New Camper and New to JOF

[JayTripperS]

Hello, First post. Me, wife and daughter {JayTripperS). We recently purchased a 2006 Jayfeather 165 Sport. It is our first camper. I have lots of questions.

If you have any details on the 165 such as maintenance or general pros, cons, upgrades etc., let me hear it.

I have pumped grease into the wheel bearings, PO said bearings and brakes replaced last year.
Tire pressure is good.
I have tested the "city water intake" and the "12v holding tank" and both work well.
The shower, toilet, and sink are in working order.
The "RVQ" has been cleaned and tested. Good to go.

I also do not have an onboard battery. I want one. How would I go installing a deep cycle? I ask because the PO said to never have the truck and the 30 amp cord plugged in together. So I assume I would need a marine switch mounted between the battery {+} and the inverter to shut the battery power feed off to run on the 30 amp plug. Would the inverter not recognize both and default to 30 amp? Probably in the owners manual.

I need to test the fridge, heater, and water heater after I get familiar with the owners manual and what it has to say about the propane system. Any Tips are appreciated.

I tried to shut off the breaker to the water heater {while not in use, water valves turned off} but it seems this breaker feeds the lights and cd player also. Is This Normal on a 165 or other models?

That's enough questions for one post.

Thanks for your help and letting me join. I am a forum Junky.

 

[Crabman]

Welcome to the forum. Did the PO not have a battery installed before? You need one to operate the emergency brakes while towing. There should be a place to install a battery, on many trailers there is a bracket behind the propane tanks for the battery, but some are inside.

 

[JayTripperS]

Thanks crabman. There appears to be a bracket in front of the LP tanks and and some wires that have been wirenutted together. Now that I look closer, it appears the white and green wire have some sort of terminals under the tape. Possibly to a battery. If I were to hook a battery up, would the green be {+}?

PO gave me this. It now appears that this would have done the same job as the battery for the brakes but not run the lights in the TT? Should I craigslist this or hook it up and a battery?

 

[JayTripperS]

One more for you Crabman. PO recommended that P3 brake controller your running. How do you like it?

 

[elc7593]

I have never seen a camper that did not have a Battery Box and Battery installed.
One thing to remember, NEVER turn on your pump, if you are connected to the campgrounds water system. Will create too much water pressure, and something somewhere is going to give.
Have fun

 

[Bobsanchez44]

Nice looking unit. Welcome.

 

[Crabman]

I would go with a battery, if you are at a CG and they lose power you still have it with the battery and you may want to boondock someday. Not sure where all those wires go but its 430 AM as I type this and gotta get to work. The P3 is a great unit, and if you get the vehicle specific wire harness installation is snap......

 

[JayTripperS]

Thanks for the replys. I plan to add the battery and the P3 controller.

 

[Katgar05]

Welcome to JOF and congrats on the new camper. Thanks for the pic, we like pics.

 

[Doug-JAY]

I have the same unit and several owners on this forum.
I only have a single LP tank, you should have a small plate in front of LP to hold a battery case.
There is a recent thread on here that captured most of the nice mods on the 165 Sport that people do.

http://www.jaycoowners.com/showthread.php?14756-Jayco-165-Mods


It's a nice small simple to maintain unit.
Me and my wife did 9,000 miles in 9 weeks earlier this year.

I only had a converter go out, but ordered it and replaced on the road in 30 minutes.

Congratulations

Doug

 

[JayTripperS]

Thanks again folks. Doug, I see you have a WDH. I think our 07 sport 4runner needs one. On the ride home with the camper I reset the mpg gauge and was averaging around 11-12 mpg. Do you have a v6 and get similar milage? Do you have the XREAS suspension? Thanks.

 

[JayTripperS]

We went on our first camping adventure this weekend and had a great time. Lots of bike riding and grilling. The stove, oven, AC, RVQ, and water system all worked great. We received a TV with the 165 and it worked and we had cable. The shower is small but functions well. The only problem I had was keeping the pilot light on the water heater lit. Any ideas on how to keep it lit? Mods maybe? Thanks again.

Heres a pic of our setup:

 

[Crabman]

Nice setup! Post your pics in the Pics of your Jayco forum for more exposure!