CalypsoCowboy
Idaho
New Member
Joined: 07/01/2008
View Profile
 Offline
|
We bought a used 2007 Desert Fox 24AS. We got a great deal from the Girl Scouts of all people, which was good and bad as it turns out. We have had the trailer for about a month now and made two trips.
Trip 1 - Initial outing with neighbors.
We headed up to Grimes Creek to camp with our neighbors. We headed up Friday, they were coming up Saturday morning. We wanted an open area for our son to play on his four wheeler.
We get there, get things setup, and are getting things settled for bed. First issue, the battery is already in the red. I'm thinking, HUH?, the trailer has been charging for a couple days and was plugged in when we got it. Could the electric tongue jack really use that much juice? So I'm thinking okay, not an issue. I go to fire up the generator, issue 2, the generator won't start. Needless to say the battery drained to the point it wouldn't keep the fridge running. It was warm so we did fine without the furnace.
Second day, our neighbors are up and we plug the trailer up to their generator and run it for 3 hours or so, batteries showing good, we think we are okay, will tackle generator when we get back. Had fun playing on the quads, and later that night, battery dies again.
Sunday, comes and we charge it again and head back to town. At this point I'm pretty frustrated as I just paid a lot of money for a used unit and I'm about ready to trade it off and just say the heck with it.
So we have a couple of down weeks until we go out again. I get the batteries out. They are about 3 year old group 24 batteries. I check them out, one is completely dry and down around 10v, the other was high 11v. So I water the first and put a change on it, it held the charge for about a day before it dropped to 6v. That one is toast, second one would hold a charge for longer, but wouldn't survive a load test. So I'm pretty bummed about having to get two new batteries, but it gave me a chance to get two 6v Costco batteries.
On to the generator, I sprayed some carb cleaner directly in the fuel inlet and I cut the feul line and put it in a two gal container of high octane and seafoam. I was able to get the generator running, no smoothly, but running, so I ran it for about an hour on the mixture. Then let it sit for a couple days and ran it some more, still not running great, but better.
Second trip, we headed up to my wife's parents cabin. I did charge up the batteries before we left. Oddly they showed a bit in the yellow for a bit and then went back green and lasted the first night just fine with the furnace running. I ran the generator for about an hour Saturday and it ran but is still having issues, but it's better than not starting. The batteries ran the furnace fine Saturday night.
So I'm making progress. I think I read somewhere where the deep cycle batteries need a couple of change/discharge cycles to get where they are holding a good charge. I also want to do some more electical testing to make sure the converter is working right and I don't have any mysterious drains.
As for the generator. It runs but it won't hold a constant speed it speeds up and then down, like it has a plugged idle jet. It only had 36 hours for 3 seasons of use, so I'm thinking it wasn't used enough and it just clogged. So I'm going to change the oil, plug, and fuel filter if I can figure out how to get to it first. Probably try and run it for a good couple hours to really warm it up. If that doesn't work, I'll look into pulling the carb off and trying to clean that and then maybe a replacement carb.
Other than those issues, the trailer seems to be working good, I don't understand the rear bed layout as you have to have both the dinette and couch in the down position to use the beds as they overlap the dinette and couch. Just a space issue in that short of a trailer. One of the furnace vents is right under the dinette, that will need to adjusted. The ladder inside seems to short to be useful, everything else seems in good order. Stove, fridge, furnace, and AC all work.
It pulls pretty good, a bit harder than my old trailer, but I think the bigger tires I just put on are what's impacting me.
Bottom line, double check everything on a used trailer and don't assume that the previous owners maintained anything. I think that is what happened with the batteries and generator, it just got used, and no one in particular was in charge of the maintenance. It was probably always plugged in so the batteries weren't an issue neither was the generator. Lessons learned for next time.
I just keep tinkering away on it, that is the best way to figure these things out.
Josh
* This post was
edited 06/23/09 11:29pm by an administrator/moderator *
|
Sandia Man
Rio Rancho, NM
Senior Member
Joined: 08/09/2008
View Profile
|
Glad to hear you have remedied some of the problems. Check your convertor and determine if it is multi-stage or single stage charger. With a voltmeter and batteries partially depleted, plug in your TH and measure voltage. Above 14.2 volts indicates bulk charging implying you have a multi-stage charger, anything around 13.6 volts usually means you have a single stage charger. Continue to perform the maintenance on your genny and run it for several hours afterwards. With a multi-stage charger, you can run your genny for a 2-3 hours to get your batteries back to about 90% of full charge. With a single stage charger it will require many more hours to achieve the same results. Happy camping!!
|
94fxds
Rancho Cucamonga ,Ca
Senior Member
Joined: 10/21/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club
|
I have had good luck keeping my two 6 volts charged hooked up to a battery tender.I made a pigtail so I just plug it in, and it seems to work better than the trailer charger. My trailer has a battery disconnect switch and I turn off the power to the trailer when its not in use. I also put stabil in the gas tank and start the generator once a month and run it with a load. Good Luck
|
mapguy
Puget Sound
Senior Member
Joined: 09/02/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
The key to a "new to you" trailer is patience to figure out the issues and operation. All trailers -new and used have issues.
