Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Tommy B. Howdy;

Womens is funny critters to buy stuff for. Just sayin'. ya might ask her to "see" how it feels in her hand.
I bought a nice Ruger for ex # 2&4 thought she'd really enjoy it ... nope, didn't "feel" right. Ended up getting a
Ruger GP-101 instead (.357), She was happier and shot it better then the auto loader. They be much more
tactile then we are which can also have it's benefits...

hank

Went right back to basic training with her. It worked as it should.

Sight Picture.

Body Stance
B.R.A.S.S

Breath, Relax, Aim ( body alignment ), sight, squeeze. Kill! Or hit the bulls eye. Fired 200 hundreds through the pipe. 100 apiece. She stayed within the 9 ring 80 % of the time! No chit.

70 bucks, 55 in ammo, 20 or so at the range. I think. Point is she is hooked! WTF. Never expected it.

Nice people at the line wanted me or her to shoot there guns and asked to shoot ours. Kimber is pretty hot right now. Just good people enjoying them self's in a controlled environment. Felt safe, lots of family. She wants to shoot more soon!

I love the pistol and it looks like I need to but one for myself now as she does not want to part with it.

Hey we came home and both field stripped and cleaned it together. She wanted to know. Jeezus what a for me.

Very Nice!
"Everybody told me don't go out with girls with guns"..... But I like 'em
Sounds like she's got a great instructor, that'll be great to have something to enjoy together
Good, clean fun.
Nice job Tommy. ....

McDave

Well Well look what I found. Splaines a few things. I thought I remembered an issue here. Loosened clamp an rotated wire.

Also checked trailer after 72 hours and found battery down to 9.1. Checked battery post and found the main hot coming from the Progressive 4135 sheared off. Last time I seated the battery box cover I did that. Fox, really, what next.

So when the Dometic compressor kicked on the meter in the trailer went from 13.4 to 12.4. Better then 11.3 or so but the battery is stressed right now. Will update later but things are looking up.

Was going to camp this weekend but temps are diving into the mid 30s or upper 20s in the forest. WTH! My knee is still bum. idk.

Wow! If that was touching ground and it is a +12VDC wire... it should have blown a fuse.... otherwise, it probably wasn't the source of the voltage swings as I don't see any major strands broken or etc.. Are there a lot of strands broken to reduce the Gage significantly that I am not seeing in the picture? What was that chaffing on to get so worn down? Almost looks like you hit it with a drill bit on the side.


Having the Converter sheared off from the battery would account for some swings, especially if you expected the converter to keep the voltage up.. Also, if you read 9.3 volts... you have diminished the lifespan of the battery by at least 50%. Sorry to tell you that.. but that is bad news for a deep cycle lead acid battery.

Chit, 50 % ? That is bad. You know The lead positive terminal from the progressive that sheared off at the battery terminal ? Well many strands where cleanly cut when I crimped the undersized ring connector on upon original installation, a year ago or so. I think It was a 12-14 gauge. I replaced it properly with a 10 gauge ring crimp on connector and routed it better to the terminal to prevent any tension on the wire at all when the lid is placed back on the battery box.

What puzzles me is why the battery was drawn down so much in say 72 hours with only the cooler running. I know it doesn't use that much. I saw a you tube review on this cooler and the guy said when his compressor came on his meter wen from 12.7 to 12.5.

Don one day camping or what ever if you can through a volt meter to a few things/connections maybe if what I just did does not help.

One other thing. I finally checked the battery water level just prior to shearing off the connection and to my surprise it needed 1/2 to 2/3 of a cup of DH2O.

I sure beat this battery up, damn.

Yes... the low water could have been the reason also for the lower voltages because that exposed surface area of the lead plates are out of the picture if not in the water. Just fill it up and push on. Nothing you can do about that now. As long as it is taking a charge and giving you a decent amount of time between needing a recharge, use it. When it quits taking a charge... you will know it.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Hey Don, if you see this,

I don't know if I mentioned it but that battery is a deep cycle marine battery. It is only 11 months old and I took it back up to discount auto where I bought it and they checked it and said it was good but only 80% charged up at 12.2. Still had 400 CA left. That's why I took it up but I also noticed that my progressive charger was not working when I got home from work. Some time while charging the negative ground from the progressive PC had slipped out of its butt connector and was hanging low, I barley noticed it. That's why it quite charging then and before when I found it at 9.1 At that point I just took the battery up for them to check out as they said they would replace it if it was bad.

It failed because I used the butt connector that came with the battery cable as it had a 4 inch 8 gauge acc. wire you could use to hard wire in. I could barley crush the connector and it was too big for the 10 gauge coming from the PC and the connection failed.

So now all connections are right and tight. The meter jumped up to 13.8 when I finished doing it right. They said no harm was done at all as it is a deep cycle and is made to drain some. I am solid now and learned a lot. Time will tell of course but how do you feel about it now. The health of the battery. Just curios.

If I get home and that meter reads 12.7/12.8 I'm loading up and heading out early tomorrow for Ocala. Solo. Last cool trip till November. Knee still a little weak. Really want to take just the KTM but should just take the ATV. Will check out those big azz hill climbs and take a few pics.

I would expect this to apply now that things are right and tight. Finally.

