Re: User Manuals
On some trailers, the tank fill may be on the passanger's side. It can be a challange to get the water to go in there; if so, Camping World has a filler nozzel with shut off valve.
To hook up to water, you will need a hose. Make SURE the hose is suitable for drinking water (usually they are white). 'Garden' hoses are made with harmful chemicals. Hoses are available in 4', 10', 25' and 50' lengths. 25' should be adequate for most situations, although having a 10' hose as well may be more conveniant at times. I find the 4' is handy at times. If you camp at other than RV specific campgrounds (like at friends/relatives houses), a 50' hose can be useful as well. I find the flat one on a reel is a compact, easy to carry, choice.
Other water things: Most important is a pressure relief valve. This is an inline gadget which limits the water pressure in the trailer to 40 - 45 PSI. I hooked up to my house once without one and blew my water pump pressure switch and the line feeding the toilet. A 90 degree brass elbow can relieve the strain on the hose going into the trailer, and another one can help you get to a water faucet close to the ground. Spare hose gaskets, of course. An inline water filter is useful. I like the ones which can filter out bacteria sized stuff. I carry several more items, but then I am anal about being able to hook up to anything
For electricity, the trailer should come with about 25 to 30 feet of cord. It is probably 30amp, which has 2 slanting blades and a round ground pin. This should be enough for most campground hookups, but extention cords for this are cheap and easily found. You will also want a converter (called a 'dog bone') which will allow you to plug into a 15 amp outlet if that is all that is available. Again, if you visit friends/relatives, 50 feet of 15A (it must be rated for this current; don't use the thin cords you use in your garden) extention cord can be handy.
Electricity can be tricky. There are some really good, really expensive solutions out there. To handle low voltage, an Autoformer is handy. For any other electrical problem, the SurgeGuard is tops. Or if you are cheap and lucky, you can get a meter which plugs into your outlet and shows voltage and frequency, as well as warning of miswiring. Being cheap and not trusting to luck, I got an adapter (reverse dog-bone) which allowed me to plug the meter directly into the power source before hooking my trailer to it.
Sewer is the most obnoxious thing to hook up. You will want a clear fitting so you can monitor what is going on (don't dump right after you eat
) Then you will want hose. There are several grades; you want the best you can find. This appears to be 'Rhino' hose with mounted fittings. This is the heaviest duty I've heard of, stays in the position you put it, and collapses down to a manageable size. It's 15' long which is long enough for most campgrounds, which is good because you can't get a matching extention. Next best may be the new 'silver' extra heavy duty hose with the red screw on fittings. 2 10' sections should be enough. I like the LevelUpp flat hose, but good luck finding it. Finally you will want an elbow to go into the dump station. The Rhino comes with a good one. Their is a new 'red' one out there which looks pretty good, and I started out with the 'blue' Presto-Fit elbow with adequate results.
You will want disposable gloves and/or disinfectant to protect yourself from mess and disease.
There are water powered and electrical 'grinders' which dump through a garden sized hose, which can be useful in some circumstances.
Cleaning your tank is a whole nother subject which I won't get into here.
