One trip, 6 weeks, many issues...
We have been fortunate that in the 10 years we've owned a RV we've never really had any big problems while camping. This last trip didn't really have any big issues, just many little ones.
We camped at 1 campground for 6 weeks. We encountered the first problem when we got there. The drain in the shower started leaking. What a hassle. Even though Jayco put a nice little access panel to get to the drain, a hot air duct from the furnace runs between that access hole and the drain. I had to pull all the wood back from under the tub to pull back the duct and get it out of the way. In an effort to fix it, I just made it worse. I had to call a mobile RV repairman to bail me out.
In the process of trying to repair the drain, I discovered that Jayco never covered a hole in the floor, under the shower tub, to allow some wires to come into the coach from underneath. The hole is about 6" x 5" and I can see clear to the ground. A massive hole for a 1" bunch of wires. Good thing there are no mice or other critters at our storage facility or any campground we've ever camped at in the 5 years we've owned the camper.
The issue with the drain was that Jayco only left about an 1/8" between the floor and the bottom of the trap for the shower tub to flex. After 5 years of hitting the floor while flexing, the drain putty final gave up the fight. The mobile repair guy shortened the trap to allow more flex.
A couple days later the cold water valve on the shower faucet just spun and wouldn't open. That was an easy fix, although about 3 weeks later, the hot water valve did the same thing on the new one! Got that fixed under warranty.
We've always had issues with the sliding glass shower door. I think it was a lousy design and I noticed Jayco stopped using it, at least in their Greyhawk Motorhomes. It was replaced once under warranty. The dealer told us that is was not hung properly and caused it to bind and broke the roller. During our previous trip in April, it got stuck about halfway open while trying to close it, but after a day or two it worked fine so I forgot about it. This trip it finally threw in the towel. I wasn't replacing it again, so I got a shower curtain rod, a liner and a curtain. That works much better.
Next to go was the house battery. It was 5 years old, but gave no indication of problems before this trip. About 10 days after we arrived, I noticed the converter/charger wasn't running and the battery was getting low. I used a regular charger and the battery still wouldn't charge. Replaced the battery and all was good.
For about another 2 weeks. Then the converter/charger failed. After replacing the battery, I noticed the fan would intermittently stop running for a short period. Then finally it just died. I decided I'd deal with it when we got home and just use the standard auto battery charger I had. That failed after only 5 days. The charger was under warranty, so had it replaced.
Then a couple days before we are ready to leave, one of the factory crimps on the water line to the toilet started to leak! Fortunately, the line is exposed so a couple shark bite pex couplers and we are back in business.
Then to top it all off, on the way home yesterday, my son comes back from going to the bathroom and tells me that the kitchen floor is soaked. I was getting ready to pull over for gas anyway. My wife checked it out and confirmed there was enough water that it ran to the carpet in the living room and soaked a good portion of the carpet!
Turns out the knob securing the water inlet line on the hot water heater had worked its way loose and sprayed water as soon as the pump was turned on, which was just after my son walking into the bathroom. Fortunately, he only had to pee or there would have been a lot more water!
Nothing earth shattering, but a lot of little things that add up to a few days of camping lost. I still have to address the hole in the floor and the converter/charger, plus re-attach the wood I had to remove to gain access to the shower drain, after I patch the hole in the floor.
-Michael
We camped at 1 campground for 6 weeks. We encountered the first problem when we got there. The drain in the shower started leaking. What a hassle. Even though Jayco put a nice little access panel to get to the drain, a hot air duct from the furnace runs between that access hole and the drain. I had to pull all the wood back from under the tub to pull back the duct and get it out of the way. In an effort to fix it, I just made it worse. I had to call a mobile RV repairman to bail me out.
In the process of trying to repair the drain, I discovered that Jayco never covered a hole in the floor, under the shower tub, to allow some wires to come into the coach from underneath. The hole is about 6" x 5" and I can see clear to the ground. A massive hole for a 1" bunch of wires. Good thing there are no mice or other critters at our storage facility or any campground we've ever camped at in the 5 years we've owned the camper.
The issue with the drain was that Jayco only left about an 1/8" between the floor and the bottom of the trap for the shower tub to flex. After 5 years of hitting the floor while flexing, the drain putty final gave up the fight. The mobile repair guy shortened the trap to allow more flex.
A couple days later the cold water valve on the shower faucet just spun and wouldn't open. That was an easy fix, although about 3 weeks later, the hot water valve did the same thing on the new one! Got that fixed under warranty.
We've always had issues with the sliding glass shower door. I think it was a lousy design and I noticed Jayco stopped using it, at least in their Greyhawk Motorhomes. It was replaced once under warranty. The dealer told us that is was not hung properly and caused it to bind and broke the roller. During our previous trip in April, it got stuck about halfway open while trying to close it, but after a day or two it worked fine so I forgot about it. This trip it finally threw in the towel. I wasn't replacing it again, so I got a shower curtain rod, a liner and a curtain. That works much better.
Next to go was the house battery. It was 5 years old, but gave no indication of problems before this trip. About 10 days after we arrived, I noticed the converter/charger wasn't running and the battery was getting low. I used a regular charger and the battery still wouldn't charge. Replaced the battery and all was good.
For about another 2 weeks. Then the converter/charger failed. After replacing the battery, I noticed the fan would intermittently stop running for a short period. Then finally it just died. I decided I'd deal with it when we got home and just use the standard auto battery charger I had. That failed after only 5 days. The charger was under warranty, so had it replaced.
Then a couple days before we are ready to leave, one of the factory crimps on the water line to the toilet started to leak! Fortunately, the line is exposed so a couple shark bite pex couplers and we are back in business.
Then to top it all off, on the way home yesterday, my son comes back from going to the bathroom and tells me that the kitchen floor is soaked. I was getting ready to pull over for gas anyway. My wife checked it out and confirmed there was enough water that it ran to the carpet in the living room and soaked a good portion of the carpet!
Turns out the knob securing the water inlet line on the hot water heater had worked its way loose and sprayed water as soon as the pump was turned on, which was just after my son walking into the bathroom. Fortunately, he only had to pee or there would have been a lot more water!
Nothing earth shattering, but a lot of little things that add up to a few days of camping lost. I still have to address the hole in the floor and the converter/charger, plus re-attach the wood I had to remove to gain access to the shower drain, after I patch the hole in the floor.
-Michael
