Revenge of Lousy Wiring

[FuzzyNormal]

Bought an old Airstream (68 Overlander) and the mid 80’s owner apparently really went to town doing “creative” rewriting.

It’s all bodged up and about as assuring as a fox guarding a hen house. It’s a mess. Like, spliced romex wiring floating through holes punched in the walls. Sad and ugly. Battery drains, so I know grounding is an issue. Silly 80’s radio/cd player installed with a rat’s nest of wires and twist connectors.

Feel free to wring your hands for me and let me know that I stepped into a world of hurt.

But, if you’re also willing to offer optimistic unduly hopeful advice, I’m listening.

My own naive outlook is to assume that I might be able to clean out all this junk and ONLY re-wire the bare minimum of electrical. And, honestly, a water pump and AC are the only things I think would be necessary for my needs.

I mean, the stove and fridge can run on propane, right?

Lighting can be removed and replaced with individual battery operated LED’S. A laptops is my entertainment device/screen/music player.

What am I overlooking here? (You can say “reality,” I’ve already heard that joke)

I’m not trying to restore this thing at all, just make it BASIC BASIC BASIC so it’s reliable, not scary, and not prone to failure. It doesn’t have to be pretty either, but not disturbing... which is what I’m seeing now.

I dunno. I’m a dummy.

[Bill M.]

Propane fridge needs 12 volts. As does the propane water heater. The propane detector draws current all the time so that might be your drain. I would sure clean the wiring up but in a selected way rather than a huge purge and rewire. I mean if he could not get to the original Airstream 12 volt wiring it is probably still there and in fair shape so do not destroy it. I sorta like the 12 volt lights with LED bulbs in them. Maybe the original AC wiring can be mostly restored? I think there are approved splices for Romex now if you need to. I am more of a "first do no damage" type Airstream fixer than a gut and replace type. There is a reason why Airstream did things the way they did to start with and almost every other way seems harder.

[88Limited]

If you're good with a multi-meter you can find the short (if there are any). You'll need a multi-meter that can read DC amps, turn everything off, disconnect the negative on your battery and put the meter between the neg conductor and the negative post - that will tell you what your amp draw is with everything off. If it's excessive start pulling fuses, it will drop when you find the circuit with the short.


Personally I'd start by making sure all your electrical connections are tight first. Start at the battery and follow it to the 12v distribution panel.

[FuzzyNormal]

By “excessive” do you mean anything about 12v?

[88Limited]

Originally Posted by FuzzyNormal

By “excessive” do you mean anything about 12v?

You won't be reading voltage, you're checking amp draw. With everything off, you should be seeing as close to zero amp draw as possible. If you're seeing an amp draw with everything off you either have something that is still on drawing a parasitic draw or you have a short. Isolating it down to which circuit (by pulling fuses) will help you determine what/where the draw/short is.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Without actually being there and seeing what's what, it's tough to guess what to do.

First step would be to pull out everything you are not going to use. Track it's wiring back as far as you easily can and remove that as well.

As noted above, you will need 12V for various appliances (many stoves have a light in the oven ...). There are also fans that get 12V in most trailers.

Tearing out walls / pulling wires behind walls probably is best avoided if at all possible. That's way more work than any practical benefit you would get from it. Unless the belly pan is coming off for a different reason, same would go for most wiring under there.

I also would vote for going to 12v powered LED lighting. Adapting what's there *should* be possible.

Bob

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Propane fridge needs 12 volts. As does the propane water heater. The propane detector draws current all the time so that might be your drain. I would sure clean the wiring up but in a selected way rather than a huge purge and rewire. I mean if he could not get to the original Airstream 12 volt wiring it is probably still there and in fair shape so do not destroy it. I sorta like the 12 volt lights with LED bulbs in them. Maybe the original AC wiring can be mostly restored? I think there are approved splices for Romex now if you need to. I am more of a "first do no damage" type Airstream fixer than a gut and replace type. There is a reason why Airstream did things the way they did to start with and almost every other way seems harder.

I believe stock 1968 fridge doesn't need 12v, the stock water heater did not need 12v and in 1968 trailers did not come with propane detectors. Obviously this trailer is not still completely stock so there is no guaranty any of that is still true on this trailer.

[AldeanFan]

You’ve got this! The first step is identifying that there is a problem and you’ve done that already.

The old trailers don’t have a lot of wiring and your needs are few.

Personally I’d re-wire everything so I knew I could trust it.

Good luck, you’ll be streaming along before you know it.

[BIGED52]

Originally Posted by FuzzyNormal

Bought an old Airstream (68 Overlander) and the mid 80’s owner apparently really went to town doing “creative” rewriting.

It’s all bodged up and about as assuring as a fox guarding a hen house. It’s a mess. Like, spliced romex wiring floating through holes punched in the walls. Sad and ugly. Battery drains, so I know grounding is an issue. Silly 80’s radio/cd player installed with a rat’s nest of wires and twist connectors.

Feel free to wring your hands for me and let me know that I stepped into a world of hurt.

But, if you’re also willing to offer optimistic unduly hopeful advice, I’m listening.

My own naive outlook is to assume that I might be able to clean out all this junk and ONLY re-wire the bare minimum of electrical. And, honestly, a water pump and AC are the only things I think would be necessary for my needs.

I mean, the stove and fridge can run on propane, right?

Lighting can be removed and replaced with individual battery operated LED’S. A laptops is my entertainment device/screen/music player.

What am I overlooking here? (You can say “reality,” I’ve already heard that joke)

I’m not trying to restore this thing at all, just make it BASIC BASIC BASIC so it’s reliable, not scary, and not prone to failure. It doesn’t have to be pretty either, but not disturbing... which is what I’m seeing now.

I dunno. I’m a dummy.

Fuzzy Normal, Take a step back and a deep breath or 100! Your first concern should be to remove all Romex wire from the add-ons the PO did in the 80's!!! Solid copper wiring should never be installed in a travel trailer unless it is never being towed again! It is to brittle to handle all the bumps and frame twists that come with travel. Only braided wire should be installed. While we are on this subject. The '66 thru '68 trailers all had aluminum wiring factory installed and all that crap needs to go as well! Most hidden splices and wire nuts on these aluminum wires were not junction boxed beneath inner skins so they were either taped in place or left hanging in spaces between ribs ( no zip ties back then) and have aged poorly after all these years! Best to just strip all wiring out and start over for your own piece of mind and fire protection in hidden wall spaces! If you have your Owners Manual there is a basic wiring guide in the manual. If you need an owners manual the Airsteam.com site has a section where you can order manuals. Be aware that NO service manual ever existed for these trailers! Pre-determine where you need outlets and cigarette style 12 volt dc outlets as well (for charging or powering 12 vdc devises) as well as where newer appliances may need 12 volt dc supplies/wiring run and put them into your re-wiring plan. Since you will be starting from a blank slate here it will be the best time to make every wire run and connection the most up to code that you could hope for. Also do not fail to ask questions! There are NO stupid questions so always feel free to ask. That is the only way to be assured that you are getting it right! Good Luck! Ed