New to Site and to owning a Travel Trailer

[outeastrealtor]

Hi everyone! We just picked up our 2001 Sunline Solaris yesterday after purchasing it from a friend. It is in BEAUTIFUL condition and has been maintained extremely well. We have NEVER owned a camper and actually have no idea what it will be like. We have done so many things in our lives, been all over the world, but this is totally new to us. Hopefully we will be able to figure it all out! LOL! We are cold weather lovers and even though it is only Feb, we cant WAIT to take our new "home" out! We just have to figure out how to get it up and running..lol.
Anyway, nice to be here, wish us luck!

Christina

 

[Mellow Yellow-SUN]

Hi Christina,
Welcome! This is a wonderful site with lots of great members who go out of their way to be helpful.
We have a 2001 Sunline Solaris too! Ours is a 250 SR meaning it has a slideout. We love it ! It is so well-made. We're adding LED lights to it right now.
Not sure where in NY you are, but there are two Sunline Meet and Greets in NY State. One in Western NY and one in the Adirondacks. Both have info on this site. Perhaps you can join our Sunline members at one of those?
Deb in VT

 

[outeastrealtor]

Thanks!

We live on Long Island and will probably be doing alot of our camping here. We do have lots of friends that live north of Long Island and hopefully will be able to get up there as well.

We are TOTALLY new to all this and have no idea how to do anything..lol. As i previously said, we have traveled the world but have not had a trailer. I have wanted one since I was a kid and an opportunity came up that we just couldnt pass up. At the moment, I just want to turn the heater on in there so I can start enjoying it..lol!

Thanks for the welcome!

Christina

 

[campbugjan1]

Hi....and Welcome to you Christina! Always glad to see a new member...I have owned 8 Sunnies starting back in 1987 or thereabouts! Which model did you buy? We really love to see interior AND exterior pictures of all our Sunlines out there! Have fun....go turn on a heater, take a good book and a cup of coffee...we all do now and then! I do my best thinking in my camper.....Janalee
P.S..where on L.I....I believe we have a member there somewhere....

 

[outeastrealtor]

I will get some pics on ASAP. Didnt take many last night as it was dark when I got home and today we are getting about a foot of snow! Hubby and I put a bunch of blankets on the bed last night and watched the SB on my laptop..lol. We are very excited to say the least! I have a small electric space heater, just have no clue what I did with it..lol. Will put up the pics I took last night. We bought a 2001 Solaris. I dont know the model number off hand. Its very nice though. 27 feet.
We live in Rocky Point. It is on the East End of Long Island right on the Long Island Sound. Lots of crazy hills, but hubby made it up our hill just fine and dandy. He has a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500. Put it in 4wheel drive and had no problem.

 

[campbugjan1]

I am guessing (from your pics) you have a T267 SR (slideroom) which is 27'7" long,8' wide, and weighs 4980 lbs.dry weight...you can download the brochure with all those details from FILES found at the top of the page..maybe you got a brochure with your unit?..Jon,aka SunlineFan,has generously made these files available to us! Good luck again! Janalee

 

[JohnGB]

Welcome Christina and Hubby! Congrats on your new camper.

I agree with Jannalee you have a T267SR. See the floor plan here Sunline Coach Owner's Club - Sunline Owner's Files - Sunline Brochures

Go to 2001 Solaris and SR travel trailers. Click it and then download a brochure.

Hubby is starting off with the right truck for that camper. Sunline set that camper up to be able to carry a lot of "stuff". It has a 10,000# GVWR (means the max it can weigh) and it is starting with a dry weight (means empty) of 5,370#. I had to look at those figures twice.... Unless the brochure has a miss print you can haul 4,630# of stuff... WOW :shock:. There is a VIN sticker on the front left (driver side) of the camper that should have a GVWR and in one of the kitchen cabinets there should be a weight and capacity sticker with the GVWR on it too. Also has the model number.

Learn something new every day. That cargo weight is unusually high. I doubt you will fill it that full... but good to now you have the capacity if ever needed.

Once you start using the camper, we are here to help with just about anything. We are the place for Sunline info.

Happy camping in your new coach!

John

 

[outeastrealtor]

Awww

You guys are all so sweet! Thanks so much for all your help already. Believe me..if we have what we think are stupid questions, this is the place we will be heading. Im not afraid to ask for help at all.

I have read all up on alot of stuff and its like learning a new language.

 

[Sunline Fan]

Welcome Christina!

 

[bunjin]

Welcome from CT. Enjoy your "new to you" TT.

 

[outeastrealtor]

Ok..the first of MANY stupid questions!

