Aluminum Camper Forum

Weird... the strange part is that the fan slows down too... so I'm guessing it's also 12V since they seem to be competing with each other. What's the model number of your fridge?

Quote from: FastEddieB on January 24, 2018, 08:34:15 AM
On another topic, they'll also be troubleshooting our Dometic refrigerator. For quite a while the compressor was getting noisier, making "moaning" noises when it kicked in. Anyway, this trip up it gave up the ghost, not running on electric at all, and giving an E3 code when trying it on propane. Overtemp button not popped, and I see little else to check.

Most RV fridges do not have compressors. In fact they have no moving parts except maybe a fan. Does the heater coil/flame even turn on?

How full was the black tank? I wonder if it froze and expanded up into the toilet... the vent and toilet pipe are at questionable heights, so it's possible that the vent froze first, then the tank was air tight and the only place to expand was up through the toilet. It's a theory...

Quote from: charliem on January 11, 2018, 11:30:09 AM

TinkeringTechie found a another heavy coupler from Bulldog that may be easier to install. Send him a PM if he doesn't jump in here.

Did someone say my name?  Here's a side-by-side of the stock 2" vs the bulldog. Everything is stronger and bigger...



Here's another pic with the completed install:



The hardest part of the install was drilling the top of the bulldog in the exact same spots as the stock coupler. It already had holes in the sides that served as guides for the side bolts. I would definitely recommend it.

We have a relatively heavy foam mattress and 60lbs did the trick. It actually has a little extra oomph, so we have to pull it down a bit, but it won't accidentally fall on us.

Our trailer came with a PD4045KA, but they may have switched models since then. Why not just add an inverter instead of replacing it? What are you planning on running with the inverter?

Quote from: Steve Sanders on September 02, 2017, 09:17:03 PM
With the Dexter Easy Lube hubs, put some fresh grease in and you should be good to go.

I think by "run into trouble" he meant if a bearing overheats, shatters, a race splits, etc... then it's necessary to swap out the whole bearing. No amount of grease will fix it. I've even heard of people who carry whole spare hubs so they can just pull the castle nut off and swap out the whole assembly.

Quote from: DavidM on June 14, 2017, 11:59:12 AM
The breaker will trip the hot lead directly from the battery and then it will connect to the shunt.

The shunt gets connected to the negative lead for this unit. It actually powers from it as well, so you just need to hook up the shunt and one positive lead on the terminal block.

Quote from: DavidM on June 14, 2017, 11:59:12 AM
The shunt/measuring board connects to the display with a USB cable. But the end that connects to the display is not a standard mini USB plug. It is wider and thicker than a USB connector and I don't know what it is.

It's just a female USB connector. The cable is a USB extension cord. No need to run a standard USB cable all the way to the cabinet... just splice any decent 4 conductor wire between the two ends and you'll be good to go. It uses RS485, not USB for communication so distance/noise are much less of an issue. If you don't want to mess with splicing then just get a longer USB extension cord like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-15-Feet-Female-Extension-105435/dp/B003L137Y6/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1497454407&sr=1-1&keywords=usb+extension+cable+15

Keep in mind that it doesn't actually use USB standards for data communication. It uses RS485, so you can pretty much use any decent wire and it should work for a pretty long distance. I plan to hardwire mine inside using some cat5 cable that I ran a long time ago from above the fridge to the battery box.

Quote from: thudd3r on May 27, 2017, 01:19:22 AM
how many rats does it take to constitute a "disaster"?

an "unnormal" amount

Maybe an issue with the tender? When they separated them, did they switch to a 6v tender? (or does it automatically detect?). I'd just do a load test to make sure the batteries are okay first. There's a chance that the self-discharge rate of those two batteries actually exceeds the current output of the tender. The one I have only puts out an amp or two and with BIG batteries you might never get to the float voltage.

I'm in the middle of adding a new tongue box to the trailer and revamping my battery/monitoring/solar charging setup at the same time. I picked up this little gem for less than $30 off of Amazon:


It shows real-time power along with cumulative usage. The battery meter shows a realistic estimate of remaining capacity based on the battery size that you configure and the usage. It's a shunt based monitor that's rated for 100 amps. I've just been playing with it in a test setup, so no real world testing yet, but I'll report back once I take it for a trip. Warning: must be fluent in chinglish to understand the manual.

Did you forget to winterize? The toilet valve is the first thing to shatter from frozen pipes. You probably need to replace the valve.

Quote from: tek610 on May 08, 2017, 12:43:53 AM
Well, I suppose mostly because I'm a new guy. Everything I read suggested one for short wheelbase tow vehicles. My Jeep says capacity is 3500, but 5000 with a WD hitch. I wanted to stay a decent amount under capacity. It's an 18 year old Cherokee. Unibody.

So, you think it's completely unnecessary?

It's an unusual 13QBB. GVWR is over 4000 lbs, although I likely won't ever load it over 3500.

If I don't need it, I'll get rid of it.

How are the brackets attached to the tongue? (bolted, clamped, screws, etc...) How about a picture? The general consensus is that as long as it doesn't involve drilling any holes in the frame then you're in the clear.

Quote from: tbrady on April 28, 2017, 11:55:32 AM
Yeah, mine is obviously screwed up.   When I took mine out of the box it basically jumped out and almost completely un-sprung on it's own...

Thanks for tip on emptying it first Merlin. 

Does it compress without the caps on? Mine almost "snaps" each time a section contracts and it stays that way without any effort. I have to pull it back apart again...