Please help me figure out my Pop-up!

[Dream_Girl]

After a lot of hesitation... I have finally bought my first RV!
(used like new, 2008 Rockwood 1910 Pop-up)

My family are all against RV's when it comes to camping, and since I bought this RV from privet sale, no help from my local dealers either...
(The RV dealer literally told me that I am S.O.L)

I am no quitter, so...
After watching a lot of YouTube videos, and a lot of reading over the Web I now know how to open the Pop-up properly (no biggie) and how to use most of the things (I also downloaded the Pop-up owner manual)

But, there are a few thing that I can't find an answer for...

1. My Pop-up was winterize, and still have pink water in the fresh water tank (antifreeze I guess)
I can't find any info on how to properly an-winterize my Pop-up.
(this info is missing from the owner manual!)

2. I plugged the pop-up power cable in to a 110V (garage) for a few hours. everything was working (lights&fans), but when it is not plugged - nothing work?
I was hoping to have some light or a 12v fan using the battery when camping of grid...
Is that normal, or I am missing something?

3. What is the big black and clumsy hose for? is that the sewer pipe?
I do have a sink, but I don't think that my model have a gray water tank, and the black pipe is coming out from the side of the RV, not from the bottom...

4. The small propane tank has no gauge, How can I tell how much propane I have left without a gauge?
can I just buy a gauge and add it later? I will assume so, but I asked anyway.

Thanks.

[Dream_Girl]

Thank you everyone!
The lose of power was due to a loose fuse! now all is good!

I also sent an email to the Pop-up owner and he was very nice and answered all my questions!

I am now READY TO CAMP! 🙂

[rehoppe]

DG
Oh by the way. The elec. works when plugged in, and not when unplugged? Check the voltage in the battery first. Then check the output of the converter.... Sounds like the converter is not charging the battery..... this assumes you don't have a manual switch from shore to battery.

[rehoppe]

DG
I always carry an extra 20#er. But then I don't always have shorepower either. So I have two batteries as well.

Well, that was with the pop up. Now I have the MH, but still carry an extra 20 propane, and added a battery to it as well. Even though it has a generator.

Do spend time getting aware of what you NEED. You may not need to worry about the battery IF you Always camp with amenities. Here in Colorado there are a lot of places to camp that do not even have water from a hose. lol

If you have shorepower. Will you cook with propane of an electric hotplate? So maybe you don't even need propane? A ceramic heater is just fine for 'warmer' climates.

If you do carry propane. Be aware that some propane dealers charge you for a full tank no matter how little you have used. Some like to gouge you at every turn. That's why I always carry an extra tank. It stays full until the other is empty. Up here I've been in the Flattops on the 4th of July, and had it rain, snow, sleet, and oh yes the wind was blowing too. My neighbors used over 100#s of prop. in a week to heat their 5th wheel, so I learned to carry spares.

[rbpru]

I would be on the phone to the people who I bought the unit from re-asking the questions. They probably have had the same issues in the past.

Heck I took pictures with my dealer showing me what to do and I still had several head scratchers.

They sell a little magnetic temperature sensitive strip that sticks to the side of the propane tank that gives a rough estimation of the propane level. I take the tank off of my gas grill as a spare to tide me over if I run out.

Also, many people just use their Porta-Potty for those middle of the night pee breaks to save a trip to the washhouse.

Have fun and enjoy the ride.

[camp-n-family]

Our old pup had a battery cut-off switch as part of the flip up kitchen counter top. When setting up the lights etc wouldn't work until the counter was flipped up for use. It would sit on a switch that activated the electric system. It was there to prevent lights and stuff being left on when the trailer was closed up. Might want to check for that.

[lanerd]

Ok, there's one other thing no one has mentioned. On your positive cable running from your battery to the inside of your Pup, you should be able to find an in-line fuse. Just follow the cable and you'll find it. Open it up and maybe, just maybe, it will be blown.

Good luck.

