sanitation totes/battery

[Kelly Harris]

We just bought a new to us pop up...westlake. This is our first foray into camping w/o a tent.  It has a converter, but no battery.  How can I tell if it is wired for battery hookup or not?  If it is not, how hard is it to wire in a battery for dry camping?  Will we need to wire in all-new outlets for the battery usage?  Also, can you explain to me the outlet uses?  Are they for only 12v items?  Most 12v items I have seen have the cigarette outlet hookup...do I need to get some of them?

My second question is two fold regarding the waste totes.  Our unit has a cassette toilet, a shower and a sink.  Is there a way to hook all three into a portable waste tote? If so, can you point me in the correct direction on how to do it.  Next, how do I figure out what capacity I need in a waste tote?

Thanks, Kelly and Steve Harris

[He Ruide]

Kelly and Steve, At the front of the PUP around the tongue you should see two wires (usually Black  (positve) and  White (negative).  Also look to see if you have a cable to an emergancy switch for the electric brakes.  If you have electric brakes it should also be connected to the battery.

Regarding outlets... any two pronged out lets similar to those at home will be for 110 volts.  The 12 volts outlets are 1/4 inch round sockets that you might see  on a roof light fixture.

Wastewater connections. First you will have a black water tank that is part of the cassette toilet.  You do not want to connect that tank to the other wastewaters sources.  You can connect both shower and sink using either garden hoses, 1.25 inch hoses or PVC pipes.  If you go with the hoses then you need a "Y" to bring both together before the wastewater tank. You might not want to do the hard piping but here are some pictures.

Wastewater totes.  The size of the wastewater tanks depends on your use.  If you take showers every day and wash the dishes and pots inside then you will need a larger tote - say 20 gallons or more for a weekend.  Some folks who don't use much water end up using one or two seven gallon aquatainers to store their wastewater.

Hopes this helps

[tlhdoc]

We just bought a new to us pop up...westlake. This is our first foray into camping w/o a tent. It has a converter, but no battery. How can I tell if it is wired for battery hookup or not? If it is not, how hard is it to wire in a battery for dry camping? Will we need to wire in all-new outlets for the battery usage? Also, can you explain to me the outlet uses? Are they for only 12v items? Most 12v items I have seen have the cigarette outlet hookup...do I need to get some of them?

The Coleman/Fleetwood trailers come wired for a battery.  You should have a white connector on the tongue of the trailer.  Fleetwood PU dealers sell a wire harness with the mate to that fitting.  Connect the wire harness to the battery and connect the white connectors.  The household type plugs in your camper are only for AC current (like at home).  The battery is 12 volt DC.  Your camper lights, furnace, water pump all run on 12 volt DC power.  You power converter changes AC power into DC power when you have the camper plugged into an outlet.  If you want to plug 12 volt items into your camper you can use the small jacks in your ceiling lights or install a few cigarette outlets where you need them.
 

My second question is two fold regarding the waste totes. Our unit has a cassette toilet, a shower and a sink. Is there a way to hook all three into a portable waste tote? If so, can you point me in the correct direction on how to do it. Next, how do I figure out what capacity I need in a waste tote?

It could be done, but I don't think it is worth it.  The toilet is black water and you can dump the cassette when needed.  The sink and shower are gray water.  If you spill a little it isn't as bad as spilling your black water tote.  You can easily tie the sink and shower into one tote my using a garden hose "Y" adapter.  Connect the hose from the sink and the shower together on the two upper parts of the "Y and then run a third hose from the bottom of the "Y" into the gray water tote.

[Kelly Harris]

thank you both for your answers. I am beginning to understand the electrical situation a little better. we do have a brake box, so I will have dear husband check out the wires.  now for a pair of new questions...

there are only two lights with a little hole for 12v accessories.  can i buy extension thingys for them for a fan? Also, are there 12 converters to plug into regular outlets with cigarette lighter outlets on them?

second...on the front end of the camper, there are two hoses with little tapered ends.  when I turn them on, the pump starts working and water comes out of them. Any idea what they may be for?  there is already an outdoor shower toward the back end.  I was thinking maybe to hook up hot and cold water for outdoor dishes?

