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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Norcold not cooling in motion
Refer was on LP. I have to manually switch it from AC to LP. It cools great sitting in the driveway on either AC or LP.
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mtnstarman
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05/24/12 08:24am |
Tech Issues
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Norcold not cooling in motion
Hey guys, I've got a Norcold refer in my 2005 TC and noticed on my last trip that the temp started rising once I got out on the road. I've got a indoor/outdoor thermometer in it that transmits temp info to the receiving unit in my truck cab so I can constantly see what the refer temp is. The refer was cooling great while sitting on the driveway prior to the trip. When I first noticed the temp starting to rise, I pulled over and checked the burner and found a dirt dauber nest next to it. I removed as much of the nest as I could reach and got back on the road. Didn't help. Once I reached the campground and not moving, the temp began to fall and refer worked great. Only quits cooling while driving. The only thing in the equation that I think has changed is the appearance of the dauber nest. I'm wondering if air moving by the remnants of the dauber nest is being accelerated enough to affect the flame and causing the problem. Any ideas/suggestions?
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mtnstarman
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05/24/12 07:47am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Oldie TCs
Can't get the picture to download. Will try later.
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mtnstarman
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04/30/12 06:27am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Reciever Steps
I've got the exact same steps and they work fine for me, but wife complains about distance between steps. I've worried about the lower step dragging when offroad and thought about welding a heavy duty hinge on the lower step bracket at the point where it meets the 2" tube. This way it could be folded up against the upper step and bungied when traveling.
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mtnstarman
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03/25/12 07:53am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Kindle Book Readers
Never had one, but was wondering about eyestrain with Kindle, et al, as opposed to paper. Also, is the display readable outdoors on a sunny day? Just wondering.
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mtnstarman
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02/12/12 08:11am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
What kind of plugs did you settle on for connecting/disconnecting your camper and batteries from the rig?
No plugs. I'm using a truck cap and will remove the batteries when not camping. Will just use 3/8" crimp-on connectors on the 4 gauge wire, which will be left in the truck bed. When the DW wants to go with me I'll put my TC back on the truck so she'll have a few comforts. When I'm alone I'll use the truck cap quite a bit.
You know those leads will still be hot coming off the alternator, right? You also know that flooded wet cell batteries have to be vented outside (I.e. a truck cap is considered "inside").
I want to come directly off the chassis battery, not the alternator. Is there anything wrong with that approach? Yeah, I plan to build a sealed battery box thats vented to the outside.
Yes, the truck's battery will limit the responsiveness of the charging system, plus you'll be adding unneeded cycling to your starting battery as it will be drawn off of for charging current vs the alternator directly.
You want your feed to go from the charging pin on the alternator to your disconnect then on to your batteries with a negative return line coming back again to the alternator's grounding connection.
Thanks Joe, I'll do it that way, just didn't want to fiddle around with the alternator. Truck still in warranty.
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mtnstarman
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02/10/12 03:49pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
What kind of plugs did you settle on for connecting/disconnecting your camper and batteries from the rig?
No plugs. I'm using a truck cap and will remove the batteries when not camping. Will just use 3/8" crimp-on connectors on the 4 gauge wire, which will be left in the truck bed. When the DW wants to go with me I'll put my TC back on the truck so she'll have a few comforts. When I'm alone I'll use the truck cap quite a bit.
You know those leads will still be hot coming off the alternator, right? You also know that flooded wet cell batteries have to be vented outside (I.e. a truck cap is considered "inside").
I want to come directly off the chassis battery, not the alternator. Is there anything wrong with that approach? Yeah, I plan to build a sealed battery box thats vented to the outside.
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mtnstarman
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02/10/12 02:02pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
What kind of plugs did you settle on for connecting/disconnecting your camper and batteries from the rig?
No plugs. I'm using a truck cap and will remove the batteries when not camping. Will just use 3/8" crimp-on connectors on the 4 gauge wire, which will be left in the truck bed. When the DW wants to go with me I'll put my TC back on the truck so she'll have a few comforts. When I'm alone I'll use the truck cap quite a bit.
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mtnstarman
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02/10/12 02:11am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
Earlier today I ordered 40' of 4 gauge wire and a couple of 50a self-resetting breakers. I'll pick up a Tekonsha or equivalent solenoid tomorrow and do it all up right. Thanks all.
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mtnstarman
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02/09/12 04:36pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
Joe, Why couldn't I come directly off the + post on my chassis battery to run to the coach batteries, rather than come of the alternator? Also, would this suffice as a fuse. Do I need a different amperage? At some point I may run items using 500 or so watts by way of an inverter.
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mtnstarman
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02/08/12 10:54am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
So, doing that, yer likely close to mine, so, nothing less than 6 gauge AWG, though 4 gauge would be better, especially if you're goal is to get effective charging from the truck alternator.
I've got plenty of 10 gauge stranded wire already on hand. Would it be OK to run two of these wires together to come up with an equivalent 4 gauge wire. I read today on a wire gauge site where using 2 wires with the same diameter together would equate to one wire with 6 gauge numbers smaller. If this is correct, my two 10's would result in a 4 gauge wire. Make sense?
