Reviews of 2013 Reyo T (Same as Via)

[Oldedit]

I previously posted this over at the Winnebago section on RVforum.net. Hope it's ok to cross post it here. I'm trying to help people evaluate the Reyo and learn from our experiences.


After having many doubts about the wisdom of buying anything in this political economic environment, much less a Winnebago product, we went out and traded our 2006 Roadtrek Adventurous Mercedes Sprinter van for a 2013 Itasca Reyo T model, which is a small class A on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis.

Why?

We wanted the added living space that the Reyo offers while letting us stay with the Mercedes Sprinter chassis.

After driving the Winnebago class A Vista 26p, the Thor Ace 29.2, the Leisure Travel Unity with the murphy bed, a Leisure Travel Ford C with a murphy bed, a Jayco Seneca 36' and a Holiday Rambler diesel 34', we went back to the dealer and drove a 2013 Reyo.

We were surprised at how much better the 2013 felt and drove than a 2011 Reyo T we drove last winter. As much as we liked the 2006 and 2008 Jaco Senecas we drove, we liked the Reyo better even though it cost more because it was new.

We're planning to drive to Alaska next year, and given the cold and rainy nights that you can experience on such a trip, we just wanted a more comfortable place to hang out when the weather is not so good for biking and hiking, etc. That the unit doesn't require a toad and offers more convenient storage inside and out helped make the sale even though we don't plan to haul a lot of stuff.

Our unit has all of the options but a bed over the cockpit and levelers.

2013 Reyo T, CO. Upsized from 2006 Roadtrek Adventurous Sprinter Van Conversion.

[Oldedit]

After our first two nights of camping in the Reyo, here are my first impressions:

1. Drives almost as well as the 2006 Roadtrek. The Reyo is heavier and doesn't have the pickup that the Roadtrek has. It takes I-70 through the Eisenhower tunnel slower, but it's fine tooling down from the tunnel West-bound in 3rd gear.

2. Nice upgrade in space and overall comfort. There's actually room for me to do the dishes now. Bath/shower is just big enough to use comfortably. Storage inside and out is just right for the two of us, although we haven't put everything in it's place yet.

3. Took awhile to figure out how to turn the water on in the kitchen and bath. Up and down for hot and cold. Pull the lever horizontally for water. Obvious but we wasted too much time on that one.

4. Broadcast TV in Ft. Collins is either very limited or I haven't figured out how to use the antenna yet. Played with the thing for 15 minutes and gave up. Not too important. Haven't tested cable TV yet.

5. Getting ready to go takes much longer than in the B van, which needed all of five minutes. In the Roadtrek B we never filled the water tank. We did on this trip, and that meant we had to drain the tank before taking off. The Roadtrek has only one exterior storage cabinet, which you access through the rear doors. The Reyo has 5 or 6, and they all have to be checked and locked. Dumping with a Macerator in the Roadtrek is quicker than the Winnebago dump, which takes about 10 minutes until you master the system. Winnebago gives you one, short hose without a fixture for the dump.

6. DW drove the 125 to 130 miles home, including through heavy Denver traffic and up and down the steep mountain I-70. She also navigated our steep driveway and barely missed the deck on the house. She loves driving the Reyo just as she loved driving the Roadtrek.

7. Outside mirrors are wonderful. But the one on the right came loose. Since we were passing the dealer on the way home, we got the screws tightened about 40 minutes after the problem appeared. Thanks, Trans West.

8. The Reyo has three or four places where you check breakers and fuses. I wish the manual mapped them out and listed the fuses in each location.

9. The house manual is clear, a little short on details and illustrations or links to film demos that could be posted on YouTube or the Itasca web site. A big thick manual for all of the appliances is provided, and those of us who use it will have a lot better time than those who don't.

10. A couple of mystery warning beeps puzzled our walk through tech and later us. One was related to the park lever, and it appears the other was related to the GPS system.

