It was a decent day out today so I decided to try to troubleshoot the electrical issue with the trailer.

A few days ago I found one potential issue, and that was with a circuit breaker mounted to the battery. It would not stay in its reset mode – I could not get it to stay reset and there was no voltage going through it. I ran to the parts store and got a new one, but still no power through the breaker (the old one was bad, though – I tested it after I unhooked it). There was power going into the power converter from the distribution panel so it has to be something with the converter itself. I then went to the next step and got the wire connection re-done that goes out to the battery from the converter. Still nothing. I felt around where I couldn’t see and found a fuse!

I went back to the parts store and got a pack of four fuses. Good thing, because I plugged in the first one and it blew. As I replaced it with another one I noticed a flash when I plugged in the new fuse. What I read said it has a reverse polarity protection (the fuse), but nothing is hooked up backwards that I am aware of. I am now beginning to wonder about one of the wires that is hooked up to the breaker.

There is a black wire from the harness that is hooked up to the hot side of the breaker on the battery – I find that very suspicious since it is black and not red (sometimes the hot wires are black, especially in houses, but most vehicles I have seen they are red). I would think there would be an arc if this were hooked up wrong, but the fuse is blowing due to a polarity issue. If it is isolated to just the converter and not the frame then this may very well be the problem. That seems to me it would explain why it’s not shorted on the battery but is blowing the fuse like there’s a polarity issue.

I wish I had the time to look into it right now, but the sun is going down. Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day so I will just tear into it again tomorrow. It should not take long to figure it out – put a meter on it and see if it is grounded.

A few days ago I put some things on Craigslist to get rid of. A hiking backpack, a dry pack, a portable office (that sold the next morning), Bose headphones, and a really nice laptop bag. I may have a few other things as well. I am glad to get rid of a few things, especially if they’re not being used. Plus it will pay for some upgrades and have cash leftover. I’ll ship! 😁

The item that sold will pay for half of one of my two new travel packs I ordered from Cotopaxi, a very cool ethical company that is definitely a company to support if you need coats, outdoor gear or travel packs. I am glad to support them and their gear gets rave reviews.

They are making one of the only bags that packs and organizes how I want to pack and organize. To make it even better, in the Del Dia line they are making their bags out of remnants from other manufacturers. The people sewing the bags can actually use what color fabrics they want to design their own color scheme. They are artists! The packs are VERY colorful and no two Del Dia bags are alike. You can even let them surprise you with a random bag, but I chose my own from what they had available online. Some had too much black, and one was way too pink. I wanted something unique with every color imaginable. When I get them (hopefully this week or early next) I will post pics.

Once I get these and make sure they will do what I want I may put the Osprey Farpoint 40 travel backpack up for sale. I say “may” because I am not really sure yet. I have watched many pack reviews and all of the reviewers have several lying around. The way some of them talk they use different packs all the time. It is also nice to have as a spare in case I take along someone with me that has no backpack.

Yesterday I put together a soup that actually turned out quite good.

It is low-sodium chicken broth, rotisserie chicken, penne (the only noodle-kinda-thing I had other than spaghetti), parsley, TJ’s Italian soffritto seasoning, a little garlic powder & onion powder, and sun dried tomatoes in olive oil. On top I added a little Parmesan/Romano sawdust-free grated cheese at the table. It turned out good and it is fairly healthy.

I have been craving some soup lately but I read labels closely (and have for a long time) and the sodium in soups on the shelf is pretty off-the-charts so I cannot eat it unless I make my own. It’s usually chicken noodle I make since it’s my favorite; this is along those lines but something really different.

Well, that’s it for tonight. Didn’t sleep well last night and I have a busy day of running tomorrow. Enjoy your Monday!