The batteries were toast and the group 24's would have never cut the mustard for much furnace usage. Need to get those 6v batteries fully charged to realize their potential. Your built in charger may not do a good job -depending on what brand/model it is. It could be a Progressive Dynamics (PD) model tha with a small upgrade will work reasonably good with 3 stage chaging. If it is a PD check out and see if it has the ability to have a "Charge Wizard" added...
What brand of generator is it - a good soak with Seafoam will solve some varnish/gas gum up -but a carb or carb kit / cleaning may be necessary.
Make sure your tow vehicle is charging the batteries while traveling. Check the appropriate pin on your RV 7 way for 12v power. Good simple 7 way power diagrams/info here:
http://www.marksrv.com/wiring.htm
I normally run my electric jacks with the vehicle running and 7 way plugged in to minimize battery drain on set-up when dry camping. (Anything to preserve power and put off running the generator....)
|
toprudder
Raleigh, NC
Senior Member
Joined: 10/08/2004
View Profile
|
I had a similar issue with my MH. It only has a single group 24 battery, and the converter was poor when running off shore power, but terrible off the generator. The old converter was an old ferroresonant type, I replaced it with a Progressive Dynamics 45 amp model with the charge wizard. Best money I spent on the camper.
I can run the furnace overnight on that battery, as long as I can run the generator for about 3-4 hours each day. I usually crank it up in the morning to make my coffee, and then run it for a couple of hours before sleep so I can microwave my meal and watch tv.
Bob, Martha, and Matt.
Tucker, the Toy Poodle
'09 K-Z MXT20, '07 Chevy 2500HD Duramax
Toprudder.com
|
|
|
JESTER7406
Northern California
Full Member
Joined: 12/02/2003
View Profile
Offline
|
Good purchase with the Desert Fox. It seems like very similar issues that all of us have had at one time or another.
The batteries are par for the course.
It sounds like your generator did just like mine at about 3 years. Im guessing its an Onan, if so the problem is most likely not the genset but the fuel line. Check to see if your fuel line runs down the outside of the frame rail to the rear. From there I bet it makes a sharp bend through the frame to the fuel tank. I probably has deteriorated and has cracks, thus sucking air. Heres how I fixed mine.
#1 replaced OEM Onan filter that is expensive and hard to replace with brass adaptors to fuel line, sediment bowl from Tractor store and inline clear fuel filter. Total cost about $20 wich is much less than the Onan store wanted for their filter.
#2 figured on replacing fuel hose every 3 years so I replaced it once with copper tubing. Make sure to secure it more than rubber hose and make gradual bends or buy 90 degree flare end elbows.
Hope this helps.
Jesse
Happy Trails,
Jesse
[green}2006 Chevy 2500 Duramax LBZ 4x4
2003 21' Desert Fox toy Hauler
2005 Polaris Sportsman 500 4x4
2003 Polaris Sportsman 400 4x4
1 Great Wife
1 Energetic Boy
1 Lab
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
|
CalypsoCowboy
Idaho
New Member
Joined: 07/01/2008
View Profile
Offline
|
The converter is the Progressive Dynamics converter with charge wizard built in. So it is a multi-stage charger. I do need to check to make sure the voltage is doing with I think it should be from the charge wizard. I have read up and understand the different voltages it puts out. I just purchased the extra pendant for it to help show me what it's doing but will check with the voltmeter too.
The generator is an Onan 4000. Good thought on looking at the fuel line hose, yes it does run along the frame, but I didn't get back as far as the fuel tank. I'll definately look at that. I had been using a can of Seafoam and 2 gallons of gas and ran that for a bit, would a stronger solution help as well? Maybe pouring some straight in the fuel inlet too. Also how do you get the fuel filter off? I looked and it didn't look easy? Also where is the fuel pump on these? I'm guessing it's buried in there after the fuel filter? I'm curious if you have any pictures of your bowl/filter setup?
Good thought on the truck plug, I think it's wired right but I'll need to look.
Good information, but so far I'm definately a fan of the Desert Fox quality, the unit sure feels like it's built stouter than some of the other trailers we looked at.
|
toprudder
Raleigh, NC
Senior Member
Joined: 10/08/2004
View Profile
|
I had a similar problem with my Onan 4000, and ended up having to adjust the low-speed needle valve. Unfortunately, they place a tamper-proof cover over that, which once I identified where it was I was able to pop it off and adjust it.
Yes, the fuel pump is inline between the filter and generator. I had to replace mine, but the symptom was that it would not run at all.
There is a manual online somewhere, I'll see if I can find the link.
|
|