11. It took awhile to figure out how to set the GPS system to get rid of the nag, "Loretta."

12. I'm amazed that the fridge has to be within half a bubble on the level, which is supposed to be checked at the bottom of the refrigerator. Why do you have to be so level when parked while you can run the unit while driving over hill and dale?

13. The windows are easy to open and close. Also important for those of us planning trips to Alaska where the sun seldom sits at night, the night shades allow you to totally black out the windows before you turn in. We plan to make a black out privacy curtain for the end of the bed.

14. In the model T, a ladder is provided for those who climb into the queen/king bed instead of one of the twins. The steps on the ladder are unfriendly to bare feet. Fortunately, we had a small folded stool that we could use instead of the ladder, which has been sentenced to solitary confinement in a dark, cold closet at home.

15. The swivel front seats are comfortable but a PITA. They're poorly designed and difficult for old folks to use, I'm thinking after listening to DW give them a piece of her earthy mind.

16. Because the "house" is heavy on the Reyo, it only has about 1,350 lb. of cargo carrying capacity. I think we can live with that but won't know until we weight the rig fully loaded.

17. The air conditioner is quiet enough for this light sleeper, so far. Haven't tested the furnace.

18. We got several tourists at the Ft. Collins KOA and at a party. Everyone seemed to really like the Reyo T.

19. We're withholding judgment on the interior cabinet doors, which have hydraulic laches that promise to work better than the light latches we had in the Roadtrek and saw on the non Winnebago products we inspected. We'll put rubber mats and bars in the cabinets to help stuff stay put when we're on the road.

20. The 2013 Reyo's LED lights are great.

21. There are three separate keys for the exterior cabinets, which is another pain.

[Oldedit]

We just completed our first long trip—4,500 miles in just under five weeks from Denver area to Detroit area, Soo Locks, Green Bay, St. Paul, Sioux Falls, Custer, Casper and home.

We're very happy that we bought the 2013 Reyo T. It's a great drive, good fuel economy, nice hotel, decent kitchen and plenty of storage. I can carry three to four bikes if I remove the front wheels and seats. Took one this trip. Rode it once.

At this point, we have only a couple of minor punch list items and maybe one big one if the Flexsteel swivel seats don't stop groaning. We're testing dry lubricants on the spring next to the foot lever that lets you raise and lower the seats before swiveling them. Too cheap locks have been an annoyance and one will be replaced in a couple of weeks.

Mileage ranged from 16 to 18 from Denver to Omaha while we ran down the mountains before nice tail winds. Across Iowa, Illinois and Michigan, we got 14.5 to 15.5 mpg, depending on speed, wind and idling times. When we headed west, mileage dropped, especially in the face of strong winds across SD where we got 13.2 mpg at 58 - 60 mph. Generally, we drove 60 to 67 but sometimes did 70 and even a bit higher where the winds were minimal.

Broadcast and cable TV work great. Haven't hooked up the Direct TV, yet.

Hooking up utilities takes only 5 to 10 minutes. Unhooking takes 10 to 15 minutes, including dumping, which is very easy.

We used the air conditioner only 2 or 3 nights. It's noisy for this light sleeper. But it works fine.

The furnace (on electric) also is noisy and cycles on an off too often for us. So we use a small room heater, which we set on a table or the kitchen counter when outside temps are around 40 to 50. We often didn't setup the heater and woke in the morning with inside temps of 50 or so. It didn't take the furnace and heater long to make things comfy.

A table comes with the Reyo. It can be setup in front of the sofa or the swiveled front seats. We used it once and then settle for a light folding table that is a bit smaller but much easier to handle.

We found the bathroom to be roomy enough as long as we didn't use a pretty roomy shower. We showered in the campgrounds' facilities so we wouldn't have to worry about mopping up shower water.

After 2.5 years of camping in our Roadtrek Adventurous, which also is on a great Mercedes Sprinter diesel chassis, we trave relatively light. So storage is more than adequate even though we carried both summer and fall clothing and lots of shoes and boots.

