Old Trailer Fix Ups...

[Groovyphoenix]

So I've had this trailer which we purchased three years ago.

Roof doesn't leak, where we are we have no running water, power or cell service, and yes I love it! This is my isolation from the modern world (mostly)

I grow a bit bored being there sometimes and I wanted to modernize it a little bit. Got a great deal on a solar panel kit that I will be runnin along with a battery for the trailer. I hooked up said battery and discovered to my dismay 2 things.

1) One of my battery fuses (the screw in part of it) appears to be broken and replacement parts will be almos timpossible to come by...

I have an old Master Coach trailer that is from Dauphine the manufacturer appears to be out of business or at least not in the same place I have. (I will post pics in this thread this evening once I upload them to my server)

So I guess some geenral questions...

Only a few of my inside lights (the small lightbulbs from a car type) appear to work, I changed them all out with a good working and only 2 of the lights actually work. (Possibly due to the broken fuzse?) I am thinking that maybe these are also connected in a straight line (meaning they are all interconnected and go around the trailer?) Only 2 lights work the rest all do not, the first 2 in what I'd call the "line" work after that they stop.

I already fixed my leaking pipe and I'm pretty handy with all tools so I don't mind doing the work if folks can chime in with some ideas/knowledge!

Thanks ahead. Pics to come later tonight!

[Groovyphoenix]

So I know it's been a long time since I poted on here and this topic might be dead but I figured I'd provide an update.

ALL lights are now working! We looked over the built in power controller and found that the previous owner almost set fire to the place! He had connected ALL the grounds together I guess to make a super fuse or instead of replacing the broken one he piggy backed, not sure his logic.

I got a hold of 4 15/20 AMP rated fused holders pulled the panel with a friend and we connected it all properly. No more draining, and ALL lights work.

I even took an idea I saw here and purchased a small 12V fan and placed it in the corner near a window to help pull in the cool air in the sleeping area.

We also brough in a 3 inch foam matress to put on top of the bed for better sleeping.

[Groovyphoenix]

Another factor that I just remembered, and yes this is important.

When the trailer was moved where it was my roof did suffer some damage (thankfully nothing major but some damage) the rood was "pushed" down by a tree branch, around where co-incidentally the light is not working from... Which is why I was thinking that most probably this set of lights runs in a circuit around the trailer, the good news in this is the way everything is done I might actually be able to snake a new wire with little "show" and fix it all, and frankly if thats all it takes I just need the correct "gauge" wire to run and do this job. Since the light near the bathroom/closet works I think I could probably etch the wire there and then redo the run to the first light, and if it then picks up and works I could regain my lighting.

Plan to fix the bed this year as well and purchase a new mattress for it, a nice think foam and cut it out myself if needed because right now, our bed is pretty lumpy hot and small for us and since we use it at a bed 24/7 and never fold it up I figure a more comfortable mattress wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for all the advice you guys provided! I do appreciate it btw.

[Groovyphoenix]

Noticed, the linked battery said it was a dc-27 mine is a dc-29 for size, not that it makes a huge difference but it's apparently longer charge.

[Groovyphoenix]

westend wrote:
The 32V fuse holder will work fine, it is just rated to a higher voltage, no worries. Even though the Coleman solar panel is only low wattage, it could help as a battery maintainer. Lots of folks are using those Walmart marine hybrid batteries for their RV batteries.

I figured that since I don't use the battery much (only one weekend) then we're gone for two weeks out (usually) witht he charger it might be enough time to keep it charged during the summer times, it outputs about 22V and the regulator will keep it from overcharging the battery, the only reason we got this one was due to the sale price, though I am thinking of getting a 40W kit if they go on sale again this summer.

[westend]

The 32V fuse holder will work fine, it is just rated to a higher voltage, no worries. Even though the Coleman solar panel is only low wattage, it could help as a battery maintainer. Lots of folks are using those Walmart marine hybrid batteries for their RV batteries.

[Groovyphoenix]

steve-n-vicki wrote:
the fuse holder is available look up panel mount fuse holder

Inoticed some have different voltage? One at princess auto says 32v 20amp would that be adequate? The 20amp is what's currently plugging into that and it appears to be a simple enough job to unhook/reconnect it being only 2 wires I think I could handle doing the job myself.

As for the trickle charge, right now it's not in the budget as I would need 1 for each battery I just thought putting htem on the charger (for the time being) would be adequate since it's still recharging and letting it drain a bit.

I so far have this setup...

