Shakedown Cruise 2013 Aspire 42DEQ

[wmpbauer]

Finally departed Lazy Days Tampa for first leg of 6 week shakedown cruise. 1000 Trails Orlando.

[JohnRR]

Even from a distance that looks great.

[CLIFFTALL]

Congrats. Best of luck.

Cliff

[DSL417]

Welcome to the Entegra crowd and congratulations on a great coach acquisition.

Your new baby looks great.

[Medico]

Very nice, congrats? Looks good. A couple inside shots would be nice as well.

[Kro1957]

Very nice looking rig!!
Safe travels and enjoy!!

[wmpbauer]

Well, back to LD.
1. Electric toilet issue(Thetford Silent+......will not hold water. Flushes normally, After the flush cycle completes, bowl refills to normal level. Then leaks out to its lowest level.
2. Had trouble getting Airbags inflated. Had to cycle jacks and tag dump. Sounded like the tag dump valve was stuck in the open position. After several cycles, they inflated.
3. Bottom right-hand drawer in the galley will not stay closed.
4. Latch on the sliding L part of the L-shaped couch will not lock for travel in closed position.

[hogdriver]

Bauer

If you have a DEQ like mine the bottom right drawer is probably hitting that big bundle of wires and hoses that move with the slideout to feed the kitchen equipment. My bundle was poorly secured and ended up pinching the drain hose causing a messy leak. I did a tempo fix with swimming pool hose and later got a warranty repair. Those wires and hoses under the drawer are tricky.

[wmpbauer]

Left Lazy Days Thursday with my issues addressed. The toilet had a kink in it. Tech opened the hole in the floor a bit and now the commode works properly.

Got on the interstate I-4 toward Orlando. Trapped in right lane with heavy traffic to immediate Left and crowded from behind, some idiot merging slowly.....waiting for me to "let him in" decides at the very last second that he has to scramble in front by running off onto the berm, passing my coach on the right. Of course, he kicked up a big chunk of dead tire casing right into the Diamond Shield, gouging a big scar in the coating and scratching into the paint.

So now my baby has a mess on the right front corner..lazy days will get it Upon our return.

[hogdriver]

Bauer

Sorry to hear about your bite from a "road gator". These Orlando drivers are special. Since nobody is from Florida they learn to drive in whatever state or country they are from and road rage is an every day thing for them.

[darcan]

Wow, great-looking coach. Congratulations. Sorry to hear about the road incident. That really sucks. Hope the rest of your trip goes smooth as silk and nothing but good times! Enjoy.

[HHg]

Nice coach.....wishing you many happy, trouble free miles !

Hhg

[wmpbauer]

Well, it's time to post an update. We've been traveling now for about 6 weeks.

The new Aspire has performed beautifully. Possibly the best thing coming out of the trip is a degree of peace of mind. For the most part, the equipment has performed a advertised.

We discovered that the wind sensor will actually close the awning...sometimes it worked for days in a row! Now if we just could have it learn to deploy the awning when the wind stops blowing...

We found out that our door won't stay open, even if we want it to...

We found a campground that we couldn't get into....well, we could drive through (very, VERY carefully), but the sites were so small and so sloped that our coach didn't fit in any of them! After much maneuvering, we escaped unscathed...

We found wineries...

We discovered that the vanity sinks empty into the black tank. Entegra says that helps to evacuate the sludge from the black tank by adding additional water, but that really doesn't help if you have the electric toilet as the DEQ does. When dry camping (with the electric toilet) our length of stay is limited by how quickly the black tank fills up. So we won't be using the vanity sinks much...

We discovered the tank flush sprayers are ineffective or misdirected. It takes about 30 minutes and about 30+ gallons of water to actually clean the black tank. Finally did figure out a way to backflush the black tank. Make sure the gray tank is full. Drain and flush the black tank completely. With the black tank valve open, begin to drain the gray tank. Close the gray tank valve after 5 seconds. The force of the gray tank backflushes into the black tank and the turbulence will loosen sludge from the bottom of the black tank. You can do that a couple of times, but save enough gray water to flush your hose.

We discovered the roller shades are kinda tricky...especially the night shades...DW's not happy, but not actually rebellious like when we had accordion shades, so we can probably survive...

We found more wineries...

We discovered after about 10 trips up and down the stairs, Tess (the older Yorkie) has decided that she needs to be carried. Now it will de a test of wills...

We discovered that its impossible to adjust the thermostats in the three zones, whether heating or cooling...

We discovered that DH has a hard time remembering that you need to stow the jacks before you stow the the slides. DW however, is not shy about intervening in a timely manner...

We found fishes...little teeny tiny ones...

We discovered that dirt tracks into this coach just like all the others. DW thought Entegra was going to solve that issue...?

We discovered that Entegra makes a pretty terrific coach and DW still loves it after 6 weeks...still loves DH too......and he, her...Happy Anniversary!

[JohnRR]

Thank you for the update.