First Trip in the TM

[Jen057]

My husband and I just bought a used TM (2000 2619) we took it out for our first trip to the local mountains (San Diego area) for a quick weekend trip with our almost 2 year old. We thought it would be a prefect time since the cold weather is over with and it isn't really hot yet.

Well it rained almost the whole weekend and was in the low 40's. The good thing is we really tested the heater out and confirmed it doesn't have any leaks. We planned on doing all our cooking outdoors and not only did the rain/wind fix that but our camping grill had broken during travel.

We did find out that the batteries that came with the TM are not really holding a charge, which did kind of suck because we were dry camping. We relied a lot on our new generator, which we could only use part of the time due to the restrictions. At least we were able to run the heater all night

[Redtail Cruiser]

Hi Jen, welcome to the TM forum. Congrats on your purchase. Looks like you guys were up in the Cuyamuca's. Enjoy camping. BTW, Costco has a good deal on replacement batteries.

[scrubjaysnest]

welcome to the forums.
Since you were able to run the heater all night after some period of charging the batteries from the ginny you may not have a bad batteries. They may just need a good charge and check fluid levels. Typically the on board converter doesn't do the best job of charging batteries.

[hillbillyhotel]

welcome
thanks for sharing, and enjoy,
lots of good info here, I learn something here all the time

[Padgett]

Are a number of threads & if you plan to do a lot of dry camping, some solar panels would be a good idea.

It is interesting when it rains in southern California, houses slide off hills and dry lakes turn into wet cement.

[Jen057]

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

welcome to the forums.
Since you were able to run the heater all night after some period of charging the batteries from the ginny you may not have a bad batteries. They may just need a good charge and check fluid levels. Typically the on board converter doesn't do the best job of charging batteries.

Thanks! I will have my husband check out the batteries. If we don't have to spend money on new batteries, that would make me a happy camper

We are new to trailer life, we are both accustomed to tent camping, so there is a lot to learn and this group is teaching us a lot.

[TexasCamper]

Welcome to Trailmanor camping and this forum.
Check out the old posts on switching to LED light bulbs. They'll help with battery life too.
I'm sure you notice how much more comfortable the family was with the poor weather vs some of the other camping options.
Hope to hear about your next trip!