Fern Modena
TUG Lifetime Member
My hero! You amaze me, Alan, at all the things you know how to do or can figure out!
Fern
Fern
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[2007] Trailer Roulette.
- Thread starter AwayWeGo
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15,965
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- 2,054
- Resorts Owned
- Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
Families Should Stick Together, Not Spaghetti.
Everything I know about electricity & wiring I learned from my late father-in-law (my nephew's grandfather). He was not only the most technically accomplished man I ever knew, he was also a rock-solid family man & exemplary father to 2 daughters. I am extremely fortunate to have married into his family.
Nice of you to say -- but it was my nephew who did all the hard work. All I did was provide a little coaching based on experience.
Everything I know about electricity & wiring I learned from my late father-in-law (my nephew's grandfather). He was not only the most technically accomplished man I ever knew, he was also a rock-solid family man & exemplary father to 2 daughters. I am extremely fortunate to have married into his family.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15,965
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Resorts Owned
- Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
More Power To You.
It turned out our nephew had 1 more electrical wiring so solve, minor by comparison with his other recent electrical glitch.
A previous occupant of his site in the campground had run a Type UF electrical cable underground from the site's plug-in panel to the outdoor storage shed on the other side of the trailer space. The wire was 12-gauge (intended for 20 amps at 110 volts), but it was plugged into a 30-amp receptacle. Not only that, the circuit was not equipped with a ground-fault current interrupter safety device (as it should have been, because the shed is basically outdoors & the whole site is close to the edge of Rehoboth Bay).
None of that was the main problem at the time. That's because the shed circuit did not work -- no power in any shed outlet, no light from the twisty bulb overhead, nothing. Yet our simple neon circuit tester lit up OK when applied to that 30-amp receptacle. That meant the problem was somewhere in the buried Type UF cable.
As it happened, the UF cable was too short -- did not reach the trailer site's power panel. Never did reach far enough & in fact was spliced inside a standard hardware-store junction box with blank cover. The box was the kind made for interior wiring, so it had been covered up in layers of thick & sticky, tarry wrapping -- not ideal, & not the way I would have done it, but potentially OK in a rough & ready way. The box was not buried. It just lay there on the ground about midway between the power panel & the spot where the UF cable dipped underground.
After checking out everything else & not finding any obvious trouble spots, we (my son & my nephew & I) focused our suspicion on the junction box covered in (supposedly) waterproof wrap.
Before getting all the tarry stuff cut off, we found the problem. Outside the box but inside the covering was a break in the UF cable -- a bad break. Two of the 3 12-gauge wires were broken & burnt off.
The buried UF cable that was already too short was even shorter when we cut off the junction box. We talked about getting a new junction box & cover designed for outdoor use -- & we may still do that in the future.
Instead, as an interim quick fix, we stripped & cleaned the exposed end of the buried UF cable, getting the copper wires clean & bright, & to those wires we connected an outdoor-type heavy-duty plug. We plugged that into a 6-foot extension cord made for major appliances, & we plugged the other end of the extension cord into the power panel's 20-amp GFCI receptacle.
Rather than attempting to waterproof the plug-in connection between the above-ground end of the buried UF cable & the heavy extension cord, we used a PVC tube to hold the UF cable vertical where it comes out of the ground & connects to the extension cord. Then we put a yellow plastic bucket over the PVC tube, so that the plug-in connection is high & dry & out of the rain.
It's not ideal, but it works -- shed light & receptacles all work.
We started out trying to fix 1 problem -- no power. Instead, we fixed 3 things at once -- (1) no power, (2) 20-amp circuit plugged into 30-amp receptacle, (3) no GFCI protection for outdoor shed circuit.
The remaining problem, which can wait, is better way of protecting & waterproofing the connection to the buried UF cable.
It's always something.
We spent Independence Day weekend at our Rehoboth Beach campground, along with family members spending the holiday at their own non-traveling travel trailers at the park.
It turned out our nephew had 1 more electrical wiring so solve, minor by comparison with his other recent electrical glitch.
