Renegade Vienna / Villagio Owners

[Putter1]

OK Onemorexit here we go....
The sofa bed is adequate. We bought some foam and simply slid it under the plastic straps to add some support, especially in the middle part where the "rear end" lands! Very easy to do and added enough support to make the HAB more than comfortable!
As far as the "leveling system" it is very easy to use. Make sure you program it, what they call the "null" so that when you hit the button it actually levels the coach. That requires a level and some manual pressing of the buttons to get the coach absolutely level. It will then level itself by simply depressing one button. Easy as can be!
We had the standard Atwood hot water heater switched out and replaced with a the category leader Truma AquaGo. The Atwood is apparently fraught with problems, (look up the reviews), the service people at Renegade said the Atwood works well if you know how to "use it." I said to them, "what is to know? Turn on the hot water and hot water comes out!!" The Atwood was removed at the dealer and the Truma installed. Hot water is PERFECT without trying to regulate flow etc. Simply make sure the Truma is ON and crank the hot water. No problem at all.

GPS. We just use our iPhone but we have experimented with the Kenwood GPS and it works just fine. One note.....there is no radio antenna on our unit. We believe they forgot to run the wire and install an antenna on the roof!! Radio reception is basically nonexistent. We use our phone, Bluetooth it to the Kenwood and listen to Sirius. Works great!! Have NOT signed up for Sirius in the RV. Just use what we have and Bluetooth it to the Kenwood.
Side cameras are a big help changing lanes. I rely on the "fish eye" mirror quite a bit to change lanes. The rear camera is available while driving but the view is more DOWN than BACK. Maybe that can be adjusted but in our case it doesn't really help with driving.
One 100 watt solar panel really won't do to much. NO WAY it will power the RV. Maybe help the batteries just a bit but not really an effective power source. The inverter is chance DC to AC and power 2 outlets in out Renegade. The one in the overhead storage and the one behind the drive seat. All lights work, interior and exterior, water pump, hot water heater, both TV's. We have NOT installed a roof top satellite but will do that soon. The OTA antenna booster works on the inverter as well. We have had good success finding OTA TV.
Not sure about the tank heaters as we have not tested them in colder temps!
Hope this helps and keep in touch. I want to get as many Renegade Owners involved as possible. I agree that the Vienna is on par with the LTV and actually surpasses is with the slide. No slide in the LTV!! The more info we have out there about out rigs the better.

[Onemorexit]

Originally Posted by Putter1

OK Onemorexit here we go....
The sofa bed is adequate. We bought some foam and simply slid it under the plastic straps to add some support, especially in the middle part where the "rear end" lands! Very easy to do and added enough support to make the HAB more than comfortable!
As far as the "leveling system" it is very easy to use. Make sure you program it, what they call the "null" so that when you hit the button it actually levels the coach. That requires a level and some manual pressing of the buttons to get the coach absolutely level. It will then level itself by simply depressing one button. Easy as can be!
We had the standard Atwood hot water heater switched out and replaced with a the category leader Truma AquaGo. The Atwood is apparently fraught with problems, (look up the reviews), the service people at Renegade said the Atwood works well if you know how to "use it." I said to them, "what is to know? Turn on the hot water and hot water comes out!!" The Atwood was removed at the dealer and the Truma installed. Hot water is PERFECT without trying to regulate flow etc. Simply make sure the Truma is ON and crank the hot water. No problem at all.

GPS. We just use our iPhone but we have experimented with the Kenwood GPS and it works just fine. One note.....there is no radio antenna on our unit. We believe they forgot to run the wire and install an antenna on the roof!! Radio reception is basically nonexistent. We use our phone, Bluetooth it to the Kenwood and listen to Sirius. Works great!! Have NOT signed up for Sirius in the RV. Just use what we have and Bluetooth it to the Kenwood.
Side cameras are a big help changing lanes. I rely on the "fish eye" mirror quite a bit to change lanes. The rear camera is available while driving but the view is more DOWN than BACK. Maybe that can be adjusted but in our case it doesn't really help with driving.
One 100 watt solar panel really won't do to much. NO WAY it will power the RV. Maybe help the batteries just a bit but not really an effective power source. The inverter is chance DC to AC and power 2 outlets in out Renegade. The one in the overhead storage and the one behind the drive seat. All lights work, interior and exterior, water pump, hot water heater, both TV's. We have NOT installed a roof top satellite but will do that soon. The OTA antenna booster works on the inverter as well. We have had good success finding OTA TV.
Not sure about the tank heaters as we have not tested them in colder temps!
Hope this helps and keep in touch. I want to get as many Renegade Owners involved as possible. I agree that the Vienna is on par with the LTV and actually surpasses is with the slide. No slide in the LTV!! The more info we have out there about out rigs the better.