One big benefit of driving a 25-footer is that you don't have to invest $5,000 in levelers. You just move the vehicle around the pad until you're relatively level. Perfect isn't necessary. We put plastic leveling blocks under the wheels at two campgrounds. I recommend carrying at least 10 of the blocks and now carry 18.

If you read the manuals cover to cover, especially the summary manual provided by the manufacturer, camping in the Reyo is pretty easy and simple.

What this trip proved to us is that the Reyo T will be a good ride to Alaska next year. We're happy campers—so far.

[DAN L]

regarding item 12 in your first post: ''why does the fridge need to be level when parked'', check this resource.

http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm

[Oldedit]

We're in Homer, AK, with about 10,800 miles on our 2013 Reyo (T model). Over the first 10k miles, the odometer tells us, we averaged 15.1 mpg. But because speed limits in Yellowstone north through Alaska are mostly 55 to 60 mph, we're averaging about 16 to 17 mpg, sometimes hitting 18 and even 20.

While all the good things I've had to say about the Reyo/Via stand, the one pain is that I have to unmake and remake the king-sized bed every day. But that's a small price to pay for having a motorhome that is fun to drive, a great place to live for three months and attracts a fair amount of attention from fellow campers.

As we hoped, the Reyo is both a great driver and a wonderful place to hang out in good weather and bad. The shades black out very well in the bedroom area. Because we wear masks when we hit our pillows, the light that comes through the curtains over the windshield don't bother us. DW made a blackout curtain for the sleeping area, but we've never used it even though sunset is about midnight up here.

DW has installed our tea kettle in the cabinet above the fridge. Unfortunately, she used a couple of compression bars inside the door to keep stuff from sliding out while we're driving. I think she put the bars too close to the door. That caused one of the hinges to pull loose. Liquid Nails failed me. I'll figure out a new fix after we get home.

Another minor problem has been the hoses that feed washer fluids to the windshield wipers. The hoses grew brittle and broke when I pulled the wipers out to clean the window. Auto Zone in Eagle, AK, had replacement tubes at about $1 a foot. With help from DW and some dish detergent to make it easier to install the new hose, we got the problem fixed on the driver's side. The passenger's side still is making do with Duck tape.

DW's long journal posts on our three-month trip are in the trips forum at reform.net. I'm keeping a shorter journal there, too, but I'm not updating it very often.

[Izzyblueye]

Very nice review. I like the way you addressed the small things as well as most of the major items. I am wondering why you do not acquire a windshield cover to cut down on light and help with cooling.

[Bruce C]

Very nice review.

[Oldedit]

Originally Posted by Izzyblueye

Very nice review. I like the way you addressed the small things as well as most of the major items. I am wondering why you do not acquire a windshield cover to cut down on light and help with cooling.

Today, we washed the Reyo for the 2nd time on the trip. Sure looks good. Especially from 10 or 15 ft. where you can't see where I missed a couple of spots.

Bruce and Izzy, I'm glad you like my reviews. Our journals are at RVforum.net. Search Alaska.

[Oldedit]

Originally Posted by DAN L

regarding item 12 in your first post: ''why does the fridge need to be level when parked'', check this resource.

http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Trouble/cooldoc.htm

Dan,

Is rvmobile.com still in biz? The link is broken.

However, last year, there was a long discussion about leveling refrigerators on the Reyo/Via Yahoo group. My takeaway is that if you're within 3 degrees of level, you're ok. The owner's manual says you're ok if the occupants feel the unit is level.

We've taken to putting two or three plastic blocks under the front wheels to make the unit perfectly level. Often, we don't have to use the blocks.

Don

[Dgcarver]

Funny about the washer hose. I replaced the hoses on my 2011 Vista 26P last spring also because they became brittle and broke. Simple fix, but it's strange that they failed so fast. Maybe Winnebago purchased them from China!

[DAN L]

Originally Posted by Oldedit

Dan,

Is rvmobile.com still in biz? The link is broken.

