New 2018 Trailrunner

[mat60]

First thank you for having me here. I'm picking up our new camper in the morning and cant wail to get it home. We had a old camper that we only used a few times because it needed tires and not much of anything worked in it and it wasn't worth fixing. Its just the wife and I and this is going to be something we can do together. I don't have a lot of money so I will be making payments 4 ever. Its getting cool here in Maine but I will most likely be hanging out in the camper tommrow night with the heat on. Ha Ha. I would like to ask the pros here some things as time goes on. Thanks again. Mark

[temccarthy1]

mat60 wrote:
Thanks guys for the info. Now I need to ask How and where to put the mouse bate. I would hate to have that mess to deal with. Great forum buy the way. I'm 57 years old but am so enjoying learning everything I can about using and maintaining our TT. Been going over the TT looking for things that my cause problems down the road like PVC and wires that need a bit of adjustment.

Would stay away from toxic baits. There are a number of non toxic repellents. Many ( including myself) have used different repellents using pure mint oil or balsam fir oil. The mice don't like the smell and keep out. Used to buy "Fresh Cab" brand but lately not available. Read that they stopped making it but there are other similar brands at Lowes that use pouches that are soaked in peppermint oil. Some people make their own using cotton balls and pure peppermint oil. Also makes the camper smell nice in off season or when storing instead of poison chemicals.

[mat60]

Thanks guys for the info. Now I need to ask How and where to put the mouse bate. I would hate to have that mess to deal with. Great forum buy the way. I'm 57 years old but am so enjoying learning everything I can about using and maintaining our TT. Been going over the TT looking for things that my cause problems down the road like PVC and wires that need a bit of adjustment.

[rbpru]

Congratulations on the new TT. They are a lot of fun.


We will sometimes go south in the winter to get a weather break. Being in Maine you would have to go way south.

However, we have winter camped at the local State Park when they had a February snowshoe hike.

We dry camped and used the heated wash house. They plowed a dozen spot but we were the only ones there. We used a ceramic space heater rather than the LP.

Most TTs are not really designed for winter use. But for a sunny weekend in February it worked out okay.

[temccarthy1]

mat60 wrote:
Good Idea. Was wondering about the oil filled heaters. Wondering how well they work and what model is best. Also yesterday I tried the fridge and it tool a long time for the freezer to get cold but even after 4 hrs the fridge fins never seem to get cold. I read today that the trailer must be level for it to work right and it takes a long time for a TT fridge to get cold but is this normal. Last camper had a small home 115 fridge. I tried it on gas and electric. Just wanted to mace shore its working right. My TT is plugged into my home but running on 115v. Was told at the dealer that its ok to run on 115 using lights, fridge and furnace. Thanks

I would stay away from the oil filled heaters since they take up more space, are hot to the touch if you have kids or pets and do not have a fan and tend to take a while to "spread" their heat. They are also significantly more expensive than a fan forced ceramic heater. Yes, it does take about 8 hours for a RV fridge to start getting cold and overnight to reach its operating temp. I thought something was wrong with mine when we first got our TT! The TT needs to be reasononably level to operate a RV fridge. Not 100% level within a degree, but level enough that you would be able to tell walking or sitting in it if it is not. If you operate an RV fridge out of level, it will do permanent damage to the coils. You should get a 3 ft carpenter's level, keep it in your TT and always use it both forward and sideways to level your TT when you arrive at a campground. Also, make sure it is level when you are storing at your home especially if you plan to use it and the fridge! You are fine running everything on 115V except the A/C. In mine, it usually blows the 20A house breaker after a few minutes if I have any of the camper lights and fridge on also. Enjoy your winter "camping" in your driveway!

[mat60]

Good Idea. Was wondering about the oil filled heaters. Wondering how well they work and what model is best. Also yesterday I tried the fridge and it tool a long time for the freezer to get cold but even after 4 hrs the fridge fins never seem to get cold. I read today that the trailer must be level for it to work right and it takes a long time for a TT fridge to get cold but is this normal. Last camper had a small home 115 fridge. I tried it on gas and electric. Just wanted to mace shore its working right. My TT is plugged into my home but running on 115v. Was told at the dealer that its ok to run on 115 using lights, fridge and furnace. Thanks

