Hi All:
I have just returned from a 2 week trip with my new to me '89 16ft
Scamp. Had only taken it on one overnighter prior to the big trip. TV was a 2012 4 runner. Went to 7 state parks in NV & Utah as well as one in Idaho. Saw amazing country and love the
Scamp BUT.....during the trip several things happened and I could use your advice. First the thermostat on
furnace did not work. I believe the
furnace fan ran unbeknownst to me & ran the
battery way down. Eventually stayed at brother's house & he removed the faulty thermostat. taped the wires, & said to buy a new one. Charged the poor brand new
battery back up. Of note, when the fan came on the 1st time in the middle of the night when I thought the
furnace was off, it made a cry like a banshee...scared the poor dogs & myself to death, luckily only one other person was in Cathedral Gorge cg! Then determined that the original Dometic
fridge didn't work on 12 v or
propane. It will work on shore power however. Unfortunately, food was ruined because last few sites had no hookups. Lastly, the door has a mind of its own! When being brought home from 1st overnight outing luckily about 3 blocks from home, a man in front of me at a
light jumped out of his car & said "your trailer door is open". I immediately pulled over and the door was closed & locked tight. It must have slammed shut again while I turned the corner. This made me understand why there was a padlock attachment to the outside and a padlock. I have padlocked ever since BUT...it was a dark & stormy night, the last of the 2 weeker and very. very cold in the little
Scamp. I got up to use the facilities & to my surprise, the door was open. I had closed it & locked it with the little pin that is supposed to suffice for a lock. Based on this wandering narrative you may wonder what questions I really have (I just read thru the whole dialog on the porta potty issue so believe I can wander a little).
Here are my questions:
1. What's with the
fridge (Dometic RM2201)? Is there a problem with the old converter (it is the original Magnatek)? I still do not understand what the converter does even after reading every post on this forum but do know that the recommendation is to upgrade to new technology.
2. There are 2 wires that were attached to the old thermostat, can I order a newer model thermostat & figure out how to attach these wires? The furnace was the original Suburban.
3. Has anyone else had issues as described about the door? Did you replace the hardware with new handles/lock? I don't feel too secure camping alone with this type of inadequate lock.
4. Anyone know what kind of wiring the toyota 2012 4runner w/tow package has? I read on this forum that it should at least have 8 ga to be able to run
fridge & charge
battery while towing (but also read that it depends on the converter capability).
5. Thank you for trying to make sense of this and helping this novice.
PS, I did replace the rear
lights with LEDs as well as the inside
lights. What a wonderful difference that made.