However, last year, there was a long discussion about leveling refrigerators on the Reyo/Via Yahoo group. My takeaway is that if you're within 3 degrees of level, you're ok. The owner's manual says you're ok if the occupants feel the unit is level.

We've taken to putting two or three plastic blocks under the front wheels to make the unit perfectly level. Often, we don't have to use the blocks.

Don

i cannot get the link to work either. too bad, this was an excellent resource.

[DAN L]

Originally Posted by DAN L

i cannot get the link to work either. too bad, this was an excellent resource.

i found this in a file on my desktop, no graphics.

Cooling Unit (How it works)

Click here for bigger graphic (49k).

The graphic below represents a cooling unit in full operation. There's a lot to cover here, so you might consider printing this page and going to the bigger graphic to follow along. The graphic may seem a little confusing at first, because quite a few things are happening at once. But, when broken down to a section at a time, it is a fairly simple system.



Boiler. A precise heat (electric heat element or gas flame) is applied to the boiler to begin operation. Heat is transferred from the outer shell of the boiler through the weak ammonia solution to the perk tube. This style of boiler is referred to as the "new" style boiler. The "old" style boiler had the heat element holder and chimney connected directly to the perk tube, without the benefit of the outer shell to slow (not prevent) over heating in situations like being run out of level.

The perk tube is provided with a rich ammonia solution (a high percentage of ammonia to water) from the absorber tank. When heated, the ammonia in the rich ammonia solution begins to vaporize (sooner than the water would) creating bubbles and a percolating effect. The ammonia vapor pushes the now weakening solution up and out of the perk tube. The ammonia vapor (gas) leaving the perk tube goes upward towards the top of the cooling unit, passing through the rectifier. The rectifier is just a slightly cooler section of pipe that causes water that might have vaporized to condense and drop back down. The water separator at the top of the cooling unit (only on some models) prevents any water that might have escaped the rectifier to condense and fall back. After this point, pure ammonia vapor is delivered to the condenser.

Meanwhile, back at the perk tube, the weaker solution expelled from the perk tube by the ammonia vapor drops into the weak ammonia solution surrounding the perk tube. Here, a little more ammonia vapor is generated and rises. The weak ammonia solution flows down ward and through the outer shell of the liquid heat exchanger, where heat is transferred to the rich ammonia solution on its way to the perk tube. The weak ammonia solution then flows to the top of the absorber coils and enters at a cooler temperature.

Condenser. Ammonia vapor enters the condenser where it is cooled by air passing through the metal fins of the condenser. The cooling effect of the condenser coupled with a series of step downs in pipe size forces the ammonia vapor into a liquid state, where it enters the evaporator section.

Evaporator. Liquid ammonia enters the low temperature evaporator (freezer) and trickles down the pipe, wetting the walls. Hydrogen, supplied through the inner pipe of the evaporator, passes over the wetted walls, causing the liquid ammonia to evaporate into the hydrogen atmosphere at an initial temperature of around -20º F. The evaporation of the ammonia extracts heat from the freezer. At the beginning stages, the pressure of the hydrogen is around 350 psi (pounds per square inch), while the pressure of the liquid ammonia is near 14 psi. As the ammonia evaporates and continues to trickle down the tube, its pressure and therefore its evaporation temperature rise.

The liquid ammonia entering the high temperature evaporator (refrigerator portion) is around 44 psi, while the pressure of the hydrogen has dropped to 325. Under these conditions, the evaporation temperature of the liquid ammonia is +15º F. Heat is removed from the refrigerator box through the fins attached to the high temperature evaporator. The ammonia vapor created by the evaporation of the liquid ammonia mixes with the already present hydrogen vapor, making it heavier. Since the ammonia and hydrogen vapor mixture is heavier than the purer hydrogen, it drops down through the evaporators, through the return tube to the absorber tank.

