Considering buying a 2005 2720SL from private owner

Way to go! Keep us posted on how goes it.

tgpmd1 said:

....One question, when we tested taking down the bathroom walls, the power went out, then came back on when the put the wall all the way down. Is that normal? We closed it up twice and it did the exact same thing, but everything else electrical seems fine.....

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This is not normal. The power should go out when the wall is down and not come back on until the rear bath wall is set back up. There is either a defective switch in the bath wall, a short in the wiring or most likely a misadjusted switch in the wall.

The power must be off to the rear roof while traveling. The motion of the rear shell while traveling can turn on the lights over the bed. These lights will overheat when on and compressed between the roof and the bed. They can ignite the bed covers and you could find that you are towing a fireball.

You can remove the 12 volt fuse for the rear shell lights to prevent this while towing the TM home.

Mike

I'm not too worried about the fridge not working as we have already agreed to a price verbally (well, in ASL-American Sign Language). Getting a unit in showroom condition under $12k sounds like a deal since it's just right down the road. Everything seems to work, save the bathroom wall questionable issue. It was custom ordered and only used a couple of times five years ago.

I'll post an update once we get it home. Went to Wally World tonight and picked up a 2" hitch that I'll put on my Tahoe tomorrow and see what I need to add to the towing package to make it work. Think I need to figure out the brake system and how that hooks up to the Tahoe. We purchased a towing package when the TV was new, but I've got to work on that tomorrow. Also grabbed a couple of locks since it will be in the street for a few days. No HOA rules like my parents house. Just don't know about the propane tanks. It looks like they are custom tanks, but most places around here do an exchange program, so I'll have to find out how that works. Never used propane before, just seen my friends use it for their grills. I'm sure there is something in the forum. I've been reading all the info about owning a used TM, so I'm sure I'll get to it soon.

I'm so excited, I just can't believe my dh actually said, "Is this waht you want?". Said "Yes" and he said "Fine, negotiate a price". I used blue book value for the TM with the accessories and offered to pay the next day. The owner said that she accepts my offer. We'll bring it home tomorrow. I can't wait to get it home and start working on getting it ready for a test run in the driveway.

Dh likes to tinker with our cars, so I'm sure he'll get in the mood to start tinkering once I get it open and checking everything out again. They have the original owners manual form 2005, so I'll start by reading that first.

The son wants to travel to Boston or NC next month. Not sure if a long trip is a good idea with a new-to-us used TM. Who knows, maybe it will be better than tent camping? Sure hope so.

Thanks everyone for all your help.

I'm going to love being a part of the TM family!

Brought home the TM. O.K., Not going to believe this, but when we signed the title, it says it was a 2006 model. She said she ordered in 2005, so she must have thought it was a 2005 model. Anyway, guess I got a better deal than we thought. She was fine with it. She was just ready to move on. Anyway, we could only find a 3.5" drop trailer hitch at Walmart yesterday, so it towed a bit low. Need a straight hitch. Also, being our first camper, didn't know tht it was a 30 amp connection, so can't plug into the TM in to the house. Hubby says that it would fry the wiring if we did. Live and learn. Set-up, took down, but it really got a bit too dark to finish playing with our new toy. Our neighbors are quite impressed with it.

Still not sure what to do with propane tanks. I think I'll get an external battery and look at the ball bearings tomorrow. Dh said it's my toy!

Yeah!!! Guess I have to update my signature.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

Congratulations on your purchase, hope you will have many fun camping trips with it! Summer is here and it's time to camp.

You should be able to plug the TM into the house power without a problem, all you need is a simple adapter plug. Try to find an outlet on a higher amp rating or don't turn everything on in the TM at once to prevent tripping the circuit breaker at the house.

The 2720SL's (and the other slide models) have horizontal tanks, they are a bit more effort to take off than the upright tanks, and they cost more to replace. We used to have on in our cabover camper many years ago. There are threads here about them if you do a search for "horizontal tanks" you should be able to find more discussion about those.

Happy Camping!

Dee

Congrats!
We (me and the daughters) got one earlier this year and have been out several times since. Very fun and much better than tent camping IMHO. I had always done tent camping prior to using a friends' trailmanor and could not go back after. Enjoy!
Jim

Adapter is the easy part...

tgpnd1,

The adapter is the easy part and is available at any RV or even at most Hardware stores. Here is a link showing the one we sell. It just plugs on to the end of the TM cord and adapts it to a normal 120 Volt household outlet.