Thanks again, Kelly/Steve Harris

[He Ruide]

Kelly and Steve,  Yes you can purchase fan and light combinations that you can plug in to your light fixture.  Forgive me but for some reason the nice way of posting a link into this message is not working for me but you can still click on them to see two examples.

http://puxtradi.web.aplus.net/product_info.php?products_id=2060&osCsid=a3f463247eb8da4f19bc0c7e3f50f187 and http://puxtradi.web.aplus.net/product_info.php?products_id=1626&osCsid=a3f463247eb8da4f19bc0c7e3f50f187

There probably are 110 to 12 volt converters  but you might already have a battery charger that would do the same thing... all you would have to do is replace the battery clips with a cigarette lighter outlet.  Of course you could go to Radio Shack and make your own 1/4 inch plug to cigarette lighter outlet adapter but that light fixture outlet is not designed for devices that require a lot of amps.

Finally, are the hoses you mentioned underneath the PUP?  If so they are the drain lines to drain the hot and cold water system.

[Kelly Harris]

they are under the  front edge of the pup, but if they are drains for the water heater and water tanks, should they make the pump run when they are turned on? The water tank and the heater are toward the back of the pup and these are on the front by the tongue.  I thought that both the water heater and tank had drain valves on the individual things, but maybe they don't.  I haven't drained the heater, but I did drain the water tank by running it through the sink and shower onto the ground via the pipes underneath each one for that purpose. It took forever to drain less than 20 gallons! I wouldn't think using those drains up front would be any quicker. (The water had a strange chemical smell too, but was clear).  Thanks again, Kelly and Steve Harris

[AustinBoston]

they are under the  front edge of the pup, but if they are drains for the water heater and water tanks, should they make the pump run when they are turned on?

Yes.  There is a switch inside (on our pop-up it is near the fridge) that turns the pump off.

The water tank and the heater are toward the back of the pup and these are on the front by the tongue.

Are you sure the water heater is in the back?  Don't confuse the water heater and the furnace.  If the water heater is in the front (sometimes inside the front storage trunk), then one valve will connect to the top of the water heater (hot side), the other to the bottom (cold side).  You need to use both to drain the hot water heater tank because the valves and lines are too small to let air back up into the tank.  When first turned on, pressure will force water out of both, but soon it will settle down with water only coming out of the cold valve.

I thought that both the water heater and tank had drain valves on the individual things, but maybe they don't.

The water tank has a plug on the back side near the bottom edge.  The easiest way to drain the tank is to remove the plug and let it drain.  You will not get all of the water out, but will drain more than you can get out with the pump.

Austin

[He Ruide]

Kelly, Austin did an excellent job answering your questions.  If I might add a couple points.

1. It is critical that you drain the hot water tank. If it is full and it freezes then you will have an expensive repair job on your hands.

2.  As Austin said, removing the fresh water tank plug is the best way to remove the water. While it is not necessary for winterizing, you can either take the PUP for a drive up some hilly roads or use a hand pump to get the rest of the water out.

3.  Forgive me if you know this already, but after you have drained the hot and fresh water lines, you will need to put RV anterfreeze (Don't use automobile antifreeze) into the waster lines and drains.  Check and see if you have a by pass line for the hot water tank since once it is drained you don't need  anti-freeze in it.  You also do not need anti-freeze in the fresh water tank as the little residual water will not expand enough to cause danage.

4. The chemical smell that you had might have been sulphur from having stale water in either your hot or fresh water tanks.  Before using the PUP next year chlorinate it by adding six onces of bleach to 10 gallons of water, let it sit in the water system for a day or so and then flush it out.

Hope this helps.