Hello all!I was on this website a while back asking about what to look for when buying a trailer. Since then the one we looked at turned out to be a dud, so we kept looking and found our 1975 scamper!Its perfect for me and my girlfriend and the dog. Now my question is it has a obviously old furnace and fridge in the trailer that doesnt want to work.Is there any tricks to getting a pilot to light? Special ways you can clean it?The guy we bought the trailer from mentioned that the fridge only seems to work when the trailer is sitting level? I have had the unit plugged into main power but it still didnt run. Is this something that you would expect to run on the main power? Or is it just a 12v thing?Sorry for the big questions here and story! I Look forward to showing you some photos of how much we have renovated the trailer!

Hi,The control boards for the fridge require 12 volt power. In a unit that old the "converter" needs to have a battery connected to it.The furnace fan runs on 12 volts.Not many folks have appliances from 1975. They may also be millivolt systems.I'd be having the furnace heat exchanger checked out. It may be rusted through, in which case I'd look at replacing it with a Platinum Cat.

Ok so the pilot light on the furnace should still be able to light without the battery connected?Thanks for getting back to meWhen having this old trailer connected to power will in charge the battery? Should i get a newer system?

It probably has a basic battery charger built in. Be careful with it because it will likely be slow to charge a battery, won't maintain it, and yet will still boil it dry if left plugged in full time. Fine for part time use, but maintain your battery with something better. You can upgrade the 12v system of course, but it might be just as easy to buy a good charger/maintainer to keep at home which could also be used on car/motorcycle batteries too.

The fridge may need a "burp" to get the freon moving again, but you still need power to run the fan. It is a process whereas you flip the fridge upside down. You need to look up the process in detail so you can do it right. The furnace I wouldn't trust at all. I just took a Suburban furnace out of my 76 TC and thank god I did. It was rusted through. Could have been a carbon monoxide death for sure. You may be able to light the furnace pilot but you need power to run the fan.

Hi Wagonqueen,Absorption fridges do not use freon.To the OP try to find a users group that has your make of RV?

A few tips needed on appliances in our new 1975 14ft scamper

19 Replies

Caveman_Charlie
Explorer II
May 17, 2014
Ex-Tech wrote:
First, your refrigerator, if original, will most likely not have circuit board. Fridges from that era used manual controls to switch from gas to electric. And yes, Rav refrigerators need to be close to level to operate and if operated out of level, can be severely damaged.
Also, an absorbs ion fridge will usually take 24 hours to read operating temperature.

Yup, X3.
Francesca_Knowl
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Ex-Tech wrote:
First, your refrigerator, if original, will most likely not have circuit board. Fridges from that era used manual controls to switch from gas to electric.

Beat me to it...my 1978 trailer's still-working original fridge requires no electric power to run on propane.

Question for the O.P.: Is the trailer aluminum sided?
Ex-Tech
Explorer
May 17, 2014
First, your refrigerator, if original, will most likely not have circuit board. Fridges from that era used manual controls to switch from gas to electric. And yes, Rav refrigerators need to be close to level to operate and if operated out of level, can be severely damaged.
Also, an absorbs ion fridge will usually take 24 hours to read operating temperature.
Wagonqueen_Truc
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Mine was a Dometic from 1976. We burped it and it worked. What can I say. LOL
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 17, 2014
Hi Wagonqueen,

Absorption fridges do not use freon.

To the OP try to find a users group that has your make of RV?
Wagonqueen_Truc
Explorer
May 17, 2014
The fridge may need a "burp" to get the freon moving again, but you still need power to run the fan. It is a process whereas you flip the fridge upside down. You need to look up the process in detail so you can do it right. The furnace I wouldn't trust at all. I just took a Suburban furnace out of my 76 TC and thank god I did. It was rusted through. Could have been a carbon monoxide death for sure. You may be able to light the furnace pilot but you need power to run the fan.
TurnThePage
Explorer
May 17, 2014
It probably has a basic battery charger built in. Be careful with it because it will likely be slow to charge a battery, won't maintain it, and yet will still boil it dry if left plugged in full time. Fine for part time use, but maintain your battery with something better. You can upgrade the 12v system of course, but it might be just as easy to buy a good charger/maintainer to keep at home which could also be used on car/motorcycle batteries too.
Zacvv
Explorer
May 17, 2014
Ok so the pilot light on the furnace should still be able to light without the battery connected?

Thanks for getting back to me

When having this old trailer connected to power will in charge the battery? Should i get a newer system?
pianotuna
Nomad III
May 17, 2014
Hi,

The control boards for the fridge require 12 volt power. In a unit that old the "converter" needs to have a battery connected to it.

The furnace fan runs on 12 volts.

Not many folks have appliances from 1975. They may also be millivolt systems.

I'd be having the furnace heat exchanger checked out. It may be rusted through, in which case I'd look at replacing it with a Platinum Cat.

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A few tips needed on appliances in our new 1975 14ft scamper

19 Replies

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