A previous occupant of his site in the campground had run a Type UF electrical cable underground from the site's plug-in panel to the outdoor storage shed on the other side of the trailer space. The wire was 12-gauge (intended for 20 amps at 110 volts), but it was plugged into a 30-amp receptacle. Not only that, the circuit was not equipped with a ground-fault current interrupter safety device (as it should have been, because the shed is basically outdoors & the whole site is close to the edge of Rehoboth Bay).
None of that was the main problem at the time. That's because the shed circuit did not work -- no power in any shed outlet, no light from the twisty bulb overhead, nothing. Yet our simple neon circuit tester lit up OK when applied to that 30-amp receptacle. That meant the problem was somewhere in the buried Type UF cable.
As it happened, the UF cable was too short -- did not reach the trailer site's power panel. Never did reach far enough & in fact was spliced inside a standard hardware-store junction box with blank cover. The box was the kind made for interior wiring, so it had been covered up in layers of thick & sticky, tarry wrapping -- not ideal, & not the way I would have done it, but potentially OK in a rough & ready way. The box was not buried. It just lay there on the ground about midway between the power panel & the spot where the UF cable dipped underground.
After checking out everything else & not finding any obvious trouble spots, we (my son & my nephew & I) focused our suspicion on the junction box covered in (supposedly) waterproof wrap.
Before getting all the tarry stuff cut off, we found the problem. Outside the box but inside the covering was a break in the UF cable -- a bad break. Two of the 3 12-gauge wires were broken & burnt off.
The buried UF cable that was already too short was even shorter when we cut off the junction box. We talked about getting a new junction box & cover designed for outdoor use -- & we may still do that in the future.
Instead, as an interim quick fix, we stripped & cleaned the exposed end of the buried UF cable, getting the copper wires clean & bright, & to those wires we connected an outdoor-type heavy-duty plug. We plugged that into a 6-foot extension cord made for major appliances, & we plugged the other end of the extension cord into the power panel's 20-amp GFCI receptacle.
Rather than attempting to waterproof the plug-in connection between the above-ground end of the buried UF cable & the heavy extension cord, we used a PVC tube to hold the UF cable vertical where it comes out of the ground & connects to the extension cord. Then we put a yellow plastic bucket over the PVC tube, so that the plug-in connection is high & dry & out of the rain.
It's not ideal, but it works -- shed light & receptacles all work.
We started out trying to fix 1 problem -- no power. Instead, we fixed 3 things at once -- (1) no power, (2) 20-amp circuit plugged into 30-amp receptacle, (3) no GFCI protection for outdoor shed circuit.
The remaining problem, which can wait, is better way of protecting & waterproofing the connection to the buried UF cable.
It's always something.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
Seems you 3 guys had a wonderful bonding experience ... better than a fishing story as you all got your prey!
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15,965
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Resorts Owned
- Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
Trailer Roulette Next Weekend.
We'll be heading back to Port Delmarva next weekend for the annual event formally known as Site Selection Day (referred to around here as Trailer Roulette).
We're not playing this year, just observing. But it's a spectacle we don't like to miss.
To get ready for the season, we spent last weekend at our trailer, de-winterizing the plumbing & checking for leaks, etc. Only 1 leak -- at an elbow connection on the plastic tube supplying cold water to the electric water heater that we installed last season. We got that fixed using 1 new supply tube & some hose clamps that we bought from Home Depot.
My own bonehead blunder burned out the electric water heater. After the leak was fixed, I switched on the water heater without first checking to make sure it had filled with water. The element burned out in a matter of minutes.
Fortunately Lowe's had a replacement element in stock for just under $10. I bought 1 & got it installed without too much trouble.
Only thing not working now is satellite TV. We hooked up a brand-new box, went through the set-up routine step by step, completed everything, but never got past a screen saying there was no signal -- even though the diagnostic screen showed high signal strength from all transponders. No problem. We caught the network shows we wanted to see via over-the-air digital TV. If we don't get the satellite TV squared away, we won't suffer from lack of televised entertainment.
We'll be heading back to Port Delmarva next weekend for the annual event formally known as Site Selection Day (referred to around here as Trailer Roulette).
We're not playing this year, just observing. But it's a spectacle we don't like to miss.
