Air Conditioner

We have a 1991 Model 23.  It has a cabinet air conditioner in the cabinet next to the oven.  This is quite old and does not seem to work well.  We are on our way to FL this summer and want to replace it with the confidence that we will stay cool!  I see in the pictures that the newer 2720 have a roof air conditioner.  I believe this is the same floor layout as our Model 23.  Does anyone have one of these models with roof air?  If so, what kind of Air conditioner is it and how many btu's?  I wonder if trailmanor even uses the cabinet air conditioner any more.  We are wondering if we should try to ad the roof airconditioner to ours instead of another cabinet one.  Thanks for any imput.

[mjlaupp]

I had a '97 2720 with a cabinet mounted AC and a '02 2720SL with a roof mount AC. The roof mount is a far better cooling system, 11,500 to 13,500 BTUs with excellent air circulation. However, the roof is built with additional support to take the weight of the AC. I would recommend replacing your existing AC with a new wall mount unit and add a small fan to help circulate the air.

One other consideration is the added height of the roof mounted A/C unit.  Our garage door opening is about 3 inches too short for our '03 2720 w/top mounted A/C to fit.
Search the forum for "feddars".  If you go back about a month there was a discussion and about a year ago there was another about replacing side mounted A/C units.

Stay cool!

Mark

You would also need a significant torsion bar upgrade and the flexible wiring provision for the power supply.

I don't think this is a cost-effective proposition.

I to looked into that when I got my side mounted AC w/no ac unit in it. To add roof ac, you're looking at less clearance, but the biggest thing is you would have to replace all of your torsion bars as well as the wiring concerns. On the other hand, I just purchaced a new side mount 10,000 btu unit at Home depot that fit perfectly in the space the old one was in for about only $240.00. It seems to do the job pretty good, but haven't had a really hot day to test it out. There is also a 13,000 btu unit for a bit more that might fit as well in that space for a few bucks more. Hope this helps!


[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails............[/glow]

[Bill]

Well, now, wait a minute.  Let's not paint this situation blacker than it has to be.

Re torsion bars - yes, something has to change, to lift the extra weight.  But are we talking about ADJUSTMENT of the existing bars, or REPLACEMENT with new bars?  This board had a wonderful thread on adjusting the torsion bars - sounded pretty straightforward.  A call to the factory would be a good idea.  Reminder - Happy Trails has had good luck getting LOTS of detailed help from the factory.  They are good folks.

Yes, a wire would have to be run across the top of the roof from the lift arm to the new A/C.  Not pretty, no denying it, but still, if it gives you a real good A/C ...  And the top of the roof is pretty much out of sight ...

I'm not sure we should dismiss this idea out of hand.  To me, the big issue would be the strength of the roof, a concern expressed in an earlier post.  But many people have reported being able to climb up on their roofs to clean it or caulk it, and an A/C unit weighs a lot less than I do!  Again, a call to the factory would be in order.

Don't give up!

Bill

I have a one year old Fedders unit which is the same as the cabinet unit that was in my 2720.  Bought the air conditioner new for computer room, then decided to have a central system put in which left the Fedders without a job.  Would take $50 for it.  Live in Knoxville, Tn.  The Roof units on the older Trailmanors had to go on the back roof and because of design ended over the back bed when the unit was open.  Sleeping within close breathing room to a running air conditioner kicking on and off would keep me from getting any sleep.  That design is such that you have to unplug the air conditoner to put the trailmanor down and plug it in again when you put it up.  I was very happy with the cabinet unit in the trailmanor.  Gary_k

Thank you for all your prompt replies.  It seems with the limited amount of spare time we have, it will be better for us to go with the cabinet replacement.  We will be checking out our local home depot.  We already had the roof all apart when we bought it.  We had to replace the wood and vinyl all around it.  It's in good shape now and I guess adding a roof air conditioner sounds like too much work to me.  If we can get decent cooling from a newer cabinet air conditioner, that's good enough for me.  Thanks!

We have a new 2003 with an AC on top.  It works great, but makes storage in the garage  very tight.

From the floor to the top of the garage opening is about 82 inches.  We were able to back our 2619 into the garage by avoiding the hinges on the garage door -- talk about getting by with the "skin of your teeth."  The most we had to spare was less than an inch.

BTW, our garage is about 20ft long and 19ft wide.  With the folding tongue we are able to get the TM2619 in our garage.

If you have a tight fit, you might want to try letting some air out of your tires to gain an inch on two.  We were ready to do this if necessary.

Newt J

We have had a 2002 with side unit and now a 2003 with roof air.  From what I have heard, the roof mounted units require stronger torsion bars then the standard unit.  These torsion bars are adjustable and that may all you need.  Your best bet is to speak to Jimmy Davies at the fatory for this information.

The roof unit is The Coleman brand.  We got the standard unit but I understand that they make a more compact lower unit with the same power.  I also have a standard size garage with an electric garage door opener by Genie.  It is a tight squeeze but  if I unlatch the door from the track when it is fully opened, push it back a little more, then latch in on the screw track again, I can get a few more inches of clearance.

Of course the roof unit circulates much better then the cabinet unit, but under the circumstances, I think your best best is to use the cabinet unit with a floor fan like we used to do.  This helps in cooling the TM to satisfaction.  I dont know if it is worth the extra expense and effort....it depends on your personal needs I guess.  The only problem we had with the cabinet unit was water leaking into the pan.  No problem while we were still, but when we got back on the road, we would have water in all the bottom cabinets and carpet to the bathroom..  this is a problem that we had and our friends with our new 2002's, but I havent heard anyone else on the BB having this problem.

Good luck with your decision

George