[temccarthy1]

mat60 wrote:

temccarthy1 wrote:
Glad to hear they did a full PDI with you and showed you how to winterize. Many dealers would use the excuse that it was "already done" and skip it in November. Also glad you discovered how important the Progressive EMS is to save your unit! Surprising how many people just buy a $30 surge protector and think they are all set! They do nothing for high or low voltage or reverse polarity or lack of ground.
Where do you live in Maine? Acadia has some beautiful National Park Campgrounds! Wondered if you had ever visited there before you bought your TT? I am from Lewiston but lived in frozen Madawaska and Caribou as a kid, but always came back to Round pond in the Pemaquid area to my parent's cottage on the water. Now I own it. Nothing better than the coast of Maine in the summertime! Good luck with your new TT!

- We are in Readfield Maine. We didn't go anywhere real nice with our 1976 free TT that not much of anything worked.:) I bet you enjoy Pemaqid. Have picked up the TT and its home. I was out in it until 2am last night.:D Wife told me this morning see would like to eat supper in it soon. I burned up some gas last night and think a oil fired heater may be something I look into. The TT cools down fast when the heat turns off. I don't think I like the heated underbelly. A lot of cold air comes up the ducks after furnace shuts off. But I do love the camper and its all ready fun and its cold out.

I think you will appreciate the thermal underbelly when you are camping in the Fall and temps drop to the 20's. It will protect your water lines and tank valves underneath by ducting heat from the furnace. Since you are winterized now and just want to enjoy being in it at your home, or watching TV or eating in it, my suggestion is to get a couple small electric heaters with thermostats ( Walmart) for about $24-29 each to heat the camper quicky when you are in it and not burn valuable propane. You don't need to heat the underbelly since it is winterized. Make sure you get heaters with a tip over shut-off switch! That is all we use to heat our TT when we need heat as long as it is above freezing when we are camping. The electric at campgrounds is included and those heaters work great, heat the camper right up fast and cost nothing to operate at a campground. We have 2 of them but have only ever needed 1. They have high, med and low heat and are fanforced ceramic. Try at least one. You will be amazed how fast they will heat it up. I assume you have your TT plugged in at your home.

[mat60]

temccarthy1 wrote:
Glad to hear they did a full PDI with you and showed you how to winterize. Many dealers would use the excuse that it was "already done" and skip it in November. Also glad you discovered how important the Progressive EMS is to save your unit! Surprising how many people just buy a $30 surge protector and think they are all set! They do nothing for high or low voltage or reverse polarity or lack of ground.
Where do you live in Maine? Acadia has some beautiful National Park Campgrounds! Wondered if you had ever visited there before you bought your TT? I am from Lewiston but lived in frozen Madawaska and Caribou as a kid, but always came back to Round pond in the Pemaquid area to my parent's cottage on the water. Now I own it. Nothing better than the coast of Maine in the summertime! Good luck with your new TT!

- We are in Readfield Maine. We didn't go anywhere real nice with our 1976 free TT that not much of anything worked.:) I bet you enjoy Pemaqid. Have picked up the TT and its home. I was out in it until 2am last night.:D Wife told me this morning see would like to eat supper in it soon. I burned up some gas last night and think a oil fired heater may be something I look into. The TT cools down fast when the heat turns off. I don't think I like the heated underbelly. A lot of cold air comes up the ducks after furnace shuts off. But I do love the camper and its all ready fun and its cold out.

[temccarthy1]

Where do you live in Maine? Acadia has some beautiful National Park Campgrounds! Wondered if you had ever visited there before you bought your TT? I am from Lewiston but lived in frozen Madawaska and Caribou as a kid, but always came back to Round pond in the Pemaquid area to my parent's cottage on the water. Now I own it. Nothing better than the coast of Maine in the summertime! Good luck with your new TT!