Absorber. When the ammonia and hydrogen vapor mixture enters the absorber tank through the return tube, much of the ammonia vapor is absorbed into the surface of the rich ammonia solution, which occupies the lower half of the tank. Now lighter, the ammonia and hydrogen mixture (now with less ammonia) begins to rise up the absorber coils. The weak ammonia solution trickling down the absorber coils from the top (generated by the boiler) is "hungry" for the ammonia vapor rising up the absorber coils with the hydrogen. This weak ammonia solution eventually absorbs all the ammonia from the ammonia and hydrogen mixture as it rises, allowing pure hydrogen to rise up the inner pipe of the evaporator section and once again do its job of passing over the wetted walls of the evaporator. The absorption process in the absorber section generates heat, which is dissipated.

The Fuse. The fuse on many cooling units and in this graphic is a steel tube, the end of which is filled with solder. On many Dometics, the fuse is built into the charge plug located at the absorber tank. The plug is hollow and filled with solder. In either case, the fuse is the weak link of the system. If pressure inside the cooling unit were to rise beyond a reasonable level for some reason, the fuse is designed to blow and release the pressure. This would make the cooling unit inoperable, but is necessary for safety.

Out of Level. If the cooling unit is operated in a stationary, out of level position (on any heat source), it will eventually become permanently damaged. Before we go any further, there is one more ingredient inside the cooling unit: sodium chromate. The ammonia solution inside the cooling unit is a mild corrosive, and sodium chromate is mixed with the ammonia solution (ammonia and water) to neutralize the corrosive effects of the solution, protecting the inner pipes of the cooling unit.

Since the cooling unit depends greatly on the effects of gravity for moving the liquids and gases inside, running it off level and stationary causes these liquids and gases to collect in unwanted areas and not be recycled back to the boiler. The liquid level inside the boiler begins to drop and become weaker. Eventually, the water in the ammonia solution begins to vaporize with the ammonia and leave the boiler. At some point, the boiler becomes dry and the temperature rises rapidly inside. The sodium chromate which was once in solution with the ammonia solution is left behind and begins to burn and permanently change state from a powder into a sort of sludge that will eventually plug the perk tube. If left to cook long enough, the sodium chromate will become as hard as steel. If the cooling unit were "saved" from this out of level condition by being leveled, or the heat source turned off, any sodium chromate that had changed state would not return to a powder in solution with the ammonia solution. This makes it possible to ruin a cooling unit a little at a time.

The new style boiler (see above) helps to prevent this cooking of the sodium chromate, but it can still happen. More often than not, however, the liquid inside the outer shell of the boiler vaporizes, causing the pipe that makes up the outer shell to become super heated and crack, thus ruining the cooling unit. So, although the double boiler effect of the new style boiler may help prevent the perk tube from becoming plugged, it only gives the user a little more time to recognize and correct a problem.

When traveling down the road, the liquids and gases inside the cooling unit are sloshed around and don't collect in unwanted areas, making it all right to travel with the refrigerator on.


Home
www.rvmobile.com

[Oldedit]

Dan,

Thanks for the post on leveling refrigerators.

One question: Is this as important for short stays of a few days as for full timers who park in one place for weeks and months?

Don

[Oldedit]

A year and almost 12k miles after buying our 2013 Itasca Reyo (Model T), we turned on the hot water heater and tried out the shower. Love it!

Has anyone seen a good, clear description about how the hot water heater in a Winnebago product works and how to maintain it? The manuals from the hot water heater and Winnebago leave much to be desired.

1. I filled a gallon water bottle to see how much time it takes at our Ocean View RV park in Haines, AK. About 58 seconds.

2. The fresh water tank is 28 gal, the hot water tank, which apparently fills from the fresh water tank, is 6 gal.

3. So to put 15 gal in the tanks, fill for 15 minutes? Well, the tank monitor went from 1/3 to 2/3 in about 4 min. And after my shower, it went back to 1/3.

4. We're heating with electricity, but we can heat with LP or with both to get a quick recovery in the amount of hot water after we use some.

5. The instructions for winterizing are detailed and daunting, imho. What a hassle.

Thoughts?