I've been inspired by everybody's posts for a long time. I've got a lot of crazy dreams. I'm saving up money for a 90's diesel truck and I might get this 5th wheel talked about below to go on a 10,000 mile road trip through west US, Candada and the Northeast in about a year. Anyway, I searched and read a lot, but I'm not exactly sure what terms I should be searching to find my answers.

I recently came down to Texas to work in the Oilfield. Luckily, I found a job with a good company that is providing me a trailer to live in, but the hydraulic pump caught on fire, damaging a lot of things and it sat with the doors and windows opened since July. Well, I cleaned up the inside (including the dead flies and maggots all over the rotten food in the fridge) and it looks nicer than anything I was expecting to live in while I was here. For the last few days I've been using oil lamps and running an extension cord with a power strip through the window. Obviously it's not an ideal setup and I'd like to see about repairing some of the systems to make it safer and maybe even comfortable.

I found an old insurance card inside that says it's a 2001 Mirage Travel Trailer. The brochure looked like it was the 3600RL.

The hydraulic pump is where the fire started and most of the damage is confined to his area towards the front where the 5th wheel attaches. The wires have all been burned. It looks like there's some wiring to the bedroom area that was also scorched. The hoses to the slide out units are toast. What else does this pump operate? I want to pull it all out and rebuild or replace it with something I can scavenge to be able to hand pump the sliding units.

The battery area is so messy. There's a lot of things that are disconnected. I'd like to organize it so I can have some backup power, but I can cut it out entirely. Are the batteries required to run power through the 30amp power supply?

There's an area towards the front that has two hoses that I think hooks up to either a gas tank or water heater. It says LP Gas hoses on one of the lines. If it's either a gas tank or heater, where would the other one go?

The real question I have is: If I hook up the 30amp cord, would all the electricity go to the breaker? If that's the case, could I disconnect the busted systems and supply power to the rest of the RV? Is there a way to test this so I don't have to plug it in and see if it catches on fire? There's no labels for the breakers or fuses in the box, so how would I figure out what is what? All I have is a voltmeter for now.

Thanks for reading. If you can help me, I'd really appreciate it. This is a step up from the camping off a motorcycle lifestyle I've been living all summer, so keep in mind I'm not looking for perfect. I really only need the basics, like running water, hot water for shower, stove, fridge and a few outlets.

9 Replies

  • rockhillmanor's avatar
    rockhillmanor
    Explorer II
    Oct 10, 2013
    Vulcaneer wrote:
    TheFerge51 wrote:
    I recently came down to Texas to work in the Oilfield. Luckily, I found a job with a

    good company that is providing me a trailer to live in, but the hydraulic pump caught on fire, damaging a lot of things and it sat with the doors and windows opened since July. Well, I cleaned up the inside (including the dead flies and maggots all over the rotten food in the fridge)

    and it looks nicer than anything I was expecting to live in while I was here. For the last few days I've been using oil lamps and running an extension cord with a power strip through the window. Obviously it's not an ideal setup and I'd like to see about repairing some of the systems to make it safer and maybe even comfortable.


    So it is not your trailer? Find another place to live. You should not be living in that trailer. It is not inhabitable. And oil lamps? Maybe it's just me. But anything that is unreliable and has propane, should not have an open flame. I doubt there is an occupancy permit. If that company is all that good, they would not put your life at risk.


    X2
    The wires have all been burned.

    Will take you thousands of dollars to fix what actually can not be fixed. You would have to rewire the entire camper or pay someone to do so. Not to mention all what else that the fire damaged.
    You can take all the money to 'try' and fix this or put it toward an inexpensive camping trailer. There are TONS of them for sale in Indiana!


    Think sewage along with electrical wires, what are you going to do with the sewage? That is unless the fire melted the tanks also which are plastic, then it will just dump on the ground.

    And btw sounds like it is not even legal to live in. The company that hired you should know that. One call to the health department and no matter what amount of money you put into it......you will be put out of it. Just saying.

