New RV Owner Questions

[kona0197]

Good day to you! We recently bought a 2006 Jayco Pop-Up. Model 1006. We took it out for the first time a few days ago. We had questions about a few issues we had and we were hoping you guys could help us!

And yes, we have completely read the owner's manual. Sadly it's not very clear about some things.

When we plugged the trailer in we noticed there is a small fan that comes on for about 10 to 20 seconds every other minute under the dining table. We have no clue what this fan is for. Any ideas?

We have no clue how to work the plumbing. We connected to the water supply at camp. The sink will run water, however we have no idea where the water drains to. We also have no clue how to empty any holding tanks if there are any. All we have found is the switch to the pump. Any info would be helpful.

And lastly we think the fridge is not working. We had AC power. We switched the fridge to AC operation and made sure to gas system was turned off. Fridge never did get cold. The trailer wasn't 100% level, but it was very close.

Thanks for any help. Besides those issues, we absolutely love our trailer.

[JFlightRisk]

Welcome to the Forum from Western New York State, and congratulations on the pop up. Did the dealer or previous owner show you how to use any of its features and systems?

The fan you hear is probably the cooling fan inside the converter. It will come on whenever there is a load on it, which causes some heat.

It sounds like you can supply water either from a city water hose connected to the side wall, and you may have a freshwater tank inside a cabinet, that the pump draws from. You can use one or the other depending on the services at the site.

If you have a gray water tank, there will be a discharge under the side of the camper, which will be visible. There will be a pull handle to open the valve to dump it. If not, the sink will just drain through a hose to a garden hose connection, again on the outside wall, or maybe underneath. A short length of garden hose can be screwed onto it, and the other end put into a bucket or some other kind of container that can be emptied at the dump station.

[CAG]

Unfortunately you have a conundrum. It is going to be difficult to assess your issues unless someone has that model and can help. That may happen but if not if you have someone near you that you know and owns an RV some of your questions and issues are common and perhaps they can go through them with you.

Hopefully someone here can pop in and help. Otherwise it is a stab in the dark.

[Grumpy]

The heating element could be burned out on the fridge. The only way to know for sure would be with a meter and see if there is power going to it. Did it get cold on gas? Pop-ups normally don't have holding tanks, there is just a connection on the outside for a hose so you can drain it into a bucket. and

[kona0197]

Did the dealer or previous owner show you how to use any of its features and systems?

The previous owner showed us how to set it up and that's about it. Nothing about electrical or plumbing.

The fan you hear is probably the cooling fan inside the converter. It will come on whenever there is a load on it, which causes some heat.

Sounds logical. Does that mean that when we plug the trailer in that it will charge to battery? As far as I know our connection to the truck does nothing more than trailer lights.

It sounds like you can supply water either from a city water hose connected to the side wall, and you may have a freshwater tank inside a cabinet, that the pump draws from. You can use one or the other depending on the services at the site.

We connected to the park water. It leaked inside the trailer a bit. Have no idea what pipe the water came from. Somewhere under the sink. We have no idea how to switch between using water from a park or water we filled before we went camping. Seems to be a water hose connection outside the trailer near the sink that is not marked. Wonder if that's used to empty a holding tank. I don't see any levers or valves underneath the RV to empty waste water.

Unfortunately you have a conundrum. It is going to be difficult to assess your issues unless someone has that model and can help.

I know. Thanks. We figured it would be a long shot. It was worth taking time to ask around. Appreciate it.

The heating element could be burned out on the fridge. The only way to know for sure would be with a meter and see if there is power going to it. Did it get cold on gas?

We didn't try it on gas. We were unsure how much gas we had in our tank and we didn't fill it before we left. We found the instructions for running it off gas to be confusing so we just brought our cooler instead. I did try plugging the AC cord directly into the 120 volt power connection at the camp site. I have no clue if it worked or not. It got a bit cold, but no where near cold enough. I figure we are missing a switch somewhere?

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by kona0197

but no where near cold enough. I figure we are missing a switch somewhere?

They can take overnight or better to get cold.

[JFlightRisk]

Originally Posted by kona0197

Sounds logical. Does that mean that when we plug the trailer in that it will charge to battery? As far as I know our connection to the truck does nothing more than trailer lights.

If the electrical plug to you truck has 6 terminals, one is a battery charge wire. Small gauge and very weak charging, but it should be there. Not as fast a charge as being plugged into 120 volts.

Originally Posted by kona0197

We connected to the park water. It leaked inside the trailer a bit. Have no idea what pipe the water came from. Somewhere under the sink. We have no idea how to switch between using water from a park or water we filled before we went camping. Seems to be a water hose connection outside the trailer near the sink that is not marked. Wonder if that's used to empty a holding tank. I don't see any levers or valves underneath the RV to empty waste water.

When you connect your hose up to city water, it feeds both the water heater and the sink faucet. The water pump has an internal check valve to keep it from backfilling the on-board tank. With no hose connected, and you want to use the water in the tank, just turn the pump switch on. It'll start to pump water when you open the faucet, it's an on-demand style pump. Look at page 52 in this manual for the city hookup, and the tank fill ports:

https://data2.manualslib.com/pdf2/46...27eb7b8fc4f5c1

Pages 76 and 77 show the sink drain connections for both possibilities. It sounds like you don't have a valve style, just a drain port with a cap on it.

You have some familiarization to do, but it'll all come together faster than you think.

[kona0197]

If the electrical plug to you truck has 6 terminals, one is a battery charge wire. Small gauge and very weak charging, but it should be there. Not as fast a charge as being plugged into 120 volts.

The truck has a 6 pin connector but the trailer only has 4 wires so the plug goes from 6 pin to 4.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by kona0197

The truck has a 6 pin connector but the trailer only has 4 wires so the plug goes from 6 pin to 4.

Then it's only lights, however is your trailer has a battery mounted on the tongue then somebody probably rewired it. With a battery it should be a 6 or 7 pin

[kona0197]

We have decided that we are never going to use the fridge or sink or hot water heater so I've stopped looking into getting it all working. We usually always go camping at places with full hookups and showers. We can warm up hot water outside on a camp stove.

[cekkk]

Give your fridge a day before your trip. It uses very little propane and electricity if you travel with it on. Many do. Fridge and hot water are important features that add to the enjoyment of camping.

[kona0197]

We have no need to use the fridge or hot water heater. Our cooler keeps everything cold for days and we camp at sites with hot water and showers.