I have a 2001 Caravan 25BHS.. same basic camper, but with bunks in the rear.
I love the design, but infortunately, many suffered from water damage issues related to the bottom trim. Mine went back to the Fleetwood factory in '06 under warranty for a complete floor rebuild and updated trim. Make sure the bottom trim is well sealed.. these didn't rot from the top due to bad seams or seals.. they rotted right at the floor level due to water getting in behind those seams.
I'll do my best to answer your questions below:
1) I connected one new full propane tank but no propane is getting to any of the systems. I had moved the supply switch to the correct side and tried the gas stove inside, gas stove outside, fridge, water heater, and furnace. None seem to be getting any propane. No propane smells and I tried lighting them manually with a lighter. Is there another switch I'm missing that needs to be turned on to provide propane or does the trailer only work with 2 propane tanks connected?
The propane system in these is very typical and as long as the door side tank is full, with the valve open, and the supply lever is pointed to that tank..then you don't need the second tank hooked up. I use it as a spare tank should the first one run out.. then you move the main supply line over to that one as it has the high and low lines needed. Check for a clogged regulator or a bad regulator. If you are turning the tank on, and opening the stove and you are not getting propane, there has to be a clog, kink, or restriction between the tank and the stove.. since nothing is working, I'd start up front at the regulator area.
2) There's only one 12 volt DC outlet inside the trailer or did I miss another hidden one?
Yep, right when you walk in down low. There is 12V all over the trailer though so it's easy to add more if you need to.
3) Fridge isn't getting cold with 115 AC plugged in and give me a "check" error light after trying to light the back (clicks for about 30 seconds). I've cleaned the back and tried to light it manually with a lighter as well without any luck. Shouldn't it switch over the the 115 AC system even without propane working?
There are 2 small switches at the top of the fridge by the check light..
The one on the left should be down flush and the 'auto' light will come on.
The one on the right should also be down flush to run on electric mode.
My fridge takes HOURS to get cold. The freezer starts getting cold within 30 minutes but it literally took 6 or 7 hours for the fridge to get down to temp. I was convinced it didn't work when I got the camper, but left it overnight and it was fine the next morning. Now I pre-chill the fridge prior to driving..it is insulated well and holds coldness for a long time if you don't open the doors.
4) Back left driver side) tail lamp is providing running lights but no brake or turn signals. I've replaced the light bulb and tested it in another fixture and confirmed that it's not the bulb itself. I've tested the connections from the truck and they tested good. Just to be sure - I also took the truck into U-Hual and had them test it as it's under warranty from their install. Any ideas as to what could be causing this issue? Loose ground somewhere? Bad lamp assembly?
If the bulb is good, check the socket itself.. 2 little leads in there so with your lights on test each 'bump' with a test light. One should be steady and one should blink. If not, take the taillight assembly out and see if you have 'blinking' voltage coming in to the rear of the thing. Sometimes the socket can get a little corrosion in it that won't let the bulb flash.
The other thing to do is up at the 7 pin trailer connector.. Using a jumper wire from the battery, apply 12V to that corresponding pin that sends the brake/flash volts back there and see of it lights up that other filiment. If not, take apart the 7 way on the trailer and inspect those connections. Mine were a mess and my battery lead was off. I cleaned up all the terminals and added little ring connectors to each wire. Everything works good as new now.
5) Power issue; while nothing appears to be on in the trailer it's pulling 0.20-0.83 amps from the battery. That's 5-20 amps lost per day from the battery bank without using anything. Disconnecting the radio seem to resolve this issue and drops it to about 0.04 amps. I'm planing on wiring in a lit led switch to completely disconnect the radio unless there a switch or method of turning it off completely I'm unaware of. Please advise...
Adding a simple switch next to the radio should do the trick.. it will run the clock display non stop on battery power, so having a way to easily disconnect that is a good idea. You'll still have a small draw from the propane detector.
Any other common issues I should be aware of?
Besides the floor rot issue, these are simple and easy to use campers.
I paid $4500 for mine 2 months ago and I don't regret it at all. It came with all the manuals etc, all propane systems tested good (I only tested that the fridge lit on gas prior to purchase, wasn't sure it got cold till the following week when I let it sit overnight) and the only 'problem' I found was the water heater flame was not as light blue as I would have liked. Compressed air cleaning of the tube and exhaust there took care of that problem and it runs perfectly now.
Mine had serious sticker fade and peeling going on so I removed them all and did a simple racing stripe.. cost about $125 to do the whole thing over.
Take some time to go around the whole things and reseal the seams with a good white bathroom caulk. at 10 years old you may have some water entry that isn't easily seen. I sealed everything up and I'm really confident I have no water issue.
Oh yeah..the other thing I discovered is that the water will 'run out' while the meter still says 1/3 full. If you look underneath at the tank, drivers side, you'll see the water pickup is an inch up from the bottom.. and the bottom of the tank is bowed a bit. So the intake hose will start sucking air and sputtering inside while there is still 4 or 5 gallons in the 30 gallon tank, so plan accordingly.
The drain is on the side as well (door side front) so to get as much water out as possible drive up on to a couple planks on the drivers side, and then lower the nose as far as you can.
