Nu-To-Us Trailmanor

[Dee4j]

It's really, "Cool". :frosty:

The basic install took about an hour and a half. Now I have to fine tune the thing.

I have to water-proof the inside of the cabinet that the AC sets in. Then I am designing a set of baffles so that the hot air coming out of the back of the AC unit doesn't get mixed with the fresh outside air that is coming into the unit to cool the condenser That's the open space on either side of the back of the AC, separated by those cardboard pieces).

That was a big design flaw in these Trailmanors. Whoever designed the installation of that side AC unit didn't know what he was doing. They finally abandoned the side AC unit, rebuilt the roof on the camper to accept the traditional roof AC. That is a better design anyway but I have to work with what I have because this roof was not designed to handle a roof AC.

My preliminary installation is working great. It took the temp from 88 degrees down to 70 degrees in about 30 minutes. You just can't ask for better than that.

The other thing is, this 10,000BTU AC unit only draws 10.4A, That's 1155W. I can run the AC with my 2000W generator and it doesn't even put a strain on it. I could even run the coffee pot or microwave at the same time.

Here's the outside installation. I still have to install the grilles and make some aluminum baffles (where you see the cardboard) and mount them on piano hinges. When it's finished, it'll look nice.


Here is the inside installation. It's complete.

looks great!  gotta have that A/C!

[dkutz]

very cool.  How do you "water proof" the cabinet?  Seems none of the RV AC manuf.  Make the ac's to vent correctly.  Seems a popular mod on the Domestic as well.

See ya soon I hope...

[wavery]

very cool.  How do you "water proof" the cabinet?  Seems none of the RV AC manuf.  Make the ac's to vent correctly.  Seems a popular mod on the Domestic as well.

See ya soon I hope...

Funny you should ask. I just finished doing it about 20 minutes ago. I outlined the area to be waterproofed with 1/4 round molding. Then I laid in a layer of 4oz fiberglass cloth, poured the F/G resin on it and brushed it in with a brush. The 1/4 round is used because F/G does not like to make right angle bends. It will just pull away from the surface as it hardens if you go more than a 45 degree bend. In areas where you can't make that bend, you just lay the glass cloth flat on one surface. Then cut another piece to lat flat on the other then fill the joint with resin.

After about an hour of dry time, I'll go out and trim of the excess cloth with a razor blade. By tomorrow morning that cabinet will be as waterproof as some bathtubs.

You'll notice that I left the outer edge flat so that water can just drain down the side of the camper. Just like the water drains down the roof on your camper.

[dkutz]

Funny you should ask. I just finished doing it about 20 minutes ago. I outlined the area to be waterproofed with 1/4 round molding. Then I laid in a layer of 4oz fiberglass cloth, poured the F/G resin on it and brushed it in with a brush. The 1/4 round is used because F/G does not like to make right angle bends. It will just pull away from the surface as it hardens if you go more than a 45 degree bend. In areas where you can't make that bend, you just lay the glass cloth flat on one surface. Then cut another piece to lat flat on the other then fill the joint with resin.

After about an hour of dry time, I'll go out and trim of the excess cloth with a razor blade. By tomorrow morning that cabinet will be as waterproof as some bathtubs.

You'll notice that I left the outer edge flat so that water can just drain down the side of the camper. Just like the water drains down the roof on your camper.

Damn thanks for the reminder!  I was gonna pick up a "gutter" for the ac water runoff when we were at camping world today...  oh well

[wavery]

Well......I finished installing the AC last night and it works great.

[6Quigs]

Nice Air Conditioner install job Wayne. Happy to see your fiberglass skills came in handy making the space waterproof.

Only one observation, on the outside grilles, the one on the left looks like it has vertical slats, and might let the rain in, hopefully that won't be a problem, and that you coated the wood on the inside with some resin or other waterproofing material.

It's amazing how much junk we keep in our trailers. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we got the RV in march, and then had to go out and buy a whole lot more new junk for the new rig. At least we still have plenty of storage space still available.

[6Quigs]

Hey Wayne,

If you enjoy yours HALF as much as I do mine, you will be very happy indeed.  Now you must join the TMO site //www.trailmanorowners.com and the TrailManor Yahoo site.  We are having a rally in N. Cal in late October at the Petaluma KOA.

Hi Larry  :-()

Say Hi to Vera from us!

[wavery]

Nice Air Conditioner install job Wayne. Happy to see your fiberglass skills came in handy making the space waterproof.

Only one observation, on the outside grilles, the one on the left looks like it has vertical slats, and might let the rain in, hopefully that won't be a problem, and that you coated the wood on the inside with some resin or other waterproofing material.

