Electrical Wiring Question

[Atlee]

Since the top on Hi-Lo's go up and down, electrical wiring isn't quite the same as it is for convential hard sided trailers. We can see this in the special treatment of the overhead AC which has to be plugged and unplugged depending on whether the top is up or down.

What about all the other wiring for the over head lighting, range hood, and fan in the bathroom? Is there a central wiring harness that has a lot of slack in it in order for the top to go up and down?

The same question applies to all the outside lighting like the "cyclops" break light, running lights and the light for the license plate?

 

[RichR]

Inside there is a group of wires for the all of the interior/exterior lighting that are usually covered in cloth and they run from the floor to the ceiling. They flex when the top goes up or down. The older HiLo trailers had an external cable up front. The same is true for the vent pipe, it telescopes in and out when raising and lowering.

 

[Atlee]

Inside there is a group of wires for the all of the interior/exterior lighting that are usually covered in cloth and they run from the floor to the ceiling. They flex when the top goes up or down. The older HiLo trailers had an external cable up front. The same is true for the vent pipe, it telescopes in and out when raising and lowering.

Thanks.

Is this group of wires that's covered in cloth visible from inside? I don't remember ever seeing it in any of pictures I seen of various Hi-Lo's over the past several months.

 

[RichR]

It is usually in the bathroom and is in the corner. It isn't something that jumps out at you. In fact, I can't tell you exactly where is in our 2310H' but it is there. You will see it and the vent pipe, both cloth covered.

 

[JMDoering]

Older Hi-Lo's, instead of an interior bundle of wires in the bathroom (or wherever), had an exterior heavy coiled wire in the front, by the propane tanks, that ran from the A-frame to up under the lower front edge of the upper trailer half. That wire (looked like a HEAVY duty coiled phone cord) contained the DC wiring from the battery to interior lighting and DC wiring from the hitch plug to the exterior running/tail lights. There was no converter; the trailer came with plug-in A/C lights in addition to the permanently installed DC "coach" lights. AC wiring was installed in the upper half and the exterior power cord was plugged into to an outlet high on the driver side roof line. You plugged it in prior to raising the upper half or else it was very tough to reach. Those older rigs didn't have A/C, so the system was designed for 15 amps max.

Today's history lesson!

Jim

 

[sam-HILO]

Picture of electrical bundle wrapped in cloth .

Pictures by 3SamTLPX - Photobucket

Picture #8 shows the electrical wires wrapped in cloth.You can't see it very well, but the vent pipe is in the samespot and covered with cloth. The vent pipe cpver wanted to slide down so I used a velcro tie to make the cloth stay up. On the electrical cloth I used a seam ripper to take the seam apart and washed the fabric. Then I either sewed or glued velcro the length of the seam to put it back together. I turned the seam to the back and it looks fine. Most likely I sewed the velcro on.

 

[Atlee]

Thanks for the replies.

Now I know. It's at the same place as the vent tube.

 

[FHILO]

I have a 1978 Hi-Lo & you answered my questions on that split power deal -( top/bottom) but i'm afraid i have to disagree with you on the air conditioners mine wasn't ordered with one but I've seen plenty of them on 1970's models (not sure about 1960's models),my original Hi-Lo brochure says they were an option as was the 110 volt battery charger .The optional charger would be found attached to the face of the converter which came standard & mine is located on the drivers side under the front left dinette bench seat.I don't understand why they didn't make the ac power work off a coil like the dc power ??? Thought i had a electrical problem,Thanks

 

[McCanCJ]

AC wiring

I have a 2003 27' tow lite the AC wiring from the circuit breaker is not completing the circuit. is there a wiring schematic available anywhere
an has anyone else had this problem?

 

[retiredcamper47]

Turn the circuit breaker off and back on. If that doesn't work, check your GFI outlets to make sure they haven't tripped. Use a volt meter to check the breakers for power.

Bob

 

[sam-HILO]

When you for get to plug in Outside AC cord

You can put your picnic table in the spot to pull out your awning. Then stand on the picnic table and plug in your outside AC. You can also do this to pull out your awning. All this is called plan B.!!

 

[gus-HILO]

Sam you are very ingenious in your plan B.
on mine the AC outlet is on the opposite side of the awning, I guess I have to find plan C, not that I need that outlet for anything because I don't have roof AC.

 

[jcurtis95]

McCanCJ,

Where is the outlet located that you are plugging the AC unit into? If it is like ours, it is a GFC located on the end of the clothes closet and you must plug the retractable AC cord into it. When plugging the cord into this [almost invisible] outlet, I have upon many occasions tripped the GF circuit as I blindly try to plug it into the outlet. One of the plug's prongs will invariably hit and operate the "test" button on the outlet. The GFC is hard to see and you may have to use a mirror to reset the GFC.

Jerry Curtis
2406 T

 

[McCanCJ]

Problem solved

Thanks for the help. It was the GFI outlet

 

[gomisery]

Just another question...lol

Is the upper half of my 1973 hi-lo electrically grounded to the lower frame in any way? The 7 wire coiled cable became a victim of road rash. I just picked it up as a hobby project and the tail lights have a definite bad ground. The lights are barely glowing. Do I need to tear the walls off to find the wiring? The schematic that came with the owners package is not very informative and it contains at least one color code error. The mew connector I purchased does not seem to match up with the trailer's code. The new plug has whits as a ground and the white on the trailer is a positive powered wire. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JMDoering]

Gomisery,
My 1969 Hi-Lo upper half DC system was grounded to the lower half through the lift cables. The original lift cables were galvanized steel, and over time a zinc oxide layer formed, on the surface of the cables, effectively forming electrical insulation. It was pretty frustrating trying to figure out why the DC lighting/tail lights, etc. worked intermittently. When I finally realized what was happening, my solution was to replace the DC coil wire with a heavy duty Freightliner Tractor/trailer coiled connector wire. It had a few more conductor wires than needed for the Hi-Lo, so I bundled the extras together and turned them into a big ground wire to ground the trailer upper half to the frame. Solved ALL the DC problems and has been working well for the last 24 years. The Freightliner coil wire has stood the test of time amazingly well...still no evidence of sun rot, and doesn't seem to have lost any of its spring.
Good luck, Jim