Ron

[francheska]

As for the dealer that said you are out of luck. Ignore him and check out different dealers for help if necessary, because you will need to purchase accessary items and you can shop from someone who helps you. Also if you need to go back to the person who sold it to you for some information. Plus almost any
camper in a camp ground with a similar unit would probably be willing to help answer questions. Good
luck and enjoy.

[p220sigman]

You've gotten good advice so far. I would definately set up at home or at a campground close by to start. This allows you to camp and still be able to run go get those things that you see you need or if you have a problem, just run home to sleep.

As was said, the propane should last a long time. We generally have to fill ours about every 18 months, but we don't generally run the heater at all and mostly cook outside so about the only thing that is running on it is the water heater. If it is a concern, take the tank off and take it to a propane dealer and top it off then you know you are starting with a full tank.

The second biggest thing is to just take your time and if you don't understand something about the setup, ask questions or research until you understand. The biggest thing is to have fun, this is why you are camping.

[Dream_Girl]

loulou57 wrote:
Dream girl...good for you. A few years back my daughter bought a used, really old, heavy tent trailer. It was a hard top, crank. There was her and her 2 under 5 year older. She had camped before mom and dad doing all the set up. She learned as she went, even when the cable broke on the crank up. She quickly rummaged around the campground and found a 2x6 that held up the one side. Enjoy, you won't regret it.
First, what type of toilet do you have?
For the blk hose, does it look like it fits any connection close to your toilet? Blk, usually, almost always means toilet...handle it with gloves, it is used. Hook it up wherever it fits. Put some water into the toilet, open the outside valve where you connected the hose and empty it into a pail. Beware of any residual contents. You can buy a portable tank on wheels that you could hook up directly to your camper so you can use your toilet for a few days.
Your sink water should come out a smaller outlet, closer to the sink. Years ago people just let the sink water run out onto the ground...not acceptable. You can get a short hose that you can attached. Let the sink water drain into a suitable holding tank and then empty that in the blk/Grey water CG disposal.
Important....a white hose should be used to fill any fresh water tank. Do not store your white hose with any blk hose for obvious reasons.
Set up you camper at home and pretend you are camping away from home, you will guickly figure things out.

Thank you.
I got a "Porta Potty" with the Pop-up, BUT I am not going to use it.
we always camp near full service facility (usually 2-3 campsites away)
So I am not worry too much when it come to toilets...
I did bought a portable holding tank for the sink! I just need to understand what pipe goes where...

[loulou57]

Dream girl...good for you. A few years back my daughter bought a used, really old, heavy tent trailer. It was a hard top, crank. There was her and her 2 under 5 year older. She had camped before mom and dad doing all the set up. She learned as she went, even when the cable broke on the crank up. She quickly rummaged around the campground and found a 2x6 that held up the one side. Enjoy, you won't regret it.
First, what type of toilet do you have?
For the blk hose, does it look like it fits any connection close to your toilet? Blk, usually, almost always means toilet...handle it with gloves, it is used. Hook it up wherever it fits. Put some water into the toilet, open the outside valve where you connected the hose and empty it into a pail. Beware of any residual contents. You can buy a portable tank on wheels that you could hook up directly to your camper so you can use your toilet for a few days.
Your sink water should come out a smaller outlet, closer to the sink. Years ago people just let the sink water run out onto the ground...not acceptable. You can get a short hose that you can attached. Let the sink water drain into a suitable holding tank and then empty that in the blk/Grey water CG disposal.
Important....a white hose should be used to fill any fresh water tank. Do not store your white hose with any blk hose for obvious reasons.
Set up you camper at home and pretend you are camping away from home, you will guickly figure things out.

[donn0128]

You will need to check. Likely no disconnect but guaranteed there will be a fuse. Very possible it has blown.

[KMP44]

Dream Girl wrote:


But, there are a few thing that I can't find an answer for...