    Run Forest Run, don't walk away from this.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Oct 10, 2013
    Considering you are working 100hrs/wk and you can pick up a used 12yr old trailer for $4-6k, I would buy something in usable condition and walk away from this mess.
  • Me_Again's avatar
    Me_Again
    Explorer III
    Oct 10, 2013
    Oh to be young again and full of piss and vinegar! That Calalina 30 was/is a popular boat here in the NW and a lot of boat for the money.

    Just do not expose yourself to health issues living in a questionable rig. You seem to have your head screwed on pretty well. It is going to only become more important to save for ones future as corporate retirements are going away as fast as a rock sinks in a bay.

    Years ago I delivered diesel to a drilling rig on the Olympic Peninsula near Forks. Fuel all the equipment and then pump the rest of my truck load into a mud pond for lubing the drill.

    Finding living quarters in the Patch seems to be a real problem in several locations around the country. At least in Texas you do not have the cold winter weather issues that those in ND are facing.

    Best of luck! Chris
  • TheFerge51's avatar
    TheFerge51
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2013
    Wow, thank you so much for the responses. This is the fastest and most thorough response I've ever had on a forum. You guys clearly love this stuff.

    I'm about to go out for the day and tomorrow looks like another 15 hour day (that'll make 80 for the week!),so I'll head out to the store on Saturday and get a good multimeter and flashlight to trace and check all the lines the way you guys said.

    Just for fun, here's a little more background info on me: I came down here after college because I heard you could get 100 hour work weeks a 20 an hour working on an oil rig. It turns out you can, but it's incredibly hard to get started in that position. Everybody wants years of experience and/or CDL licenses that are either too expensive or impossible for me to get without a truck. Well, I got to Odessa and got my CDL class A permit. That same day I was offered a job as a backhoe operator lining pits for water ponds the rigs use. It feels a lot safer, which my girlfriend and I both appreciate. Anyway, the point of all this is too work a million hours every week and pay off my student debt then get some money saved up as a down payment for an apartment building. I want to get into real estate to create passive income, which I'm sure everyone here understands wanting to free yourself financially to do the things you want to do. I'm not going to take a dime from the building and dump all the profits back into it until it's paid off. Hopefully, with the right cap rate, I can do that in about 10 years. In the mean time I'll work to save up enough money to last a few years. I'm good at being frugal. I could get a place here in Texas, but this trailer is good enough for a while. First I'm going to go on that road trip, then I'm going to buy a sailboat. Something similar to this. (http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/38853)
    I think if I can save for a year, I can have my student debt erased and down payment saved. After the second year I'll have enough saved up for the road and sailboat trip. I can't wait. Two weeks down. 102 to go!

    I got side tracked. Hopefully you guys like stories. Pictures coming soon.
  • old_guy's avatar
    old_guy
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2013
    to say the least, the winters up there are more than the TT you are living in can handle. in other words, you will freeze you back side off
  • Peg_Leg's avatar
    Peg_Leg
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2013
    The first thing to do is secure any propane lines. There should be a compartment where one or two propane cylinders sat. If they are missing there should still be a rubber hose with the fitting. Some 5ers have separate compartments for each cylinder but there should be accommodations for two.

    Propane will have lines to the water heater, furnace, stove and fridge. All but the stove will require 12v to operate. You need to first find and check each connection with the propane still turned off. There will probably be black pipe ran to each device and a flexible line attached for vibration isolation. Make sure no propane lines are damaged in the fire area.

    Get a electric lamp and ditch the oil lamps, one fire in this rig is enough.

    The hydraulic pump does operate the slide and maybe the front jacks. The pump is driven by a 12v motor. The front jacks may be 12v electric motor driven. Operating it with a hand pump will be a bit difficult as the normal operation is pushing a switch that operates a valve to open or close the slide. The picture I seen of the Mirage shows multiple slides. This means a switch and valve for each slide all operating from the one pump.

    The breaker box. The circuit breakers are 120v. This is for all your outlets, the air conditioner and second power source for the fridge and water heater.