You just can't turn on more than 20 Amps worth of things at a time or it will trip the breaker in the house. I am able to run the air conditioner and a few lights, but am always carefull not to turn on too much. Sort of like "Green Acres", if anybody remembers that .

Keith

Keith Wire said:

tgpnd1,

The adapter is the easy part and is available at any RV or even at most Hardware stores. Here is a link showing the one we sell. It just plugs on to the end of the TM cord and adapts it to a normal 120 Volt household outlet.

You just can't turn on more than 20 Amps worth of things at a time or it will trip the breaker in the house. I am able to run the air conditioner and a few lights, but am always carefull not to turn on too much. Sort of like "Green Acres", if anybody remembers that .

Keith

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Oh, so you can run the A.C.? It's a RVP model 2202-876, rated 13,500 BTU for the heat, but not sure how many amps the AC draws. I'm going to get an adapter later today. Saw one at the store when I bought the hitch. Need to get a different hitch anyway. Need a straight one without the drop.

Thanks!

I personally would NOT hook up any TM 30 amp plug with an adapter into a 20 amp house circuit and run the air conditioning.

You will overload this circuit, if you don't trip the breaker in the house you will be running low voltage into the A/C which over time will shorten its life.

If you plan to run A/C at home, pay an electrician to install a dedicated 30 amp circuit than you can hook up the trailer just like in a campground.

My storage lot has 120 v circuits for maintenance and battery charging, but if I use the adapter for the TM I only run the battery charger and perhaps some lights and the power fan.

Thanks! It looks like I need to add a 30 amp circuit to the house!

Are you sure you won't need a WDH? Do you have a lot of sag on the rear of the TV? If so, don't waste too much money on buying different ball hitches, you won't use them if you need a WDH. Your brake controller should be top priority.

With the small amount of use, you probably just need a repack on the bearings.

We haven't towed it yet, the owner towed to our house using our 3.5 inch drop hitch (that's all we could find at Walmart on such sort notice, they were out of straight 2 inch ball hitches). It sagged in the front when backed into our house. We live on a cul-de-sac and it was kinda of a real tight turn into the drive. It sagged too much in the front when backing in. He said we really need a 2" straight. Not sure if we need a wdh on the Tahoe. They have a similar vehicle and seemed to be just fine. First priority is to make sure everything works first before taking it out. Want to get new tires also. I have to read up on the braking system needed for the Tahoe. We purchased a towing package, but I know we'll need to add a thing or two before we take it out.

I'm thinking of getting a front hitch for the Tahoe to make getting the TM into the drive easier.

Thanks!

Theresa

tgpmd1 said:

We haven't towed it yet, the owner towed to our house using our 3.5 inch drop hitch (that's all we could find at Walmart on such sort notice, they were out of straight 2 inch ball hitches). It sagged in the front when backed into our house. We live on a cul-de-sac and it was kinda of a real tight turn into the drive. It sagged too much in the front when backing in. He said we really need a 2" straight. Not sure if we need a wdh on the Tahoe. They have a similar vehicle and seemed to be just fine. First priority is to make sure everything works first before taking it out. Want to get new tires also. I have to read up on the braking system needed for the Tahoe. We purchased a towing package, but I know we'll need to add a thing or two before we take it out.

I'm thinking of getting a front hitch for the Tahoe to make getting the TM into the drive easier.

Thanks!

Theresa

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The TM would tow much safer with a WDH on your Tahoe.

You don't need a 30A outlet and breaker on your house just to run the AC and a few lights. The 30A outlet will not increase the amount of voltage to your TM. It would, however, allow you to run an additional appliance without tripping a 20A breaker. Tripping your breaker would be your only concern with using 20A service. If you find that you are having to reset the breaker a few times, you will either have to cut back on what you are running in the TM or install a 30A breaker.

One tip would be to plug the TM in for a few hours before turning on the AC so that the battery is fully charged.

If you must use an extension cord (beyond your 30A cord on the TM), be sure that it is at least a 12G HD extension cord and no longer than 50' (25' would be better). If you use a smaller gauge or longer extension cord, you will experience voltage drop that could harm the compressor on your AC unit. A 30A outlet will not improve this, it will only make it more dangerous if you use an extension cord.