It's amazing how much junk we keep in our trailers. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we got the RV in march, and then had to go out and buy a whole lot more new junk for the new rig. At least we still have plenty of storage space still available.

Very observant of you .

I am making solid aluminum air deflectors on a piano hinge that will cover those fresh air grilles when the AC is not on. When the AC is on (hopefully not in the rain) the air deflectors will come straight out, exposing those grilles and keep the hot air, from the back of the AC, from being circulated back into the fresh air side.

When the camper is closed, that's not an issue.

Besides.....IT NEVER RAINS IN SO CALIFORNIA!!!! :S

[cjpoppin]

Sooooooooooooooo Happy for the two of you.....Can hardly wait to do the walk through at Mugu......Jim and I looked at this trailer but couldn't do the New price and finding a good used one is very hard as you know.....But we're still loving the new TT.....See ya soon
We really have all the trailers now.........Life's good

[wavery]

WELL!!!!! Camp driveway went great this weekend. Everything works and we found a few adjustments and additional mods that we have to make.

The AC worked great. Even with 6 of us in the camper in 90 degree heat it was 72 inside. The air conditioner didn't even struggle. It cycled on once in a while and the place was really cool.

These Trailmanors are really well insulated just by the very nature of their construction material. However, just like all PUs there are a lot of holes that must be plugged up to keep the cold air in and the hot air out. Once I figured that all out, it worked great.

Next weekend is Leo Carillo. We can hardly wait. :-()

[wavery]

The Leo Carrillo camp-out went great. We really love our Trailmanor.

Set up was 30-minutes, including putting the awning out. This one has electric "LEVELERS".....yes....levelers, not just stabilizers. These levelers will actually lift the camper about 2-3" (the frame is much stronger).. That cuts down on set-up as well and they work with the touch of a button.

On the way home, we pulled off the road along PCH and set-up the trailer to have lunch. It took about 5 minutes and I didn't have to unhitch it  :cool: . we closed it up in 2 minutes and back o the road.

The Trailmanor has a recirculating toilet. It doesn't use any fresh water. Before we pop-down, we pull a lever at the bottom of the toilet and it dumps into the 30 gallon grey-water tank. Each tank has a gauge to tell you how much capacity that you have. We used it freely all weekend and used about 1/2 of it's capacity. It has no smell either.

The shower is a little cramped for someone over 6' but I was fine with it and much better than public showers.

It has a 4 cu ft fridge with a freezer. It's not BIG by any stretch but it's twice the size of the one in our PU and it has a nice size freezer. We were thoroughly scolded for not bringing ice cream on our maiden voyage :% .

the other nice thing about the TM is that because of the way that the roofs lower, rain water won't get in the camper unless the wind is blowing pretty hard from behind the trailer.

[dkutz]

hmm maybe I should look into a trailmanor!!

[austinado16]

hmm maybe I should look into a trailmanor!!

There's one on Craigslist local to me for $2,700.  I posted about it a week ago.

Wavery, those photos are great and your TM sounds killer!  Nice upgrade for you guys.

[wavery]

We really wanted a 2003 or newer. This one shows it's age (1998). It was stored outside (poor thing) and the weather took it's toll on the decals and typical paint issues. The interior looks nice and everything works. It has a 2005 fridge and water heater. In 2003, they made some design modifications that make things nicer, particularly with the AC.

If anyone does get serious about finding one, they are very hard to find and you may have to drive some distance to get one. They are more popular on the east coast. I missed one, 20 miles from home, that was a terrific deal. As I himmed & hawed around, the guy sold it to someone else. I really wasn't that familiar with them at that point. If I found a nice 2003 at the right price, locally, I would still buy it and sell this one.

We like the 2720SD model because the dinette slides out but you lose the forward bunk. It has a lot more, living area, floor space. You could even set up chairs inside for guests. In fact, we can set up chairs in ours, it's just a squeeze to get by someone.

You can expect to pay about $14K for a 2003 in good condition (we paid about 1/2 that for our '98). That's more than you'd pay for a new PU but (in my mind) you get a lot more bang for your buck. The one with the "Swing away" trailer tongue is the same length as our 12' box PU and can be stored in most garages. BTW, there is less that can go wrong with these. The lifting mechanism is simple and all but indestructible (no cables).

I know that it looks rather intimidating behind my little S-10 pick-up but it is actually the same dry weight as my 12' Coleman PU. With the axle set back farther, it's easier to tow but the tongue weight is a little higher. I offset that by carrying our generator and some other heavy things in the trailer, behind the axle. I used to carry that stuff in the bed of the truck.

They build these things up to 33' long and they are lighter than the bigger PUs.

[Dee4j]

I can't wait to see it!!!!