[afidel]

temccarthy1 wrote:
Congrats on your new TT from a fellow Maine native! I go back every summer to my cottage in Round Pond near New Harbor and Pemaquid Point! I assume if you are picking it up now, that it was already winterized. Check that carefully when you do your walk thru inspection tmrw! MAKE SURE you have them demo everything for you ( except water systems since winterized) turn on every switch, check furnace, A/C, open every single cabinet, run fridge, microwave, TV, stereo. Now is the time if anything doesn't work to get them to fix it. Never fun to have to run back and leave it for a month for some simple fix!
Get a good cover for it! I recommend ADCO available on Amazon. Get the all weather "plus wind" with TYVEC roof for Maine climate. You will have a lot of snow and ice laying on it all winter and a cover will protect it and keep it looking new, free from sun and ice deterioration! Also, That cover comes with tire covers too! Also, make sure to put a Progressive Industries Electrical Management system on your Holiday list. It is a must have and does SO much more than a surge protector! Don't take my word for it. Look it up on Amazon and read the hundreds of positive reviews on that unit! I have a 30A portable and it saved our bacon twice in 2016 on our first uses with it!
Sleep in it a few nights before the cold gets unbearable and then cover it up for a long winter sleep! Don't worry--the cover has zippers so you can go into it in the winter and enjoy the new camper smell some more! Best Wishes!

We got our trailer in November, they did a full PDI including water system and then re-winterized with me helping so that I could learn how to do it. Agree on the Progressive EMS, ours caught a short caused by an open connection between extension cord and trailer cord that had enough moisture to conduct, potentially deadly situation.

[mat60]

temccarthy1 wrote:
Congrats on your new TT from a fellow Maine native! I go back every summer to my cottage in Round Pond near New Harbor and Pemaquid Point! I assume if you are picking it up now, that it was already winterized. Check that carefully when you do your walk thru inspection tmrw! MAKE SURE you have them demo everything for you ( except water systems since winterized) turn on every switch, check furnace, A/C, open every single cabinet, run fridge, microwave, TV, stereo. Now is the time if anything doesn't work to get them to fix it. Never fun to have to run back and leave it for a month for some simple fix!
Get a good cover for it! I recommend ADCO available on Amazon. Get the all weather "plus wind" with TYVEC roof for Maine climate. You will have a lot of snow and ice laying on it all winter and a cover will protect it and keep it looking new, free from sun and ice deterioration! Also, That cover comes with tire covers too! Also, make sure to put a Progressive Industries Electrical Management system on your Holiday list. It is a must have and does SO much more than a surge protector! Don't take my word for it. Look it up on Amazon and read the hundreds of positive reviews on that unit! I have a 30A portable and it saved our bacon twice in 2016 on our first uses with it!
Sleep in it a few nights before the cold gets unbearable and then cover it up for a long winter sleep! Don't worry--the cover has zippers so you can go into it in the winter and enjoy the new camper smell some more! Best Wishes!

..........Thanks I looked into a that cover and the Electrial Management unit. I must start with just the cover for now but I no there will be a long list of things I need by spring. 😄

[mat60]

The camper is new and hasn't had water in the system. The dealer is going to go over it with me. I hope it comes with a good manual. Been having fun getting installing a new 7 way plug and all that's left is the 2 5/16 ball. May pic up a poart a potty. Thanks for the Idea and the welcomes.

[temccarthy1]

Congrats on your new TT from a fellow Maine native! I go back every summer to my cottage in Round Pond near New Harbor and Pemaquid Point! I assume if you are picking it up now, that it was already winterized. Check that carefully when you do your walk thru inspection tmrw! MAKE SURE you have them demo everything for you ( except water systems since winterized) turn on every switch, check furnace, A/C, open every single cabinet, run fridge, microwave, TV, stereo. Now is the time if anything doesn't work to get them to fix it. Never fun to have to run back and leave it for a month for some simple fix!
Get a good cover for it! I recommend ADCO available on Amazon. Get the all weather "plus wind" with TYVEC roof for Maine climate. You will have a lot of snow and ice laying on it all winter and a cover will protect it and keep it looking new, free from sun and ice deterioration! Also, That cover comes with tire covers too! Also, make sure to put a Progressive Industries Electrical Management system on your Holiday list. It is a must have and does SO much more than a surge protector! Don't take my word for it. Look it up on Amazon and read the hundreds of positive reviews on that unit! I have a 30A portable and it saved our bacon twice in 2016 on our first uses with it!
Sleep in it a few nights before the cold gets unbearable and then cover it up for a long winter sleep! Don't worry--the cover has zippers so you can go into it in the winter and enjoy the new camper smell some more! Best Wishes!

[Lwiddis]

A ”driveway” night is a great idea to test all the systems including batteries. Go “naked”...plug into nothing.

[old_guy]

if you are not going to use it until spring for a real outing then be sure they have it winterized for you before you take it off thelot. that alone will save you some big headaches next year