To get ready for the season, we spent last weekend at our trailer, de-winterizing the plumbing & checking for leaks, etc. Only 1 leak -- at an elbow connection on the plastic tube supplying cold water to the electric water heater that we installed last season. We got that fixed using 1 new supply tube & some hose clamps that we bought from Home Depot.
My own bonehead blunder burned out the electric water heater. After the leak was fixed, I switched on the water heater without first checking to make sure it had filled with water. The element burned out in a matter of minutes.
Fortunately Lowe's had a replacement element in stock for just under $10. I bought 1 & got it installed without too much trouble.
Only thing not working now is satellite TV. We hooked up a brand-new box, went through the set-up routine step by step, completed everything, but never got past a screen saying there was no signal -- even though the diagnostic screen showed high signal strength from all transponders. No problem. We caught the network shows we wanted to see via over-the-air digital TV. If we don't get the satellite TV squared away, we won't suffer from lack of televised entertainment.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15,965
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Resorts Owned
- Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
Trailer Roulette -- Observers Only This Time, Not Participants.
We did not move -- totally OK with us because we are in a nice site already.
Our nephew's mother-in-law changed sites. Fortunately there were enough other family members on hand to help with the move so that we were not called upon to do any actual, uh, er, ah -- you know, work.
Trailer Roulette 2016 has come & gone.
We did not move -- totally OK with us because we are in a nice site already.
Our nephew's mother-in-law changed sites. Fortunately there were enough other family members on hand to help with the move so that we were not called upon to do any actual, uh, er, ah -- you know, work.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 15,965
- Reaction score
- 2,054
- Resorts Owned
- Grandview At Las Vegas
[triennial - points]
Trailer Roulette 2023 -- the final chapter.
The Chief Of Staff & I were content with our 2005 Hy-Line non-traveling travel trailer. Then a tree limb fell on it during the off season. We found out about that, but we didn't know that the falling limb ripped the trailer's rubber roof, causing a leak that we didn't discover till months later. We patched the rip, but it was too late. We offered the damaged trailer for sale, as-was with damage disclosed, at a giveaway price, & began shopping for another, settling for a trailer actually designed for the highway that was being sold by an older couple giving up their site & their trailer because of age-related issues.
After getting the replacement trailer all installed at our own site, we decided it was not for us. Nothing was wrong or defective. Its design & features just did not suit us. We sold it off to another campground resident who found it just right. When we went trailer shopping again, we found a 2013 Salem Villa Classic trailer that really wowed us at the dealer's lot. We bought it practically on the spot. The deal included delivery from Price Georges County MD to our campground on the back side of Rehoboth Bay in Delaware.
All was well until a few issues developed, some having to do with the condition of the trailer and some having to do with our own preferences. The electric motor that powers the slide-out extension on the curb side gave out. An independent repair guy removed the bad motor & said he'd try to find a replacement, which he guessed would cost $500 or so. (Fortunately we found an exact replacement on Amazon for $94. The independent repair guy installed that for another $100 & that problem was solved.) Next, it turned out that there were some hidden leaks The repair guy did some exterior caulking, but by then some interior panels had been water damaged. The final twist in the plot was that a campground neighbor who was giving up her spot, & her trailer, was disposing of her 2005 Woodland Park trailer, older but nicer, & a model we had been interested in for several years. So we bought it, accepting the requirement that it had to be off the its old site by the end of the year. As you might expect, nothing about getting rid of the Salem Villa Classic trailer nor about moving the Woodland Park trailer from its old site (#65) to our site (#55) was simple or easy.
The Forest Park trailer's 2 slide-out mechanisms were frozen -- basically, rusted & immovably stuck in their extended (open) position. That meant the trailer was perfectly livable, but more difficult to move, even that short distance.
Task 1 was fixing, advertising, & selling the Salem Villa Classic trailer. Complicating the task was the fact that the Salem Villa Classic had a Pennsylvania salvage title. (According to the dealer, it had been stolen, a total loss claim had been paid, then the stolen trailer was recovered. The total loss insurance payment triggered the salvage title. We couldn't get clear title without taking the trailer over the road to a Delaware or Virginia DMV inspection for roadworthiness. We couldn't even get a new salvage title. Plus, we misplaced the Pennsylvania salvage title certificate we got from the dealer.) We finished interior repairs, photographed the trailer, & put advertisements on Craig's List, eBay, & FaceBook, disclosing the title issue & describing the flaws, etc. We were willing to take a loss because by then we had bought & paid for the older Woodland Park trailer, & the clock was ticking on the required move.
