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NAP1947 
Groupie 
Joined: 14 Aug 2017 Location: Ottawa, Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 72 |
 Topic: Senior CampersPosted: 18 Sep 2020 at 7:21am |
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Hello, we have been getting a lot of use from our 179 and love the trailer and freedom.
However, old age (73+ for both us) and growing physical limitations have us looking for ways to make setting up and taking down easier while staying within a tight budget and not wanting to change our little home. I have been looking for a place where folks whose bodies are not what they used to be to hang out and share ideas to keep on the road? Secondly, my TV has stopped charging the batteries, I have #8 wire working through a solenoid. The #8 is continuous from the TV battery to the circuit breakers under the left front corner. The connections through these breakers do not make sense to me, does anyone have a schematic of the 12 volt system? As usual thanks. Norm |
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Susan and Norm
2016 Venza, V6 factory tow 2018 RP179 |
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offgrid
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 8:02am |
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There isn't a schematic for the rPod electrical system unfortunately. That being said, the charging circuit from the tow vehicle should be straightforward. If you have a multimeter check to confirm you have +12V getting to the 7 way connector and from there to the tow vehicle side of the circuit breaker. You should be able to trace the wiring.
Re ease of setting up, we try to keep things very light and simple. Small Clam popup rather than rdome. Small propane grill on a 1 lb can. A couple of folding chairs. That's it unless I need to put up my cell booster/antenna to get a signal.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288 |
Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 9:06am |
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There are some changes that you can make to ease life. If the crawl-over is getting old, you could modify the dinette to make it better for use. I did that as I have had back surgery and thought that some day, I might not be able to do the crawl-over. It is in my mods. Some of my other mods might be of use also. As for charging, check to see that your solenoid is still working. It may have gone bad. Are you sure that it is closing to allow power to flow to the RPod? Have you checked with a meter to be sure? It could also be that the fuse for the circuit feeding the solenoid has gone bad if you have one there. I likewise put in a dedicated charging circuit for the RPod because the regular circuit would not work for a LiFePO4 battery. That is written up also. Before worrying about the breaker in the RPod, confirm that the TV's circuits are working properly. If the TV's circuits are working properly, then start to trace the RPod's circuits. Just confirm voltage at the connector, then at the point where the wire from the connector goes to the breaker under the front. If that is okay, then go to the next point. You could use a multimeter to confirm which wire from the 7-way is the one that provides power. That is, unless you did like I did and ran a completely separate circuit. I actually disconnected the 12V wire from the breaker because I did not want power feeding back from the dedicated charging circuit through the 7-way.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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lostagain
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Sep 2016 Location: Quaker Hill, CT Online Status: Offline Posts: 2587 |
Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 9:18am |
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I just turned 73 the other day and find that keeping camping as simple as possible is part of extending your ability to camp. OG's suggestion are good ones. There are a couple other things you can do to make it a little easier. If you don't already have an electric tongue jack, there are inexpensive ones that are easy to install available in the market. A battery powered small impact driver helps with the stabilizer jacks. Knee pads make things easier too. Food preparation simplicity also helps. We try to prepare some meals either fully or partially, use prepackaged ready to eat salads, and try to minimize the utensils and such that need to be washed.
The other part of extending your camping ability is simply trying to keep as healthy as possible. Everyone has his/her preferences and practices in this regard, but exercise and maintaining flexibility are critical. Our camping season was cut short this year due to SARS-CoV-2 and when the campgrounds finally opened, the fire season started. We have had to cancel several trips due to smoke and campground closures. In fact, all of our national forest campgrounds in region 5 (Pacific S.W.) are closed until they have better control of the fires. It's a rolling closure so no one really knows for certain when they'll be able to reopen and when they do most will be closing for winter. It's frustrating at our age when each delay is time that can never be recovered and, notwithstanding our best efforts, we aren't getting younger.
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Never leave footprints behind.
