Confused

I am looking at a 86 hi lo camper at a pretty cheap price . The camper is stuck in the upright position and the air conditioning and refrigerator don't work. He says all three lost power last month. Is there one thing that would tie all three of these things together

30 ears old would be the first thing I looked at. Yes, the other three might be a problem, but not like being 30 years old.

Raiders said:

I am looking at a 86 hi lo camper at a pretty cheap price . The camper is stuck in the upright position and the air conditioning and refrigerator don't work. He says all three lost power last month. Is there one thing that would tie all three of these things together

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Does the lift motor run? There is a safety bar that holds it in the lifted position. You have to lift it to take the pressure off the safety and then the safety cable will pull out a little further. while keeping the cable pulled out, lower the camper. once is lowered a couple inches you can release the cable. As for the AC and Fridge it may be a easy fix. First see if your getting shore line power (AC power (not Air conditioner) using a multimeter. If so check the CB with a continuity tester to make sure your getting power passing through it. I believe both run through the same Circuit breaker in the battery box. that would be your final inline test pretty much. If all of these pass the test and have power then it is likely the units themselves. I wouldn't think both would just die at the same time unless it took a surge or a lightning strike.

Thank you for the fast response from both of you and I do realize that it is a older unit but it is in excellent shape for its age. According to the gentleman that owns it all three functions worked perfectly fine until last month when they all appeared to quit working at the same time. I know I am taking his word for it but it seems to me if this is true that they must be related. Wasn't sure if a bad battery or bad ground could be responsible for all three. Have not tried to operate lift but according to him it lost power. I had heard some of these models have fuses as well as breakers. He seems to think a mouse may have chewed through a wire but I doubt a singular wire could control all three. If I were able to get fridge and AC working is there any danger in just leaving the slide up year round. Thanks

Raiders said:

Wasn't sure if a bad battery or bad ground could be responsible for all three. Have not tried to operate lift but according to him it lost power. I had heard some of these models have fuses as well as breakers. He seems to think a mouse may have chewed through a wire but I doubt a singular wire could control all three.

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The lift motor itself runs off 12v. The battery has to be charged for the lift motor to work. I'd test the battery or I'd put jumper cables on the battery and see if that would get the lift motor going. The others run off 110v. The fridge does have the 12v. option too however. You have to toggle it on the front of the fridge to select ac/dc. For all three to fail at the same time would not really make much sense. The Air Conditioner has a plug in the bathroom that comes out of the roof. You unplug it when you lower the camper to prevent wire damage. I'd unplug it and plug it into a extension cord from another source. That would be bypassing everything in the camper. If it works then, then you know it is or is not the unit itself. If the AC worked then I'd feel more like the fridge would likely work too once you figured out the issue. I'd suspect the price would go up if you figured out the problem prior to purchase, but i'd be inclined to atleast do the AC test I mentioned before buying it.

Raiders said:

If I were able to get fridge and AC working is there any danger in just leaving the slide up year round. Thanks

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Its not recommended to tow the camper in the up position. It causes extra stress on the safety and could break something. I did tow mine about 15 miles in the up position though just to get it home and work on some of the same issues you are having. I had no problems. Depends on how rough or bumpy of a ride you have ahead of you.

a/c is only run on 120v.
refrig runs on propane/ 12v / or 120v. Refrig has settings.
Lift motor and pump only work on 12v.

The battery needs to be good and fully charged.

I have a 1985 and it works well. Grounds and switches/fuses and battery are main culprits when issues.

The a/c has a dedicated plug in for the 120v source.
Check the fuse box when plugged into 120v and determine that the power is present.
Then check the converter to make sure it is changing power to 12v for lights and charging.
The lift motor will not work with out a strong 12v battery. I don't like to jump mine from the TV.
If it worked a month ago it is something simple, that you haven't found yet!

Thank you guys for the great advice and I feel much more confident moving forward , going back out there Thursday and as much as I want to mess with it right in front of him I don't want him to see me get something working . I will keep you guys posted as I eliminate the possibility,s . Thanks again

I would suggest you agree on a price before you get anything working. Time is money and if you fix something in front of him you should point out that he would be paying that money to get it fixed anyway. Just my opinion.

renoites said:

a/c is only run on 120v.
refrig runs on propane/ 12v / or 120v. Refrig has settings.
Lift motor and pump only work on 12v.

The battery needs to be good and fully charged.

I have a 1985 and it works well. Grounds and switches/fuses and battery are main culprits when issues.

The a/c has a dedicated plug in for the 120v source.
Check the fuse box when plugged into 120v and determine that the power is present.
Then check the converter to make sure it is changing power to 12v for lights and charging.
The lift motor will not work with out a strong 12v battery. I don't like to jump mine from the TV.
If it worked a month ago it is something simple, that you haven't found yet!

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I bought a spare solenoid switch. Don't know what it does, but if my lift motor ever stops working I'm hoping I can just put in the new switch