The 1st buyers of the Salem Villa Classic backed out. They started out OK with the salvage title, but changed their minds. Fortunately, they had not yet moved the trailer.
The next buyers were totally wowed by the Salem Villa Classic, which photographed beautifully & created an outstanding 1st impression -- extra-wide living room, high ceiling, electrically powered simulated fireplace with heater, slide-out extensions on both sides, regular household flush toilet instead of nasty camper potty . . . just lots of nice features. They bought it, paid for it, & moved it -- took it away to I don't know where. With the Salem Villa Classic gone, we were able to move on to Task 2, getting our Woodland Park trailer moved off Site 65 & onto Site 55 before December 31.
The company that regularly moved trailers around the park & did winterizing & repairs, etc., all over lower, slower Delaware, claimed to be booked solid with winterizing jobs, so there was no help there. We fortunately made contact with an experienced independent guy with a big truck who agreed to move the Woodland Park trailer to its new home for an acceptable price. He showed up right on schedule last Friday, took his time, checked out everything important (hitch, tires, tire inflation, trailer jack, etc.), hooked it up & started moving. He took it slow, just 6-8 feet at a time, which turned out to be extremely fortunate. That's because the trailer wheels on the curb side, which had been sitting on soft ground, did not turn. Instead, they dug a rut axle-deep into that soft ground. At 1 point the trailer veered over as though it were going to flip over onto its side. (It never did, but it had us worried.) The guy with the big truck phoned for help. Pretty soon another guy showed up. The 2 of them did lots of digging & hydraulic jacking & placement of concrete blocks & short boards for the stuck wheels to roll on. That worked. Soon the trailer was off Site 65, on the roadway, & rolling toward Site 55. The guy with the big truck was able to back the Woodland Park trailer very close to its correct position -- maybe right on the exact position, I don't know -- with little trouble. We paid him & shook hands, & that was that. Next up was doing as much clean-up & tidying at Site 65 as we could manage, realizing that we would need to hire someone to fill the ruts & restore Site 65 to an acceptable condition for its next tenant. We got all that done not only before December 31, but before Christmas -- and with no injury or physical overexertion, & no property damage. I won't say it was no problem, but it was a series of problems that with time & help we were able to solve.
At our age (81), I don't expect that we will want to change trailers ever again, or move to a different site in the campground even if a super-desirable site with a spectacular view should open up. In all likelihood that was our final chapter of Trailer Roulette. The new season starts in May, so we'll have to wait & see what happens.
The Chief Of Staff & I were content with our 2005 Hy-Line non-traveling travel trailer. Then a tree limb fell on it during the off season. We found out about that, but we didn't know that the falling limb ripped the trailer's rubber roof, causing a leak that we didn't discover till months later. We patched the rip, but it was too late. We offered the damaged trailer for sale, as-was with damage disclosed, at a giveaway price, & began shopping for another, settling for a trailer actually designed for the highway that was being sold by an older couple giving up their site & their trailer because of age-related issues.
After getting the replacement trailer all installed at our own site, we decided it was not for us. Nothing was wrong or defective. Its design & features just did not suit us. We sold it off to another campground resident who found it just right. When we went trailer shopping again, we found a 2013 Salem Villa Classic trailer that really wowed us at the dealer's lot. We bought it practically on the spot. The deal included delivery from Price Georges County MD to our campground on the back side of Rehoboth Bay in Delaware.
