Newmar did some lousy plumbing work in my coach

Question

We have had many ongoing issues with the Hydronic heating system in our Ventana.
The latest is that there is some type of restriction in the heating loop that leaves us unable to use our hydronic heat. I believe I have found the problem. Because there is one heat exchanger under the kitchen cabinets in a slide out, Newmar had to use a section of flexible
tubing to allow movement rather than the standard pex pipe throughout the rest of the coach.
They went from pex to 5/8 heater hose which is fine. But the connections and routing are
absolutely ridiculous! No proper fitting, just one pipe slipped over the other. Held in place with zip tys, cobbled onto small blocks of wood and then routed through poorly drilled holes in the cabinets. Very poorly done with no thought put into design. It looks like they forgot about the pipes and had to figure it out after the fact.
I am a carpenter/contractor for over 35 years and build multi-milion dollar custom homes for a living. If my plumber did work like that he would be fired on the spot!
Everyone talks about Newmars quality but this is not the only instance where I have been less than impressed.
Thanks for listening

tatest · Answer

Your experience fits well with my observations during a 2006 factory visit. Newmar was using a 'craftsman' approach to plumbing, wiring, fitting furnishings, with the craftsman signing off on his own work. You are somewhat at the mercy of the individual doing the work on that coach, that day.

The craftsman approach works well when the craftsmen are good and well supervised. The alternative is mass production with engineered designs stamped out using engineered production processes. Newmar is working a middle ground, as are probably most RV manufacturers, trying to use mass production methods for basics, craftsman methods to customize, while trying to hold costs to match mass production. It is a compromise that made me very uncomfortable, so that I would rather go to one extreme or the other, e.g. Winnebago or Newell, as fits the budget, rather than half of one,, half of the other.

It is quite possible that a diiferent plumber, working on a different coach on the same line, the same day, would have come up with a better solution. To me, that's a problem with the whole process.

john_s_ · Answer

tatest wrote:Your experience fits well with my observations during a 2006 factory visit. Newmar was using a 'craftsman' approach to plumbing, wiring, fitting furnishings, with the craftsman signing off on his own work. You are somewhat at the mercy of the individual doing the work on that coach, that day. The craftsman approach works well when the craftsmen are good and well supervised. The alternative is mass production with engineered designs stamped out using engineered production processes. Newmar is working a middle ground, as are probably most RV manufacturers, trying to use mass production methods for basics, craftsman methods to customize, while trying to hold costs to match mass production. It is a compromise that made me very uncomfortable, so that I would rather go to one extreme or the other, e.g. Winnebago or Newell, as fits the budget, rather than half of one,, half of the other.It is quite possible that a diiferent plumber, working on a different coach on the same line, the same day, would have come up with a better solution. To me, that's a problem with the whole process.This is very well said.

journey_indiana · Answer

Is it possible that the heater hose is just a "protection" for the regular hose. I just can't imagine that any reputable manufacturer would use wire ties to secure the hose to the pex tubing.
Good Luck,
Journey Indiana

gbopp · Answer

John S. wrote:tatest wrote:Your experience fits well with my observations during a 2006 factory visit. Newmar was using a 'craftsman' approach to plumbing, wiring, fitting furnishings, with the craftsman signing off on his own work. You are somewhat at the mercy of the individual doing the work on that coach, that day. The craftsman approach works well when the craftsmen are good and well supervised. The alternative is mass production with engineered designs stamped out using engineered production processes. Newmar is working a middle ground, as are probably most RV manufacturers, trying to use mass production methods for basics, craftsman methods to customize, while trying to hold costs to match mass production. It is a compromise that made me very uncomfortable, so that I would rather go to one extreme or the other, e.g. Winnebago or Newell, as fits the budget, rather than half of one,, half of the other.It is quite possible that a diiferent plumber, working on a different coach on the same line, the same day, would have come up with a better solution. To me, that's a problem with the whole process.This is very well said.X2. I wonder if they were cutting costs by eliminating a quality control inspector?

cbones · Answer

gbopp wrote:X2. I wonder if they were cutting costs by eliminating a quality control inspector?You mean they use quality control inspectors at any RV manufacturer?:h

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Newmar did some lousy plumbing work in my coach

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