It would be easy to show all the great locations and fun times we have had over the last couple of years. I want to be a bit more transparent about RVing. As I mentioned you will have problems and you will need a great dealership to work things out. We got off to what we thought was a pretty bumpy start. We later find out as we travel around that we are not alone. RV’s are nothing but home on wheels, however, your home does not have to survive potholes and generally rough roads. It will take a toll and then there will be manufacturer defects. I will be keeping track of those issues and updating this blog at the end of each year. My goal is to show you what can go wrong and some of the solutions.

 

It’s Not All Wine and Roses

2016 Recap

 

  • Inverter Shutting Off During Trips
    • This was our first issue on the road. The inverter would shut down, leaving the rig with no power during towing. Our refrigerator which is residential drinks 110, there was none….
    • Solution –Upon calling Dunlap RV Service we find out that they wrongly installed batteries to small to handle any long-term offshore power demands. They replaced the batteries with larger capacity versions and indicated that would fix the problem.It did, but the story did not end there, more on this later.
  • Propane Tanks Issue
    • During our maiden trip, we found ourselves having immediate issues with a lack of propane. Now we have three 20lb tanks on the rig. I never thought we could run out that fast.
    • Solution –Seems the tanks where not bleed correctly when they were installed and initially filled. This did not allow the tanks to flow properly when called upon. We had two of the tanks bled and refilled, problem solved.
  • Initial Inspection and Walkthrough
    • Yes, every blog, youtube video, and manual will tell you to do a thorough walkthrough before leaving the Dealership. We had a very thorough and mind-bending walkthrough, but frankly, that was not enough. I was excited and just wanted to get going. Therein lies the problem. A month or two down the road I decided to do that walkthrough with a downloaded checklist in hand.
    • Problem –I found countless loose screws, heat ducking not connected and more importantly, the smoke detectors hand not had their batteries installed properly so they would not have worked on previous trips. 
  • Awing Tearing
    • The factory awing after the first couple of trips starting unraveling at the seams near the rig. Highland RV – Open Range offers a Two Year bumper to bumper warranty.
    • Solution– Factory sends new awing and we get it fixed.
  • Lippert Jack Rear Seems Bent
    • I noticed that the rear passenger side jack appears to be bent. This became an issue when I noticed that it was not easy to drop the foot and difficult to retract.
    • Solution – Warranty replacement of jack.
  • Water Leaks In Basement of Rig
    • Your biggest worry after reading all the materials and such on RVing is water damage caused by leaks and just dampness. Our rig had the old style flexible piping and connections. I did not realize that would be an issue until we found a handful of leaks in and around the city water intakes. The parts to fix this was not available, why because all the newer rigs have switched to pex piping and connectors.
    • Solution – Back to the dealership for more warranty work. They install pex piping to replace some of the issues and tighten the rest of the connectors that were loose. This would be an ongoing issue that needs monitoring constantly.
  • Propane Tank Switch gauge
    • This device is used to connect two tanks together and automatically switch over to the tank with propane once one runs out. Well, it seems this device fails almost all the time. We did and again cut off the flow of propane while we where traveling totally.
    • Solution – Back to the shop for warranty replacement.
  • Slide Motor Issue
    • We had planned a trip to New York and were getting the rig ready for the two-week outing. I begin to deploy the kitchen slide only to hear a grinding sound as it moves out into position. That does not sound right I think, so I start to pull the slide back in and it begins to bounce violently as it retracts. That’s not good, so I immediately call the dealer and they say don’t do anything more you need to get the rig in now, the drive motor is shot.
    • Solutions – Two more weeks in the shop for a warranty repair on the slide motor. I suggest that the dinning side is starting to make that same noise and they replace that motor as well. Seems the motors were not lubricated properly at the factory and failed.
  • Outdoor Grill Propane Hook Up
    • Traveling down the road in the heat of summer you run into your share of truck retread tires coming off rigs (Road Gators). Well, we had our share of near misses and hits during a late summer trip. On the way home from a two-week outing we arrive home only to find the Propane gas fitting and hookup had been hit and busted clean off the pipe.
    • Solution – head to Loews for a pipe fitting that will tap the pipe off. Find a new connector and install. This will need more work down the road. I will need to have something welded to the pipe to protect the connection for this happening again.