So...ok, the camper is happily parked in our driveway. Looks so nice and there is snow all over it. Such a lovely sight!
So, here is the first of many of my stupid questions as I have never done this before. So I ask forgiveness! And, for you sweet peeps who have the same trailer as me, please help!

So, we plugged the camper in, we have one of those things that converts it so it can be plugged into the house line. My neighbor the electrician is actually going to be running us a 30 amp line in the near future.
So, the question is, what is it that we have to do to get the outlets on? Is there a switch or something that we have to move, touch, cujole or beg to get the electricity from the house to enter the camper? The instruction manual with this camper really doesnt help. I know Im SUCH a novice, but we all have to start somewhere..

I consider myself a very intelligent woman but I just cant figure it out!! HELP!!

Hugs,
Christina

 

[MACK C-85]

Check the wall under the bunk. There will be a black box. It may be behind the curtain. This is your converter/electrical distribution center. If yours is the same convertor as ours, The door opens from the top and swings down. You will see a couple of house style breakers and a row of auto type 12 VOLT fuses. One of the breakers is a main, one feeds the convertor, make sure they are all on.

BTW - We have a 2007 T276SR which the 267 became in 2006.

 

[happytocamp]

Hi....and Welcome to you Christina! Always glad to see a new member...I have owned 8 Sunnies starting back in 1987 or thereabouts! Which model did you buy? We really love to see interior AND exterior pictures of all our Sunlines out there! Have fun....go turn on a heater, take a good book and a cup of coffee...we all do now and then! I do my best thinking in my camper.....Janalee
P.S..where on L.I....I believe we have a member there somewhere....

Welcome Christina,from a fellow Long Islander!We live in West Babylon.Good luck with your new to you Sunny!This is the place to ask those questions!There are a lot of knowledgeable folks here!

 

[outeastrealtor]

Thanks everyone. We knew it was something so simple! And hi to you Lou and Darlene! We are out in Rocky Point. We already reserved a bunch of dates at Indian Island. It is our fav place to tent camp and now we cant wait to bring our Sunline there!!

 

[campbugjan1]

Christina....DON'T TURN THE BREAKER ON THAT SAYS WATER HEATER!!!!! You MUST have water in the WH to turn that on or you will burn out your water heater element. IT is most likely bypassed and winterized so check back with us in the Spring!! Lol! In the meantime,research..youtube.com has lots of howto videos! Janalee

 

[outeastrealtor]

Thanks for the info! He turned them all on at first to see if everything was working and if that was the problem, but we turned everything immediately after we saw your post. I blame myself for not looking at the breakers and letting my hsuband do it as I would have NOT opened the water heater one. Didnt know they were labeled. Im sure it is all fine and dandy, and yes, the TT is winterized. We plan on un winterizing it as soon as its not freezing out anymore. We tend to be cold weather campers.


Christina

 

[Wannabes-SUN]

Christina,

Welcome to SOC and congrats on your new-to-you Sunline! A year-and-a-half ago, my husband and I were where you are now: Sunline owners who had never done any RV-ing before in our lives. We discovered that the SOC is a great place to get questions answered by kind, patient, well-informed people. We've learned a lot here and still have much to learn. Here's hoping that you enjoy your Sunny as much as we enjoy ours!

 

[Sunline Fan]

Christina....DON'T TURN THE BREAKER ON THAT SAYS WATER HEATER!!!!! You MUST have water in the WH to turn that on or you will burn out your water heater element. IT is most likely bypassed and winterized so check back with us in the Spring!! Lol! In the meantime,research..youtube.com has lots of howto videos! Janalee

Huh? What does the breaker for the element have to do with the element turning on? The wall switch, or switch on the water heater, should do that.

 

[JohnGB]

Huh? What does the breaker for the element have to do with the element turning on? The wall switch, or switch on the water heater, should do that.

Well, it may have something to do with it. Maybe or maybe not. On the older heaters they buried the rocker switch on the back of the unit which maybe very far out of site. If the prior owner did not like crawling in to get at the rocker switch they may have just used the breaker. I do not know on that year/model if a remote wall switch was used or not. Some had them some do not. Do you know Jon if they had a remote switch on that model? Now that we brought it up, we should help fill in how to actually use it when they want to.

The element will only last about 1 minute or 2 with no water. The good news, it is not that bad to replace unless it is frozen in the tank.

 

[Sunline Fan]

Do you know Jon if they had a remote switch on that model? Now that we brought it up, we should help fill in how to actually use it when they want to.

I believe it has the gas only rocker switch with fault light, separate from the monitor panel. So it probably does have the switch on the water heater.

That said though, I've always been taught to never use the breaker as a regular on/off switch.