    The fuses are for your 12v circuits, lights, water pump, vent fans, antenna amplifier and control boards for furnace, fridge and water heater. This panel receives it's power from the batteries or the converter which is probable located behind the fuse panel.

    I would separate and tape (electrical tape) all the wires in the burnt area. I would disconnect the batteries and temporarily tape the battery leads. Check that the water heater electric switch is off. Now have a fire extinguisher on hand just in case. Turn off all the breakers then plug in the 30 amp power. Turn on the main breaker, now check through out the trailer, inside and out, for smells or noises, any thing that doesn't seem right.

    Any doubt leave the trailer and turn off the main at the 30 amp power pedestal. Wait at least 30 mins before reentering the trailer. By now your in over your head, get help.

    If all's well proceed to the first breaker. repeat the check just a quick one first then go through the rig with you volt meter set to AC voltage and at least a 200v setting. Probe every outlet, inside, outside and in the basement. Make a drawing and note every outlet that the breaker powers for future reference. Check the air conditioner. Flip at least one light switch to check if the breaker powers the converter. Converters change 120v AC to 12v DC, inverters do the opposite. Repeat for each breaker.

    If you've found no problems You can start checking things like the fridge and such. For the water heater, I'd drain it first then fill it with fresh water before testing it.

    Good luck and if possible have a friend to help.
  • agesilaus's avatar
    agesilaus
    Explorer III
    Oct 10, 2013
    I'd say you need to trace the main power cable from where it enters the 5ver, probably the rear end. To do that you'll need to drop the coroplast covering on the bottom of the 5ver. That's that heavy black plastic. A lot of wiring and hoses will run under there.

    There are two wiring systems, one for 120V which will be powered off the 30 amp line. And a 12V system which will run off a converter (probably up front near the batteries) and batteries which will be powered by a 120V line from the breaker box. 120 V powers the microwave, fridge, hot water htr and the power outlets in the 5ver.

    12V powers the lights and possibly some other items. The fridge may require 12 V for control power. The converter will recharge the batteries.

    Hydraulics may also power the landing legs (2 legs in front). Gas probably goes to the hot water heater, fridge (both can probably run off electricity or gas) as well as the furnace (which will need 12V for the blower).

    But you'll need to trace the 30 amp line to the breaker box and make sure it is undamaged before doing anything. Then to be safe trace trace each branch circuit before powering it up. You'll need to find the converter which maybe behind a wall to see if it is functional. The main breaker box will be 120V but there should be a smaller 12V box too.

    Get a good multimeter before you start this.

    Oh yeah there may well be inline fuses up in the basement area at the front. Probably mostly 12V if they exist. Maybe not tho if the slides and landing legs are hydraulic.

    BK
  • Vulcaneer's avatar
    Vulcaneer
    Explorer
    Oct 10, 2013
    TheFerge51 wrote:
    I recently came down to Texas to work in the Oilfield. Luckily, I found a job with a good company that is providing me a trailer to live in, but the hydraulic pump caught on fire, damaging a lot of things and it sat with the doors and windows opened since July. Well, I cleaned up the inside (including the dead flies and maggots all over the rotten food in the fridge) and it looks nicer than anything I was expecting to live in while I was here. For the last few days I've been using oil lamps and running an extension cord with a power strip through the window. Obviously it's not an ideal setup and I'd like to see about repairing some of the systems to make it safer and maybe even comfortable.


    So it is not your trailer? Find another place to live. You should not be living in that trailer. It is not inhabitable. And oil lamps? Maybe it's just me. But anything that is unreliable and has propane, should not have an open flame. I doubt there is an occupancy permit. If that company is all that good, they would not put your life at risk.
  • pianotuna's avatar
    pianotuna
    Nomad III
    Oct 10, 2013
    Hi,

    Most of the control circuits for items such as the fridge and water heater need a reliable 12 volt power source.

    Unless you can acquire the "hulk" for free it probably won't be worth the cost of repairs.

    If there are signs of water damage, run away, even if it is free.

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