Community Forums

Masch · 01-18-2016, 11:40 PM

New to the forum, have tried to post but it keeps deleting, I can only guess I try to type to much, so I will just sum up my Excel Experience. Bought a 2014 limited 34ike from RV sales new mexico, (great folks there). Peterson had to know they were going under, and put their garbage in my trailer. I will spare the history, but the washer did not work, 3 months to repair. the awning wont close completely, the brakes work sporadically, weld splatter on the slide rails causing the slide to bounce, generator did not work, front jacks raise when bedroom slide is operated, propane leak, rear jacks to short (have to use wood blocks), Dinette slide gasket torn. Some of this was repaired under warranty but Peterson did not pay, and the repair place wants me to cover it (I am no longer welcome there). Got some of it fixed, went out for a weekend trip and the refer caught fire. Flame bellowing from the top vent. I was able to put in out with two extinguishers, fire dept arrived and finished the job with hundreds of gallons of water. since then.. refer replaced, and interior fixed, outside fire damage repair delaminated twice. On the 3rd repair now, looks like it may hold. Awning replaced. Hydraulics bled and valves adjusted right, brakes still don't work but rewiring the entire system......and now I read the holding tanks cant hold and will fail, sad, $100k retirement trailer.....and we are surprise PI went under? The foundation of this trailer is awesome, and I am to deep into it to quit. I will get it back in service someday, oh yeah, I forgot, they did not caulk the slide outs and sent me a tube of caulk with a picture of where to caulk to avoid water damage, after I drove home in rain and snow.....Nice.

rockintom · 01-19-2016, 07:51 AM

Welcome to the forum. So sorry to hear your woes. Unfortunately, I've found that RVs in general are designed, engineered, and assembled poorly. I spent my career in the automotive industry and if did some of the things you see in RVs, we'd be out of business. Granted the RVs do have to go over some very rough road and beat themselves up, but that's not what I'm talking about. I, too, was very amazed of all the issues early on, but found out that every manufacturer have many of the same issues. Anyhow, I lowered my expectations and worked with the manufacturer and the vendors to get things repaired, etc. Fortunately, I do about 99% of my work so that helps some. Sad but true. I suggest you work with the vendors and the dealer to get things done or simply get out of RVing and find another hobby in retirement. You'd probably enjoy your retirement much more. Life is short. Please let us know how it's going. rockin'

JDT · 01-19-2016, 08:15 AM

Also, welcome to the forum. Since PI's demise the posts on this forum seem to have slowed down a lot and when one shows up it is usually not good. I am very sorry you are having the problems you are. I can only imagine your frustration. I agree with Tom that this "hobby" is not for the faint of heart. Also, problems are common to the industry, even the higher end stuff. I shudder at some of things I have read about individual units from the likes of Newmar, Winnebago, Entegra, DRV, etc. But sometimes things are just over the top and it appears yours falls in that category. All I can do is wish you well and hope it ends soon.

I almost hate to say this so not to jinx myself, but so far, after 4 seasons of using ours 3 to 4 months each and putting about 25K miles on it, all we have needed was a slide adjustment to bring the 2 large slides into square. There have been a few minor things like replacing the carbon monoxide and propane leak detectors but those are cheap fixes.

Good luck, and like Tom said, let us know how this turns out.

rockintom · 01-19-2016, 08:35 AM

Jim, I envy your ability to be so smooth and succinct. I've been amazed of how many folks that we've met on the road, that have issues and don't even recognize them. Then others, pick, pick, pick. No, I'm not naming these folks!

Masch · 01-19-2016, 02:00 PM

Thanks for the responses. Not RV'ing is not an option. My last 5th wheel, NASH, lasted 13 years with no major problems. It was about 8 feet shorter, learned something about tail swing, but that is another story! This one just had a poltergeist I think. With the information gleaned from here I believe I can do most the upkeep myself, and the insurance company covered the fire cost, sure they will go after Norcold. Thankfully it happen in the middle of the afternoon and we were all outside standing around. Anyway, when I have this trailer in a campground it sure gets a lot of looks, it is a awesome rig, I just need to have an exorcism. I will probably use the information from Rocken and try to reinforce those holding tanks as we do a lot of boon docking in the imperial sand dunes, and along the ocean.

