TINSEL LOAF hit it right on the head: with a trailer polarity light, by the time you discovered that you had a problem, the damage would be done.
Sergei,
That all depends on how it's wired. I turn off my main breaker before I unplug and don't turn it on until after I'm plugged in. The polarity indicator "should" indicate a problem BEFORE you flip the breaker and power up anything powered by A/C in the trailer. Most marine panels are also equiped with a device to trip the main breaker if the wrong polarity is detected. If possible I'd sure prefer a light that says A/C good rather than "oops, too late"
The talk of airconditioning has me thinking the most common problem is going to be under voltage. Sure I carry a VOM and can manually check it but what about durning the day. As it heats up more and more people in the park are turning on the airconditioners and as it heats up the resistance in the circuits increases. Depending on how the place is wired someone with 50 amp service next to you could have a big effect on voltage to your pole.
The talk of airconditioning has me thinking the most common problem is going to be under voltage. Sure I carry a VOM and can manually check it but what about durning the day. As it heats up more and more people in the park are turning on the airconditioners and as it heats up the resistance in the circuits increases. Depending on how the place is wired someone with 50 amp service next to you could have a big effect on voltage to your pole.
I don’t understand matters electrical so I have to ask around a lot. Eventually, I have to be guided by intuition.
If trailers don’t have polarity lights now but polarity problems might still occur, how do careful people look after that? Apparently, by carrying a polarity tester and using it before they plug in.
That makes the most sense to me for another reason: I’m moving the power inlet to the front of the trailer. Unless I go to the trouble of rewiring the whole trailer, the warning light will not be next to the inlet anymore.
What I think I have learned from this is that I should buy a polarity tester and learn how to use it.
Here’s another electrical question for you (or anyone else out there that can help):
Pictured is the MARINCO Easy Lock inlet that I am going to install on the trailer.
The Marinco Easy Lock cordset for this device is 30A 125V 2 pole, 3 wire.
What kind of wire should we run from that Inlet box to the main breaker inside the trailer?
The Marine fittings are usually twist lock. Good reason for that since you're bobing up and down at the dock and don't want it falling out Bummer that that's not the RV standard. That means you'll need an adaptor(s) or a custom wired cord. As to what gauge wire that depends on how many amps and how far you want to run the power. Longer the cord, heavier the wire. Likewise, the more amps the heavier the wire. There's nothing wrong with going to a larger wire but going too small will cause voltage drop and overheating. For RV's it looks like 10/3 is pretty common for 30 Amps up to lengths of 50'. I'd keep it to 25' if you're pretty sure that'll be enough.
As far as location of the indicator lights it only seems prudent to me to turn on the breaker after you've hooked up the power and you're in the trailer to see if anything looks wrong. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Do most people turn off their main breaker when leaving?
Great pictures Sergei,, always wondered what the Argosy end caps looked like,,, still love that trailer,,, wonderful job you are doing,,,, thanks for sharing,,, dieterdog
Yes, I’d always assumed the “end cap” to mean the entire ends. After I bought my trailer I realized this wasn’t so. Tapping on the metal quickly showed me that there were two different metals being used.
I don’t know why steel was used. Airstream caps are all aluminum now. Better techniques or materials eventually developed?
I don’t think the cap is galvanized. It doesn’t look it. The dull brown-black surface can’t be removed with stripper so it isn’t primer.
You can sand it off very easily so maybe its oxidization or another chemical process?
There is no corrosion from dissimilar metals that I can see. Maybe this theory is overrated?
I think the brown spots in the photo may be filler from a previous owners body repair. Just guessing.
All the rivets are aluminum and everything seems in good repair.
Once we sand it all down, prep the aluminum for painting and paint it, the little trailer will look pretty cool.
That won’t be for a few months yet so we have to prime the steel caps now.
but a metal paint scraper... YIKES! I used both aircraft stripper (on the steel sections) and the Hydrostrip (ICI product) on my trailer with good results... the Hydrostrip just came off with a hose easily. I used a plastic scraper at times to save the aluminum.
Interesting about your caps. Mine are definately galvinized, but not as dark as yours. No filler either.... except for one area of Brown bondo on the rear aluminum... I too think it was a PO thing - but maybe it was factory?
I'm curiuos how you got the end fiberglass piece off - did the midstrip holder have to come off first?
Marc
We should all give dieterdog a hard time. She still cannot put pictures on her computer or send them in an email. She goes on some great trips and I'm still waiting to see pictures. Also great job on that Argosy. I really want to get another one to work on. Mine is down at the lake and I can't fix on him. I miss him. Have lots I could do, but if I get him out of the lake lot, then I can't get him back in by myself. I really enjoy going down there to my hide-a-way.
Cool, I'd thought the entire end of the trailer was steel, not just the curved part on top. Anyone know why they did this? I'm guessing it's because steel is easier to form without cracking or tearing than most aluminum alloys. It might be a little stronger depending on gauge. Did they galvanize the steel? If so that requires a special etch before paint (phosphoric acid??). Any sign of corrosion from dissimilar metals being in contact? What type of rivets, steel or aluminum?
It's geat to see what's inside my trailer without having to take mine all apart
ok, Juel,,,, yep,, went to the International and just got back last night from a trip to the wilds of Idaho,,,, and Sergei,,,did get a mouse pad for you,, but not the anniversary one,,,, this one is in colors,,, and will not match your black and white theme,,,, will look online for what you want if it is available still,, was not last time i looked,,, sorry all,,, am a techno drop out,,, dieterdog
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Bummer that that's not the RV standard. That means you'll need an adaptor(s) or a custom wired cord. As to what gauge wire that depends on how many amps and how far you want to run the power. Longer the cord, heavier the wire. Likewise, the more amps the heavier the wire. There's nothing wrong with going to a larger wire but going too small will cause voltage drop and overheating. For RV's it looks like 10/3 is pretty common for 30 Amps up to lengths of 50'. I'd keep it to 25' if you're pretty sure that'll be enough.
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