Ever since I got The Tiny — a 2007 T@B I bought used from a friend in December — I’ve been afraid to look inside the “bucket.”
The bucket is the red thing the front of the trailer that, according to mythology, holds the propane gas tank and the battery that make a T@B more functional. It’s been pure theory to me (until yesterday) because I’ve never actually looked in there. My friend opened it briefly during the handoff, but I barely glanced at it.
I knew a couple of things about the mythical battery. It would apparently charge up while I towed it. And after it was parked at home, I could use the lights and run the overhead fan for a bit. And then the lights would dim and the fan would slow and then stop. So I’m thinking: I need a new battery.
I figured the gas tank was empty because one brave moment inside the T@B, I turned one of the burners on the stove, and I didn’t hear anything. Sometime later, when I was chatting with a fellow T@B owner, she mentioned that she was scared of propane and that’s why she hadn’t gone camping after her husband passed away. So I thought: Yeah, I’m skeered too!
So how could I have gone camping twice so far without battery power and propane? Fear drives workarounds. I chose campsites with electrical power so I could plug in and run the lights and teakettle and fan off that. No battery needed. For heat, I used the awesome, mighty Cool Cat heat pump that came in the trailer and runs off electrical. I cooked outside on the picnic table with my trusty Coleman stove. I keep telling everyone I would never cook inside The Tiny and stink it up. But really, it’s because I have no propane!
But time is running out for me to remain so ignorant, so unknowing, and for camping in such a rustic mode. My sister and I are camping together in six weeks. And I have to make things nice for her.
But as I’ve been scared to look in the bucket, because of not knowing what’s in there (if you don’t understand that logic, I can’t explain it) my only thought was to drive the trailer to a battery place and pay them to look in there and install a new one. But as I still can’t back the trailer up into my driveway without help, taking The Tiny out for such a minor reason would cause even more problems.
So there’s two massive mysterious “issues” in the bucket, but my sister’s buying her plane ticket, and the pressure is building. As I was pondering my options, I thought of advice from two men in my life. One said that when I had car trouble, the first step was to open the hood and take a look. Just look. The other suggestion for when I’m afraid of doing something was: “Just touch the thing. Just do that.”
So with these two bits of of advice, I headed for the door. But wait! I had just given The Tiny its first bath and put on its cover. Alert! The bucket is covered in canvas. But my logic quickly kicked in: you can push back the canvas.
I share all this not to be mocked or even to be schooled, and I know there are experts reading this. But it’s so you’ll understand and maybe even empathize with the fear that precedes each step forward, each victory, with my beloved T@B.
Facing these fears only happens once. As soon as I touch it, open it, and look at, I will never be back on this other side where I’m scared to open the bucket.
Outside, I pushed back canvas, fiddled with the latch on the bucket lid, and opened the bucket.
I didn’t die.
Still among the living and looking down, I saw a somewhat rusty propane tank, and a dusty black battery case. I also saw that the bucket has no solid bottom. Some bucket, right?
I touched the battery case.
There was a canvas strap holding the cover down. I needed to get that strap loosened to see the battery. The plastic buckle wouldn’t budge and I had a moment of panic that I can’t do this! I don’t know how this buckle works! And furthermore, it’s probably not even called a buckle!
But I calmed down a little, started feeling around and noticed it has some kind of jagged plastic teeth, and perhaps if I could lift those teeth off the strap, maybe it would loosen. It worked!
I had a little epiphany that I didn’t need to have gone to Battery Buckle School, like I imagined everyone else has, especially the boys, to get that thing to loosen. I could look at it, touch it, fiddle with it, and figure it out. That was HUGE!
I saw that the battery had words on it. Words that told what brand it was and the model number. It occurred to me, because I’m of sound mind, that if I took a picture of that label, I could go look it up on my computer and see what it was and what I would need to purchase.
I also noticed that it was hooked to wires with a nut that would need to be loosened. A while back, a friend gave me a socket set and I think there were a bunch of wrenches in there, and one might fit this nut. I had a momentary feeling that I was flying. Oh, I so got this thing!
I turned my attention to the tank. I turned the top to “open” and, hearing nothing, quickly turned it to “closed.” I don’t want to blow myself up.
I studied the tank. It was held to the bracket it was sitting on by a metal strap and a bolt with some kind of wing nut. Again, I’m sure I have the words wrong, but I saw what I saw. That wing nut could be loosened and thus the strap and that tank could be liberated. I made a note to spray that rusted bolt with silicone spray to make loosening easier. The brain cells are really starting to fire here.
Coming back into the house, I searched the Internet for the battery information: Batteries Plus. Part No. SLi24MDC. I found out it’s a Duracell Ultra Battery Deep Cycle BCI Group 24M Marine and Boat battery and it costs $81.99. There were a lot of strange words on the website like 75AH, SAE/M8 stud, and WNT terminals.
Over time, I’ll learn this terminology and will never be on this side of ignorance. But for now, I’m victorious. I’m doing the happy dance. I was afraid to look in the bucket, and yet I looked in the bucket. I saw. I touched. I deduced. I used my brain.
I have much further to go in terms of getting the new battery and installing it, and getting that tank filled (or get a new one???). Hello YouTube videos! It will all happen, but I’d better put my epiphanies on the fast track.
After all, my sister bought her plane ticket. The Tiny and I have a guest coming!