All was well until a few issues developed, some having to do with the condition of the trailer and some having to do with our own preferences. The electric motor that powers the slide-out extension on the curb side gave out. An independent repair guy removed the bad motor & said he'd try to find a replacement, which he guessed would cost $500 or so. (Fortunately we found an exact replacement on Amazon for $94. The independent repair guy installed that for another $100 & that problem was solved.) Next, it turned out that there were some hidden leaks The repair guy did some exterior caulking, but by then some interior panels had been water damaged. The final twist in the plot was that a campground neighbor who was giving up her spot, & her trailer, was disposing of her 2005 Woodland Park trailer, older but nicer, & a model we had been interested in for several years. So we bought it, accepting the requirement that it had to be off the its old site by the end of the year. As you might expect, nothing about getting rid of the Salem Villa Classic trailer nor about moving the Woodland Park trailer from its old site (#65) to our site (#55) was simple or easy.
The Forest Park trailer's 2 slide-out mechanisms were frozen -- basically, rusted & immovably stuck in their extended (open) position. That meant the trailer was perfectly livable, but more difficult to move, even that short distance.
Task 1 was fixing, advertising, & selling the Salem Villa Classic trailer. Complicating the task was the fact that the Salem Villa Classic had a Pennsylvania salvage title. (According to the dealer, it had been stolen, a total loss claim had been paid, then the stolen trailer was recovered. The total loss insurance payment triggered the salvage title. We couldn't get clear title without taking the trailer over the road to a Delaware or Virginia DMV inspection for roadworthiness. We couldn't even get a new salvage title. Plus, we misplaced the Pennsylvania salvage title certificate we got from the dealer.) We finished interior repairs, photographed the trailer, & put advertisements on Craig's List, eBay, & FaceBook, disclosing the title issue & describing the flaws, etc. We were willing to take a loss because by then we had bought & paid for the older Woodland Park trailer, & the clock was ticking on the required move.
The 1st buyers of the Salem Villa Classic backed out. They started out OK with the salvage title, but changed their minds. Fortunately, they had not yet moved the trailer.
The next buyers were totally wowed by the Salem Villa Classic, which photographed beautifully & created an outstanding 1st impression -- extra-wide living room, high ceiling, electrically powered simulated fireplace with heater, slide-out extensions on both sides, regular household flush toilet instead of nasty camper potty . . . just lots of nice features. They bought it, paid for it, & moved it -- took it away to I don't know where. With the Salem Villa Classic gone, we were able to move on to Task 2, getting our Woodland Park trailer moved off Site 65 & onto Site 55 before December 31.
The company that regularly moved trailers around the park & did winterizing & repairs, etc., all over lower, slower Delaware, claimed to be booked solid with winterizing jobs, so there was no help there. We fortunately made contact with an experienced independent guy with a big truck who agreed to move the Woodland Park trailer to its new home for an acceptable price. He showed up right on schedule last Friday, took his time, checked out everything important (hitch, tires, tire inflation, trailer jack, etc.), hooked it up & started moving. He took it slow, just 6-8 feet at a time, which turned out to be extremely fortunate. That's because the trailer wheels on the curb side, which had been sitting on soft ground, did not turn. Instead, they dug a rut axle-deep into that soft ground. At 1 point the trailer veered over as though it were going to flip over onto its side. (It never did, but it had us worried.) The guy with the big truck phoned for help. Pretty soon another guy showed up. The 2 of them did lots of digging & hydraulic jacking & placement of concrete blocks & short boards for the stuck wheels to roll on. That worked. Soon the trailer was off Site 65, on the roadway, & rolling toward Site 55. The guy with the big truck was able to back the Woodland Park trailer very close to its correct position -- maybe right on the exact position, I don't know -- with little trouble. We paid him & shook hands, & that was that. Next up was doing as much clean-up & tidying at Site 65 as we could manage, realizing that we would need to hire someone to fill the ruts & restore Site 65 to an acceptable condition for its next tenant. We got all that done not only before December 31, but before Christmas -- and with no injury or physical overexertion, & no property damage. I won't say it was no problem, but it was a series of problems that with time & help we were able to solve.
At our age (81), I don't expect that we will want to change trailers ever again, or move to a different site in the campground even if a super-desirable site with a spectacular view should open up. In all likelihood that was our final chapter of Trailer Roulette. The new season starts in May, so we'll have to wait & see what happens.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
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Thanks for the update, Alan. Your resourcefulness impresses another old codger. We hope you get few surprises and much pleasure from the new trailer through the upcoming season(s).
Jim
Jim