Ideal 66 19' travel trailer manual?

I'm trying to diagnose and repair a 1966 Ideal 19' travel trailer, with the aim of making it livable and towable as we lost our mobile home in the Ridgecrest earthquake and we're reduced to the least horrible trailer in the Lancaster impound yard.


We managed to tow it up to Capitola, but God only knows where we're going from here.


Anyway, I could really use some form of manual to figure out where the battery goes, what happened to the plumbing and propane, and how to repair the 12v lines but I can't find anything on Google.


Hope this is the right place to post and apologies if it is not.

Your not likely to fine a manual that will give you such information.

I would suggest looking for each appliance manual on line. The converter/12 volt /120 volt panel may also be found online.

Good Luck

I'm sorry to say, but a manual like that does not exist, and if it did, it wouldn't explain those things.  Google and Youtube.  Most all Trailers are basically the same as far as 12V electrical, plumbing, and propane.  The battery should sit on the front, in a plastic box, with positive and negative cables.  Do you have cables like that up front? 

Up front?


There's a place for propane tanks or something on the tongue and the light and brake cable, and inside there's a bed where the front dinette was and I haven't managed to clear out what used to be the top bunk yet.


About midway in there's a cupboard with a wiring diagram which I don't understand, and inside that was a water heater on a board supported by a 2x4 with neither the boar, 2x4, nor water heater connected to anything and behind that was a breaker box. That's about where the shore line came in and a . metal pipe that has a cover on the outside that says COLEMAN HOT and doesn't connect to anything.


In the back there's a big door that disintegrated that has a shallow chamber with some pipes and parts and what is probably the black tank dump line.


I have found neither batteries nor an obvious place to put them. I'm not certain as to where the water inlet is. There's a piece of clear plexiglass near the front left that looks like it has some sort of water heater or furnace pilot light and in front of that is a bay that looks like it used to have a generator or something and OH.


OH WAIT.


Okay I know where the batteries are supposed to  go, and where I'm supposed to wire them up, but I still don't see any friendly-looking clips or anything to attach batteries with and to and also I need new locks for this compartment and possibly a new door.

Yikes, that is a lot of uncertain territory.  This stuff can get expensive, as you could guess.  Travel trailers are / were designed for limited use, not long term living.  Given that, what is most important to address first?  Plumbing, Electric?  Next, it would be very helpful if you could post a picture or two of specifically what you are looking at, example: let's say the front tongue. Usually, behind where the propane sits, there will be a flat grate or something, that a battery and plastic battery box would sit on.  hen coming from the trailer will probably be a rather stiff black and white cable?  do you have any of this?

Welcome to the Forum!

Sorry for the problems.  We will try to help.

As Spencer said, you have lots of things that need addressing.  You basically will need to rebuild this thing.  Pick the most important project and we can help with suggestions to get that done, then we go to the next project.

I suggest making sure the roof is intact - no leaks - to protect all of your work underneath it as your first priority.  It should be somewhat simple, barring major issues.  After that, pick one:  120V electrical, 12V electrical, fresh water plumbing, waste water plumbing, LP gas plumbing, fridge work, furnace work. water heater, A/C and general interior work.

Breaking the task down into smaller pieces will hopefully make it easier to see progress and get it all done.

Well, I wouldn't be setting this up to live in if I had a choice.


Whoever had this before me has replaced the 110v system, as I have breakers instead of a fuse box. The fridge looks like a regular ol' dorm fridge too, and it seems to be working fine. Interior lights seem to work okay. The shore line plug has been replaced with what looks like a 3 prong 15 amp plug, which I'll probably have to do something about, but it works for now.


I'll go over the roof as best I can. As far as I can tell, with the exception of the top vent which is wedged open and has a piece of fabric screwed in underneath it, the roof appears intact.


I will post pictures tomorrow AM when I have light and I have the energy. My biggest worry right now is the brakes, which gave out on the drive up, and which I may be stuck with repairing depending on the results of the call to the mobile repair service tomorrow. But as far as the systems work goes tonight I want to say the plumbing, much as I'd want to get the battery figured out and hooked up.


We'll se what happens when I get some pictures posted.

