ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area OK, one more question

IMO, not being able to check out a mobile completely is like buying a used car without being able to look under the hood...

Will this be set on a foundation i.e. basement / crawl space, or blocks ?
Most of the ones designed to be on a foundation will have J boxes underneath those for parks that will be on blocks will have connectors like Merlin described that are behind the siding.
One note, make sure the set up crew has it solidly supported and level. Also there is a bond wire that bonds the two frames together it is usually at the tail end and the lugs and wire are shipped on the unit but putting the wire in the hole and tightening it seems to be too much work for some crews.
Depending on the manufacturer some of these are better than stick built and appreciate in value. I didn't believe it either but, it is true.
Ask the sales guy if they have sold any lately that are just being set up so you can see how they do it. That is when you can check them out.
Alan--

Alan, these are on blocks with skirting. I'll try to watch them when the crews (plumbers, electricians, park guys who don't have enough caffeine, etc.) when they start working on it. The two halves are already put together and on blocks.

Ian A.

Its been a while since I did a hook-up, but the one that I did, had JBs underneath and we connected the two JBs together then made the connections in one JB.

As I say, it has been quite a while. And also, that is in Canada. So, ours might be a little different.

Reminds me of the day the "Inspector" (Bank/Housing) showed up at the place I live in now.... He looks up and says "Well theres the access to the attic.." turns and walks off, when I said 'you going up there? "Oh I wouldn't fit up there..." (Smaller guy than me) I had to show him how it was done, even though I was going to go up there myself after he left. I refused to pay him after he attempted to "Inspect" my roof from the street. 'Oh I dont have a ladder' - Well guess what, I do.... A few minutes later we were looking at the busted tiles on my roof. I'll be forking over $800K+ over the next 30 years, darn straight I looked in every orifice. But needed that jerks stamp of approval for the bank.

I also look under the hood of new cars just as hard as I would on a used one.

Too many people seem to think that bonding is there just for the heck of it.

I hooked up a mobile home yesterday (the one in this thread ) and paid particular attention to all the bonding on the chassis. With a few years of weathering and then the vibration of the unit being transported, I think the safety bonding should always be checked carefully before connection.


Ian,

I've often thought the same way myself. I could quite happily have a double-wide to use as my home and then get a good single-wide unit to fit out as an office/workshop/storeroom.

The biggest problem we have with that over here is the pettiness of the local councils who often object to any sort of housing other that what they call conventional (i.e. brick built).


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 08-23-2006).]

Watch how the service guys remove / open the skirting.
That is how you can find out what method was used to join the wiring of the two halves and also to check if the bonding junper has been connected.
Alan--

Well, we're going to an open house in the North Park Section of Levittown tomorrow. While a Levittown House might be more of a wiring mess, at least it isn't in this place. We won't buy the one we're going to look through, because it's about $50K out of our range. Hopefully it'll give her an idea what those houses are like (bigger than they look.)

Ian A.

Good Luck looking at the house.

My wife and I are currently looking too. We have about another year or so before the little two lane road in front of the house is turned into a nice new four lane. They've already clear cut all the trees that used to be in front of the house.

Hope you guys find a great house with little/no problems at a great price. They're out there. Just be patient.

Yeah, some doublewides can be nice...



...until some just meet their inevitable fate!
(Okay, I'll admit, for a doublewide, it was nice, at one time. Now, it's fate (demolition) has been sealed.

Ian A.
(Edited to fix photo link.)

[This message has been edited by Theelectrikid (edited 09-08-2006).]