Ok, I need to Vent !!

[coloradolivin]

So, we got back into the RV lifestyle in 10 of 13. Having had a Kodiak slide in, an 04 34' Everest and even a 69 Red Dale in the day. We took possession of our 14 38GK.

We were Stoked !! Hauled it to Salida, CO with no problems after an extensive PDI.

Since then:
1. The Bluray died, RW sent a new one and I replaced it
2. The Bedroom TV died, RW sent a new one and I replaced it
3. The slide in a slide leaked snow when closed, took it to a local dealer, RW sent the parts, they fixed the seal.
4. Bedroom door would not close, RW sent new hinges, local dealer fixed that.
5. Basement gas struts were blown, RW sent the wrong struts, I relocated the hinges with the new struts, works better than original. (Original struts still on backorder)
6. ATS blew, RW sent a new one and recommend I just bypass the old one which I did. Still have the new one since we don't have a genny but when the ATS blew, it shorted the Dirt Devil vac.
7. RW sent a new Dirt Devil, which I replaced.
8. It is now February and we have not gone anywhere.
9. When dewinterizing for the trip we are currently on, the shower p trap was leaking, just a loose fitting.
10. While loading up on last Fri for this trip, we had the Dimplex fireplace going to take off the chill and it decided to short out and cause a small fire. We blew it out, pulled the unit and took the base off and found the circuit board had caught fire and melted.
11. This shorted out the entire coach and decided to fry the bedroom TV again.
12. Went to Walmart and bought a new TV for the bedroom and reinstalled the fireplace to fill the vacant hole in the living room.
13. Left Sat morning anyway cause we are going to the Beach !! in Corpus.
14. Stopped in route at a Flying J and had water gushing out from the belly pan. Crawled underneath, pulled the entire belly pan on my back and found the drain valve from the fresh water tank had broken. Ran in and McGyvered it with a stick of bubble gum that I chewed and shoved in the drain.
15. Rolled into Corpus with people waving at us, comes to find out the front 4 feet of our roof had come up like a bad blister on your big toe.
16. Just paid $100 to some local mobile guy to "glue" the thing back.
17. Ok, just venting, can I get home ???

18. RW says they can't find a fireplace !!

WTF

[TNTBaker]

Oh wow. Not what we needed to see while waiting for our new RW :-(

[Foxfire]

I have to ask regarding all the electronics in the rig. Are you using a surge protector with a volt and amp meter on it on your 50 amp service line? RW uses other manufacturer's electronics TV's, fireplace, bluray, vaccum. It seems odd they would all die as 120 volts is 120 volts. But if there was less or more volts in the line it could fry sensitive components. It seems campgrounds are notorious for low voltage and bad neutrals all around the country. We had low volts and by the time we found out our AC was fried.

[ichabod123]

All i got is 'WOW'

[Foxfire]

The list is long and scary. We pick ours up Friday from the dealer for the first time and head out. The PDI is done all we have to do is hook up and go. The question is how does everything work so well at the dealer during the PDI and then go all to hell in the next few weeks? Looking at the list it's long and scary but the electrical question needed to be asked.

[johnboytoo]

How does it happen?
PDI misses stuff and
things break that aren't put together well

I feel your pain coloradolivin and em·pa·thize as my list is longer

[coloradolivin]

The electrical is for sure an issue. We are plugged in at home on a dedicated 50 amp service at my shop. This is the same we have used for the Everest and the Kodiak. However, with the the new technology and circuitry in the RW, I will sure investigate that when we return as it may be the culprit for some of the electrical probs.

[atom ant]

Oh man, that just sucks - all of it. The roof would make me depressed.

There were a run of fireplace fires on the Montanas we had, and it all boiled down to the installer not tightening the terminals and they arced and melted the plastic around them.

[mhs4771]

I would be checking the electrical connections both at the breaker panel. There were several threads on the Montana Forum of loose connections on the Neutral which put 240 Volts (by way of feed back loops) to some of the electronics, resulting if fried equipment.

[coloradolivin]

I just checked voltage here at the park and I have 118 across one leg to neutral and 121 to the other leg and 238 across both legs. I know for sure that at home, I have no more than 122 on each leg and 242 across both.

I do know that when the fireplace went and shorted the entire coach, I had a back feed situation. I unplugged from the shop, replugged and things were back to normal.

[coloradolivin]

Update--
Found a local mobile guy that actually does warranty work for RW, he bills them directly. He will be in the park tomorrow and is going to stop by and take a look at things. Not only will I have him recheck the roof, I am going to discuss all the short out problems as well.

Will let you all know--keep smiling, we still love it

[Rick]

We had a short also early on. Kept losing the leg with the fireplace. Finally found the connection at the fitting entering the trailer was loose. Very frustrating when you are trying to use your "home".

[coloradolivin]

Update --
Got another mobile service tech to come look at the roof since he does warranty work for RW !!! He will be able to pull some stuff apart and redo the front part of the roof and make it solid--yea !!
We will have to spend another day in Corpus, bummer since it snowed 7 inches in Salida today.

I also told him the complete story on the electrical and he looked at the plug in to the rear of the rig. Like Rick said, the neutral was a complete turn loose so that could have been the problem. Let's hope so.

Re the fireplace, Mark at RW says they no longer ship parts to the customer, it has to go through a dealer. So, I guess they will ship to Windish, and have windish drop ship to me.

Feeling a little better now

[coloradolivin]

Oh, by the way, the guy's name is Jeff Gordon !!

[NW Snowbirds]

Where are you staying in Corpus? We are looking for a place for next winter in that area. Do you have any recommendations?

Spent one night along the river in a park in Salida last September on our way to Durango. Rained too much to see anything!

[Willranless]

Originally Posted by coloradolivin

Update --

Re the fireplace, Mark at RW says they no longer ship parts to the customer, it has to go through a dealer.

Does this apply to ALL parts? or just large items like the fireplace?

[NW Snowbirds]

Originally Posted by Willranless

Does this apply to ALL parts? or just large items like the fireplace?

All parts. I needed a wooden slat for the bed spring (missing from factory) and Mark directed me to get it ordered thru the dealer. I hope they can drop ship it as the dealer is 574 miles from my house

[Rick]

i just received a new kitchen faucet assembly two weeks ago. To have to go through a dealer is ridiculous. We are traveling throughout the country as full timers.

[atom ant]

I just got the same thing on a fender - has to go though Windish.

[Dave]

Rick,

Couldn't help but here that your traveling. When traveling, how are you handling your mail? Are you staying in a certain location for a period of time and forwarding it or some other way?

My DW and I are trying to get a handle on the mail options as we get closer to our traveling time. Right now we do the partial Snowbird thing which is fairly simple.

Any comment would be appreciated.