Purchasing my first Travel Trailer need advice

[ADawg]

Thanks for the help and great advice and I really mean it . I will let you know how my first backup session goes today. I can not wait to go make memories my kids are bugging me already to go camping Lol!

Edited March 14, 2016 by ADawg

[Killer223]

test drive it in the driveway. camp out for a weekend in the driveway or back yard. You might learn alot about what you need and or are missing. what you don't need. etc.

and no cheating and going into the house.

[Mopar1973Man]

On 3/16/2016 at 6:08 PM, Killer223 said:

test drive it in the driveway. camp out for a weekend in the driveway or back yard. You might learn alot about what you need and or are missing. what you don't need. etc.

and no cheating and going into the house.

Actually, I suggest the same thing but I highly suggest the cheating and going to the house for the things you forgot. Then I suggest buying another set of whatever for the RV. We are now down to just packing clothes and electronics. Most of the other stuff is already packed in the RV. So saying we are going to leave is just a few hours of packing and straightening out around the house and locking up. We normally don't bother with food we pick that up on the way usually hitting a larger city store and getting something we normally can't have.

As for the RV I highly suggest doing it without hook ups that way you understand the capacity of water, holding tanks, and power. You learn extremely fast what you can and can't do.

Edited March 17, 2016 by Mopar1973Man

[ADawg]

Well I brought her home Monday I got it in the spot but not without a battle scar I had to re- position and instead of taking my time I flew out like a moron and caught the brick wall.

 

 

But after 30 min and some frustration I got it

[Hawkez]

That's called character and experience.  It is a great looking trailer.

[ADawg]

3 minutes ago, Hawkez said:

That's called character and experience.  It is a great looking trailer.

Thanks! yes you are right but I wish it happened after a few months and a couple of camping trips. But I am excited to get out and go camping. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Nice trailer. Interior shot?

Battle scars are set in now. Mine were pre-installed by the previous owner.

[ADawg]

The guy did an awesome job with the weight distribution hitch install i have bags but no air in them and it does not even look like I am hauling anything.

[IBMobile]

When backing up into a tight confined area, especially at night I use 2 way radios.  I put one on the dash and have my spotter talk me in with the other.  Think of it, the back end of that trailer is 40' from where your sitting. 

[ADawg]

OK guys now I need a little advice. My awning light on my trailer stopped working the remote I have use to turn it on the switch never did for some reason. So I plugged my trailer in and I was checking everything and noticed the light didnt work I turned the switch on it blew a fuse. I whipped out the volt meter and it shows a little over 13 volts going out when the switch is on and 16 amps. The fuse that the dealer put in it was a 15 amp. When we picked up the trailer they said they had to replace a fuse which is the same fuse that is blowing now. So my question is do I put a bigger fuse just to check it out? Is the LED strip bad now? The reason I am asking is I am leaving friday to go on a trip. I have been trying to leave work early to take it to the dealer so they can look at it with no luck. I was hoping this could be an easy fix that I could take care of. Thanks for any the help.

[Mopar1973Man]

I would say the LED strip is bad and drawing to much amperage. 16 Amp x 12 Volts = 192 Watts. That's like my pair of aircraft landing lights on the front of my truck 100w a piece...

[ADawg]

11 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I would say the LED strip is bad and drawing to much amperage. 16 Amp x 12 Volts = 192 Watts. That's like my pair of aircraft landing lights on the front of my truck 100w a piece...

OK Thank you for the help. It just bites that it has gone bad when I have only turned it on maybe 5 times since picking it up. But oh well at least its still under warranty I guess.

[IBMobile]

1 hour ago, ADawg said:

So my question is do I put a bigger fuse just to check it out? Is the LED strip bad now? 

Never, ever put a bigger fuse in to test for a short circuit. The wires will heat up and burn thing around them before the fuse will blow.  I had to fix the aftermath of an electrical fire because someone put a 16 amp fuse where an 8 amp went.      

[Mopar1973Man]

Even in my mess...

 

That was a stock 40A fuse for that circuit. Didn't take it long to let the magic smoke out of the wires...

[ADawg]

20 hours ago, IBMobile said:

Never, ever put a bigger fuse in to test for a short circuit. The wires will heat up and burn thing around them before the fuse will blow.  I had to fix the aftermath of an electrical fire because someone put a 16 amp fuse where an 8 amp went.      

 

I agree it was a thought but I knew the possible ramifications if I did so I did the right thing. When I get back from this trip I will take it in to get fixed.

[Hawkez]

As a kid I used to roll up a tin foil gum wrapper and shove it in the fuze block .  I never had to buy spare fuzes after that.

[Mopar1973Man]

I did that too until the day the main power lead coming in the cab of my 1973 Charger got over loaded from a bad blower motor and I used a bigger fuse with a gum wrapper. Needless to say the magic smoke can out of the wires under the dash and left me stuck on I84. I did get going again my Fluke meter wires did the trick till I got home in California again.