Need help with a 1976 Terry

We had a 77, 19' Terry. Nice unit. Had a front gaucho bed, curbside dinette and a good size rear bath with a small tub!

Features similar to todays units minus the automatic pilots. the biggest pain was the Dometic fridge with piezio lighter. It was at the end of the gas line so air had to be purged before it lit.

I wish they still used the room heater. No fan to wake you in the middle of the night but very efficient.

Previous owner had pulled the breakaway pin and fried the brake magnet wires so they were all replaced.

Fresh water tank was a mickey mouse affair and had to be replumbed and secured. Good part was you had full access by removing the gaucho bed panels.

Electrical was like a modern unit. All 12v and used a converter when plugged into 120vac. A/C ran only on 120. Seems like the converter was in a cabinet near the floor. You can probably hear it when plugged in.

The rig towed well and didn't need the equalizer hitch but did need a sway bar when towed with a 3/4 ton truck or van. 1/2ton needs an equalizer. Ours weighed about 4500# with half a tank of water.

Good sturdy unit with metal roof. A good intro to RVing for us.

Norm

We had a 1973 Terry in the 1980s the frig was toast & since we did not plan on boondocking I replaced it with a dorm style electric only fridge. It was about 700 dollars cheaper back then. Lights some 12v some 120V only. Water lines were copper & had to be sure to winterize completely. I am sure the was no converter.

red and white on my 2007 terry 210rb. Anyways, sounds like you have a few issues. One that you should trace thru is the fact that connecting up to your trailer gives your brake controller's "not connected" indication. I think this likely means no ground connection. Further, if you have "full connection" on your vehicle plug (ie. center pin 12v), then your pump should run off your tow vehicle if things are wired correctly. Of course, without your trailer battery connected but your vehicle connected to the trailer (and maybe running), you should be seeing 12v plus at the wiring going to your battery. IF not, then you need to traced those wires.... which likely run to a connection box somewhere under the frame of the trailer.... from there the wires will run to other areas in your trailer to things like fuse panels, etc.

AK_nomads wrote:
The trailer didn't come with a battery, I bought a brand new Optima blue top for it. There is a red wire and a whitw wire for the battery, I assume red is positive. I checked the fuses and none were blown, maybe one of the wires isn't connected, I'll chase them down. Thanks again

FYI:

Not sure where the red/white battery wires come in, but 12v hot and ground to trailers of that era- and I think even now- are black and white, respectively.

Here's a wiring diagram from a '70's Apache. The general scheme/color coding was nearly universally used regardless of brand since coding matched the Bargman 7- pole tow connector that came on just about everything back then.

You might want to pick up a cheap digital multimeter if you don't already have one. You should be able to find one for about $10 at your local Walmart. With a meter you can figure out how far the 12v is getting from your battery into your trailer and even check out the fuses to verify that they are good.

If you don't know how to use a multimeter just let us know the make and model and we'll tell you how to use it. It's really simple once you see it.

And yes, the stove works great

Yeah, I figure it will be a fun project while using it for a few years or so, then upgrade. It doesn't leak, as we found out Memorial Day weekend, so it's already better than tent camping with a toddler and infant! ??

My 2002 has red and white wires for the battery and mine is red for pos and white for neg.

Check the individual lights for the dual power sources and bulbs. 12v will only work when there is a battery and 120v will only work if plugged into power.

You can tell if the battery is being charged when plugged in if it reads more than 13.5v.. At rest, it should only read around 12.8v or so assuming it's fully charged.

Does the stove top burners work? If so, that means at least you are getting gas to that point... The hot water tank and the furnace will all be only pilot light units and the fridge 'should' work on 120v or gas, which will be a pilot light too.

The water pump will only be 12v and you have to have water in the tank for it to work. If you hook up a hose to 'city' water on the outside, you don't need the pump. You have to make sure there is an actual "plug" in the city water inlet if you are trying to use the pump, or your pump will just pump it out there..

Sounds like you are willing to get the old RV running again.. Good luck with it, but I'll bet you are going to have to replace some old things with some new things.. ;)

Mitch

The trailer didn't come with a battery, I bought a brand new Optima blue top for it. There is a red wire and a whitw wire for the battery, I assume red is positive. I checked the fuses and none were blown, maybe one of the wires isn't connected, I'll chase them down. Thanks again

Well, the appliances are over 38 years old... Doubt you are going to find replacement parts for them.. You'll have to have a good understanding of how they work first in order to be able to troubleshoot the issue with them and then fix them.. Fridge might have already lost all of it's ammonia, so it won't work even if you get it fired up??

Might start out by making sure all the tubes/flues are clear of debris and you are getting gas out of the burners. You do know how to start a manual pilot lit device, right? The sparkers might not work anymore, so that would be the first thing to check out.. How do you do that? No idea.. I just knew how to light them when I was 13 years old.. ;) I do remember having to use those long wooden match sticks too.. The sparkers on the trailer didn't work all that well when it was new!

It does all start with having 12v power thru out the rig.. The sparkers probably don't need 12v (I have a coleman stove with them and it does not need any power for them) so assuming you have 12v the rest is just making sure the mechanics still work, which sounds like they don't...

It's a restoration project IMO... Unless everything works already, it's gonna take some time, knowledge and $$ to get them working again..

Good luck!

Mitch