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First Camping Trip of 2004...and first SPUT of 2004

Started by labontefan, Mar 30, 2004, 08:53 PM

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labontefan

Mar 30, 2004, 08:53 PM
Took my first racing trip and first camping trip of the season last week to the race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The trip was great, but started out with the first SPUT of the season!!  :rolleyes:

When I winterized the PU, I brought the battery inside to keep it from freezing. Since I thought we might want to use the furnace at night, I wanted to make sure I had the battery fully charged before putting it back on the PU. Didn't want to charge it inside and we had a cold snap the weekend before we left, so I didn't want to leave it outside overnight till I had it charged. We were going to take the camper over to get a campsite on Monday, but I figured the battery didn't have to be on it then. I could charge the battery Monday or Tuesday night, and we could take it with us when we went back on Wednesday.

I managed to get the battery hooked up to the battery charger and got it fully charged with no problem. Remembered to take it with us when we went. Even remembered to put it back on the tongue before we pulled out the bunk ends. What I didn't remember to do was notice which color wire went on which terminal when I unhooked it!   :eek:  So I took my best guess--after all, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, right????

Well, there's a reason I don't play the lottery...my luck at picking correct choices leaves a great deal to be desired.  :(

I figured that since the black wire is usually the ground, I'd connect the black wire to the negative terminal and the white one to the positive. Connected the white wire...no problem. As soon as the ring on the black wire touched the negative terminal, it sparked. Wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. It was a bad thing.  :p  Connected the black wire and tried to turn on the outside light. Nothing happened. Switched the wires and tried to turn on the outside light. Nothing happened. Oops...something's blown somewhere! I was hoping it was something simple like a fuse, but it was after dark and I was tired so I didn't feel like lying on the floor to check the inverter.

We had lights as long as the generator was running, but we didn't want to run it all night. So we had no power, which meant no lights and no furnace, after we turned off the generator. Fortunately, we had a few battery lights with us, and lots of blankets and comforters (and it didn't get that cold--just down in the 40's).

This story has a happy ending. The next day after we got groceries and got back to camp, I decided to check the inverter. Pulled the fuses out one by one and they all looked fine, till I got to the last one. It was most definitely burnt in half. And it was the one labeled "Battery power". There was an RV place just a few miles up the road so I thought they would probably have the kind of fuses I needed. Took the burnt fuse with me and drove up to see them. When I showed the fuse to the guy behind the counter, he said he thought he had some. He came back a few minutes later and handed me three of them. When I reached for my purse, he shook his head and said, "You're fine!" I thought that was really nice of him!  :)  (It was Crowder RV Center in Johnson City, TN. I'll give them a nice plug since they were nice to me.)

Took the new fuse back, plugged it in, and..Voila! Lights and furnace now work with just the battery! So we were warm and well-lit the remaining nights we were there!  :)

tlhdoc

#1
Mar 30, 2004, 09:12 PM
Sounds like it was a good trip.  How was the race? :)

labontefan

#2
Mar 30, 2004, 09:31 PM
Well, my favorite driver wrecked early on and the wrong driver (IMO) won the race...but the weather was gorgeous and we had a blast. It was so nice to get the PU out and camp for a couple of days. And I really enjoyed watching those cars go fast and turn left!  :D

Hadn't been to a race since October and hadn't been camping since November so it was a lot of fun to get out and do both! And the next trip is in less than three weeks!  :)

AustinBoston

#3
Mar 31, 2004, 11:04 AM
So, have you labeled the battery posts "Black Wire" and "White Wire" so you don't repeat the mistake?

I've learned from painful experience that just because I've made a mistake doen't mean I can't make it again.

Austin

tlhdoc

#4
Mar 31, 2004, 07:09 PM
I handle it a little different.  I label the back wire positive and the white wire negative.  ;)  That way no matter what battery I have I know it is wired the proper way. :)

birol

#5
Mar 31, 2004, 07:19 PM
I guess they don't use the  automotive standards ....

Quote from: tlhdocI handle it a little different.  I label the back wire positive and the white wire negative.  ;)  That way no matter what battery I have I know it is wired the proper way. :)

Catonsville Camper

#6
Apr 01, 2004, 04:03 PM
Well I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who's pulled that SPUT.  Except when I did it, I left it connected for about 90 miles and was delivering the PU because I sold it on eBay and moved to a hybrid trailer.  When I did a setup demonstration is when I found out that the polarity was crossed, in front of the new owners.  Was I embarrassed!  Luckily the new owner was a electrical engineer (might be on this board by now...Hi A.S.) and I had a meter.  Found one fuse blown and he had one and the circuit breaker was cooked.  We put the new fuse in and crossed over the cirsuit breaker and eveything was fine.

Now to get real confused...the new hybrid has one red and one black wire.  I'm going to get wire labels and label them before I remove the battery for the winter.

griffsmom

#7
Apr 04, 2004, 12:30 AM
Glad you figured out the problem, but I can't help but ask--isn't the furnace powered by propane and not the battery?  That's how it is on our camper anyway....:)

gsm x2

#8
Apr 04, 2004, 07:42 AM
Quote from: griffsmomGlad you figured out the problem, but I can't help but ask--isn't the furnace powered by propane and not the battery? That's how it is on our camper anyway....:)
Lori,
 
The ignitor and fan both need electricity to work.
 
gsm x2

tlhdoc

#9
Apr 04, 2004, 07:45 AM
Quote from: griffsmomGlad you figured out the problem, but I can't help but ask--isn't the furnace powered by propane and not the battery?  That's how it is on our camper anyway....:)

The furnace burns propane to make the heat, but the fan and the igniter both need 12 volt DC power.  There are some old propane furnaces that don't use any electricity, but they don't throw out the heat like the new ones. :)
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