FINALLY, new Owners of 2008 2720SL

Al and Sue ~ Thanks so much for the pictures of your Carefree shades. We will be having two installed in a few weeks. Unbelievably, we are on our second trip now on way out of Arizona with 108 degree weather and have just had not 1 but 2 blowouts within 2 hours of each other on the 2720. I am stunned to say the least. Both the left then the right tire blew. How is that possible? One of the tires, during its "blowout" process sabotaged the holding tank ~ completely dismembering the large black sewage outtake pipe. Now have to have the tank and large pipe replaced. I seriously don't know how this happened. Does anyone have ideas! Please help!

Welcome to the major TM controversy. Really sorry this happened to you. My personal theory is that TM was using the recalled valve stems and that is what failed, leading to the blowout. Others have different reasons. Many of us have changed our 14" wheels for 15" wheels. At any rate, a search of this forum will lead to more information than you ever wanted to know as this has been frequently discussed. Common tips are to daily check the pressure and make sure you have them balanced. And tow below 60 mph. I'm sure you will get more comments and suggestions.

[Bill]

Re the blowouts taking out the plumbing, Scott is right - there has been LOTS of discussion. Some of it is in the Plumbing Forum, but most of it is in the Tires Tires Tires forum. Start with a thread called "Protecting the Plumbing", then go to another called "More Marathon Tire Failures".

Bill

Thanx all - we are having the repairs done by Orangewood RV Center in Surprise, Arizona (they are closer to us). Apparently, the holding tank and sewage valve are universal and can be repaired at most RV Service Centers. Arizona Campers & Trailers (Trailmanor Authorized Repair Center) were booked for two weeks. FYI: They are located at 4140 Grand Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona (b/t Camelback and N. 40th Ave.) (623) 247-3829. We are also having Maxxi ST225X75R15's 8-ply tires put on now and just placed an order for 3 KUMHO Radial 857 205/0-14 D tires from www.tirerack.com. Feel a little better now.....

We are finally owners of a 2008 2720 SL too, but unfortunetly the promised owners manuals were never sent and we are going on a short trip tomorrow. Now here lies the problem. I should have checked the water in the battery before plugging shore power in for a couple of days and the battery burnt off all the water, really stunk up the garage. My question is after replacing the battery without shore power being plugged in, when I test the battery in the control panel the system shows all lights: low,fair,good, and charge on. I don't think that is right. I thought it doesn't show charge unless the shore power is plugged in. Any insight until I get the manuals I guess I will have to order from Trailmanor. Thanks Robert

Ok just figured it out but why does the shower switch make the charge light on the panel come on in the closed shower position and charge light off in the open shower position when shore power is not connected. Robert

The panel lights show the charge of the battery - shore power or no. Of course, when shore power is plugged in, the battery should show a full charge. With no shore power, the lights will show the state of discharge of the battery.

Congrats on your TM - you will enjoy it. And you can always find help and answers here.

BTW, there are a couple of manuals available on this forum - one is a scan of an actual manual and one is a compilation from many articles and notes found here.

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by robertkennel

We are finally owners of a 2008 2720 SL too, but unfortunetly the promised owners manuals were never sent and we are going on a short trip tomorrow. Now here lies the problem. I should have checked the water in the battery before plugging shore power in for a couple of days and the battery burnt off all the water, really stunk up the garage. My question is after replacing the battery without shore power being plugged in, when I test the battery in the control panel the system shows all lights: low,fair,good, and charge on. I don't think that is right. I thought it doesn't show charge unless the shore power is plugged in. Any insight until I get the manuals I guess I will have to order from Trailmanor. Thanks Robert

Ok just figured it out but why does the shower switch make the charge light on the panel come on in the closed shower position and charge light off in the open shower position when shore power is not connected. Robert

The battery meter in the TM is nothing more than a very cheap volt meter. If all the lights are on, that's supposed to be an indication that the battery is above 12.8V (I believe). Turn on a light or 2 and see if the top indicator doesn't go off.

If it were me, I'd check the voltage at the battery with a multimeter to get an accurate reading to compare with what I see on the TM battery indicator. That will give you a reference point.

I have left my TM plugged in to shore power for more than a month while parked in the garage and the battery water has never boiled.

I think you may have a problem.

Thanks for the responses. I've had the TM for a two weeks and had it plugged in over the weekend two times and also a couple of days during the week with no problem until two days ago. Even with the ten hour drive home and with all the charging time the battery never went past the fair reading. Once I put the new battery in it was all the way in the good. I think the last owners may have cooked it and ran the fluid down and that's why it was never in the good range even after charging. I checked for parasitic loads and it seems ok. I will check the voltage on the battery when on shore power and see what it is. If it is high then I got issues. I will let everyone know of my progress thanks for the help. Robert

well it's 13 volts when on shore power. Seems like that's an ok number. What do you think. Robert(brand new battery probably being charged some from sitting on shelf at store for awhile)