Our Maiden Voyage in our TM

We finally got to take out our new 2003 2720sl on our first trip. I had to do a craft show down in southern Maine for 4 days so we went for a week. We quickly learned how to open and close it. Had only done it 2 or 3 times since we got it last fall. Everything worked fine once we figured out how to put the bottom half of the door inside. Got it all closed up to leave and realized we hadn't folded the steps up so we had to open it back up to do that. Then we were good and hooked it up to our 98 Chevy S10 and took off. I was skeptical about the S10 being able to handle the larger camper, but it towed nicely (Ted says, he drove not me). It's got the bigger engine in it.

So, setting up was easy enough. Took us a while to realize the water heater was running on gas. Luckily, the previous owner gave us a notebook with all of the manuals for all of the equipment in the TM. Finally found the switch outside to turn it to electric. Also couldnt find the switch to turn on the furnace. (yes, August and we had to use the heat. what a joke. nothing but rain for a month here) Eventually found it with the help of a friend. The previous owner never used it and had given us no info on that. The switch was in a hole under the sofa and you really can't tell if you are turning it on or off. Due to the lack of use, there was a black iron pipe in the line and that dropped rust and condensation into a copper elbow and plugged it. Ted took the elbow off and cleaned it out, then it worked like a charm. We had a portable electric heater, but just wanted to try the furnace. Works well. Didn't need the AC at all.

We're happy with the toilet. Worked fine. LIked the refrig (froze the milk the first day, had it way too high), the sink is good, much more counter space than our old camper. Happy with the storage space, half my cabinets are still empty. Not used to it. We were quite happy with the mattress. I just put a 1/2 inch mattress pad on it and it was very comfy. Slept great once I put a small clip on fan on the top of the bathroom wall for some air movement over the bed.

The bathroom worked well for us. The shower curtain was way too long so i just cut a couple inches off. I've got to do some more work on that, and we need to figure a way to hang the shower head. I'm going to sew a couple pockets onto the shower curtain so I can have shampoo and soap handy. I set them on the toilet but kept knocking them over. We bought some of those 'over the door' hooks that we hung off the bathroom walls for towels and clothes. Easy to put up and take down.

Our only problem was when we got back home. Ted plugged in the electric and had it on for about 5 minutes before he realized the electric water heater was on with no water in it. Once he shut it off, he could no longer get it to switch to electric after putting water in it. It keeps defaulting to the gas. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.

pg

I haven't frozen any milk, but I have frozen tomatoes and lettuce.

I bought a thermometer for minding the fridge. I try to keep it between 35 and 45 degrees. Though I never use the alarm feature, I couls set a high and low temp limit to alert me.

Be aware the the temperature will drift a lot between night and day, as much as 15 degrees. So I tweak it to a colder setting in the morning and tweak it a little warmer at bedtime. I mounted the thermometer display directly above the top of the fridge where I can see it from the curbside seat.

It took me about 4 trips to remeber to fold the steps before closing the shells.

Once I left the water pump on and did not discover that until I went to drain it when I got home. Had to open it up to turn it off. Now that I have a battery kill switch I won't have to open it the next time I forget.

Weveral times when closing the shells I have jammed the corner latches under ths shells. I find that the hardest to remember. Real annoying when it is a rear latch.

Failed to close the roof vent once. Saw it in the rear view mirror while driving home.

I printed an excellent check list I found around here somewhere. Read it once and never used it. DW thinks I'm stuborn. My memory used to be excellent. At least I think it was.

[Mr. Adventure]

Originally Posted by purpleg

Our only problem was when we got back home. Ted plugged in the electric and had it on for about 5 minutes before he realized the electric water heater was on with no water in it. Once he shut it off, he could no longer get it to switch to electric after putting water in it. It keeps defaulting to the gas. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.
pg

The bad news is that 5 minutes is long enough to burn out the heater element. The good news is that it's a standard item for lots of RV dealers and Internet camping stores, and replacement is something lots of people can do themselves. For me, the HW heater switch is always "off" until we're hooked up, the power's on, and the heater's full, and then it's "off" again before we disconnect. Someday, I'll install an inside switch for it.

Like PopBeavers, I've always written up checklists because I need them. but, the process of making one up seems to organize a few brain cells somehow so that I don't really need it much after I've written it up and worked the kinks out of it. To your list of things to always forget easily, add the TV antenna, the leveling jacks and the wheel chocks.

I use a checklist as well - but like others think I can remember everything. So we start our "packing up" process, then before we start closing down, we read the check list. I typically find a thing or two I forgot on the inside. Saves having to open up the shells to fix those things.

I haven't forgotten the ceiling vents yet, but if I do, the previous owner installed MaxxAir covers over all the vents, so if I happen to forget to close one, it is not a disaster - as in the wind tearing it off!

Sounds like to you had a pretty normal first trip - a few mis-steps, a few improvements, and a good time!

Enjoy
Al

Darn . . . lost my reply! We love our 2720L. Problems? Had a fill tube leak - dealer fixed that. Radio is awful. Dealer checked the pre-amp, but its not good. TM needs to install a better radio. We pull ours with a Jeep Liberty. It does great. The mountains of Colorado slow us down a bit, but the 3.7 V-6 works great. We always put premium gas in the Jeep as the manual recommends - a little pricey, but the engine works better. Put Lucas transmission additive in the transmission and added a transmission cooler. Runs perfect. Put on a weight-distribution hitch when we bought the trailer. Don't know how we got along without it on our other camper! We have the optional solar panel. What a wonderful item. If you don't have one you don't know what you are missing. Our dealer orders them in standard. I don't have to worry about batteries anymore. We usually camp primitive -- "12V" -- so the added charging is great.

[Bill]

Purpleg -

Sounds like you had a pretty good trip - not all first timers do as well. I know I didn't!

Let me address one minor thing. You posted

Our only problem was when we got back home. Ted plugged in the electric and had it on for about 5 minutes before he realized the electric water heater was on with no water in it. Once he shut it off, he could no longer get it to switch to electric after putting water in it. It keeps defaulting to the gas. Any suggestions?

You should be aware that the gas part of the heater, and the electric part of the heater, are completely independent of each other. You can turn on one, or the other, or both - it doesn't care. It won't "default" to gas, or to electric, but will run whatever you turn on. Think of two light bulbs, controlled by two switches. Nothing you do to one will effect the other.

The addition of black iron pipe and a hidden switch for the furnace is really weird. I don't know what the previous owner had in mind. If it were mine, I would get rid of both - put soft copper in place of the black iron (soft copper is what was originally there), and remove the switch entirely. There is no reason for it. On the other hand, there is probably nothing wrong with leaving both in place, now that you know they are there.

Bill

[ShrimpBurrito]

If you have black iron pipe carrying propane, I would get rid of it if it were me. In contrast to the flexible copper tubing Bill referred to, the iron pipe can rust, especially if it's not painted. And because it's not flexible, it may thereafter break from the vibrations of running down the road.

But maybe that's just my paranoia. I have no idea why the previous owner would have done this. A picture might help.

Dave

Gas appliances connected to black pipe should have a dew trap installed near the gas appliance to catch the rust in the catch basin so it does not get into the orifice of the appliance as the rust flakes off over time.

thanks, thanks for all the info. We got a new element for the water heater and put it in. The socket we had to buy to install it cost more than the part. But, we've got it now. Everything is working again. Heading out for our second trip next weekend. It'll be fun.

pg