Good luck with your Caravan, once you sort out the issues you should really enjoy it.
I love the design, but infortunately, many suffered from water damage issues related to the bottom trim. Mine went back to the Fleetwood factory in '06 under warranty for a complete floor rebuild and updated trim. Make sure the bottom trim is well sealed.. these didn't rot from the top due to bad seams or seals.. they rotted right at the floor level due to water getting in behind those seams.
I'll do my best to answer your questions below:
1) I connected one new full propane tank but no propane is getting to any of the systems. I had moved the supply switch to the correct side and tried the gas stove inside, gas stove outside, fridge, water heater, and furnace. None seem to be getting any propane. No propane smells and I tried lighting them manually with a lighter. Is there another switch I'm missing that needs to be turned on to provide propane or does the trailer only work with 2 propane tanks connected?
The propane system in these is very typical and as long as the door side tank is full, with the valve open, and the supply lever is pointed to that tank..then you don't need the second tank hooked up. I use it as a spare tank should the first one run out.. then you move the main supply line over to that one as it has the high and low lines needed. Check for a clogged regulator or a bad regulator. If you are turning the tank on, and opening the stove and you are not getting propane, there has to be a clog, kink, or restriction between the tank and the stove.. since nothing is working, I'd start up front at the regulator area.
2) There's only one 12 volt DC outlet inside the trailer or did I miss another hidden one?
Yep, right when you walk in down low. There is 12V all over the trailer though so it's easy to add more if you need to.
3) Fridge isn't getting cold with 115 AC plugged in and give me a "check" error light after trying to light the back (clicks for about 30 seconds). I've cleaned the back and tried to light it manually with a lighter as well without any luck. Shouldn't it switch over the the 115 AC system even without propane working?
There are 2 small switches at the top of the fridge by the check light..
The one on the left should be down flush and the 'auto' light will come on.
The one on the right should also be down flush to run on electric mode.
My fridge takes HOURS to get cold. The freezer starts getting cold within 30 minutes but it literally took 6 or 7 hours for the fridge to get down to temp. I was convinced it didn't work when I got the camper, but left it overnight and it was fine the next morning. Now I pre-chill the fridge prior to driving..it is insulated well and holds coldness for a long time if you don't open the doors.
4) Back left driver side) tail lamp is providing running lights but no brake or turn signals. I've replaced the light bulb and tested it in another fixture and confirmed that it's not the bulb itself. I've tested the connections from the truck and they tested good. Just to be sure - I also took the truck into U-Hual and had them test it as it's under warranty from their install. Any ideas as to what could be causing this issue? Loose ground somewhere? Bad lamp assembly?
If the bulb is good, check the socket itself.. 2 little leads in there so with your lights on test each 'bump' with a test light. One should be steady and one should blink. If not, take the taillight assembly out and see if you have 'blinking' voltage coming in to the rear of the thing. Sometimes the socket can get a little corrosion in it that won't let the bulb flash.
The other thing to do is up at the 7 pin trailer connector.. Using a jumper wire from the battery, apply 12V to that corresponding pin that sends the brake/flash volts back there and see of it lights up that other filiment. If not, take apart the 7 way on the trailer and inspect those connections. Mine were a mess and my battery lead was off. I cleaned up all the terminals and added little ring connectors to each wire. Everything works good as new now.
5) Power issue; while nothing appears to be on in the trailer it's pulling 0.20-0.83 amps from the battery. That's 5-20 amps lost per day from the battery bank without using anything. Disconnecting the radio seem to resolve this issue and drops it to about 0.04 amps. I'm planing on wiring in a lit led switch to completely disconnect the radio unless there a switch or method of turning it off completely I'm unaware of. Please advise...
Adding a simple switch next to the radio should do the trick.. it will run the clock display non stop on battery power, so having a way to easily disconnect that is a good idea. You'll still have a small draw from the propane detector.
Any other common issues I should be aware of?
Besides the floor rot issue, these are simple and easy to use campers.
I paid $4500 for mine 2 months ago and I don't regret it at all. It came with all the manuals etc, all propane systems tested good (I only tested that the fridge lit on gas prior to purchase, wasn't sure it got cold till the following week when I let it sit overnight) and the only 'problem' I found was the water heater flame was not as light blue as I would have liked. Compressed air cleaning of the tube and exhaust there took care of that problem and it runs perfectly now.
Mine had serious sticker fade and peeling going on so I removed them all and did a simple racing stripe.. cost about $125 to do the whole thing over.
Take some time to go around the whole things and reseal the seams with a good white bathroom caulk. at 10 years old you may have some water entry that isn't easily seen. I sealed everything up and I'm really confident I have no water issue.
Oh yeah..the other thing I discovered is that the water will 'run out' while the meter still says 1/3 full. If you look underneath at the tank, drivers side, you'll see the water pickup is an inch up from the bottom.. and the bottom of the tank is bowed a bit. So the intake hose will start sucking air and sputtering inside while there is still 4 or 5 gallons in the 30 gallon tank, so plan accordingly.
The drain is on the side as well (door side front) so to get as much water out as possible drive up on to a couple planks on the drivers side, and then lower the nose as far as you can.
Good luck with your Caravan, once you sort out the issues you should really enjoy it.
