Boler Electrical Questions

[Eggbert]

Hi everyone!

We just picked up a 1977 Boler (17 ft) and have a few questions that I'm hoping we can get some help with. This is our first ever trailer, so forgive me if these are easy questions.

Someone stole the battery, so it currently has no 12v power. Should have a replacement in a couple of days.

The ground pin was missing off the cord by the water attachments, so I've added a new plug. However, when I plugged it in I expected... lights at least.

What is happening is it's turning on the water pump because I hear that. So, question 1... is there a switch to turn off the water pump? The water tank is completely empty, so I can't just leave that running.

Second, should there be lights? I assume the lights would only come on if there is a 110v to 12v converter. Where would that be located if the trailer has one?

Last, I located the electrical panel but I'm not sure if there is anything I need to do there, or things I may need to check. Any advice on that?

Thanks for the help!

[Carol H]

John I do not have a Boler 17 so my answers are based simple knowing and having been in a few bolers and owning a Scamp which are often wired up much the same.

There should be a rocker switch for your water pump. Not sure where normally it was found stock on the 17' but usually the switch is located in the kitchen area on the front or the end of a kitchen cabinet. It is also very possible your electric water pump was not originally on the trailer and was added after the fact - the trailer came stock originally with a hand water pump in the kitchen, so you may need to do a bit of looking around under the sink area etc to see where a previous owner may have hidden it.

Re the light issues. Its hard to know what the previous owners of the trailer may have done in regards to your wiring/lighting set up. Your trailer may or may not have a converter originally. The original converters if it had one where often mounted with the face and controls showing on the outside of a cabinet. Sometimes found on the face of the bench under the front table or on the face of a kitchen cabinet. Due to the age of the trailers you do not see to many of the original converters still in use in many bolers today. You can see a picture of one at Bolerlife.com. The originals did have a switch on them you needed to use when switching from battery to 110. If the converter has been upgraded you may want to check under all your benches for a converter hidden away as there are many that are not mounted flush to the cabinets face and are simple a box hidden away in a hatch. If there is no converter then none of your 12 volt lights will work when there is no battery onboard. I also know of a few bolers were someone has installed only a battery charging system so the 12 v lights still did not work when plugged into 110 power and no battery.

Some info including appliance manuals etc may be found in the Documents Center on this forum - the link is on the main page on the left.

In the Documents center there are a number of Boler manuals - keep in mind depending on where your trailer was built there are going to be differences. There is one for a 1979 Boler that includes the 17' It includes a wiring diagram etc for the 17'

[Bob Miller]

Hi John and Welcome to the group and the World if FGRV's


While everything that Carol H posts is always helpful, I think that your knowledge base can most quickly be built up by finding someone in your area that understands older FGRV's and can go over your Boler with you a step at a time.


It's hard to guess what was done to a now 38+ y.o. FGRV by a whole string of previous owners, some of which may well have been done incorrectly. It's just a good ideas to get some knowledgeable eyes on what you have to show you what you have, how things do and don't work and to spot any potential problems.


I'd be happy to do that for you, but about as close as I get to BC is occasional trips to just south of the Okanagan Valley.


But you are in Boler country so, if you ask here I am sure you can find someone closer that can help out, as well as save you a lot of potentially expensive mistakes.


Good luck and keep those questions coming.

[Carol H]

John you missed the fiberglass trailer meet held each year in BC but the next opportunity to see a number of older bolers of all sizes & talk to the owners would be the Mt. Baker Vintage Trailer Rally held in Lynden Washington the second week-end in September. Only 10 min. across the line and its well attended by Canadians. Last year 171 trailers attend and so far over 210 trailers have confirmed they are attending this years event and the fiberglass community is usually well represented - normally at least 4 or 5 - 17' boler owners as well as lots of 13's all painted up to match the hot rods towing them (we call them The Skittles).

You can also expect to see some pretty rare fiberglass trailers as well. Including an Oxygen that has had an amazing redo on the inside as well as outside. A couple of pretty rare Bigfoot models usually attend as well. You will find pictures of last years event at 2014 Mt. Baker Vintage Trailer Rally - Facebook.

[Eggbert]

Thanks for all the advice. Carol, we're definitely looking into attending the Lynden rally!

So, this battle was all about knowing what to look for. Including pictures so they might be helpful to others.

Boom... switch for water by the sink:


Then, did some sleuthing around the electrical panel and found that one of the breakers was tripped. Reset and we have lights! The breaker was just reset by pressing the button in one of those black holes on the right.


Now I just need to install a battery!

[LeahF]

We have been running the lights with a battery fine, but today I did some work on the trailer and thought I would plug the trailer in and use the house electricity rather than our battery. Lights worked great, no problems. Now I unplugged the trailer to use the battery again for the lights and now I can't get it to work. I pushed those mystery buttons in that same power box and even opened that left side compartment and pushed that one, but still no luck.

Help! Do I reattach the battery and start over or check the battery fuse? Any ideas would be great. Thanks.

[Eggbert]

Hmmm, I'm not sure what to suggest. It was working with battery only, plugged in still working, unplugged and not working?

It would seem either the battery came loose, or a breaker is tripped, or there is a problem with the electric converter. Unfortunately it's hard to be any more helpful than that.

[LeahF]

I don't think the battery came loose, nothing has moved. Any idea where a fuse or a breaker might be located? I know there is one on the battery but any others I could look at? The buttons in the electric control panel are not for this?

Thanks for your help.

[Eggbert]

Sadly I'm afraid I have no further advice. I'd poke around a bit on the electrical panel in the picture above, perhaps check the battery and connections. Beyond that I'm stumped.

[Boler77]

Ok, there is another device that you need to check, that maybe causing you problems. First unplug all power, battery and shore power. Be sure that shore power cannot be plugged in by accident.

There should be four screws holding you brown power converter inplace. Once removed you can get access to the workings of the power converter. As you face the converter ( once you have access) and looking inside, I believe to the left side is a type of solenoid or relay switch. This swith can be flipped back and forth and become sticky from use. With emery cloth you can rub inbetween the contacts and this will remove any corrosion that is causing the contacts to stick. The replay switch device flips back and forth between 12v battery power and 110v shore power. If you are very careful and after the the contacts have been cleaned and before you replace the converter back in its place, have someone plug in the shore power and the unplug. There should be a clicking sound heard. You can flip it manually as well. Just be sure to only touch that part of the switch where the contacs meet. After a few clicks, all should work fine. Dust and everthing gets in there.

Let me know if this works for you

Greg Boler77