Two Month Trip

michellep · 07-21-2015, 04:17 PM

6,500 miles!

Saw some very beautiful country. LOVED the NFS parks, especially with my Old Lady Pass! Quite the bargain for being old.

Let's see what went wrong with the Fun Finder this trip (because you know I haven't taken this thing out ONE TIME without something going wrong).

Galley window exploded into a million pieces (I was camped in George's neck o' the woods and he brought me a shop vac and tape and plastic, and covered the window)

Fridge (Atwood Helium) never worked properly and is now not working at all, either on gas or electric

Maxx Fan quit working

Monster leak in bed area (24" gaping hole in front caulk, which I believe was caused by two major hail storms)

Flat tire on the truck smack dab in the middle of nowhere, literally - narrow, unpaved, dusty, rocky, windy road - a true Road To/From Hell. But I tell you - Les Schwab stepped up to the plate and fixed it (it was a rock) for free! Unheard of these days! Go Les Schwab. And bless the couple who stopped and changed the flat for me - I now know how to do it, but there's no way I could lift that tire!)

I am changing my name to Dorothy - There's No Place Like Home.

profdant139 · 07-22-2015, 07:58 AM

Yikes! We also got a flat on our truck in a really remote area -- nobody around for many miles, no cell service, so we changed it ourselves. Not easy, and very time consuming. It was on a "road" paved with volcanic shards -- punctured right through the tread. I have just upgraded my tires to the beefiest monsters I could find!

The most worrisome part of your story is the leak. The window was a freak occurrence, and the fridge is clearly a lemon. But how could hail cause a two foot leak in the caulk? Was this over a window or on the roof?

michellep · 07-22-2015, 08:04 AM

Dan, it was on the roof. There must be about 100 lbs. (slight exaggeration) of caulk just poured at that front seam. It was cracked before, but I'll try and find that original picture.

I put a long piece of Eternabond over it, but no in the proper and recommended method. I didn't know what else to do to mitigate damages. There was water in the front pass-through storage and plenty in the front bed area.

While coming down from the roof, I saw a split in the window caulk and put a little piece of Eternabond over that, too.

It's cursed I tell you - cursed!

michellep · 07-22-2015, 08:16 AM

This is the original split in the caulk, supposedly fixed by my dealer. The rip/tear is in the same general area - maybe a bit more to the right...

profdant139 · 07-22-2015, 09:33 AM

What a sloppy job of caulking they did!! Is that the way the trailer looked when it was new?

For what it is worth, that crack does not look like it is hail damage. It looks like the normal flexing of the trailer has caused a badly done seam to open up. This should be redone from scratch by the dealer.

Hang in there!

roy · 07-22-2015, 09:59 AM

My XT276 sprung a leak in the same spot on the right side. I recaulked it with DAP self leveling caulk and recheck it often. I've had to add some over the rear seam on the 276 over rear frame that's over the rear door. Couple otter spots to near skylight in bathroom and around vent for fridge. Its a ritual to go up there quite often especially after very hot or cold weather times.

Best to keep a tube or two of DAP self leveling caulk on hand especially if out on the road for an extended time. Water can do a lot of damage in a short period of time. The DAP can be applied in a downpour if needed, not recommended but it'll stop the water first and foremost.

michellep · 07-22-2015, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by profdant139

What a sloppy job of caulking they did!! Is that the way the trailer looked when it was new?

For what it is worth, that crack does not look like it is hail damage. It looks like the normal flexing of the trailer has caused a badly done seam to open up. This should be redone from scratch by the dealer.

Hang in there!

That's the first time. Crack was repaired AFTER this picture was taken last year.

profdant139 · 07-22-2015, 11:02 AM

So if this is the first crack, that sounds like it came from the factory this way?? Did the dealer repair it by stripping off all of the old junk, or did he just slap on more glop on the top?

The reason I ask is that if the front cap is flexing against the top panel, there is no amount of caulking that will solve the problem.

michellep · 07-22-2015, 11:42 AM

I "think" that's how the dealer fixed the problem (slapping more crap on top).

If it's what you say, what's the fix for that?

profdant139 · 07-22-2015, 01:13 PM

I have never done this repair myself, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But if there is an imperfect match between the front panel and the top, that gap has to be bridged by a flexible waterproof product, such as EPDM. Caulk alone will not do the job, because it will flex and crack, as you have discovered. There is a very expensive EPDM product called Liquid Roof. It gets good reviews.

So I guess it is time for a chat with the dealer -- I am sure that will be fun. I am suffering terrible vicarious frustration with this whole situation. It is about time that you caught a break, in my opinion!

michellep · 07-22-2015, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by profdant139

...It is about time that you caught a break, in my opinion!

I couldn't agree more! Thanks for the long-distance sympathy!!

voyagers2 · 07-24-2015, 08:28 PM

Mitchell, I purchased a 2007 model 210 and after half a dozen trips started noticing some delamination in the left front upper corner. It seemed to be getting worse so today I dove in to find the problem. Removed the corner trim to peek in and ended up removing the entire front cap to find previos patch work repairs had been poorly done. The original leak was probably in the same area asz yours and the patching was done and a new roof covering was installed. Since then tubes and tubes of silacone caulk had been applied to various areas of trim but that didn't do the trick and the damage continued to spread. I've decided to replace most of the luan, inner and outer, all of the corner support peices , insulation, and then replace the otter cap once again. Hoping this will do the trick cause we really like the ff X. Point is, make sure the repairs are done correctly and completely or the damage will continue to get worse. Good luck and don't get discouraged.

michellep · 07-29-2015, 01:01 PM

The continuing Atwood Refrigerator Saga...

