RV Camping; Tips, tricks & repairs

[nzwasp]

Has anyone with and older trailer used or have a hand pump. We have one on our boler a rocket hand pump from valterra and I’ve had no success being able to pump water with it. I attached a 3/8” line to it and then put the other side into a container under the trailer through a rubber bung. I pumped it maybe like 50 times and there has been no water at all.

The other thing I would like to know is do you guys bother to keep your batteries charged over winter. If the trailer is parked in some yard somewhere I can’t see how you would be able to keep it charged at all, I presume over a large amount of time the batteries slowly discharge?

[Brent.ff]

I’ve got my battery on a trickle charger / tender in the garage. If you just leave it outside you’ll eventually toast it as it self discharges

[Thaco]

cant say for the pump, but electric pumps are cheap, i'ld swap it out, or at least use a drill pump..

as for batteries, pull them out, take em home, keep them in your basement on a battery maintainer.... or at the very least disconnect them entirely and make sure they are fully charged before parking it

[nzwasp]

I will look into a battery maintainer. The wiring is a pain in the arse to unhook and redo though but it’s prob better than keeping in my garage inside the trailer all the time

[ExtraSlow]

Batteries left hooked up will discharge over time. Depending on the trailer, some in as short as a week or two. Once discharged they can freeze, which is bad, and of they discharge deeply (past 11.0V I think) it can cause permanent damage.
Unhook them, bring them inside, and at the very least charge them a couple of times over the winter, or better yet leave them hooked up to a maintainer.

[Thaco]

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I will look into a battery maintainer. The wiring is a pain in the arse to unhook and redo though but it’s prob better than keeping in my garage inside the trailer all the time

if you have access to power you can leave them hooked up to the trailer as long as the maintainer is on them, they wont freeze unless they discharge... and once they freeze they're garbage.

A simple charger like this will work fine (wait for them to go on sale, its like $20)
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...1506p.html#srp

make sure it is a maintainer or intelligent charger though, otherwise you'll have the opposite problem and overcharge the battery and it'll boil and leak.

[nzwasp]

I bought a 1.5amp 12v maintainer from amazon for $20. Only bought the batteries last August and they were charged when I parked it in my garage. They are sealed agm batteries so hopefully they are alright I will hook my normal battery charger to them this week. They live under my seats inside the trailer too where it’s warmer

[Thaco]

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I bought a 1.5amp 12v maintainer from amazon for $20. Only bought the batteries last August and they were charged when I parked it in my garage. They are sealed agm batteries so hopefully they are alright I will hook my normal battery charger to them this week. They live under my seats inside the trailer too where it’s warmer

before you charge them toss a multimeter on it and see what the voltage is, should give you a good idea if its been (potentially) damaged.

[nzwasp]

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before you charge them toss a multimeter on it and see what the voltage is, should give you a good idea if its been (potentially) damaged.

Just checked them out the multimeter was reading 12.55 volts across both batteries. I put them in the garage fully charged and there is only one thing connected to them a fridge that was turned off so they have kept their charge. I believe (correct me if Im wrong) that batteries can be charged up to around 13.x Volts so I chucked my trickle charger (2amp not smart) from canadian tire on them for a day or so just now. I will measure them again tonight.

[AndyL]

Easiest way, is just to put a little solar panel in a window... With a charge controller is great but even those itty bitty 20w 6x12" panels that are like 20$ at crappy tire or princess auto - will usually keep things topped up over winter (YMMV, we only had one smoke alarm and no logic boards to draw from batteries)

[Kjonus]

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Has anyone with and older trailer used or have a hand pump. We have one on our boler a rocket hand pump from valterra and I’ve had no success being able to pump water with it. I attached a 3/8” line to it and then put the other side into a container under the trailer through a rubber bung. I pumped it maybe like 50 times and there has been no water at all.

I'm going to assume that you won't be drinking the water so what I did was hit up a junk yard and get a windshield washer pump. Hook it up to the same water line as the rocker pump, tap into some​ power with a switch a day you'll be able to drain your tank in no time.

[nzwasp]

I think we were just using it for washing dishes but this is a good tip I think they sell electronic pumps similar to this too. Once spring hits I’m going to get it out of my garage and start working on it again.

[Thaco]

small diaphragm pumps are cheap, and they shut off when they get to sufficient pressure, its easier than switching the pump on and off.

[ExtraSlow]

Gave up on doing a custom built battery /tool box combo, and didn't like the prices of the only ones I found online. If anyone has money to burn, here's some nice boxes. https://www.torklift.com/rv/powerarmor

Buying the cheapies insteadhttps://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00316KU6E/..._J7vYAbM6YV8P6 and I'll keep my tools in a toolbox in the trailer. No biggie.

Can't wait to get this rig rolling down the road.

[ExtraSlow]

Battery boxes showed up. Fun!

[ExtraSlow]

Installed the battery boxes, batteries, WDH brackets and by far best of all, removed the television. Now I'm ready for trip #1 on the long weekend.






Anyone want to buy a TCL branded television? Brand new, good price.

Edit: that battery wiring is temporary until I install a proper battery disconnect switch. The one that comes with this rig only Disconnects some circuits, which seems stupid to me. Will make up custom length wires when the disconnect switch goes in.

Edit #2: you can see there's no room for larger battery box /tool storage combo there. My WDH brackets are already cramped.

[craigcd]

^^ they do sell a battery box that fits 2 batteries side by side. Found it better for limited space. I should have posted it in here, I think i tossed it when i moved last summer!

[ExtraSlow]

I could never find one that wasn't insanely expensive. These were dirt cheap, and I'm cheap, and it fit in the little angle-iron spot lippert puts on these frames, so that worked out nice.

[craigcd]

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I could never find one that wasn't insanely expensive. These were dirt cheap, and I'm cheap, and it fit in the little angle-iron spot lippert puts on these frames, so that worked out nice.

I grabbed it from the battery place down by the south princess auto. I think it was $35 or so!

[ExtraSlow]

Damn you.