JDT · 01-19-2016, 04:28 PM

The holding tanks are a new concern as I did have one of the straps break shortly after I got the Winslow. The dealer did some reinforcing with heavier straps but I need to revisit that, when it's warmer. No problems yet though. A couple of years ago I added an air ride system to the axles and bought an air ride hitch for the truck. These additions really improved the ride inside the truck and I'm sure in the Winslow also. At least things don't move around like they used to. I'm hoping it helps reduce any structural integrity issues and maybe help keep my holding tanks in place.

rockintom · 01-19-2016, 04:29 PM

Masch,

Just curious. Is your Norcold refer a 1200 model? Seems they are the one's that have the most thermo events!

I have a halon fire extinguisher on my Norcold 1095. rockin'

pcr1218 · 01-19-2016, 06:28 PM

Here is how I reinforced my tank straps.
I also added extra heavy duty straps outside the belly blanket but I didn't a chance to take pic's.
None of my original straps were broke but one screw head was popped off on one of the short straps on the gray tanks.

Masch · 01-20-2016, 02:51 PM

The refer was a N1095. Looked around the internet, doesn't seem to be a huge problem with that model number. no one wanted to guess as to what the cause was. seems the fire started about midway up.. I will look into adding the extinguisher for peace of mind. The holding tank straps look good. I am going to give it a go come summer time as well.

rockintom · 01-20-2016, 07:06 PM

Masch,

Mac, the fire guy, told me to mount my halon extinguisher as high in the refer compartment as refer fires usually are up high in that area. It may not look real pretty, but probably the most effective. He says most folks lay the thing flat and it takes too long to get hot enough to trigger the sensor on the extinguisher to activate. If late, a lot of damage could be already be done. Just FYI.

Masch · 01-22-2016, 08:24 PM

Tom,

Your fire guy seems right on, this fire was about midway up. The flames came out the top vent, this is where most the damage occurred. Did you just zip tie that extinguisher in the refer compartment? I apologize for the photo being upside down, I don't know why it wont load right, you will have to turn your monitor upside to see it correctly!! but you can see where the flames burnt the upper exterior, above the vent.

rockintom · 01-22-2016, 08:40 PM

Thanks Masch,

You have to have the pic correct on your computer prior to downloading into the website. I don't think a fire extinguisher would have helped you on this event. The fire was too high up.

I have my extinguisher zipped tie to the black pipes in the lower compartment. I sure would have like to do the investigation on your fire to determine the root cause. I did that kinda stuff in a earlier life. Very interesting. Bet the insurance company files subrogation on Norcold for this one. Especially since it happened so early in it's life. Just sayin'. rockin'

Max1 · 01-22-2016, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockintom

Thanks Masch,

Bet the insurance company files subrogation on Norcold for this one. Especially since it happened so early in it's life. Just sayin'. rockin'

Assuming Norcold was the cause of course and it is my hunch this sort of thing was the demise of PI.

Masch · 01-23-2016, 08:39 AM

I am sure someone will look into the cause, but doubt I will ever find out. They shrink wrapped the fridge once it was removed and the insurance co came and picked it up. There have been several theories, damaged coil during install, or during travels, saw dust in the vent from the original build, bad regulator, but with each theory comes a good reason why those would not be the cause, coil was new, saw dust would have ignited earlier (it was a year old at the time), refer has safety valves etc. The refer was replaced with a different model, but I don't think the old model was bad, as I have not heard of any other issues. The new refer is a three way, AC/Propane/battery, however they had to loop the battery to the propane because when it attempted to run off battery power it blew the fuse. The rig was never intended to run a refer off the battery and the wire is to thin...I am still looking into the halon extinguisher. May I can put one in the top vent area? In the end, I will just move on and trust it can not happen twice!