You're just going to have a mess + extra resistance because of trying to bond multiple ends together.
In my experience, 2 x 10 gauge wires = 60 amps of capacity which is closer to 6 gauge wire vs 4.
According to the wire gauge charts, #10 is about 4x more resistive than #4. This means two parallel #10 wires will have twice the resistance of a single #4 and act more like a #7. Resistance is the limiter for battery charging more than current capacity.
Thanks wnjj, a single 4 gauge is what I'll get.
Remember to buy enough to make the run all the way there and back to your alternator, using the truck frame part way will cost you charging capacity as well.
I thought I could run one wire from the + post on my chassis battery thru the solenoid directly to the + posts on my deep cycle(coach) batteries and use a short wire from the - posts on the coach batteries directly to the frame nearby. Is my thinking flawed?
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 06:52pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
So, doing that, yer likely close to mine, so, nothing less than 6 gauge AWG, though 4 gauge would be better, especially if you're goal is to get effective charging from the truck alternator.
I've got plenty of 10 gauge stranded wire already on hand. Would it be OK to run two of these wires together to come up with an equivalent 4 gauge wire. I read today on a wire gauge site where using 2 wires with the same diameter together would equate to one wire with 6 gauge numbers smaller. If this is correct, my two 10's would result in a 4 gauge wire. Make sense?
You're just going to have a mess + extra resistance because of trying to bond multiple ends together.
In my experience, 2 x 10 gauge wires = 60 amps of capacity which is closer to 6 gauge wire vs 4.
According to the wire gauge charts, #10 is about 4x more resistive than #4. This means two parallel #10 wires will have twice the resistance of a single #4 and act more like a #7. Resistance is the limiter for battery charging more than current capacity.
Thanks wnjj, a single 4 gauge is what I'll get.
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 06:40pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
So, doing that, yer likely close to mine, so, nothing less than 6 gauge AWG, though 4 gauge would be better, especially if you're goal is to get effective charging from the truck alternator.
I've got plenty of 10 gauge stranded wire already on hand. Would it be OK to run two of these wires together to come up with an equivalent 4 gauge wire. I read today on a wire gauge site where using 2 wires with the same diameter together would equate to one wire with 6 gauge numbers smaller. If this is correct, my two 10's would result in a 4 gauge wire. Make sense?
You're just going to have a mess + extra resistance because of trying to bond multiple ends together.
In my experience, 2 x 10 gauge wires = 60 amps of capacity which is closer to 6 gauge wire vs 4.
Thanks Joe, I've got a bad habit of trying to "cheap out" when possible. Will go ahead and get 4 gauge wire.
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 06:34pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
So, doing that, yer likely close to mine, so, nothing less than 6 gauge AWG, though 4 gauge would be better, especially if you're goal is to get effective charging from the truck alternator.
I've got plenty of 10 gauge stranded wire already on hand. Would it be OK to run two of these wires together to come up with an equivalent 4 gauge wire. I read today on a wire gauge site where using 2 wires with the same diameter together would equate to one wire with 6 gauge numbers smaller. If this is correct, my two 10's would result in a 4 gauge wire. Make sense?
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 06:05pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Continuous duty solenoid
As far as continuous duty solenoid - Are you wanting it to come on when the truck is running to charge them back up? I use a simple Battery Kill switch. An isolator is also a good choice.
Yeah, Boaty. I want to charge the batteries only when the engine is running. I'm too forgetful to use the kill switch.
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 05:34pm |
Truck Campers
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Continuous duty solenoid
When I'm not using my TC with the DW aboard, I've started using my fiberglass camper shell/cap to camp alone. When I'm "roughing it" I don't need a lot of luxuries, but would like to have a deep cycle battery or two for running fans, lights, etc. My alternator puts out 150 amps, so I'm needing suggestions on a brand and model of contiuous duty solenoid for my situation. Up to two 12v (115 ah each)batteries with a 18' run from chassis battery to the deep cycle batteries. Probably go with two Everstart wallyworld trolling motor batteries that I already have on-hand. What size wire would I need for this distance and should I use a fuse. If so, what size and where should it be installed? Thanks
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mtnstarman
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02/07/12 01:39pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: How to load a Truck Camper video
Wouldn't it be nice if you could lay down a couple of steel I-beams just wide enough for your tires. Back in on these things and drop your TC. When backing in to load up again you would be lined up perfectly.
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mtnstarman
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02/02/12 01:57pm |
Truck Campers
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RE: Check out this homemade TC
post deleted.
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mtnstarman
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01/29/12 08:31am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Installing Torklift tie-downs with mods
Installed torklifts on my Tundra and the only real problem I had was fishing one of the bolts thru the frame with the fish wire they supplied. Finally got it thru and didn't have any problems with the rest of the installation. No drilling or grinding.
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mtnstarman
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01/29/12 08:12am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Gas can in wheel-well below TC?
Got a couple of these rotopax 2 gallon tanks mounted on side of TC inside the truck bed. The special mount keeps the tanks from tipping over and has a lock to prevent theft. Can mount tanks on my ATV when on a long ride.
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mtnstarman
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01/22/12 06:51pm |
Truck Campers
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