If you have a mobile service come and look at your brakes, that guy would be a great person to discuss all your repairs with.  These guys have seen and repaired everything.  If you set out to tackle the brakes yourself, the best website many of us recommend is https://www.etrailer.com/ .  They are a great resource for anything trailer related, and have great customer service.

Mobile service is booked through October. Off to get dressed and take pictures. Looks like I'm doing the brakes.

Electric or surge brakes?  Electric trailer brakes are pretty simple and parts aren't even all that expensive.  Wiring is more likely the problem than something mechanical. Especially with no battery connected - could have shorted out the power to the brakes.

The battery hook-up can't be all that difficult either, even if you have to scrap what's there and start over.  If you could post photos of whatever wiring is left, maybe we can help figure it out. In systems of that vintage, there are usually separate wires to the battery for charging and power draw. If the brakes are electric, there will also be an emergency "break-away" connection to the battery. As in cars, the negative battery post is grounded to the trailer chassis.
If the power center has been replaced, you may also have a newer converter/charger for 12v.  Can you identify the brand/model of each?

having trouble getting the pics under 350kb each, working on it

If you have Windows Paint, load the picture into Paint, resize it to something like 640x420 and save it as a .jpg under a new name so it doesn't overwrite the original.

Moody,

For starters, there probably never was any manual, just a loose leaf notebook with the docs for the installed stuff and maybe the brakes/axles.

You should contact the Tin Can Tourists <tincantuorists.com> and see it there is anybody there that knows anything.  If anybody does, he will be there. 

Collect the manufacturer and model (and maybe serial Nr.) of everything you can.  The do an online search and you may just find the docs online and downloadable. 

I wish you luck.  What you have taken on will be a serious task, but in the end, the reward maybe be well worth the effort. 

Matt

Okay, let's try this again.


I have pics of the trailer, the back hatch that came apart, the breaker box and the top of the water heater, the front tongue showing no fuel bottles and no battery box, what I think is some of the hardware for the furnace? the hole where I think the batteries and the generator used to be, with some kind of loose pump and a plastic tank maybe, the shore line and the COLEMAN HOT vent that isn't  hooked up to anything, the hole where the kitchen sink used to be, the skylight, and the bathroom light fixture. I thought I also took a picture of the hole under the water heater but I can't find it now.


And I just heard that the in-laws are going to have us towed and impounded in a week because no matter how low we're brought in this cherry-blossom World we can always count on them to knock us lower. I guess the brakes are the priority now. I'll see about getting a jack at United Rentals so I can take the wheels off and see what we're dealing with.

here's the hole under the water heater. I thought that this was where the furnace was supposed to be. That big board in the middle is holding the water heater up.

This trailer may not have a 12 volt system.  The only legal requirement for a 12 volt battery would be to power the breakaway switch that applies the electric trailer brakes in case the trailer comes unhitched while underway. The breakaway power was sometimes provided by a disposable 12 volt lantern battery connected directly to the breakaway switch.

Are there any 12 volt lights in it?  Some trailers of that vintage only had a propane lamp.  The water heater shown in the photo and most refrigerators back in the 60s had manual controls and didn't need 12 volts to operate, not the automatic circuit boards in newer units.

The furnace could have also been a natural convection unit that didn't use a fan.

Wowzee, that is a vintage trailer that has been modified over the years.  Usually the battery is on the outside for safety concerns.  I think sealed batteries can be inside, but you have much to do before that. 
Couple questions. 
What are you pulling this with? 
Do you hope to travel around, or find a place to park, plug in, and live?
Do you know if there are tanks under it? Fresh, black, grey?
If so much needs worked on, this might not be a very good investment.  You could sink a bunch of money into something and still barely liveable. 

I understand, you need shelter.  I guess if it needs moved, brakes, regrease the bearings, and if the tires are older than 6-8 years, doesn't matter about the tread, they need replaced.  (there's a 4 digit number on them, example: 1814 would mean made in week 18 of 2014.)

You mentioned renting a jack, your truck or whatever might have a jack that would work.  Just block the other side so it doesn't roll on you. 

If brakes are # concern to move it, I'd start there. 

Take a wheel off, and post a picture. 