Fred & Maria Kearney Sonoma 167RB Our Pod 172 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost |
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NAP1947
Groupie
Joined: 14 Aug 2017 Location: Ottawa, Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 72 |
Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 4:57pm |
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Thank you, good suggestions, I will look at power tongue jacks, currently I use a cordless drill with clutch and torque control but find my wrists which have both been damaged in the past and have heavy arthritis cannot hold the drill tight enough, seems a simple solution.
Stephen H good to know you are still here, I have checked with my volt metre and all is good to the TV side of the R-Pod circuit breaker. What has me confused is I do not get a clean 12v on the output side of the breaker, in fact there is a copper strap from the TV side of the breaker to the adjacent breaker which then feeds to an apparent ground, makes no sense to me at all unless it is meant to somehow prevent over charging. I have searched for generic 12v trailer schematics without success and it has been too cold to lay on the ground and do more testing. Silly place to put electric devices, I may wait till spring to do more and possibly move those breakers to a more protected and accessible location. |
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Susan and Norm
2016 Venza, V6 factory tow 2018 RP179 |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6288 |
Posted: 18 Sep 2020 at 7:18pm |
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You may want to loosen all the nuts on the breakers and check the connections for corrosion. Clean them off and then reattach them (do them one at a time so you don't confuse the connections). Once you get that done, you could also put a little silicone grease on them to prevent corrosion. I agree that it is a rather poor location. However, it is difficult to find a good, protected place for them.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 19 Sep 2020 at 10:38am |
When you say you don't get clean 12V on the cb output, can you be more specific? Is it some other voltage, zero volts, intermittently 12V? Its really easy to get a bad voltage reading if you have corrosion, both the + and - leads to the multimeter have to be making good contact.
There would never be a short to ground created to prevent overcharging, so that second cb is doing something else. Use your multimeter to determine whether the wire that looks like its going to ground really does. You can use the ohms scale for that, but be sure to verify there is no voltage on it first. Most likely the reason the cb's are where they are is to protect the wires from shorts before they enter the trailer box. If a short occurs and there's no breaker protecting that section of wire the wire will overheat and can start a fire. If that happens inside the trailer it would not be good. That's why breakers and fuses are placed as far upstream close to the voltage source as possible. I'd rather they are where they are even if that means a bit of maintenance is required. I only have one cb under there so mine looks different from what you are describing. BTW don't assume anything about voltage polarity from the color of the wire insulation. There is confusion created as trailers are wired per the national electric code (white neutral, black hot) vs. automotive convention (black ground, red hot). Use your meter to confirm what you actually have. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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NAP1947
Groupie
Joined: 14 Aug 2017 Location: Ottawa, Canada Online Status: Offline Posts: 72 |
Posted: 20 Sep 2020 at 7:56am |
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Sorry for the slow response, spent the last couple days getting home and did not bother with Internet.
I got under the trailer again and undid all the connections on the circuit breakers, cleaned, lubricate$ with dielectric grease and put it all back together. Now everything works again. This does not address the basic issue of the exposed location but will do for now. The more I think about the power tongue jack the more sense it makes, first it takes all the stress off my wrists, however the second advantage will be that getting 3500 pound capacity I will be able to lift the car and trailer tongue high enough to be able to connect and disconnect the Anderson Hitch without messing with the tensioners, one more thing reducing the knee bending and wrist stress. I will try to figure out the reason for the 3 circuit breakers and why the connections work as they do, I hate things I don’t understand. That will wait until spring as the weather is getting too cold to lay on the ground for any length of time. Cheers and thanks to everyone.
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Susan and Norm
2016 Venza, V6 factory tow 2018 RP179 |
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fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 20 Sep 2020 at 9:04am |
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I got this a month or so ago for my 178. I wish I had done it 5 birthdays ago!!
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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Ben Herman
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355 |
Posted: 22 Sep 2020 at 10:00pm |
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I installed this electric tongue jack on my trailer a few weeks ago and its a huge improvement. eTrailer are a great company to do business with. Other things that I have found that help with keeping things simple as we age - have a place for everything and always put things back where they belong.
https://www.etrailer.com/Camper-Jacks/etrailer/EJ-3520-WBX.html
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Senior Campers