Two trips, three problems

[BigRedLancer]

I have yet to make it through a trip without having a problem with the coach. During the trip last month the oven would not light and the electronic igniter for the range top quit working. This is the second time the oven quit and also all three range valves had to be replaced as they were all leaking.

This trip the water heater worked once the first day and has not worked since. Can't get it to ignite. Now it is back to the service shop yet again. I am getting tired of all the problems and all the time it has to be in the shop. It is bad enough to have the recurring problems but worse when you count on something working and it doesn't. The coach is only 18 months old and we have only used it seven times.

[BigRedLancer]

I have yet to make it through a trip without having a problem with the coach. During the trip last month the oven would not light and the electronic igniter for the range top quit working. This is the second time the oven quit and also all three range valves had to be replaced as they were all leaking.

This trip the water heater worked once the first day and has not worked since. Can't get it to ignite. Now it is back to the service shop yet again. I am getting tired of all the problems and all the time it has to be in the shop. It is bad enough to have the recurring problems but worse when you count on something working and it doesn't. The coach is only 18 months old and we have only used it seven times.

[Joe-K]

You're comments are being heard more and more often. It seems that the campers are all being produced with "issues" that take numerous trips to work out. You would think that at the price of the rigs, they could be produced with better quality control.

On the plus side though, at least your issues have been component related and hopefully your dealer can get to the root cause of the problems. Seeing you had a couple propane appliance related issues, I was curious if they've dived in deeper to see if there is an underlying issue.

As an example, if you have a bad propane regulator and excessive gas pressue, would that cause the oven not to light? to large of a flame or a mis-adjustment of the burner on the water heater can burn out the high temp fuse on the water heater and cause it to quit also.

Good luck in the repairs.

[Moder2]

Personally I think the problem truely roots in the heart ofthe RV Industry itself, not really with each manufacturers. I have not gone through the Winnie tour yet but have been on several other tours. One of the first "brags" we have noticed from most of the factories we have tour'd is from what background the CEO and senior management is. I have been very suprized that most come from some sort of mmanufactured housing background. Maybe that is the problem here? Granted that industry has gone through some major cleanup over the years, but historically has been known to put some real nightmares into peoples lives.

I think getting someone from an automotive persective would be a good thing. Higher qaulity control, better focus on what the dealers are doing, and much more competition seems to help the auto sector, some logic and experience from there may help the RV industry?

Granted people have problems with new cars, but based on the the ratio volume of sales/warrrrentee claims I would be very suprized if the RV industry had a "better" ratio that the auto makers did.

Just a random thought?


John

[AFChap]

BigRedLancer

It does take several uses to get all the bugs out ...and regualar use to keep them out after that!

Your water heater problem sounds like the thermal cut-off. It's the little capacitor looking gizmo in a clear plastic sleeve you see when you open the WH door. They sell for under $20 in a 2 pak at most RV stores. They are very easy to replace. I always carry a spare. There is a known problem with a lack of ventilation that appears to cause the cut-off to blow. Winnebago has a "WH door kit" with two little rubber bumpers designed to maintain air space between the innner and outer doors. The kit wouldn't work on mine, but removing the rubber seal across the bottom of the outside door seems to have accomplished the same thing. I haven't blown one since I removed the bottom door seal.

[BigRedLancer]

I was showing my brother-in-law the problem with the water heater and he suggested that I try starting the water heater with the door open so he could take a look. It turns out that the water heater works fine if it has more "air" with the door open. With the heater running, and the door open, the heater ran fine. When we closed the door, the sound of the heater changed. It seemed to stutter like it was not getting enough oxygen. Since my water heater doesn't have an inner and outer door, I don't think the door fix will work.

Any suggestions?

[AFChap]

Maybe my explanation wasn't clear ... The inner door is the metal door held in place with the little round spring-loaded gizmo. The outer door is the fiberglass or metal piece painted to match the rest of the coach body. On '06 Winnebago coaches it is metal and has a slot or two cut in it to allow more air flow behind the outer door. I've never seen a "modern" Winnebago coach that doesn't have both inner & outer doors.

I bent the bottom of the inner metal door out a little in the middle to allow more air in the bottom. When I also removed the rubber seal at the bottome between the inner & outer doors, that allowed plenty of air to get in the bottom. I also know of an owner who used a dremmel tool to cut some of the side flange on each side of the inner metal door to create air holes. Atwood blames Winnebago and their use of outer door (but several other mfg's use and outer door also). Winnebago blames Atwood. Meanwhile, your water heater still doesn't work properly on LP. My research and attemps to fix led to to believe as you apparently do that the real problem is an Atwood problem ...the WH needs more air inside the inner metal door. Whatever you can do to facilitate the air flow will help.