1. My Pop-up was winterize, and still have pink water in the fresh water tank (antifreeze I guess)
I can't find any info on how to properly an-winterize my Pop-up.
(this info is missing from the owner manual!)For this, I would guess your popup doesn't have a dedicated anti-freeze inlet, so you are going to connect the city water hose and flush the lines by opening each faucet one at a time, and you also want to fill the fresh water tank, flush the lines again, and then drain the rest of the water from the tank. Its also good to sanitze the system. Re-fill the tank and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of bleach. This can be tricky to get the bleach in and usually requires a homemade funnel from a soda bottle or something similar. Let the bleach water sit in the tank and pipes for about 4 hours or more, then drain and flush with fresh water. And if you have a water heater, find a manual online for it. It may be drained and/or bypassed so you need to flush and fill it as well as part of the process

2. I plugged the pop-up power cable in to a 110V (garage) for a few hours. everything was working (lights&fans), but when it is not plugged - nothing work? Sounds like either the battery is disconnected or dead. Also be careful about a battery being connected backwards - which will blow the fuses in the converter. The negative wire will always be connected to the frame - that is how you can be sure which one is which.
I was hoping to have some light or a 12v fan using the battery when camping of grid...
Is that normal, or I am missing something? No, these should work on battery. Need to troubleshoot that. See above, and a $15 multi-meter from Sears/Lowes wherever will be great tool to help you with rv electrical issues that we all run into. You check across the posts of the battery for the voltage when plugged in and when not plugged in. If you can measure about 12 volts on the battery when not plugged in, the issue is the wiring or fuses. Worst case, take the battery to an auto parts store and they will test it for you.

3. What is the big black and clumsy hose for? is that the sewer pipe?
I do have a sink, but I don't think that my model have a gray water tank, and the black pipe is coming out from the side of the RV, not from the bottom... Not familiar with you model, but ours had no holding tank. You can buy a portable tank with wheels at an rv store or on Amazon. In 13 years with our popup we never used the water system. Fairly small and a lot of work to setup/maintain. We just heated water on the stove and used a couple big dish bins outside, or a lot of places we camped had dishwashing sinks near the bathrooms or laundry rooms. But if you get a holding tank, you can use your system - lots of people do.

4. The small propane tank has no gauge, How can I tell how much propane I have left without a gauge?
can I just buy a gauge and add it later? I will assume so, but I asked anyway.Yes, something like this can be added http://www.genuinehotrod.com/itemgroup/gaswatch-propane-tank-level-gauge?seid=ghhse1&gclid=CKPLpMGDhr4CFfRZ7AodkgMA_w
Or you can estimate by weight / sound when knocking on it, or the frost line if the weather is warm. None of the gauges out there seem to be super accurate. Unless you are running the furnace, a tank will last a long time. We could go 20+ days even with the fridge on propane with our popup.

Thanks.

Good luck. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick, and hopefully the rest of the family comes to enjoy camping. We certainly got many years of enjoyment out of our popup.

[Dream_Girl]

Thank you donn0128 for the detailed info on the dewinterize the pop-up!
- I do have a deep cycle battery on the Pop-up, and it is charged, but no power in the RV... could it be a switch or something that I need to turn on?
- I think that the black pipe IS the drain hose! THANKS!
- Also, we do a lot of camping in my family (my father and my two big brothers), they just don't like the RV idea so much... maybe they don't understand how hard it is for a girl to camp or maybe I am just a spoiled girl after all... but even if I do, I just want to have some fun too when I am in the outdoor! why I should suffer? 🙂

Thank you popeyemth for your concern,
The previous owner of the Pop-up did demonstrate that all systems in the Pop-up works, I was just too overwhelmed and excited to memorized it all...

[lanerd]

Don gave good advice. I can only add that before you do anything, make sure you either have a fully charged battery, or go purchase a new one. As he mentioned, make sure it is a deep cycle battery that is measured in xxx number of amp hours.....not cold cranking amps. The more amp hours it has, the better.

When I had my Pup, I always kept a regular battery charger available and when I was camped that had 120vac available, I would charge my battery. You may have a converter in your Pup that will charge your battery while connected to 120vac...maybe not.

Good luck and enjoy...

Ron