Eliminator Battery Pack

Battery I purchased

Solar Panel Kit

This is the solar panel kit I have (I got it for cheaper as well)

I have another battery for the trolling motor as well that I could swap out in a pinch but that's the battery I plan to go with for the RV use. Any opinions? or did I just throw away my money? 8-)

[steve-n-vicki]

the fuse holder is available look up panel mount fuse holder

[no2tracks]

Put the battery on a battery Tender whenever it's not in use. It's much better than a once a month charge.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=battery+tender+chargers&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=31138155410&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16902698790253116111&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_6pv2hovikz_b

[Groovyphoenix]

Not sure what the #2 runs, yes, there are 120v and 12v switch as the plugs do not work on battery and the main light over the table will not work (a 60W light) all others are 12V lighting and thats why Iw as curious about the way it was wired up just because if it is in a "line" the 1st 2 lights work but after that they fail, it is also where I placed a shelf that might have caused damage (not sure) I'm not really looking to spend millions on as someone noted a 40+ year old trailer I would just like a simple way of fixing a few of the lights so we can play cards at night and etc. We have a solar panel for recharging the battery which I wil be installing this year and a new batter as well so I am hoping that all will work out well this year. We got everything a bit too late in the season (Oct madness sales) so we were able to port it over but not put the work in.

How do you guys handle winterizing the batteries? Right now I am letting them sit and once a month I hook up my battery charger and let it recharge... This a good method?

[rrev]

Do you know what fuses run what? Maybe you can switch a couple wires around and bypass #2 for now. Maybe check your local electric repair place to see if they can replace the#2 socket or replace the who converter. But first I'd try the jumper wire that was already suggested.

[MitchF150]

If that's a mid 70's to early 80's vintage TT, it probably has lights that only work on 120v and other's that only work on 12v. The 120v lights will be your standard 40-60 watt light bulbs.. The 12v lights will look like your vehicles tail lights.

When I was a teen in the mid 70's, we had a 76 vintage TT and that's the way the lights worked in it. No converter at all and it was either you were plugged into 120v or you were on the 12v battery. If you have an INVERTER that takes 12v power and makes it into 120v, that's different. But, it'll drain a 12v battery pretty fast even if it's being charged daily.

The only time the wall plugs worked in that trailer was when you were plugged into 120v.

The propane operated appliances like the fridge, the water heater and the furnace had actual pilot lights that you had to light first and they stayed lit all the time until the actual flame was needed. Well, the fridge just ran off the pilot and it never went out until you turned it off.

I've never heard of of propane lines "plugging up", but the fresh air parts of the system could get plugged by bugs doing their thing in there..

Lots of manual stuff to do with those older trailers to get things to work when it's all working normally, so it could be alot of different things that aren't in sync if it's over 30 years old.

Good luck!

Mitch

[no2tracks]

Check the oven for a thermocoupler. If it has one, it's probably bad and needs replacement to keep the oven running.

[Groovyphoenix]

Here is the information I have fo the trailer, not sure if it will help anyone overall. As you can see, the #2 one is just "hanging" there.




This is the completed kitchen counter.



This is what's printed in the cupboard, I took 2 picutres but it's not great.





One thing to note, the FAN above the stove works wonderfully which made me laugh as I did not think this would work on Battery, it's handy since we cook inside on rainy days and this clears up a LOT of smoke!

I also did research to try very hard to find documents for this trailer, so if anyone can or know where I can find one I would greatly appreciate it!

I did find the fridge and stove directions but not for the trailer itself.

[Groovyphoenix]

opnspaces wrote:
Good looking trailer. Did you repaint the green stripe on the outside or is it just in good condition?

As far as your lights the first thing I would do is try to verify if I lost the ground or the power. Find a way to test a good working fixture so you can reliably identify good power and good ground. Now get a long enough piece of wire and open the first non working light fixture. Connect your long jumper wire between the ground on the non working light and the ground on the working light. If the light now works you know you have a broken ground or bad socket.

If still no light take the jumper wire and try to feed power from the good fixture to the bad fixture. Based on what you find you might be able to pull the good and bad lights off the ceiling and run a wire between them by going up into the ceiling and back down at the other light.

Are you sure that the broken fuse holder isn't the problem for the non working lights?

Yes the green was repainted with vinyl paint (it's a vinyl siding after all, so it works quite well) We're thinking of giving a coat of paint to the rest of it as well and painting big 60's style flower power stuff on it just for giggles. Yes, this place is our little piece of silly too.

I'm not sure if the broken fuse holder is the issue since it's broken and I can't test it, but I was thinking of swapping the lights out for LED ones (to save power) and if I did that I might be able to use the working lights to build some form of chain to provide lights.

The volt meter I have is a very good one that measures and gives a display, it read 0.00V on it when I measured, and I did the working one and got around 11.9 or something I forget the exact number.

My wife and I have been working and modelling the place pretty much to get it to be liveable, we don't mind "roughing it" a little bit since well it's not exactly the ritz! It's in good shape though.

Next year the solar panel will get hooked up, I plan on buying a new foam mattress that I can cut up and make fit in the bedroom place for us, tired of feeling the cushion separators on my back. We purchased a small egg crate mattress and that helps but it is sweaty and warm.

Looks like I may be doing some reqiring as suggested and do a connection and see, it may just be that the mice snacked on one location that was available and that broke the chain.

What kind of LED lights would you suggest? I don't mind putting a bit of output to the trailer since it is my home away from home and I enjoy working on it!