SoDak '67 Alaskan Owner (NCO)

[SD_Forester]

Hey all,

Just picked up this camper in April in Rapid City, SD off Craigslist. Since these photos were taken, I've got the cushions reupholstered, new curtains, removed the carpet and put leftover laminate wood flooring in. Only punky wood found was in the floor right by the entrance. Was able to just peel off a layer of the old plywood and original laminate tile, and replace it with new 3/8" birch plywood and installed the new floor, glued and sealed it and am planning on getting some trim to cover my gaps and ensure sturdiness & good waterproofing for the floor.

Have spent days reading posts on this forum and am looking forward to the wealth of knowledge shared by all on it. I myself have no knowledge of campers (aside from heavy research into Alaskans specifically), but am excited to get this beauty up to Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota for the upcoming holiday weekend. I do have some electrical issues to hash out, and had to spend a small fortune buying a fourth jack stand. Luckily found some heavy-duty bedrail brackets on CL for only $40 never used.

Really enjoyed the story about loading the camper into the dodge dually, as I can relate. Still need to manufacture some sort of spacer to get my camper back off my truck.
Looking forward to some discussion as I'm sure I will encounter problems that many of you have long-since overcome. I'll post some pics of my maiden voyage soon.

Cheers,
Marcus

 

[dkoug]

Hey all,

Just picked up this camper in April in Rapid City, SD off Craigslist. Since these photos were taken, I've got the cushions reupholstered, new curtains, removed the carpet and put leftover laminate wood flooring in. Only punky wood found was in the floor right by the entrance. Was able to just peel off a layer of the old plywood and original laminate tile, and replace it with new 3/8" birch plywood and installed the new floor, glued and sealed it and am planning on getting some trim to cover my gaps and ensure sturdiness & good waterproofing for the floor.

Have spent days reading posts on this forum and am looking forward to the wealth of knowledge shared by all on it. I myself have no knowledge of campers (aside from heavy research into Alaskans specifically), but am excited to get this beauty up to Theodore Roosevelt NP in North Dakota for the upcoming holiday weekend. I do have some electrical issues to hash out, and had to spend a small fortune buying a fourth jack stand. Luckily found some heavy-duty bedrail brackets on CL for only $40 never used.

Really enjoyed the story about loading the camper into the dodge dually, as I can relate. Still need to manufacture some sort of spacer to get my camper back off my truck.
Looking forward to some discussion as I'm sure I will encounter problems that many of you have long-since overcome. I'll post some pics of my maiden voyage soon.

Cheers,
Marcus


Welcome, I picked mine up 69 10' NCO last September just in time to freeze it up. Now starting to work on it.

thinking yours is 8 footer and in great condition.

dkoug

 

[Buckwheat]

Looks great.. What kind of electrical problems you having?

 

[SD_Forester]

It is an 8', and I was real pleased with how good of shape it was in. I went into it thinking I would have to restore it from the ground up, but have very few things the camper actually needs.

My electrical issues are probably (hopefully), simple and due to my unfamiliarity with campers in general; when I plug the camper into an extension cord from the garage, and try to turn on the light fixture above the dinette, the light bulb blows. I unintentionally ruined a brand new bulb this way.

Is it because the voltage coming out if the garage is too much for the camper? The push-button breaker doesn't react when plugged into the garage, and I have yet to try the only outlet in the camper while plugged in to an outside source.

Also curious as to how you hook the electrical and deep cycle battery (when I can afford to get one) up to the truck to charge it while in transit?

 

[Oryguntroutbum]

It is an 8', and I was real pleased with how good of shape it was in. I went into it thinking I would have to restore it from the ground up, but have very few things the camper actually needs.

My electrical issues are probably (hopefully), simple and due to my unfamiliarity with campers in general; when I plug the camper into an extension cord from the garage, and try to turn on the light fixture above the dinette, the light bulb blows. I unintentionally ruined a brand new bulb this way.

Is it because the voltage coming out if the garage is too much for the camper? The push-button breaker doesn't react when plugged into the garage, and I have yet to try the only outlet in the camper while plugged in to an outside source.

Also curious as to how you hook the electrical and deep cycle battery (when I can afford to get one) up to the truck to charge it while in transit?


When you plugged the camper in did it blow the bulbs that came with it or did it continue to blow additional bulbs that you tried? The reason I'm asking is because back then they used the same light fixtures for both 110 and 12 volt lighting. This meant that when under 110 power the 12 volt bulbs would have to be switched out to regular 110 bulbs. If not they blow out. Just curious if it was 12 volt bulbs that blew.

 

[SD_Forester]

The bulb that was in it blew, then a second bulb that I Installed blew. I do believe they were both the same type of bulb and that they were 12 volt.

 

[Buckwheat]

Sounds like you have fixtures that use 12v and 120v bulbs you have to change bulbs when using the different power sources.

In my truck it has dual batteries one for the truck and one for the camper which has a cont. duty solenoid in it so it charges when the truck is running and then is isolated when the truck is off so you won't run down the other battery.

 

[Rusty]

Typically there are 2 light fixtures over the sink area....the one closest to the rear of the camper was typically...and I sat typically because there were quite a few manufacturers back then...120v...and the one closer to the front of the camper was 12v...I switched my 12v light to a flourescent years ago so there wouldn't be any problems...none so far....but plugging in the extension cord from the garage typically just lit up the 120 circuits...and even then...if the light was on switch and it was turned you would get the 120v normal current and a lit bulb.

It sounds like someone was "tweaking" the wires and may have doubled the hot lead into the fixture....electricity flows through the bulb....doesn't stop at the bulb....not the first time....typical fixtures were a push button switch on a round glass bowl cover..black into the switch and white off the light bulb socket

Best of luck

 

[SD_Forester]

I checked last night as I was finishing up the new flooring and trim. Switched out the blown 12v bulbs for a new 120v bulb, plugged the camper back into the garage, and sure enough, it lit right up. I have the two typical light fixtures you speak of. The fixture above the stove is slightly broken, so I haven't even tried that one yet.

Putting on a fourth jack stand tonight, and going to test out the 6x6 blocks of wood I got to see if it will clear the dually fenders, and if the jacks will hold up without them bowing too much.

Thanks. I'll put some updated pics up soon.
Marcus