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Wayne M · 05-11-2009, 05:04 PM

While washing a few loads of clothes this past week we notice that the carpet was a little damp on the engine cover pull-up. I went outside and noticed a significant amount of water on the ground. I started looking inside but found now water on any hoses or connections. I "assumed" then that it was coming from the drain system. Especially since it only leaked when washing.

I called Winnebago, informed them of the situation, and I was asked where I was going. I replied Savannah, and they said the Camping World was a warranty repair facility. So, I called CW and set up for this morning, Monday. My stay overnight was in the parking lot with 30A according to my ems. Hey! It was free, right?

Today, Jack Shultz was called in. He is a partner with All American RV. If you do not have a Mfg. Warranty, he is a mobile repair service, 912-230-3942, in the Savannah and outlying areas.

Anyhow, He ended up pulling the washer out. What we (we, because I was supervising at no cost) was a rats nest of wires, hoses, and dryer connections back behind it. Pulling the washer and the boards it mounts to was, and is, a hassle. Under the support board for the washer (the board rests on a 1/2" aluminum square frame) was the drain line. The drain is a 1-1/2 inch PVC. The Combo 3/4 inch drain line just goes into an open 1-1/2 inch pvc. The pvc has a trap and a line going 90 degrees to the left where it enters the down drain with the anti-siphon contraption on the top, then down and a 90 degree turn towrd the front of the Combo (underneath the flooring) and again a 90 degree downturn for the final leg of the drain into the grey tank. That last 90 degrees was not cemented, and the entire piece of drain, about 6-7 feet in all, was not supported anywhere behind the washer. So the torque on that last 90 degree elbow caused it to pull out of the pipe.

Jack cut the flat run so he could glue the elbow, put a union in the cut, and then used plumbers strap to anchor the pipe in 3 places after gluing the elbow and union. Jack also tie wrapped all the wires and securited them to the secured pipe. We are washing a load tonight.

I also discovered that on my trip up here the dash Air Conditioning was only blowing 60 degrees. (I have a thermometer I can put in a vent.) Jack said he had to add 2 pounds of freon, and that the caps for the attachments to the freon machine were missing. The freon was added and the caps replaced.

Now it is not sure if the freon will be covered under warranty, but CW told me that if it wasn't, they would call me and I could settle up with them. Now how's that for service.

If the service provided by the other full time technicians is as good as Jack's service, then I can highly recommend the Camping World in Pooler, GA, Exit 102 off of I-95. I can highly recommend All American RV and Jack SchultIz.

I didn't get a chance to walk around in the store, but did one stroll through, I'll be going back in the next 3 days to fill my wish list.

wagonmaster2 · 05-11-2009, 10:10 PM

Wayne, you had as much fun with your new W/D as I did. We purchased our coach new in Feb '04, headed for Oregon in April and the first load of washing we did we had a small trickle of water running from under the washer out on the vinyl flooring in the bath room. Since we were headed for Portland called the Splendid distributor there and he said to stop by and he'd fix it. Found a crack in the plastic water distribution channel in the top of the washer. Headed up into Washington and next load of washing another leak. Going back through Portland the next week stopped at Splendid distributor again. Found another crack where the hoses hook to the back of the washer. Seems since the coach was built in Jan/Feb Winnebago didn't winterize the washer after testing it.
That winter I winterized the W/D and had a leak again the next summer. Called Splendid, went through the winterizing process and was told "Oh Oh, our winterizing instructions are incorrect, will send you new instructions". Since I had watched the tech replace the cracked piece the year before they agreed to send me the piece which saved me hunting up someone who would work on the machine without removing it from the coach. Forgot to mention, the tech in Portland did all his work with the W/D still in place by removing the top of the W/D and also getting in behind it through the dresser in the bedroom. No more problems since then, but knock on wood just in case.

Wagonmaster2

Savannah · 05-12-2009, 09:21 AM

One thing we did with our washer that really has worked well for us is to put a drip tray under it. DH also put a drain in the tray running to the outside. Sometimes if the lint catcher? gets full the machine will leak so this has saved us many a hassle with wet floors. There is already a drain to the rear going outside so the one he added is to the front. We seem to never be really level so between the two drains all is good.
We have a Journey 39k so our washer is over the air conditioner.

Wayne M · 05-13-2009, 08:15 PM

Isn't it amazing that we can spend our money to have problems!!!!

They really need some quality control at the factories.

wagonmaster2 · 05-13-2009, 11:10 PM

A little quality control and some design engineers that have actually camped in an RV before. One of the best MHs I ever owned was a Fleetwood '93 Bounder, designed and built by John Crean, President and founder of Fleetwood RVs, who was actually a camper himself.

Wagonmaster2