Thanks Putter1 - That is all good stuff. May install one more solar panel given the feedback. We'll play around with the hot water for a few out and back break in trips but if it falls short the replacement tip is appreciated. Missing antenna (really!?). Had the dealership install the G2+ sat so that will be ready to go (they don't give those away do they?). Curious to see where the receiver placement works best. We'll let you know how things went and spread the word about the R/Vienna group on iRV2. Happy Travels!

[Hennessy12]

When cleaning our Villagio yesterday and cleaning and flushing Black and Gray tanks I found out the kitchen sinks goes to the Black tank. I thought all sinks and showers went to Gray tank. Not in my RV! I did not check the bathroom or shower but I will next time. I am sure those 2 must go to Gray tank. Let me know if others are the same. 2015 HAB:

[Putter1]

Onemoreexit,
I will assume your Vienna is "prewired" for the sat like ours is. There is a box about the size of a power outlet on the roof adjacent to one of the roof vents. It contains the wires for the Sat. The other end to that wire is on the "wall" inside of the overhead storage compartment on the right as you are looking into the compartment. The HDMI cables are behind a panel that is attached to the wall with screws. I cut a hole in that panel and put a pass through cover on it so the HDMI cables are accessible. I believe the receivers will have to go in that overhead cabinet. There is DC power in ours. A cigarette style outlet and also a regular 120v outlet that is hot obviously when on shore power and generator but ALSO when using the inverter. I do not know about DISH but I do know that you will need 2 receivers if you want to watch different channels on both tv's using DirecTv.

[MtnBikerNM]

hennessy12 , I don't think that our kitchen sink (25TBS) is hooked to black water tank but I'll doublecheck. Btw, according to this other forum post [http://www.forestriverforums.com/forums/f16/kitchen-sink-drains-into-black-tank-73060.html], some manufacturers hook them up that way...

[16Renegade]

We just had the local Mercedes dealer in Tampa reset the ASSYST after having the oil changed and they also did some updates to the ESU all for free!
We also have had issues with the Attwood on demand water heater. Once we try to introduce cold into the hot we end up with all cold. Our HAB was converted to a leather hide a way bed with inflatable mattress's on top. We just used a mattress cover and slept like a log!
Also, had a leak in the compartment under the outside TV. I sprayed all of the seams with the rubberized coating and hoping for the best.
Also,,, trying to get TV off the wall to hook up the HDMI cable for streaming sports shows and can't get it off the wall. The strap doesn't release the TV. Trying to work thru that with Renegade. Anyone have a Dish Antenna installed?

[Onemorexit]

Originally Posted by Putter1

Onemoreexit,
I will assume your Vienna is "prewired" for the sat like ours is. There is a box about the size of a power outlet on the roof adjacent to one of the roof vents. It contains the wires for the Sat. The other end to that wire is on the "wall" inside of the overhead storage compartment on the right as you are looking into the compartment. The HDMI cables are behind a panel that is attached to the wall with screws. I cut a hole in that panel and put a pass through cover on it so the HDMI cables are accessible. I believe the receivers will have to go in that overhead cabinet. There is DC power in ours. A cigarette style outlet and also a regular 120v outlet that is hot obviously when on shore power and generator but ALSO when using the inverter. I do not know about DISH but I do know that you will need 2 receivers if you want to watch different channels on both tv's using DirecTv.

Originally Posted by Onemorexit

Hello fellow RVer's.
Wifey and I just swapped our 2016 LTV Murphey Bed for a 2016 Vienna VHAB. Picking it up on Tuesday. Pros and cons clearly with both and the answer to the question is yes the Renegade is up there with the LTV. To start off we wanted to know from the VHAB folks how the sofa bed comfort for sleeping is working out. We have the 'leveling' system so any input on that would be great. Also feedback good and bad on; on demand water heater, GPS usage (friendly or not - Mercedes sys terrible), side cameras helpful or not, rear camera (can it be viewed in motion), just the one solar (adequate?), inverting (TV, Fridge, outlets for charging, etc.) any issues, placement of Dish/DirecTV receiver and can you watch different channels inside and outside, and finally the Black and Grey heaters (how cold can you go before system is not effective).

