Fuses continued to blow -- discovered cause

[EllPea in CA]

We were asking questions on another thread (Battery not charging while towing), which addressed our 7 hour tow home.

I thought I'd share what happened on the 7 hour tow OUT.

One of us (not really important WHICH one of us, right)? Unhooked the charger but forgot to hook up the battery. Result: things cooled off in fridge AND one fuse kept blowing.

We couldn't understand WHY, since no previous tows had caused this problem. Poor hubby replaced about 4 fuses down in the valley heat.

Later on, when we set up, we realized we hadn't had the battery hooked up to charge on the way down. Then we wondered -- did the loose leads cause the fuse to blow?

All I can say is, we properly hooked up the leads to battery on the way home and no fuses blew. This may be kindergarten stuff for some of you, but lots of us are learning as we go. Hope this helps someone else.

(This points up what I decided when learning to sail with the hubby -- I need a spreadsheet with detailed launch procedure IN SEQUENCE. Do one item out of sequence and it can mean sitting at the dock taking everything apart and re-doing. We haven't put one together yet for the trailer, but it's coming.)

[stevebaz]

Yea I know what you mean. Mine was making sure you pack the leveling blocks last since they are the first thing you need once you arrive at the campsite. After 3 or 4 trips I was ready to make a couple of lists just to make things easier.

[Steve L.]

I have a departure check list (ordered as I would check things walking in clockwise direction around the trailer. Laminated, on a small clip board, with a china marker attached with string to check items off.), a packing check list and a grocery shopping check list. None of it is brain surgery but it makes it so I can prepare for trips in automatic mode.

Even so, some items I have 2 or more of because I didn't follow my packing check list. 3 sets of leveling blocks (I use them both on the trailer and picnic table), 2 electric cord adapters, etc. Oh well. I'm learning, but slowly.

[EllPea in CA]

Yep, checklists and clipboards are the bomb. My sailing clipboard is being retrained to launch the trailer.

I love Excel spreadsheets for stuff like this. I have a camping checklist that started back in about 2004. When I print a new one, it's dated and the destination is added. I also like to print out a 10 day weather forecast for that location, and refer to it when packing clothes and determining bedding.

Then while there, I like to make detailed notes about what worked, what didn't work, how much ice I bought, what I need for next time. I note the names of people we met, because I'll forget them by the next year. Any good stores? What food should I have brought? What did I cook that we want to remember?

I also like to keep these notes in a binder and refer back to them again in later years, like a camping journal.

My camping checklist needs revising into a trailer checklist. There are so many things I can leave out now (like the tent, etc.) that it's too easy to miss something else that I should have brought (like the gin gimlet ingredients). Things have to be crossed out or checked off -- or one of the most essentials things gets missed.

We'll do that walk around checklist also. We get better at this every time we leave, but it's still too easy to forget something (like, erm, "I thought YOU hooked up the battery??")