1960s Forester Camper: General Questions

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1960s Forester Camper: General Questions

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All Messages in Thread	Author	Date
1960s Forester Camper: General Questions	Dean Brittenham	5-14-08
Hello! This forum is AWESOME. I have recently acquired a circa 1960s Forester pull behind camper. It is approximately 7'x 14' (not including the tongue)and is white with crank out windows. First, does anyone have any idea how to come up with an owners manual for the camper? I can't seem to locate one and I think it might answer some questions. Is there an electronic (PDF) I can download? The camper has a water system I am not familiar with. It has a steel tank under the pull out bed. It feeds to the outside where there is a cap with a broken gauge. There is what appears to be an air intake line (I am assuming to pressurize the system). There is a hose connection below this (I am assuming to direct connect to a water supply) and a hose connection below the camper (I am assuming to drain the tank). First, how do I fill the unit? Do I unscrew the pressure gauge cap? It appears to be stuck, and I don't want to unstick it if it is not supposed to come off. There is a pump also located near the tank. Would this pump be 12volt or 110volt (it appears original). Do you think it would be a demand feed (there is a switch next to the pump for on/off) or a manual feed? The camper has both 110 and 12 volt interior wiring. The 12 volt wiring goes into the same light fixtures where there is a receptacle for 110 and a receptacle for 12 volt (what appears to simply be like and automotive turn signal bulb). Does the 110 and 12 volt wiring run through the same wire or would it be isolated normally? In other words, did this camper feed a 12 volt amperage through the 110 wiring, or should I be searching for separate (smaller) 12 volt wiring going to the fixtures? The stove/oven work perfectly. There is a gas light located above the couch/bed. Assuming it works, is it safe to use the gas light, and do I just need to ventilate the camper when in use? I am worried about possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Lastly, the furnace works but has some issues. The pilot light will not ignite and stay lit. When I feed a constant flame in and move it to operation mode, it does light the burners and heats just fine (so the burners and the rest of the system work ok). Would I be safe just removing the pilot light line and blowing it out to see if that helps? Can I/should I run the furnace with a non-operative pilot light? Any help/advice anyone can provide about this camper would be VERY helpful. THANKS!
Re: 1960s Forester Camper: General Questions	BUBBA THE BUS TECH	5-14-08
The pressure guage is the fill cap. The air compressor is probably 12 volt though there were 110 volt. It is run off a presure swithch conected to the tank and in the wiring somewhere. The steel tank is galvinized and that means lead content in water. The steel tank is very very old and has been full off water off and on since new and never dried, that means when hooked up to pressure it is dangerous. I recomend you remove the steel tank and put in plastic and current style 12 volt water pump. As to how they ran 110 volt and 12 to the same fixture your gues is as good as mine. I do know they were seperate somehow as the 12 volt bulbs didn't fail if turned on while you were plugged in. The gas appliances should not be run without ventilation of some kind, an 1/8 gap in a window and a roof vent just barly cracked open will do. Buy a Carbon monoxide detector!!!!! that runs on a battery. Do not run any appliance with a pilot light without the thermocouple protection working. If you remove the thermo couple and take it in most RV parts departments can test it for you. Call first and check, if they say no move to the next and patronise the one willing to help. Good Luck
Re: 1960s Forester Camper: General Questions	Dean Brittenham	5-15-08
THANKS for the reply! The heater unit is a Duotherm? unit. I tried to blow out the pilot light line, but to no avail. If the thermocoupler is bad (and considering the vintage of the unit) do you think I would be able to find a replacement? Or, could I use a new/different thermocoupler as long as the fittings matched up?
Re: 1960s Forester Camper: General Questions	BUBBA THE BUS TECH	5-15-08
There are "universal" replacments available. Only god knows at this point if one is available for your unit. A good RV parts man or woman will know how to match one up and test your old one. Good Luck
Re: 1960s Forester Camper: General Questions	Sam Watson	5-16-08
I had a '60's Forrester travel trailer, equipped just as you described. With the water system, I did as Bubba suggested, that is discard the air presure system and install a demand pump, such as a Shurflo. There was nothing like having the compressor under the bed start cycling in the middle of the night as a minute air leak would trigger the pressure switch. While the old propane light fixture was a neat fixture ( it produced heat as well as light), you didn't dare operate it without the ceiling vent being cracked open for fear of carbon monoxide poisoning. You say your line from the 100% safety valve to the pilot light is plugged?, that's odd, I'd more suspect you have a failed thermocouple ( a device that produces an electrical current when heated), the current produced is fed to an electromagnet in the control that holds the valve feeding the pilot open, no current, no gas to pilot. When you push the button on the control to light the pilot, you are manually opening that small pilot light valve. The threaded part of the thermocouple that screws into the control valve is pretty much universal as to thread, etc, Do this, unscrew the thermocouple and look down into the hole you took it from, you should see a shiny surface, just like fresh solder, if is dull and gray, carefully scrape it a bit until it is shiny, ditto for the end of the thermocouple, remember that it is an electrical connection, and the mantra for electrical connections is "Shiny and Tight". Your travel trailer has two electrical systems, a 12 volt, and a 115 volt. You can use any watt bulb in the 12 volt system, depending on how much light you want, and how long you want the battery to last. Mine was a Park model, which meant it didn't have holding tanks, so I had to install some after I bought it so I could camp where I wished.