New owner of 2004 2720

Hello all.

Just purchased a 2004 2720. Always been a fan of these. I will need to add a side / cabinet ac as mine does not have the roof ac option and that is not going to work here in Houston. I saw it has been done before in a thread by waverly I believe . Need those pics tho as the pics are unreadable. Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Turboj

Welcome to the TM community! I also live in Houston and have a side AC in our 2001 2619 TM.

The biggest problem you are going to face is finding or fabricating a drip pan to go under the AC. I looked for one for over a year until a member of this community parted out an old TM and sold one to me.

This picture shows the area under the counter with the drip pan installed ready for the AC to be placed on it.



I don't look at this forum every day, but I should be able to help with questions.

turboj said:

Hello all.

Just purchased a 2004 2720. Always been a fan of these. I will need to add a side / cabinet ac as mine does not have the roof ac option and that is not going to work here in Houston. I saw it has been done before in a thread by waverly I believe . Need those pics tho as the pics are unreadable. Any help appreciated.

Thanks
Turboj

Click to expand...

I hope these help>

I must say though that I highly recommend installing a "Mini-split" A/C, instead of that side A/C. It works but a mini-split works a lot better. The challenge with a mini-split is getting the correct size S/S braided hoses with swivel fittings. I believe that it can be done. I installed a mini-split on our 2020 TrailManor Elkmont but it's a full size travel trailer (not folding).

I see.

I agree a mini split would be better but I am not going to attempt that I just don’t see enough room available. Thanks for the pics. I can see now how you isolated the rear exhaust from the the side intake therefore creating a design that was better than what Trailmanor was doing when they installed. I had a hard time imagining the baffles you described in your original post those years ago. As far as a drip pan, I am leaning towards a rectangular metal drip pan that has a drain installed at the back that could run directly out the back and will measure the dimensions needed . I would have to drill a hole in the bottom trim of the white external vent cover which in not that much metal to use but that would be my plan. I have never used fiberglass so I am reticent to create one. I did do a shower pan liner at my house and that material would also work. Also thought about 3or 4 coats of reguard which is used to waterproof backer board in showers. I have used that product.

I also wonder if I could tap into the wires to the counter electric socket and make a new wall plug/ socket inside the cabinet. Are there pics of the location of the factory under cabinet socket? Mine has a socket on the top side of the counter and I am torn on how to get power to the ac. Easy way is to drill a hole and fish the plug through but that’s not ideal.

Thanks!! Do you know the size of the tray? I want to get something similar but will probably buy one with a drain plug towards the rear that drains directly out.

So just to catch up, you added ac to your 2001 after the fact as well? I see the ac plug in your pic and I remember reading that in 2001 all of them had a plug in the cabinet. Mine is an 04 so it has the cabinet door arrangement to fit this thank goodness but no outlet/ socket. How does the ac work when camping in Texas heat? I also heard you have to have another clip fan on the counter to direct the cool air throughout the camper. Any other advice? Our rule of thumb is no more camping at Texas state parks past mid June and even then we really try to get the shady spots.

Our 2001 had a factory side AC when we got it. It had a drip pan, but that cracked and leaked after about 15 years, and I couldn't repair it.

I installed the same AC as Wavery - I found out about it from him - and it's an upgrade in power from the factory. 10K BTU I think and the factory was 8K.

I fabricated a drip pan out of sheet metal, but the AC barely fit in the cabinet as it was was and I just couldn't get it to fit with the bottom drain sticking out. I was going to try a drain out the side but then the drip pan turned up for sale.

When/if I have to replace it again, I am going to get a smaller AC so it's not such a tight fit. We don't camp in the summer so much any more since we don't have school age children any more.

We have camped year round in Texas and it works OK, not great but OK. If you can get the trailer in the shade of a tree or any kind of shade, that helps a lot.

We do have a big floor fan that we sit in the rear of the hall (basically in front of the converter panel) to blow the cool air away from the AC and towards the front bed and table.

In the year or so that we didn't have the side AC installed, I used a 10K BTU portable AC (single duct) and ran the duct out the side mount's grill. We placed the unit in front of the stove and we were able to get by it OK. Again it worked OK but not great. Dual duct portable units are better, but I couldn't figure out how to install one in the TM. This unit did not produce any water so that was another reason we chose that particular one. (There was some small amount of water captured internally that you have to drain when you store the unit).

turboj said:

I see.

I agree a mini split would be better but I am not going to attempt that I just don’t see enough room available. Thanks for the pics. I can see now how you isolated the rear exhaust from the the side intake therefore creating a design that was better than what Trailmanor was doing when they installed. I had a hard time imagining the baffles you described in your original post those years ago. As far as a drip pan, I am leaning towards a rectangular metal drip pan that has a drain installed at the back that could run directly out the back and will measure the dimensions needed . I would have to drill a hole in the bottom trim of the white external vent cover which in not that much metal to use but that would be my plan. I have never used fiberglass so I am reticent to create one. I did do a shower pan liner at my house and that material would also work. Also thought about 3or 4 coats of reguard which is used to waterproof backer board in showers. I have used that product.

Click to expand...

I used fiberglass because I have a lot of experience working with it and I enjoy it.

If I were to use a plastic tray, I'd drill a hole in the bottom of the cabinet and let the drain water run on the tire (what little water there is).

Or you could run 120VAC wires out of the floor behind the power center, up the lift arm, into a junction box, and through the ceiling, then use a roof vent cutout for a rooftop A/C unit…

You’d need the riser, skirt, and interior trim piece to lift the A/C up a bit so the ceiling control panel doesn’t get crunched when closing the roofs.

Oh look! I have a riser, skirt, and interior trim piece in my basement! I could even cut a piece of TM wall from a scrap TM to fill the side wall hole when the weather breaks. Let me know if you’re interested.

Agreed in Texas summer camping. We don’t really camp past mid June and prefer shady spots and parks that have access to bodies of water. I ended up buying a stainless steel baking sheet and drilling a 1/4 incb hole in the back and fit a 1/4 inch tube via compression fitting. I tested the pan with the improvised drain plug by filling it up w water and it doesn’t leak. I don’t really see this unit produce a lot of condensation. I’ll post some pics when I’m done but it works fine. Will also get an additional fam to move that air around.