If you do install a 30A breaker and need to use an extension cord, be sure to buy a 30A extension cord. If you use a 12G, 20A extension cord, you could over-heat it and have a fire if you overload it. I would rather risk a 20A breaker tripping from overload than risk using an under rated extension cord on a 30A circuit.

Thanks, we're having a heat wave in D.C. and no shade to park under at the house. I'm running out now to get more things and the tags for the TM. I'll look for a 12 gauge ext. cord while I'm out.

I don't think you need a 30 amp circuit unless you want to run everything at once.

Without the A/C a 15 amp circuit is fine. Borderline with A/C on.
My house has an outside 20amp outlet and the A/C works fine . (use adapter plug).

I can run anything - except I won't run A/C, Microwave, Fridge, and electric WaterHeater at the same time.
Just like you can run everything at once in your house , the TM is wired 30amp to run it all. (Microwave may be option)

I can't find specs for your RVP model 2202-876
Many Coleman/RVP specs are listed here: http://www.coastdistribution.com/PDF/Coleman Product Page.pdf
.... (Caution: the specs may differ some of our older units.)
Page 4 shows my Coleman RVP MACH 3+ 8333:
14.5 amps for cooling. Ranging from 1595 to 1924 watts. (see fine print for testing conditions).
Other units listed have a variety of requirements 12.6, 14.3,14.5, 9.3, 10.2, 12.7, 9.0 amps.

For testing all your 120v devices the Kill-A-Watt meters are really cheap now. Home Depots are selling them.


To reduce load while using the A/C you may want to have batteries charged or disconnected first to disable charging.

tgpmd1 said:

Thanks, we're having a heat wave in D.C. and no shade to park under at the house. I'm running out now to get more things and the tags for the TM. I'll look for a 12 gauge ext. cord while I'm out.

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If you are going to purchase a new ext cord just for the TM, you may want to price the 30A cords. If you are ever camped at a CG that you need an ext cord to reach the CG 30A service, you will be glad that you have it.

BTW, Did you check the date code on those tires? Please don't neglect that, that is one of the weak points on these TMs. The TM tends to run toward the top end of the tire rating and trying to get more than 5 years service out of the tires can be risky (especially if they are 14" tires).

It's not unusual for a new trailer to have tires that are already 1+ years old. If they purchased the trailer new in 2005, the tires could easily be over 6 years old. I wouldn't trust them.

A lot of people come on the forum and say "I run my A/C all the time off of a household circuit" so it must be OK. Not to pick a fight here, but just because people do it does not make it a good idea. I personally am not a big fan of the "I have never had a problem doing this" theory. But then I worked in the safety industry for a long time and saw people get hurt because of it.

From a commercial electrical website:

Normal House Wiring Gauge
Consult your building inspector because your location will have a specific building code!
Circuit Maximum Amperage Minimum COPPER wire gauge
15A 14AWG
20A 12AWG
30A 10AWG
45A 8AWG
60A 6AWG
80A 4AWG
100A 2AWG

So if you are in a newer home, your 20A circuits probably use 12 AWG if you are lucky. But what else is running on that circuit when you plug in the TM? What if a previous owner switched the breaker to 20A on a 15A circuit to prevent a nuisance trip?

Running a TM off an undersized home circuit does reduce the voltage to the trailer. I did not say it's the 30A plug, it's the undersized wiring if you have it that causes the problem. And will overheat if overloaded which reduces the voltage further and so on.

By spending a bit of money to install a dedicated 30A circuit you eliminate the uncertainty. And you don't have to worry about how you turn on stuff in the TM if you live in a hot climate like I do.

I think the Kill-A-Watts are great. I own two of them. I would use one for everything except when the air conditioner is on. First, the Kill-A-Watt is specified at 15 amps max, and although the running amps are less, the starting amps can exceed this. Second, I once saw a scheatic of the internals of a Kill-A-Watt. My memory may fail me, but I think it sensed current by passing it through a low-value resistor, and measuring the voltage across that resistor. A shunt, in other words. And a shunt causes a voltage drop. A small one, to be sure, but in a situation where you are already marginal on voltage, an extra drop may not be a good plan.

The Kill-A-Watt also has an internal fuse. If you pop it, it is not a big deal - except that it is soldered in, and no one seems to know the value (I'd guess 20A).

Just my thoughts.

Bill

LOL....poor lady has be over whelmed with all this info being thrown at her that took me a year to learn!

Crash course I guess.