Thanks to all who respond in advance!

Drive home report; We flew the redeye to MSP to pick up our new coach and showed up at Lake Region RV in MN to pick up our coach. Much to our dismay all the smalls that should have been taken care of were not and we ended up departing late by 2 hours. Nice people but seems like they are growing and need help. (Did I mention everyone was late showing up for us)

Dealership installed SAT was a mistake as the tech guy really did not know what he was doing, told us receiver was not compatible So we pressed on. Called Winegard who confirmed it was (WG G2+).

Cab carpet missing (does anyone deliver a coach without cab carpet, come on)

Quick walk-around and off we go to Vegas. Drove nice until you got above 60 MPH, alignment horrible (do dealerships or manufacturers drive these things before they sell?)

Got to WY to rest and set up for a night at a site. Pressurized coach water, toilet leak, gaawd no. Checked into Hotel for the night.

Never touched the sewer hose cap (should have). found it dangling at 4th fuel stop, beat the h---L out of the side of coach panel (probably paint).

Rolled home into Vegas 44 hours from the time we left on our redeye flight to MN to get our new rig home. Overall very happy with our Renegade. The manuals are for a Villagio, REALLY? (David at Renegade said they are working on it).

Side view cameras annoying when changing lanes with NAV operating (Anyway to remove the back up camera lines for that function?).

Dealership feedback - Lake Regions Minnesota is growing and if buying from them go extremely SLOW with everything. Don't leave any stone unturned. They are short handed on coach prep personnel ( only 1 guy). Owner receptive after the fact to issues but will keep you posted on request for them on two post delivery issues.

Can't wait for repairs to be complete and back on the road.

Cheers!

[Onemorexit]

Originally Posted by Hennessy12

When cleaning our Villagio yesterday and cleaning and flushing Black and Gray tanks I found out the kitchen sinks goes to the Black tank. I thought all sinks and showers went to Gray tank. Not in my RV! I did not check the bathroom or shower but I will next time. I am sure those 2 must go to Gray tank. Let me know if others are the same. 2015 HAB:

Hello Hennessey12 -

Our new Vienna is the same way, checked it out after reviewing your post. Last coach was as you said, all sinks and shower went to grey.

OME

[Onemorexit]

Originally Posted by 16Renegade

We just had the local Mercedes dealer in Tampa reset the ASSYST after having the oil changed and they also did some updates to the ESU all for free!
We also have had issues with the Attwood on demand water heater. Once we try to introduce cold into the hot we end up with all cold. Our HAB was converted to a leather hide a way bed with inflatable mattress's on top. We just used a mattress cover and slept like a log!
Also, had a leak in the compartment under the outside TV. I sprayed all of the seams with the rubberized coating and hoping for the best.
Also,,, trying to get TV off the wall to hook up the HDMI cable for streaming sports shows and can't get it off the wall. The strap doesn't release the TV. Trying to work thru that with Renegade. Anyone have a Dish Antenna installed?

Hi 16Renegade
We have a Directv receiver and a Winegard G2+. Works with either according to the onsite info. Still trying to get ours working. Have it scheduled for repair at local dealer. Let you know what we come up with. We also have an HDMI Cable behind our inside wall tv (I suspect the other end is behind the pass through in the forward overhead compartment that would connect to a receiver, not sure until I can unstrap it from behind the TV first. I am hoping that will solve our SAT TV problem.

Onemorexit

[16Renegade]

Hi Onemorexit, Just dropped our of to get the heat pump checked out before it goes off warranty. I found the two HDMI cables behind the panel in the overhead. Just cant get the TV off the wall next to the entry door. The HDMI is hanging and can't get it plugged in to the TV. I guess I will take it to a Renegade dealer near Tampa and see how that works out. Dave fro Renegade has been helpful but TV is still hooked to the wall and strap doesn't release it. I plan on getting a HDMI splitter so we can watch the same channel inside and out. I haven't tried to get the outside TV off to attach HDMI! Still have to address the Attwood demand Hot Water heater. Didn't work out real good dry camping at Daytona for 4 nights. Either got a HOT or Cold shower! We will have her ready for the summer months of travel to the North West!

