Sometimes things are not as they seem. Take, for example, our
weekend trip to Meramec State Park in Sullivan, Missouri. We pulled into our
campsite and set up our trailer: leveling, disconnecting, and connecting to the
electrical outlet. Because the water was turned off due to the season, we
brought water with us. It was cold, so we turned on the furnace to warm up the
Pod, let it run a bit, and then headed off into the local town to run some
errands and have dinner. When we returned, we learned that the furnace wasn’t
working because the propane tank had run out. No problem…just connect our spare
tank and fire it up. Ah, no…it blew cold air, but the igniter wouldn’t
activate. Crawled under the bed and took off the grate looking for a reset
button after numerous times turning the furnace off and on at the thermostat. Checked
all the breakers and fuses, too, but everything was ok…so no heat and the temp
was going into the high twenties overnight. Thankfully we had brought the heavy
down comforter and felt as if we could stay warm under it. After sitting around
the campfire, it was time to turn in; however, upon entering the POD we noticed
that the lights had really dimmed. So, we, thinking systems, looked at all the electrical
connections, and saw that nothing was amiss. Decided that maybe it was the
electric source, so we took out the extension cord and went to the next
electric box and connected. Same thing. We tried using the 30-amp port, 50 amp
with the 30-amp adapter, the 30 to 110 ac adapter multiple times with both
boxes…no change. Brain hurting, we snuggled under the comforter and tried to
sleep under the comforter with multiple blankets on top with Sam and Spot our
two Shih-tzus on top of us. We slept off and on throughout the night.
Next day, thinking we had missed something went through the
whole process again thinking systems…where was the faulty link? The Mr. Coffee worked but the lights dimmed
appreciably when we plugged our phones in to recharge. Finding the problem
still existed and deciding that we could not repeat the previous night’s fun,
we drove to the nearest Walmart and bought a space heater. It worked and we
slept that night.
Next day…getting ready to leave and we try to bring the
slider in…you guessed it: it wouldn’t activate. So, we threw a Hail Mary pass
and connected the POD to the Beast (our F-150) and it activated; and we made it
home without incident.
Lessons learned:
1. Sometimes things are not as they seem, I was thinking it
was the POD; but the problem was the electrical hookups. The camping area is in
a flood plain along the Meramec River that floods regularly and some of the electrical
hookups are faulty. Our neighbor had no electrical problems with their Jayco
Hummingbird and the hookup at their site. We wondered if the hookups were the culprit
and our theory was confirmed when we got home and plugged our electrical cord
into our garage 110 outlet with our adapter and EVERYTHING worked: furnace,
lights, slider without hesitation. Next time I’m going to find the host and get
a new spot. Any other ideas?
2. Numerous entries have recommended the use of a portable
heater to use the electricity that has been purchased instead of the propane.
Did and will use.
3. Have fun and roll with these little glitches. It didn’t
ruin the weekend, the scenery along the river was beautiful, and, due to it
being November, there were only 5 other campers.