Veronica
Virginia
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Joined: 07/04/2003
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I should know this, but here goes anyway. I'm working on a 90-something Cobra that a friend gave me. It does not have a battery installed. The friend said he did not think it was set up for one. It should be, I'd think, considering it was a fairly top of the line trailer when it was new (12'box, shower/cassette toilet, ac, furnace, etc.)
How can I tell if it is set up to accept a battery?
Thanks!
Veronica
'98 Suburban
'97 Flagstaff Cobra Classic 623
"You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children."
~~Madeleine L’Engle
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red31
Bryan
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Joined: 08/04/2008
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I'd look on the back of the converter side of the electric center.
The + charge line from the tow vehicle connects to the red wire (converter battery + input).
Trace that wire to the front, splice into it and connect to self resetting breaker and battery +. Add a battery - wire to the 12 v frame ground clamp.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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Joined: 04/13/2008
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I would think your trailer is big enough to have electric brakes installed. If so you are required to have a working battery on your trailer that will operate your trailer electric brakes in the event your trailer becomes disconnected from your truck going down the road. This is a state DOT requirement. COuld be a serious thing insurance wise if your run-away trailer clobbered something and you didnt have a working battery connected to the electric brakes.
If you have electric brake then there should be a small chain or cable wire that connect to the truck side. If this is pulled out from the trailer side then it will engage the electric brakes and stop the run-away trailer.
Some very light weight smaller trailers dont require electric brakes but I would think a 12-foot size box trailer would require one. It goes by the weight of the trailer and is slightly different from one state to another.
My 12-foot box trailer shown in my profile picture weighs in around 4200lbs loaded. When you add the length of the front deck and trailer tongue etc it is over 17-feet long.
This is a 1993 Flagstaff Cobra POPUP trailer.. Not sure if this is your model or not but the battery would installed between the propane tanks and the front wall of the trailer. I think I can see a couple of cross members behind the propane tanks in this picture that would hold the installed battery box.
If your trailer cable that connects to the truck is a 7-pin connector then it has electric brakes installed.
If you are close-by to King George, VA email me from my profile. Be glad to look at your trailer and maybe pass along some walk-thru pointers.
* This post was
edited 03/30/12 04:47pm by RoyB *
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - PM me
Roy and Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS
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Veronica
Virginia
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Thanks, Roy...we're way down in the Southwest corner of Virginia, though.
It does have electric brakes and I'm aware that I need a breakaway switch for them. That's my main concern with getting a battery installed before taking it out. It doesn't have a battery box or platform on the tongue. My neighbors were the second owners and it was only a year or two old when they got it. They never had a battery on it, though I know they should have for the brakes, even if they never used it for anything else.
Best I can tell it's a '97 Flagstaff Cobra Classic 623. It looks a lot like the one in your pic, but it only has one propane tank and, like I said, I don't see a platform or box for a battery.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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I guess the next thing is to identify the COnverter/Charger unit. Probably close to floor around the kicthen - dark colored with a fold down door where your 120VAC circuit breakers and 12VDC fuses are located. This would be the Power Distibution Center ans usually the COnverter/Charger is a separate chassis maybe in it's own compartment at the bottom of the PDC. Would like to have the model and manf for that unit.
Also by any chance did you find a folder full of datasheets in a big envelope somewhere. The factory usually leavs all the datasheets of everything originally installed in the trailer. Originally this large folder might have been in one of the cabinet drawers. Mine was stuck in beside the Water Heater. If you do have that it may have a spec sheet for your converter/charger unit.
If you are going to install a new battery you might think about what and where you may want to take your camper. If you plan o doing some camping off the power grid then two batteries is good idea. ALong with batteries you may want to upgrade your converter/charger unit to a smart-mode charging system which will automatically take care of your new batteries for the most part.
We love to camp off the power grid here but everywhere we go we run into the camp grounds not allowing you to use the generators except during specific hours which is a couple of hours in the morning and maybe three hours in the early evening so this makes alot of us beef-up the trailers to be able to run all the 120VAC and 12VDC appliances off of your battery and Inverter. Then you will need to re-charge your battery in the short time allowed to be able to operate your generator. Not as easy as one would expect to be able make it through the day and night and then get re-charged back up again to do it all over again...
That was our goal early on and finally got our OFF-ROAD POPUP setup to camp rather nicely off the power grid. Love to camp along the Blue Ridge camp sites like Hungary Mother in Marion...
I will try to find some photos of your trailer now that I got the actual model and see what you got. It get harder to find these for sale anywhere with posted pictures when they are older than 2000 models. A floorplan would be a great find somewhere posted.
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RoyB
King George, VA
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Joined: 04/13/2008
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Found this photo of a 1995 Cobra Classic 623 and it looks like a battery box sitting next to the single Propane tank. There is something else black just in front of those two item too but cant zoom in close enough to see what they are.
Will keep looking for a better photo on-line...
Is your Propane centered on the trailer tongue or set off to one side like in this photo..
This is an inside shot of a 1996 Cobra POPUP. The brown color unit mounted close to the floor and part of the wrap around seating is the converter/charger I am looking for. This one appears to be a WFCO Model possible WF8930 model..
If this is like yours need that part number - Just press on the lid and it should open down showing you a whole bunch of AC circuit breakers and 12VDC fuses. The converter/chassis is in a bottom compartment of the top unit.
* This post was
edited 03/30/12 08:55pm by RoyB *
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Veronica
Virginia
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Joined: 07/04/2003
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The propane bottle is offset, and the converter does look very similar to that one. I'll try to get the number off of it as soon as I can.
My battery needs are minimal. We generally camp where there are electrical hookups, and the times we don't, I don't mind roughing it a bit. A light or two for a short time at night is all we need. The ability to run the furnace at night would be a big bonus, though, just in case. I don't have a generator, and don't really plan to buy one anytime soon.
Hungry Mother Park is beautiful! I worked in Marion until January, so I'm quite familiar with the area.
Thanks for your detective work!
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red31
Bryan
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The posted pic of 'coverter' looks like a Magnatek 6700 series not a WFCO, but it doesn't matter.
* This post was
edited 03/31/12 07:18am by red31 *
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RoyB
King George, VA
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haha... thanks... Just trying to help...
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ExRocketScientist
Laurel, MD
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Joined: 11/11/2010
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If the trailer has a breakaway switch, there should be a battery somewhere. It may be inside of a sealed white plastic box somewhere inside. It would have a vent hose going to a wall. Look around on the outside walls of the trailer for a little vent that is 2 to 4 inches in diameter. If you find this, look at what is connected to it on the inside.
The other possibility on the breakaway is that they have a very small (about 10 amp hour) battery somewhere in the system. These are very small, so it could be in a box barely larger than a coffee mug. These things are intended to power the breakaway only.
ERS
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