That trailer and vintage, might not even have brakes. OR you might have to retro fit them to modern technology.  There are people on this forum have the electrical knowledge to do that (not me), but it will assume that you are fairly handy and have access to minimal tools.

Honestly, it looks better than I expected.  Do you ever plan to be anywhere without electric?  If not, you can go with 120V appliances, including a small electric water heater, keep the dorm refrigerator , and maybe electric space heaters.  You may not need a battery for anything except break away brakes when towing.  It may need a totally new 120V system to be safe.  That can come later.

For supply plumbing, the "normal" system diagram is a fresh water tank thru valve #1 (to close off the tank) to a tee to the 12v water pump to  second tee to the camper.  The first tee goes to valve #2 to a length of hose.  This is used to winterize the system.  The second tee goes to the camp water supply hose into the camper with a back flow valve where the hose connects.    If you will always have camp ground water, all you will need is the hose connection and a back flow valve.

Lou Schneider said:

This trailer may not have a 12 volt system.  The only legal requirement for a 12 volt battery would be to power the breakaway switch that applies the electric trailer brakes in case the trailer comes unhitched while underway. The breakaway power was sometimes provided by a disposable 12 volt lantern battery connected directly to the breakaway switch.

Are there any 12 volt lights in it?  Some trailers of that vintage only had a propane lamp.  The water heater shown in the photo and most refrigerators back in the 60s had manual controls and didn't need 12 volts to operate, not the automatic circuit boards in newer units.

The furnace could have also been a natural convection unit that didn't use a fan.

Click to expand...

There is a hole with wires sticking out of it that has a label saying "switch for 12V porch light" and similar looking wires sticking out of a hole in the bathroom which are the only reason that I think there once was a 12V system.

[quote author=SpencerPJ ]
What are you pulling this with? 
[/quote]


2008 Toyota Sienna minivan with the tow package - max weight 3500 lbs. I KNOW but the impound yard insisted that the trailer was underweight, and we made it all the way up to Santa Cruz County and still have a working transmission.


[/size][quote author=SpencerPJ ]
Do you hope to travel around, or find a place to park, plug in, and live?
[/quote]


Haven't gotten that far yet tbh. We had some land in Kern County lined up  to set up as an RV park/event space thing, but it fell through. If we can find a place to plug in and live that'd be fine but I don't see that happening soon.


[/size][quote author=SpencerPJ ]
Do you know if there are tanks under it? Fresh, black, grey?
[/quote]


There's what looks like a tank in the "possibly used to be the generator" bay and a pump wired in to something. As the other end of that tank is close to where that broken thing on the right front is, I'm assuming it's the fresh water tank.


I physically am unable to get underneath to look, and the Mrs. has been dealing with family drama, so no idea what else we have right now.




[/size][quote author=SpencerPJ]
I understand, you need shelter.  I guess if it needs moved, brakes, regrease the bearings, and if the tires are older than 6-8 years, doesn't matter about the tread, they need replaced.  (there's a 4 digit number on them, example: 1814 would mean made in week 18 of 2014.)
[/quote]


We replaced one tire because it was shredded, and I got a lesson in how to take the brakes out and grease the axles when one of the brakes locked up on Hwy 99. The other one locked up as the neighbors were backing it into the driveway here, but the parts are still there, so once I get the wheel off I can get the parts out and measure the drum.





[/size][quote author=SpencerPJ]
[/size]You mentioned renting a jack, your truck or whatever might have a jack that would work.  Just block the other side so it doesn't roll on you. 

If brakes are # concern to move it, I'd start there. 

Take a wheel off, and post a picture. 

That trailer and vintage, might not even have brakes. OR you might have to retro fit them to modern technology.  There are people on this forum have the electrical knowledge to do that (not me), but it will assume that you are fairly handy and have access to minimal tools.
[/quote]


I don't know if the little jack that came with the minivan can jack up the trailer - but I don't know that it can't so I'll give it a shot if I can find the thing. Either the trailer did in fact come with brakes  or someone has already retrofitted them. I'll post pics tomorrow when I get the wheel off.


Appreciate the help and advice, y'all. This is way above any mechanical experience I have. I don't know where the /size tags are coming from and I'm too exhausted to figure out how to delete them so sorry