So, while out on my 2-month trip, here's what happened. I am not sure I will be remembering it all correctly.

Fridge quit working on electric. I couldn't remember how to check outside fuse, plus the weather was really hot. I turned fridge to gas. All is working well.

I have the remote thermometer with a sensor in fridge and one in freezer. Maybe a week or two after I had to keep running it on gas, the temps raised to like 55 and 36 - not good.

Decided I better go look and see if I can change the 120v outside fuse for fridge. After a while, I figured it out and changed the fuse. Luckily, tech back home had given me a little tin of the proper fuses.

From then on, I could only run the fridge on electric. I tried every now and then to put it on gas and got the beepbeepbeep CHECK light. GRRRRRR.

Had to cut trip short cuz I was still wanting to boondock and could not. Got home and put the trailer in its new garage. Hooked up to 30A and put fridge on electric. Didn't go to empty fridge for a day and a half. GUESS WHAT - EVERYTHING IS DEFROSTED and hot/warm in both compartments. Now, it wasn't working on either gas or electric. I am assuming that the damn fuse blew again, but I just don't have the heart to keep this up.

I documented EVERYTHING as it happened through emails to my dealer...document, document, document.

Brought it to dealer 2 days ago. I told him I WANTED ANOTHER FRIDGE like Atwood had offered prior to their "fix" (which wasn't a fix at all - fridge never did switch from electric to gas automatically). I told him I felt I had been far more than patient with this entire thing. Dealer said I (ME) would most likely have to talk to Atwood because they were not likely to make the offer again! I told him I hope that would not be the case. But just in case, I gathered all my emails and prepared to go to my attorney for small claims advice.

Got an email from dealer this morning - Atwood is going to pay for the installation (and purchase of) a Dometic 2662 fridge IF the dealer can get it to fit (slightly larger dimensions). Please cross your fingers that they can make it fit!

I asked dealer if this Dometic was the proper model for installation in a slide. He replied that they would have to add the fan. Now that I just typed that, does anyone know if the fan is thermostatically controlled, or does it run all the time?

Perhaps my nightmare is drawing to a close!

profdant139 · 07-29-2015, 02:44 PM

This sounds promising! Make sure that the fan has a cutoff switch. When you are boondocking, the fan could run and drain your battery. If I am not mistaken, the fan is designed to move air past the coils in the back of the fridge. If the compartment around the coils is properly designed, the heat of the coils should cause convection, drawing cooler air in through the bottom vent -- a draft effect

When I took a good look around and above my fridge, I discovered that there were large areas of "open air," which defeated the "draft effect" that I described above. So I stuffed a lot of fiberglass insulation on the sides and top of the fridge, which greatly improved the airflow over the coils. (My fridge does not have a fan.)

The other possible change is to add a baffle that directs the warm air out the top vent. Here is a link to my baffle project:

[url]http://lookmomimcamping.blogspot.com/2012/07/fridge-flue-deflector-and-insulation.html

Good luck, and keep us posted!!

profdant139 · 07-29-2015, 02:44 PM

My elaborate reply disappeared -- I will repost later. Bummer.

michellep · 07-29-2015, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by profdant139

My elaborate reply disappeared -- I will repost later. Bummer.

Long and/or thoughtful/insightful replies = frequent CTRL-A, CTRL-C...I learned that lesson the hard way.

Sorry! Hey, maybe my Little Black Cloud is transferring to you?? Gosh, I hope not!

profdant139 · 07-29-2015, 04:18 PM

Re-posting, I hope:

Good news about the replacement! Some thoughts â€“ first, try to get a cutoff switch for the fan, so it will not drain the battery when you are boondocking.

I assume the fan is to blow air over the coils, right? If that is true, and if you install a cutoff switch, be sure that the draft over the coils is optimized. I discovered that there were huge areas of open air on the sides and top of my fridge, which interfered with the draft â€“ I filled the voids with fiberglass insulation, and now the air flows smoothly from the bottom vent, over the coils, and out the top vent.

Also, it is very easy to install a deflector to push the warm air out toward the vent, so it does not pool under the shelf above the fridge. Here is a link to that project:

http://lookmomimcamping.blogspot.com...nsulation.html

Good luck, and keep us posted!!

gmw photographics · 08-16-2015, 03:24 PM

Yes, the fan comes on and off based on how hot it gets in the enclosure ( so yes, it's thermostatically controlled ).
On these fridges, the real killer of the battery when boondocking is the "heater" in the door seals that keeps the seals from icing up. Some fridge controls have a switch to turn it off, some don't. Mine does not. If I boondocked while out, I would add a switch so I could cut that power draw off.

EDIT: ps, the factory original fan in my fridge was very noisy. I went to a computer supply store and bought a higher quality ( and bigger ) fan to replace it. Much quieter.

michellep · 08-16-2015, 06:03 PM

Dang it - one of you guys needs to come here and show me how to do this stuff...especially cutting off the fan and/or heating coil!

I have been thinking I might need to go to coolers when dry camping. Or eat nothing but dry, packaged goods, like Ramen...(ahemmmmmmm to someone who eats those a LOT, who shall remain photographically nameless...)

Eagle · 08-16-2015, 07:13 PM

After our first excursion when the temps were in the high 90's and finding out that the frig doesn't recover quickly when removing cold beverages ~ we purchased a 60 quart cooler.

Now, every time we go with the camper, all the water/soda is kept in the cooler w/ice. No beverages ever kept in the refrigerator and they are always cold to drink. Nearly any gas fill up place has ice when needed.

Oh, and block ice lasts alot longer than cube ice.

PS: Never cared for the taste of beer and can't stand any wine.