ATTENTION TRAVEL LITE OWNERS
This is long but worth it if you are considering buying a Travel Lite unit or own one already.
I bought a 2015 Travel Lite Idea Sport (I-18) last fall. Wife and I spent a few nights in it in weather down to below freezing; had to drain the tanks but that was normal for a camping trailer.
Now it is springtime in Georgia and the weather is really warm. While getting the trailer ready for a springtime camping trip, I turned on the air conditioner (A/C) so it would be cool inside while working inside cleaning.
After the A/C ran for about an hour I did not see any water anywhere at all so I let it run for a while longer. After two or three hours I fond the water. It was running down inside the out side wall and coming out the floor area along the street side of the trailer. The A/C is a through the wall unit as used on many smaller trailers and truck campers.
I started looking around and could not find out how to remove the A/C unit. I called Travel Lite and had to leave a message. It’s been two months now and still waiting for the call. I tried the e-mail but that was just a waste of my time. They don’t seem to care after you buy a unit from them.
Now look at the pictures. Having worked on jet aircraft for 30 years it only took me 15 minutes to figure out how to get the A/C out of the wall; through the outside would you believe. I found water, from the A/C, not leaving the trailer at all.
In the first picture you can see the water stains and the wet wood. Also notice the “drip pan” installed to collect the water and drain it away from the A/C unit. It is made of metal and set on a slope so that all of the water will drain down the inside of the outer wall of the unit; see the red and yellow arrows. The gap in this area is from half an inch to three eights of an inch and the metal siding is not laying against the wood support. In fact it is bent out a little which catches the water and doesn’t let it escape to the outside. I removed the metal “drip pan” and found more water has been there.
In the second picture you can see that the A/C support strip has been wet also. The metal shavings are from cutting out the hole for the A/C; good clean up guys. I do not know how much water got to the floor or how long it has been getting wet because the dealer has had this unit for a few months during the summer. Don’t know how much the A/C was used; it gets hot in Tennessee in the summer also.
Before the water could get out of the floor area it had to loosen the tape from the under covering which protects the bottom of the trailer from water while towing. The tape, at the outer edge, is loose in an area of about four feet long.
If you have one of these unite, Travel Lite with a through the wall A/C, you may have bought a time bomb like I did. The floor could be damaged and I will not know it until it gives way. I just hope it isn’t while I am towing and cause an accident.
My thought: Some one knew this “drip pan” was not long enough but they installed it anyway. How many other units have this “short drip pan?” Is this the way Travel Lite does business? If it is, let’s put them out of business by telling everyone you see about this built in self destruct option.
NOTE: Pictures did not show up; I'll try later.
I bought a 2015 Travel Lite Idea Sport (I-18) last fall. Wife and I spent a few nights in it in weather down to below freezing; had to drain the tanks but that was normal for a camping trailer.
Now it is springtime in Georgia and the weather is really warm. While getting the trailer ready for a springtime camping trip, I turned on the air conditioner (A/C) so it would be cool inside while working inside cleaning.
After the A/C ran for about an hour I did not see any water anywhere at all so I let it run for a while longer. After two or three hours I fond the water. It was running down inside the out side wall and coming out the floor area along the street side of the trailer. The A/C is a through the wall unit as used on many smaller trailers and truck campers.
I started looking around and could not find out how to remove the A/C unit. I called Travel Lite and had to leave a message. It’s been two months now and still waiting for the call. I tried the e-mail but that was just a waste of my time. They don’t seem to care after you buy a unit from them.
Now look at the pictures. Having worked on jet aircraft for 30 years it only took me 15 minutes to figure out how to get the A/C out of the wall; through the outside would you believe. I found water, from the A/C, not leaving the trailer at all.
In the first picture you can see the water stains and the wet wood. Also notice the “drip pan” installed to collect the water and drain it away from the A/C unit. It is made of metal and set on a slope so that all of the water will drain down the inside of the outer wall of the unit; see the red and yellow arrows. The gap in this area is from half an inch to three eights of an inch and the metal siding is not laying against the wood support. In fact it is bent out a little which catches the water and doesn’t let it escape to the outside. I removed the metal “drip pan” and found more water has been there.
In the second picture you can see that the A/C support strip has been wet also. The metal shavings are from cutting out the hole for the A/C; good clean up guys. I do not know how much water got to the floor or how long it has been getting wet because the dealer has had this unit for a few months during the summer. Don’t know how much the A/C was used; it gets hot in Tennessee in the summer also.
Before the water could get out of the floor area it had to loosen the tape from the under covering which protects the bottom of the trailer from water while towing. The tape, at the outer edge, is loose in an area of about four feet long.
If you have one of these unite, Travel Lite with a through the wall A/C, you may have bought a time bomb like I did. The floor could be damaged and I will not know it until it gives way. I just hope it isn’t while I am towing and cause an accident.
My thought: Some one knew this “drip pan” was not long enough but they installed it anyway. How many other units have this “short drip pan?” Is this the way Travel Lite does business? If it is, let’s put them out of business by telling everyone you see about this built in self destruct option.
NOTE: Pictures did not show up; I'll try later.
