Oops!

May 7 - After a night in a hotel with showers and clean clothes we were greeted with a Jeep that wouldn’t start. A few days ago, we were driving and noticed the Anderson Plug (used to charge the trailer’s battery from the Jeep while driving) had become disconnected while driving. That means it’s broken.

Broken Anderson Plug

In our defense, we double check all the connections before we leave camp. The problem is we have to use a trailer hitch extension because the spare tire is on the back of the Jeep. This makes the factory supplied charging cable, that doesn’t consider hitch extensions, tight when driving straight. But when we make a sharp turn it pulls the plug out. We will be lengthening that cable and installing a tether that will hold it off the ground should this happen again.

We have plenty of power in the trailer and can charge from solar when we stay in camp. However, when we left our last camp for the hotel, we had duct-taped the plug in for our trip into town. Overnight the trailer must have drained the battery. Luckily we have a battery jump-starter. After a couple of tries we got it started but decided to cut the trip short and head home. We can order a new Anderson Plug and a longer cable. We will also change the cable installation so that the trailer won’t receive power unless the Jeep is running. We have now been out a few days shy of two months. While seeing more of Utah would have been nice, we are looking forward to seeing our yard for the first time since we purchased the house.

But there is a lot to do at home before yard work.

We removed everything from the trailer and cleaned the compartments.

Our Empty, but still dirty, Kitchen

Then we cleaned all our gear, removing anything we didn’t use on the trip. We have a list of the things we want to add or change, including that Anderson Plug!

Our Stuff

Plus a few things we didn’t take on our trip. Yes that’s snow in the background on the left.

Then we put everything back.

Cleaned Repacked Kitchen

We vacuumed inside of both the Jeep and trailer. After two days of sandstorm in Death Valley and hiking boots that love mud, it was bad.

We washed the trailer!

The Trailer Almost Looks New!

We washed the Jeep. It needs a second bath. I missed some spots.

Desert Mud on the Driveway
This was prior to washing above the skid plate!

It took all day.

Day two of cleaning was laundry day. Since we only take a few changes of clothes and we had washed most of our clothes at the hotel, I just washed all the stuff we hadn’t worn and shoes.

Next, photo editing. He took around 4,700 photos and some video. I haven’t even looked but I don’t have nearly that many.

Coming soon, a few short trips close to home before our Fall 2023 Trip!

Thanks for following along!

Update: July 16, - We have now replaced the Anderson plug, added the cable extension, and installed a relay to disconnect charging when the Jeep is not running. We even swapped the batteries to lithium for extra capacity. Yeah electricity!

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