Thanks bdosborn if you still out there. The numbers have varied so much. I thought 12.7 was resting and fully charged but I will watch this closely while camping this weekend. The cooler/freezer, bed lift, accumulator, and self draining shower tub with bilge pump all will be tested.

As well as my knee. Just need the e-start to work on the KTM. Not sure if I can kick start.

Tommy B wrote:Hey Don, if you see this,

I don't know if I mentioned it but that battery is a deep cycle marine battery. It is only 11 months old and I took it back up to discount auto where I bought it and they checked it and said it was good but only 80% charged up at 12.2. Still had 400 CA left. That's why I took it up but I also noticed that my progressive charger was not working when I got home from work. Some time while charging the negative ground from the progressive PC had slipped out of its butt connector and was hanging low, I barley noticed it. That's why it quite charging then and before when I found it at 9.1 At that point I just took the battery up for them to check out as they said they would replace it if it was bad.

It failed because I used the butt connector that came with the battery cable as it had a 4 inch 8 gauge acc. wire you could use to hard wire in. I could barley crush the connector and it was too big for the 10 gauge coming from the PC and the connection failed.

So now all connections are right and tight. The meter jumped up to 13.8 when I finished doing it right. They said no harm was done at all as it is a deep cycle and is made to drain some. I am solid now and learned a lot. Time will tell of course but how do you feel about it now. The health of the battery. Just curios.

If I get home and that meter reads 12.7/12.8 I'm loading up and heading out early tomorrow for Ocala. Solo. Last cool trip till November. Knee still a little weak. Really want to take just the KTM but should just take the ATV. Will check out those big azz hill climbs and take a few pics.

Tommy, I knew it was a deep cycle... CCA is not the concern so much as the Amp Hours rating for the Deep Cycle. The issue will be how many deep cycle charges are left in the battery after the drain to +9.3V... In any case.. like I said earlier.. just use it. It appears you have everything hooked up right and tight now... so just watch it. Can't harm anything other than needing charging more often. Your fridge should shut itself down if the voltage drifts too low just like an inverter will (should)... it is self protection against just that... low voltage input.

I hope you have a great trip to Ocala... I wish I could go. I'll be somewhere over the North Atlantic on Saturday on my way to Spain... We need to plan a trip some weekend when I have a Friday off so I can do the Thurs. PM through Sunday AM thing. BTW... leave the bike at home and let the knee heal. You can take it easy on the 4 wheeler... If you hurt it more.. it will just take longer.

Don thanks for the reply. Great advice all the way around.

It will absolutely kill me, BUT I will leave the KTM at home.

I will ATV, camp, and a few. A fire if I can manage.

Joining the Port Malabar Gun Club May 27, a Saturday 4 hour orientation but that range is awesome. That weekend is out for that reason. I can bring a quest if you ever want to try that Kimber micro or Glock 17.

Safe travels Don, watch your self out there!

Pics on Sunday!

Hey Tommy,
I gotta say, you have really had quite an education in all things electrical over the past year. I know it can be frustrating sometimes when you are learning from real life, but I promise if you had just read a book or gone to classes you wouldn't have the knowledge you have gained so quickly. Real life situations make you develop skills and learn to think like a technician or troubleshooter. Theory is important, but the fundamentals will never fail you. I think you really have quite a knack for it. You may not know all the lingo and specs. but you know how to hunt down the problem, and you're not scared to try. I would love to see you pick up some things to help clarify everything. I can see you're just about to make the right connections, and the light will come on (pun intended) and all will make sense and become so much easier, and maybe even fun? When it happens, you will be in a elite group. I'd bet less than 1 in 10 can really understand electricity. Don can be the best resource, as he can speak your language and not confuse you. And he wants to help you understand, not just repair and move on.
Some suggestions from an old timer to get you started? Get yourself a good VOM. (volts, ohms meter) and start using it all the time just to help visualize what is happening. I prefer the old time analog meters, the ones with a needle not digital. But either will help you learn and of course troubleshoot. You need to know what the readings mean and where to take them, so just keep it handy and use it first, instead of taking a guess.
Learning to make good, reliable connections is a skill of its own. But just think about each connection like you were building an airplane, and lives depended on it being right. If it's not right, it must be that other thing. There is no middle ground. Things like butt connectors and scotch locks are a joke and are almost guaranteed to fail, at a really bad time. Get a soldering iron and a soldering gun and learn how to use them to make solid, reliable connections.
Learning to read schematics will be like learning to read. Your life will be much easier and the answers to the problem can be found, without tearing everything apart. They will help you solve for the failure and ignore all else not related.
Again, Don can really help with all this and I'd be happy to give you any help you need. You are very close to the moment of clarity.. And adding another skill to your toolbox, and another facet to the diamond that is Tommy.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Erin Go Bragh!

McDave

Hello all. I am back after an epic trip. Much to report. Mcdave , as always you are very correct. if I NEED to know something I am all in. If not It may not stick. That AADD I'm sure. Its what I was given at birth I guess.

I went crazy with the camera cause I had time. Sure missed my KTM but the ATV was fun to. More pics to follow.

Every thing worked great. Filled up Little 1 pound propane tanks in the field. Took maybe 2 minutes per tank.

More pics. Everything drains great.

Fridge is AWESOME! This was at the end of the trip.