[Putter1]

Luckily our HDMI cables were connected to the TV's from the outset. The strap does release the TV SOMEHOW. Just not exactly sure how. I did have the outside TV off the mount at one point, well actually a technician did. I could not get any sound from the Furion speakers. (the couldn't either) but did a great work around using the AUX in port for sound from the TV.

This is off topic but do you guys have a radio antenna? We apparently do not and there is about zero radio reception. Also HATE thr auto play feature of the Kenwood. My phone connects via blue tooth, (i like that for the telephone feature) but I hate the fact that radio starts playing a random song from my iPhone. I have to pause the song and then all is well.....until the next time I get back into the unit.

OK aback to the other topic. Hot water heater.....many reviews are very negative re: Atwood. Dave at Renegadentold me they work if you know how to use them. I said what is to know? Turn the nob and hot water comes out. He never said anything really negative about the Atwood's but most certainly didn't give a ringing endorsement..SO..we had ours swapped out for a Truma Aquago Comfort prior to delivery. Works absolutely as advertised. EXCEPT for the winterizing instructions. I followed them to the T. Removed the filter and even used the levelers to tip,the coach to make sure all of water was out of the unit. I then isolated the heater from the rest of the water system before running the anti freeze into the coach. The directions say to reinsert the filter.....don't do that. I had a failure associated with the "prongs" that are the anchors for the filt. The filter takes a pressure when there is water pressure in the coach. Kind of odd to me. I think of a filter as a piece in a closed system. In this case the filter is needed to CLOSE the system. It is not IN line it is plugging a hole in the line. Point is that with out the filter LOCKED into place water continuations runs out of the bottom of the Truma. Some zip ties, opening a faucet to depressurization the water system and them using the supply valves to isolate the Truma when not in use have done the trick so far. We are on the road and have 2 more weeks to go!
Truma customer service has been GREAT!!!

OK Last thing....how is your water pressure? Ours seems to be weak. Using a pressure reducer at the tap. Seems to be lots of pressure at the end of the hose before I connect but much less at the sinks and shower?

Any thoughts? I will test outside pressure with gauge. Not sure how to test the inside pressure. No place to gauge.

Any help would be appreciated.
Stan

[Onemorexit]

Hello all - sadly we still have not had ours in for service yet. The one and only Renegade Dealer in Las Vegas is Wagon Trail who cant get us in until mid April. Sourcing another on Thursday.

David at Renegade forwarded me copies on the wiring diagrams for the SAT/TV, which I attached for anyone getting a SAT ANT installed, make sure the installer has these to reference. I suspect our dealer installed in the incorrect location by removing the TV Antenna and placing in that spot on the coach using the coaxial for the OTA Antenna instead of forward on the coach thus using the prewired SAT coaxial. Now I have to hire someone to fix this mistake.

Regarding radio antenna, we swipe right to left to the HD Radio selection, works great.

Once we can use the water system after our repairs I will let you know about the hot water.

I was able to get the HDMI connected to the inside TV. Not really impressed with the 'bundling' job behind the TV, messy.

Took ours in for alignment and balancing, really off on the initial drive. Anyone else have this issue? Renegades position is they do it onsite after they add the coach and install the HiSpec wheels.

Hoping to get on the road soon. Social media is powerful, I hope renegade and dealerships are listening in.

OME

[Putter1]

OME,

Wow...what a messed up install. That one is not on Renegade. I know/knew where the pre wired box for the sat is on the roof. I never thought to tell you. Would have saved a bunch of hassle if the installer actually attached the dish to the correct wires!!

We have 2900 miles on the coach and the alignment seems fine. The only hassle I have with the Mercedes part is a engine "drag" at 1200 rpm's. It feels like the choke opens, the engine bogs down just a bit then it is fine. I don't even know if this has a choke and I am not saying that is what happens. It just feels like that. Like if your weed wicker is running and you slide the choke lever over for just a second then return it to the normal position.

Happens every time at 1200 rpm's. Any thoughts?

Hope you get the repairs done soon and out on the road. We are having a blast!
Thanks for posting the diagrams.
Dave has really been a big help and very responsive. Kudos to him!
Stan

[Putter1]

OME,
Do you have a traditional looking radio antenna on the roof? Like a straight coat hanger?
We do not have anything on the roof that resembles a radio antenna?
Thanks