Renegade Villagio thoughts?

[CZNEDY]

It was the coach battery. It was about three years old and spent most of its life in the Florida sun in storage. Now we have the solar panel hooked up so it gets charged if I have it in storage. I used the disconnect, but I can't say for the previous owner or the dealer before we bought it.

Thanks

[sssteele]

We're headed out with the Villagio tomorrow morning, and we've been fooling around trying to get the Dometic fridge/freezer to chill so we can pack it up.

Never chilled it with gas before, but figured we'd give it a go. Followed the instructions, but no luck...every time we put it on the gas setting it seems to run for a few minutes but then shuts off. Yes, we have gas...even lit the stove to be sure.

What are we doing wrong? Please don't say call the dealer...they're helpless.

the Mrs.

[Grn_Mtn_Boy]

Stand outside next to the refrigerator access panel when you first try to light it. You should hear it clicking. That is the lp ignitor trying to lite the flame. Will go for 20 sec or so then stop. Sometimes mine takes a couple of trys before the gas makes it to the orifice. Recycle the fridge a couple more times, if no go, open the access panel and look for something blocking the gas orifice. If the fridge doesn't click, something is wrong with the electronics. Hope this helps.
Len

[glenbaker]

Originally Posted by Grn_Mtn_Boy

Glen:
Something is definitely wrong with your batteries. I have dry camped through the night, using lights, TV, heater and I am amazed that when checking in the AM I still have 12.5 or 12.6 on the batteries. You either have some sort of power drain that is a short or your batteries are failing. I would start by testing the batteries with a good load tester.
When RV is stored, how to you handle the batteries?

I just went out to the rig and pulled the battery so that I could load test it. Strangely enough it does NOT seem to be a deep cycle battery. It's a Varta 9823308 (100 Ah). Nowhere does it say deep cycle, and as far as the Google tells me this appears to be a "starter battery" (not my words, found on the web).

What battery did some of you other Villagio owners get with your rig? Seems to me that this may be the reason that dry camping for one night is more than my brand new rig can handle...

[CZNEDY]

Hi Glen,

My 2014 had the same battery. I spoke with one of the techs from Renegade and they told me that Mercedes had recommended that their battery would be sufficient. I think that Renegade now uses an AGM battery instead. There are a number of sufficient replacements out there.

I had two signs that ours was going. The first sign is the steps not coming down when you open the door. If you are plugged into shore power the steps work fine, but disconnected and dead battery equals no steps coming down.

The second sign was the constant over charging and heat coming from the battery. I had to disconnect it on a recent camping trip.


CW carries an exile battery that fits. I tried them when my battery died. They didn't have it in stock so I went to the local Interstate store and they replaced the battery for $280.00. There are plenty of replacements that have the same case and dimensions.

Good luck,

[Grn_Mtn_Boy]

I was going to ask if you were looking at the coach battery or chassis, but above post definitely answers that. You are right, a starter battery is not good for deep cycle work. I would replace that with a good AGM pair if you can fit them in. Then replace the stock charger with a good multi stage charger that can be set for that specific battery type. Add a temp sensor if you like. Is your battery in the cargo box just behind drivers door, like mine ?

[Grn_Mtn_Boy]

On another Villagio topic. I am in the market for new outer dually wheels for my coach. The friction fit hubcap with airlines attached is a disaster waiting to happen. Any ideas?

[glenbaker]

Originally Posted by Grn_Mtn_Boy

I was going to ask if you were looking at the coach battery or chassis, but above post definitely answers that. You are right, a starter battery is not good for deep cycle work. I would replace that with a good AGM pair if you can fit them in. Then replace the stock charger with a good multi stage charger that can be set for that specific battery type. Add a temp sensor if you like. Is your battery in the cargo box just behind drivers door, like mine ?

Hi Len,

On my rig the coach battery is actually in the engine compartment. I just got off the phone with Renegade and he confirmed that on the orginal units (mine is a 2014 coach, 2015 build, puchased in 2016) Mercedes recommended that battery for the coach. Renegade has since decided that they don't like it and have made several changes. They moved the coach battery to the cargo compartment on the driver's side and now use two 100 Ah batteries instead of the single 100 Ah battery that's in our unit. This is not a trivial move, it required beefing up the underside of the compartment to carry the load of the battery and adding a welded separation panel (it too carries some of the load).

I'm going to replace the battery I've got with a proper deep cycle battery, and even the Renegade guy said "yeah, to be honest all of my batteries at home are from Walmart" so I think I'll head that way today!

[Grn_Mtn_Boy]

I see. There are certain advantages to having the battery in the engine compartment, though not having space for two is a drawback. I would get the biggest capacity agm I could fit in there. Can never have to much juice. A fan or heater running all night will kill even mine with 2 batteries. Good luck with the fix.

[JimGraves]

Issue With Filling With Fresh Water

This may be an attack of the dumbs on my part but I can't for the life of me get the Fresh Water Valve to turn around to the tank fill position. It almost seems like it is frozen in place. I tried turning it, pressing down and turning, lifting and turning and got no movement out of it at all. As a consequence when I turn on the water it of course just dumps out on the ground.

Is this an attack of the dumbs or is there a chance the thing is broken?

On another issue has anyone else had a problem with the LED lights in the cabin area going out? About half of mine only lasted about 6 weeks. Have not been on the road since March but use the Villagio every day around town but just have not needed the lights enough to deal with it. Any one know of a good source on the Internet for those LEDs?

Has anyone out there had to purchase additional paint for a repair? I had a little adventure in a gusting wind which resulted in the door retaining slide spring breaking (since replaced with a heavy duty one) and the door flying back against the right side camera. That put a nice hole in the door, Have patched that but I need to paint the damaged area and those little touch up paint samples they provide are not large enough for the air compressor paint guns available around here. Need about a quart each of the three paints in the Cafe scheme.

Anybody out there installed after market solar? I am giving that some serious thought and wondered if there are any quirks to be aware of.

Jim 15 QRS, Boulder, Colorado

[Grn_Mtn_Boy]

Water valve issue sounds strange. Only time water dumps on the ground from mine is when it is full. Valve turns easily enough, a little harder to turn if there is pressure on it from the hose. Never a problem with led lights. May be a wiring Issue? Hard to believe a bunch of them going out. For paint, my local auto paint Store does a great job color matching. Bring the sample, also bring the paint code, they can get the formula from that. Have them put it in a rattle can for you, very handy for a small area. Good luck

[sssteele]

Not happy campers. Just completed a 7 week trip to the West Coast and back to PA. Air conditioner failed after a week (Coleman Airexcel). 2 of 3 mounts broke, so vibration is shutting compressor down as soon as it starts up. Paid mobile RV guy $120 for that diagnosis, AC is under warranty until October, but the warranty states that if the problem is caused by vibration (rough roads), the problem is not covered. $1800 out of pocket?

[sctucker]

Does the slide have to be all the way out to fold out the HAB? I'd prefer not to have to open the slide for quick stops to take a nap.

[leber8tr]

The HAB may be used with the slide partially extended.