Used Blackstone

[AB7R]

We will be looking at a nice condition 2013 Blackstone 280rksb this weekend. I think i should be able to get it for $25k. It has most options i believe....including the dreaded tankless water heater. Should i run away from that? I understand most folks have problems with them. Has anyone NOT had problems with them? If i need to retrofit, what kind of cost can i expect? Im not too terribly far from the factory (im 60 miles north of Seattle).

We plan to use this for nice wx camping and then later for some extended trips.....maybe 2 to 3 months at a time or more after i retire in another 3 years. Then we will sell everything and probably go to a 5th wheel full time. TV is a dodge 3500 dually.

Thanks
Greg

[CrossCountryNomad]

We have a 2012 Phaeton with the Precision Temp Tankless water heater model 500. We had a few issues with in when we purchased the Phaeton used in 2013.

I found out from Gary at Precision Temp that during that timeframe they switched supplies of the thermistors for these units and received faulty thermistors from them. I replaced two thermistors and all has been fine since then. That was over two years ago.

I would not hesitate to own another RV with a tankless water heater. They work great, they're quiet and you have endless amounts of hot water. At least until you run out of propane.

[Lac]

Originally Posted by AB7R

We will be looking at a nice condition 2013 Blackstone 280rksb this weekend. I think i should be able to get it for $25k. It has most options i believe....including the dreaded tankless water heater. Should i run away from that? I understand most folks have problems with them. Has anyone NOT had problems with them? If i need to retrofit, what kind of cost can i expect? Im not too terribly far from the factory (im 60 miles north of Seattle).

We plan to use this for nice wx camping and then later for some extended trips.....maybe 2 to 3 months at a time or more after i retire in another 3 years. Then we will sell everything and probably go to a 5th wheel full time. TV is a dodge 3500 dually.

Thanks
Greg

We had a Gerard tankless hot water tank version 1 and version 2 in our 2013 Windriver. It was noisy, not instant hot water due to the distant to our faucet. couldn't control water temperature. Only runs on propane,so if your paying for electricity at a campground you can't use the electricity to heat the water. Outdoors RV doesn't install them any more.
Ours was replaced by ORV, at no charge, with a tank type at their factory.

Some people like the tankless system. My only experience has been with the Gerard and it didn't meet our needs.

[jtbuilds]

Originally Posted by AB7R

We will be looking at a nice condition 2013 Blackstone 280rksb this weekend. I think i should be able to get it for $25k. It has most options i believe....including the dreaded tankless water heater. Should i run away from that? I understand most folks have problems with them. Has anyone NOT had problems with them? If i need to retrofit, what kind of cost can i expect? Im not too terribly far from the factory (im 60 miles north of Seattle).

We plan to use this for nice wx camping and then later for some extended trips.....maybe 2 to 3 months at a time or more after i retire in another 3 years. Then we will sell everything and probably go to a 5th wheel full time. TV is a dodge 3500 dually.

Thanks
Greg

Why not save a step and get the 5th now? There are loads of good used 5ths around.

[AB7R]

Because ive not found what i want yet. Almost had a nice 2011 cameo but the guy decided to sell to somemkone else after we made a deal. We are not ready to full time for a while yet and i think a TT will get into some of the state parks a little easier. But if the right one came along....

[jtbuilds]

Originally Posted by AB7R

Because ive not found what i want yet. Almost had a nice 2011 cameo but the guy decided to sell to somemkone else after we made a deal. We are not ready to full time for a while yet and i think a TT will get into some of the state parks a little easier. But if the right one came along....

We may have bought the Cameo you had a deal on. A 34SB3 that was in Ferndale WA. We bought it in Sept.

[AB7R]

The Cameo we were going to get was down near Battleground WA.

Looked at the 280rks today. Inside looked very nice....had table and chairs though i prefer the dinette set up. While checking the outside i first examined the calking around windows a trim pieces.....much of the calking needs to be redone. Not terrible. Next i examined the walls by pressing against them all along the full length. Owner had no idea what i was doing and thought i was kookie. Then on the right side a little behind the large window when i pressed the side it pressed in and then popped out....just the fiberglass skin. You can tell an area of about 9 sq ft was delaminated. The rest of the walls were solid.
When examining the roof i found a small area of the roof seam by the awning that was not sealed correctly and seem like it was allowing water intrusion....this was directly above where the delamination was evident.

Other than this problem its a nice rig but not worth spending $26k for a rig with apparent issues like this.

Starting to think about something new......i wouls ad a pic if i could figure out how.

[AB7R]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s8aftoiztr...01911.jpg?dl=0

[AB7R]

Well.....Had some great conversation with Darren at ORV. He helped a lot. Suggested speaking with Dave at Service to see about how much it would cost to do a repair on the wall. I called and left numerous messages.....used the web app tool to leave messages. Seems like the ORV service just does not like to respond at all. Starting to think I should be thinking of a different brand.

[Super Thirty]

I have emailed ORV several times and they have been quick to respond and very helpful. I just used the email on their site.

[AB7R]

Thanks...I'll try that.