Looking at the specs for '07 it appears Chrysler is responding to the need for larger engines. After all, just about any province in Canada is way bigger than all of Europe. Shoot, we've got States the size of the whole continent! The 3.5 liter gasoline V6 is ho hum, but with the 3.0 liter V6 turbodiesel (184 hp (135 kW) and 295 lb-ft of torque) now we're talking!
Another important person in my life story is gone.
FRANK WILTSIE, the Elgin County man who’d never even seen a circus but still managed to build me the most beautiful show ever to hit North American roads died, aged 82, in Aylmer, Ontario on Friday evening.
His sons Bev and Russ and grandsons Aaron and Bradley carry on the family business.
The funeral will be on Tuesday.
Wiltsie Custom Bodies are doing all the work on my Argosy renewal.
Frank won’t see the completed trailer but I will take along the Elgin County wisdom he often repeated:
Love the pictures, keep 'em coming. It's like a How-to manual for my trailer! How come you got a polarity light in your '76 and I didn't in my '78?
All I have for indicators is a battery charge that's sort of like an old stereo VU meter with red/yellow/green zones. No indicator from the Univolt for AC, at least not that I've found. Everything is located in the closet, street side back in the bathroom. Given the "shower" arrangement I'm not thrilled about it all being back there where mosture can get to it.
Marine panels seem to be big on the reverse polarity protection. I'd think it would be worth having. You're plugging into unknown sources on the road and if someone goofed on the wiring you could end up damaging some expensive electronics. Ideally it would indicate "Polarity OK" which would then be an AC connected light. I did a quick search on line last week but need to look into it more. The marine supply stores surprisingly didn't seem too out of line with their prices. Some of the panels had switches for "shore power" and generator; even a generator start button which would be discusstingly civilized matched up with a propane Yamaha with autostart . I think a low voltage alarm would be handy too, that's something that can be really hard on some equipment.
I guess it couldn’t hurt anything to keep the polarity light but the fact that your 79 does not have one helps convince me the light is outmoded stuff.
In the days before the lugs on standard plugs being two different widths and in the days before 3 prong plugs / outlets were universal, it probably was wise to have the light.
It will be very hard for me to plug the MARINCO 30 amp 3 prong cord into a very old 2-opening device.
Good idea about the 120 v /12 v combined distribution panels. I will check the marine catalogs to see what there is.
Marine stuff will mostly work in trailer applications. They are both forms of mobility. Marine things seem to be better built.
I think the point of the polarity light is that the outlet you're plugging into may be wired backwards. Who know's what "handy man" may have last worked on the wiring in the ma'n'pa campground outside Hooterville . That's the reason all the marine panels have them; you pull into a slip in Mexico or the Carribean and "code" is non-existant.
I think it's not in my '78 Argosy because it was a way to cut cost. I don't have an indicator light from the Univolt or any sort of tank gages either. The other possibility is it was removed by a PO. I do have a GFI main breaker and I'm pretty sure those weren't around back in '78.
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
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. I think a low voltage alarm would be handy too, that's something that can be really hard on some equipment.
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