Doug: If dometic withholds simple information customers need to maintain older mohos to drive sales of expensive new equipment, that is wrong. I have a 1997 Monaco Windsor. Monaco is very forthcoming with help on everything from slides, jacks, brakes, and air suspension systems. If I have a bad thermal window, they can get it made. Their documentation is fairly thorough. I can get the engine fixed at any Cummins shop - but i do all of the maintenance work.
The only entirely undocumented/unrepairable item in my Windsor is the thermostat, and there was nothing on the web to help me fix it. Dometic is used in just about every RV and trailer out there. There are hundreds of thousands of these things out there -- and discussion forums are loaded with owners trying to figure out what to do and getting nowhere due to information censorship. There is enough of a base out there to justify support and even selling older replacement thermostats.
I know an replacement racket when I see one. Years ago, Sony attempted to run a racket by private labeling all the transistors in their stereos so you could not buy parts from anybody except them -- and they charged 10x what the transistors were worth. They did not put output fusing in their amps - so the transistors blew out. As sales manager of a large hifi store chain it was my duty to inform buyers about this. Within two years, every store in our area had dropped Sony. Dometic needs competition and there isn't any. It is up to us to bust the information loose so that anybody from a customer to a local RV shop can fix what can be fixed without major expense.
