27 FT Holiday Rambler

[bucket]

We bought another camper a while back, finally had time to bring it home.

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Needs a bunch of cleaning. The fridge works, despite showing an error code for the AC power relay (circuit board). The air conditioner hasn't been tested yet, the wall thermostat might be bad. It doesn't power up the display, even with new batteries. Several light fixtures don't work for some reason.

Besides that, it's pretty decent. It needs FAR less work than our other camper.

 

[DoubleDingo]

Looks like a nice unit

 

[bucket]

I forgot to mention that it's had a few roof leaks in the past too. The luan paneling below the rubber roof is pretty well shot in spots, but the rubber skin itself is still pretty good.

The nice thing about this camper is it's aluminum frame construction. All the main structure is aluminum, so no wood rot. I think I can get right into general maintenance and simple cosmetic upgrades, as opposed to major structural repairs.

 

[bucket]

So I got back in town and went to open up all the camper windows, when I saw the thermostat I had left laying on the counter was showing a temperature on the display. So I popped it back on to see if it worked. With "cool" switched on, the "cool on" display flashed and the blower did not work in the Auto mode, but did work in the manual On mode. But no compressor on, of course.

So I popped the thermostat back off the wall, removed/reinstalled the batteries and put it back on the wall. Turned the AC back on and all worked as it should. The AC blew nice and cold, I let it run for about 1.5 hours to get the camper cooled down (had been 94*). It got late and the inside temp was down to 74*, so I set the thermostat warmer to see if it would kick off the AC like it was supposed to. It did. But upon turning the thermostat down again, it would not kick the AC back on and the "cool on" icon just flashed again. I couldn't get it to cool again.

So I've got no idea how to diagnose that. Research is needed. Maybe it has something to do with it being a house thermostat? It originally would have had a "Duo-Therm" thermostat like my other camper.

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[bucket]

Here's the inside of the camper, still before any cleaning has taken place. LOTS of stuff was donated by the seller (my sister in law, lol) and most will likely go to the thrift store.

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[bucket]

As for all the non-working light fixtures, it was a combination of bad bulbs, bad sockets or bulbs just plain missing. 3 fixtures are completely bad, 2 are bad on one half. But I have enough lights working now that you can see at night now. I had a bunch of LED bulbs, but I don't like them and want a "warmer" light color.

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If you notice, I've got the cabinets open over the front futon. This is because I discovered very nice, cold air blowing into them from above the ceiling. When my brother in law replaced that section of ceiling (and left the big gap in the cabinets), he must have knocked a duct loose, or omitted it completely.

 

[Steelbuddha]

What is that, about a 1995 model?

Looks good from here.

 

[bucket]

What is that, about a 1995 model?

Looks good from here.

It's a '00 model. I didn't realize it was that new (for me) until after I got it.

 

[bucket]

Well I got home about 30 minutes ago and the camper was 99* inside. I turned the thermostat to Cool and the damn thing kicked right on and worked as it should. This is going to be a difficult problem to diagnose, lol.

 

[Turbo4whl]

Do I see a 110 Volt line in one picture? Get an old mechanical line volt thermostat.

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https://www.grainger.com/product/36...YFZxD3Pv9eX7O7fvbrw18b_hpHvYf8yEaArKgEALw_wcB

 

[bucket]

It runs on 110, yeah. The thermostat also controls the gas furnace.

The original one would have been this, or real close to it:

https://ebay.io/m/INKBTD

There are super cheap knock offs available too:

https://ebay.io/m/ajAgmq

 

[bucket]

I went back out to the camper a few hours later last night and it was down to 64 degrees inside. I set the thermostat up to 66* so it would kick off. I then set it lower again to see if it would kick back on. The Cool On icon just flashed again and nothing happened. Maybe it's because I'm trying to turn it back on too soon and there's some kind of safety built into it? But that wouldn't explain why it did that the first time, before the AC kicked on...

 

[Hunter79764]

There is a reasonable chance there's a timer function, either in the thermostat or possibly the AC. It will trip a breaker pretty easy if it starts up too soon after shutdown, so that is a good safeguard to have, if that's it. If it's just half broken... Well, that's an option too.

Yeah, I had to do some looking to find LED's I was happy with for those fixtures in my RV. 3000k isn't very popular in those sizes... I bought these back in '21 and have been happy with them, but of course, the listing is empty now.

Amazon.com: GRB Super Bright T10 921 922 912 LED Bulbs Soft White light for 12V RV Ceiling Dome Light RV Interior Lighting Trailer Camper Boat, 600 Lumens (Pack of 20) : Automotive

Buy GRB Super Bright T10 921 922 912 LED Bulbs Soft White light for 12V RV Ceiling Dome Light RV Interior Lighting Trailer Camper Boat, 600 Lumens (Pack of 20): Light Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[bucket]

There is a reasonable chance there's a timer function, either in the thermostat or possibly the AC. It will trip a breaker pretty easy if it starts up too soon after shutdown, so that is a good safeguard to have, if that's it. If it's just half broken... Well, that's an option too.

Yeah, I had to do some looking to find LED's I was happy with for those fixtures in my RV. 3000k isn't very popular in those sizes... I bought these back in '21 and have been happy with them, but of course, the listing is empty now.

Amazon.com: GRB Super Bright T10 921 922 912 LED Bulbs Soft White light for 12V RV Ceiling Dome Light RV Interior Lighting Trailer Camper Boat, 600 Lumens (Pack of 20) : Automotive

Buy GRB Super Bright T10 921 922 912 LED Bulbs Soft White light for 12V RV Ceiling Dome Light RV Interior Lighting Trailer Camper Boat, 600 Lumens (Pack of 20): Light Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

My fixtures use 1156 bulbs and the sockets themselves are the issue with most of them. I think I might replace all the lights with these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGXNNGVL/

I just don't know how you actually turn them off, and it doesn't state in the ad. If they turn off with the dimmer, that's fine. If you have to click through the color modes to turn them off, that would be super annoying. I could probably add a simple on-off switch to them though.

 

[Turbo4whl]

Sometimes they only give you the option to change color when you first turn them on. After some time on they turn off the first try. I don't like the electronic junk, that is why I thought maybe old school mechanical.