2010 14TT Newbie

[Valinda]

My husband and I just bought this trailer a couple days ago. On the way home the vent covering for the lower electrical blew off. We recovered the cover. It may need some new clips to secure it again. One of the plastic pipes appears to have broken off. We are unable to turn on the lights in the trailer. We have no manual. And no idea what to do. Any help here would be greatly appreciated! We've never camped in a trailer before.

We are really looking forward to using this cute little trailer!!

 

[team dougherty]

That is the fridge. The plastic pipe was the drain. Without it the condensation will just drip on the floor back there.

I have seen fridges where the condensate hose goes to a collector that goes to the chimney and cooks the water off. Ours just drains to the outside.

I don't know why the lights aren't working. Is the camper plugged in? if not is the battery hooked up, charged and good?

 

[Valinda]

Thanks so much for your quick reply! We investigated the lights a bit further and the lights work when we plugged in so it must be the battery that is having problems. Probably have to get a new one.

Thanks for the info on the box. I'll try and replace that plastic pipe and hopefully it will work ok.

 

[profdant139]

Which model did you buy? By the 14, do you mean the 139?

And the pipe hooks to a drain tray inside the fridge -- not sure where the break is -- can't quite tell from the photo.

 

[profdant139]

Wait -- I just clicked on the photo, and now I see. This could probably be fixed with duct tape -- just hook up the two ends. The lower end should poke through the fridge vent screen so that the condensation can drip outside.

When camping in sub-freezing weather (and don't we all??), watch out that the drips don't freeze and plug the end of the tube, eventually causing the drip tray inside the fridge to overflow. Don't ask how I know this.

 

[profdant139]

One more comment and then I will stop, I promise -- if this is your first trailer, ask lots of questions!! We love to answer them instead of doing household chores, which is what we should be doing.

 

[LJAZ]

I'd recommend going to your local big box hardware store and getting a length of hose to replace that cheapy hose that comes standard. Otherwise it will just break again.

If the cover is too badly damaged you should be able to find a new one on Amazon.

As far as the battery, check to see if you have a disconnect switch that is turned off. Not sure about your specific model/year, but some have them and some don't.

If it is a bad battery you should be aware that it's not a good idea to tow without one. The battery is needed to power the trailer brakes in the event the trailer somehow gets separated from the tow vehicle.

 

[Valinda]

Profdant139, yes this is our first trailer and I WELCOME ALL of your advice! I thought this was going to be so much fun, but it's a little daunting now that we actually have it!

LJAZ, thank you so much for your advice as well! We were able to get the cover back on and it looks like when the lady was showing us the trailer (before we packed it up and hauled it off) she didn't twist the latch connectors to secure it. So that's why it came off. It took us a bit to figure this out! :-/ Surprisingly it wasn't damaged at all! Everything seems to be OK. We got it back on now and it's tight.

As for the battery, we don't have an electric brake controller on our car so it wouldn't matter anyway. We're looking into getting that installed but it might not be a problem as we're towing a 14ft. Fun Finder behind a minivan.

The disconnect switch is on. But still no power unless it's plugged in. I guess the next step is to take it in and have it checked an most likely buy a new one. I would like to have battery power! We'll be camping with no hook-ups in a couple weeks.

Heading to the Home Depot to get that tubing! Thanks for that suggestion!!

 

[profdant139]

Yes, there is a steep learning curve, but the fun also grows exponentially. We bought our little trailer 12 years ago on a "let's see" basis -- if it did not work out, no big deal. We had never camped in our lives. It was supposed to be nothing more than a mobile motel room.

It turned out to be a life-changing event -- all of our vacations now center around the trailer. We camp in remote places, eating our own food and sleeping on clean sheets.

Where in Washington are you located? It takes us at least three days to drive up North from Southern Calif., but we go to Washington (Rainier and the Cascades) as often as we can.

 

[Valinda]

We're in Olympia. We'll hopefully be camping in Montana in a couple weeks. We have the trailer set up in the back yard right now. I think we might be doing a bit of camping very close to home a couple times just to see how it all works out! ;-)

 

[profdant139]

Valinda, does your trailer look like the one in the photo on the banner? If so, we have virtually the same trailer.

