My new 2000 Solaris T-2370

[johnnybgood-SUN]

The wife has been wanting a larger camper ever since I brought the T-1700 home a couple years ago. Found a 2000 T-2370 locally on Craigslist and bought it.

We love the floor plan and the extra sleeping space means we can take the grandkids camping from time to time.

It’s by no means perfect. Everything works but I’ve got a small water leak at the water pump fitting and another water leak at the city water hookup.

Bathroom ceiling has some previous water damage from the skylight over the tub. Luckily most of that water dripped into the tub, but has left a stain on the tub that I can’t remove with anything I’ve tried thus far.

Interior is in pretty good condition but the exterior not so much. The street side paint is almost down to bare aluminum so I’m going to be forced to paint the body. Rock guard is broken. The roof is in ok condition. I need to replace the skylight and the 3 vent covers.

I believe this camper has the optional wood on the roof as it feels very firm compared to my T-1700. Also the sticker inside the cabinet door list the dry weight at like 4300 lbs and the brochure lists the dry weight at like 3900 lbs.

Anyway, I’ve got a lot to do.

 

[Sunline Fan]

Looks pretty clean! I'm surprised it needs a total repaint, that's not common with the Krystal Kote. Have you tried rubbing it out with a magic eraser and Awesome? Sometimes the black can look a little shiny like the aluminum is showing, when it's just mostly dirt.

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

I haven’t tried cleaning any of the Krystal Kote siding yet, but it sure looks like bare aluminum showing through mostly from the top a couple feet down.

I did try cleaning the smooth, non Krystal Kote “green” above the lower stripe. I thought it was just mildew/algae when I bought it but I’ve tried everything on that “green” and it won’t come off. I remember using rubbing compound on the T-1700 and that came out looking good, but did nothing on the T-2370.

 

[JohnGB]

Congrats John!

Great find. Good for you.

The roof, when you replace the skylight you may be able to lift the stapled down rubber flap inside the skylight opening and take a look at the roof construction. While many of the openings have a rim so to speak of OSB to space out and add structure to hold screws for the skylight, taking a look beyond that 1" to 1 1/2" strip should help confirm you have the walk on roof option. The walk on roof did add weight to the camper and that may be "part" of the difference in the brochure. However there may be other upgrades too adding to the weight.

The feel and stiffness of bud board to a full OSB roof is very different and solid. I would not think you could find the roof rafters by pressing down like you can on a bud board roof.

Have fun fixing up the new camper! Always good times.

Thanks

John

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

Looks pretty clean! I'm surprised it needs a total repaint, that's not common with the Krystal Kote. Have you tried rubbing it out with a magic eraser and Awesome? Sometimes the black can look a little shiny like the aluminum is showing, when it's just mostly dirt.

Well, I tried the Magic Eraser and Awesome to no avail......

 

[JohnGB]

Hi John,

Can't help on the cleaning, but did notice something in your pic.

The older campers did not come with gutter spouts. I would of thought by year 2000 they would of had them. Or it broke off??

Without the spout, water is blasting right into the corner molding which is not good.

The ones below stuff in behind the gutter rail. I have used them and they are pretty good. Need to undo a gutter rail screw to loosen the gutter enough to get it in. If the butyl tape is bad looking change some in that last little inch or so you are lifting to stuff the spout in. The screw will go through the mounting tab. If there are any gaps at the top of the rail between the rubber roof and the aluminum rail, Dicor caulk that area.

https://www.amazon.com/Camco-Extens...pID=21OG4Y5fO4L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Hope this helps

John

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

Yes John, you are correct. If you look closely at that picture you’ll see new butyl tape that I packed into the corner molding. It wasn’t looking too good from the rain pounding against it for years. Fairly big void there at the top. I was able to inspect the lower corner inside under the tub and it looked/felt ok. I’ve cured that before it became a problem I hope.

Yes, the gutter spouts. This camper apparently never had spouts and I’m a firm believer in them. I did get the worst offending corner almost done today. Still need to seal it up as rain messed me up......

The storage door area was taking a beating in heavy rain.

