Gil in Steilacoom WA

[gfgallegos]

Hello, Trailer people. I just bought a 2003 Scamp 13 and am getting it ready for my first trip to Colo/NM. My Scamp was refurbished by the previous owner so I am mostly just doing cosmetic things to it. Will look to see what others on this Community have done to their Scamps. Today am mounting a 22" TV on the kitchen cab supports and will be experimenting with a portable antenna setup. I still don't' understand how to get appliances working without shore power so will use a portable battery to do it (why does the Scamp battery only supply power for interior lights?).



My previous vehicle was a "small" 2002 16' Safari Trek RV. My last vacation was a disaster with so many things going wrong. I'm expecting this year's vacation in Sept to be so much more carefree in the Scamp. We will soon find out.

[Kai in Seattle]

Congratulations, and welcome!

September 21 & 22 we are having a SAFE, Seattle Area Fall Gathering at Dash Point State Park, and you are cordially invited. Meets are often a great place to discuss trailer issues! (As is here, online.)

Weenie roast Friday, Open House Saturday AM 10-noonish, dog event to follow, and then a potluck dinner around the campfire, weather permitting.


Last year we had a lovely variety of new and vintage eggs, and a wonderful group of people.
Great dog tricks and costumes, too.

You can see this and other gatherings here at Rallies Meets, to be found under Forums at the top of each page.

BEST
Kai

(PS: your lights don't draw much power, so your batteries can handle running them for quite a while. It's just hooked up that way, fairly common. You can make mods.)

[gfgallegos]

Thanks for the invitation, Kai. However I expect to be in New Mexico with my Scamp at that time. Will visit the forum and look at future gatherings. I travel with 2 Yorkies so do like dog-friendly meet-ups.

[Kai in Seattle]

Gilbert: you're welcome. Hope to see you somewhere, sometime! Have a great trip and our two pug girls send their greetings to your two yorkies.

Lots of meetups around; do hope you attend at least one!

BEST
Kai

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by gfgallegos

Hello, Trailer people. I just bought a 2003 Scamp 13 and am getting it ready for my first trip to Colo/NM. My Scamp was refurbished by the previous owner so I am mostly just doing cosmetic things to it. Will look to see what others on this Community have done to their Scamps. Today am mounting a 22" TV on the kitchen cab supports and will be experimenting with a portable antenna setup. I still don't' understand how to get appliances working without shore power so will use a portable battery to do it (why does the Scamp battery only supply power for interior lights?).



My previous vehicle was a "small" 2002 16' Safari Trek RV. My last vacation was a disaster with so many things going wrong. I'm expecting this year's vacation in Sept to be so much more carefree in the Scamp. We will soon find out.

When you ask questions about how things were designed in the era it was built you need to put on your way-back machine cap and get some historical perspective going.


Why do Scamp batteries only power interior lights? The answer is that maybe you don't remember what life was like in 2003. Cell phones were not yet an every household has one item and the country was not covered with high speed connection cell towers. There were smart phones around that connected to the internet but they were not very functional compared to what we now have. There were not any of the modern Ipad type of tablet devices around.


Since the fridge and cooktop were powered with propane that meant that lights were the only thing 12v was commonly needed for. There was no widely available and affordable LED lighting so those lights did use a lot of battery juice. The laptop I had in 2003 had terrible battery life and would quickly drain the battery in my car when I powered it that way. The year 2003 seems very recent but things have changed a whole lot in those 15 years as far as electronics we tote along with us when we travel. It still has not caught up all the much either except for companies adding LED lights and some extra 12v outlets. A lot of people go camping to get unhooked from all those electronic devices.


Also during that era while there were solar panels for houses it had not become a common thing to do for RVs and it was not an affordable concept until just a couple of years ago.

[Jon in AZ]

In 2003, the Scamp 13 battery powered lights and (if equipped) 3-way fridge, furnace, water pump, range hood, and possibly- not sure if either was offered in 2003- powered roof vent and 12V power outlets.

If you have any of those features and they're not working on 12V, troubleshooting is in order.

If nothing is working, I'd suspect battery, main in-line fuse, or a bad ground. If only some components aren't working, I'd suspect a fuse in the power center or a loose connection at the power center or appliance.

There's a wiring diagram in the owner's manual. It indicates which fuses serve which appliances. If you don't have a manual, there may be one in the Document Center in the "More" tab.

Those are just some basic things to check. If that doesn't turn up anything obvious, it may be time to involve a professional, depending on your skill and experience. 12V wiring is a common cause of RV fires, so it's not something to take lightly if you don't know what you're doing.