 

[Valinda]

Yes! Here's a picture I took just a min. ago. It's been really well taken care of but it does look like it was stored outside for a time as the decals are cracking. Other than that it looks brand new.

 

[profdant139]

Yep. That's an X-139. They don't make them anymore. We go the darndest places in ours.

Here is a link to our blog about the trailer:

The LMIC (Look Mom I'm Camping)

And this is our blog about our trips:

Look, Mom, We're Camping!

 

[Valinda]

Wow! Thanks for that!! I'll read every word. I just glanced at it and I'm intrigued! I've only put that table down once but it's terribly awkward and overly heavy I think. That first topic looks very interesting!
Also we were thinking of getting LED light bulbs for the trailer right away. Have you seen those? They're supposed to be better on the battery and last for 30 some odd years. You may have mentioned that in your blog but I didn't read it all yet. ;-)

 

[profdant139]

Yes -- there might be a discussion of LEDs in there. And yes, we have gone to all-LED -- a huge savings on electricity. Be sure to get warm color, not cool. Very cheap on ebay.

 

[LJAZ]

As for the battery, we don't have an electric brake controller on our car so it wouldn't matter anyway. We're looking into getting that installed but it might not be a problem as we're towing a 14ft. Fun Finder behind a minivan.

Most states require that trailers over 3000 lbs (or less depending on the state) have trailer brakes. Some also require that those brakes be capable of being applied by the driver independently of tow vehicle brakes - meaning a brake controller. Not sure what the X-139 weighs but it's probably at least 3000 lbs.

And for the emergency breakaway brakes, a controller isn't required. There is supposed to be a cable that you attach to the tow vehicle that gets pulled if the trailer and TV get separated that directly connects the battery to the brakes and activates them. If you don't have that cable you need to get it reinstalled. Of course the chances that the trailer ever comes off the TV are pretty slim, but most states require that you have it.

It's not hard to install a brake controller if you're handy. Etrailer is good place to find what you need. And of course plenty of folks here can help if you need advice. Happy camping!

 

[M Wilkie]

Hello! Congratulations. Do you know how old your tires are? They have a date stamp on them...week and year of manufacture. Trailer tires can look fine but be unsafe. Five years is some owners rule of thumb. Also bearings. Wheel bearings need to be repacked at intervals. Dry wheel bearings can cause fires. Both of these items are number one for highway safety. A blown tire can spell disaster. Sorry to preach. Also matching the tow vehicle to the RV, of course weightwise.

 

[Valinda]

Yes our little trailer is under the weight limit. However my husband IS getting the the brake system working before we take it out. The trailer is well under the weigh limit for our tow vehicle. And the tires still have the vent spews on them (new tire hair) So I THINK they should be OK. But I have no idea how old they actually are. I couldn't see any date stamp on them.

Thank you all so much for your responses! I appreciate all this advice very much!

Just another question. Our minivan (which we use to to the trailer) usually gets around 30mpg. Towing the trailer it was getting 12 to 13mpg. Given that the trailer has such FLAT front and back this isn't that surprising I guess. It is definitely NOT slipping through the air stream! Has anyone tried to put any kind of aerodynamics on it? You see trucks with those metal extension panels on their backs to help them get better mileage. Has anyone every tried anything to make these trailers get better mileage? What kind of mileage is everyone getting?

 

[M Wilkie]

Someone once said on here, and we firmly believe it, is no matter what you tow with what you will get anywhere from 9 to 12 miles per gallon. That excludes the big behemoth type A's of course. We're getting just over 12 with our rig. About the same as we got with our Jeep Liberty pulling the 189FF. Two very different rigs. Mountain terrain and wind will make a difference of course. We have hills, but no mountains. Your van is a big sail. But spacious. We loved our Town & Country but it wouldn't have done well with our 189FF.
The date stamp is on the sidewall. Two digit Week first and year after. It will say " DOTxxxx"(Week/year).

 

[Dakota 1120]

Here is an article with pictures about where the tire date stamp is and how to read it.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=11

and here:

http://www.continental-tires.com/car/technology/tire-knowledge/lex-1-2