 

[JohnGB]

Good deal John! You are on top of it and gutters and butyl tape already in motion.

 

[Sunline Fan]

Gutter spouts are a relatively new thing, unfortunately. I added them, as well as extensions, to both of mine.

Well, I tried the Magic Eraser and Awesome to no avail......

Hmm. I will PM you with a suggestion. I don't like to post it on the forum because it's pretty risky, but since you're considering painting anyway, it's worth a shot.

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

Thanks Jon

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

I resolved my 2 leaks over the weekend. A new city water connection fixed that leak.

The tiny leak at the water pump was kind of interesting. The PO stated that he had recently installed a new water pump along with an accumulator. Turns out it was a hokey install as neither item was screwed down, just laying there. I think the leak was due to the connections bouncing around. Regardless, it’s fixed now.

I ended up not reusing the accumulator as it would have been a major plumping project (for me anyway[emoji3]). If anyone wants it you can have it for the cost of shipping....

 

[Tommie328]

Congrats on your new addition and on your progress so far. It does look to be in good shape. That interior looks really good!

 

[Sunline Fan]

Glad to hear you got the interior water leaks all fixed up! Hopefully those are the last of them.

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

Here’s some observations on our new T-2370 after working on it off and on for about 2 months. We’ve camped in it once for 5 days. Second trip coming up tomorrow.

My rain gutters aren’t seamless. Disappointed in that.

At some point Sunline switched directions of which way the bathroom door opens on the 2370 (1999?) Problem is they forgot to tell the electrician so my light switch is on the wrong side of the door. I saw a 2002 model and that had been corrected.

Kitchen counter space is at a premium, but we knew that going into it.

I believe we have a factory installed radio, yet there’s no barrier to keep whatever we have in that cabinet from knocking/sliding against the back of the radio/wiring. My old T-1700 had a barrier.

They must have had the new guy install the toilet floor flange. Knee all jammed up against the door. I’ve fixed that.

Minor, petty stuff. Overall we love it so far.

 

[Sunline Fan]

Here’s some observations on our new T-2370 after working on it off and on for about 2 months. We’ve camped in it once for 5 days. Second trip coming up tomorrow.

My rain gutters aren’t seamless. Disappointed in that.

At some point Sunline switched directions of which way the bathroom door opens on the 2370 (1999?) Problem is they forgot to tell the electrician so my light switch is on the wrong side of the door. I saw a 2002 model and that had been corrected.

Kitchen counter space is at a premium, but we knew that going into it.

I believe we have a factory installed radio, yet there’s no barrier to keep whatever we have in that cabinet from knocking/sliding against the back of the radio/wiring. My old T-1700 had a barrier.

They must have had the new guy install the toilet floor flange. Knee all jammed up against the door. I’ve fixed that.

Minor, petty stuff. Overall we love it so far.

I've noticed that about the gutters not being seamless. It seems like they tried to seal them inside with some sort of tar material. I imagine you could coat a little Dicor in there to fill it if it's leaking out again.

That's interesting about the bathroom light switch.

Was the barrier in your 1700 aluminum or wood? I've seen both- specifically aluminum for a radio prep package and wood for an actual radio barrier. Wouldn't be hard to add I suppose. The only post '96 radios I've had have been mounted in lower cabinets without protection, because they're at the top of the cabinet and away from where stuff could bump it.

 

[johnnybgood-SUN]

My T-1700 has a luan radio barrier.

I did a quick and easy fix for this trip. Wedged some cut pieces of pool noodles in there.

 

[BenB-SUN]

We were camping recently in the 04 T2475 and I noticed the same thing with the radio in the overhead cabinet above the couch. There was no barrier, which I thought seemed odd, but never really thought about it before because our T264SR has the radio in the thick wall with the power inverter and shower plumbing.

The gutters seem to have a standard length maybe 20ft, and then a small piece added on to complete the run. I would guess they only maufacture one length. We have sealed them with a little dicor inside, on one of mine I also used a small piece of Eternabond on the outside, since I had some, probably not worth the cost of the whole roll just for that.

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