2013 Artic Fox 27L

[AVCM_Retired]

My wife and I bought a 2013 Artic Fox in November 2012. Since then we have had to take it in 3 times, and are about to take it in for the 4th time, to get the electronic dump station fixed. The first two times the adjusted and lubed the valves and that worked for a time or 2. The last time they replaced the black water valve and adjusted the other two.

When I went to dump last weekend, the black water and gray water #1 would not dump... I cant even begin to tell you how frustrated we are.

The dealer tells me we are the only ones having this problem. So this is my question, is anyone else having this problem, and if so were you able to fix it? Thanks

[GON2SKI]

The saga continues; I have posted on another thread…..but this one has better history and helpful responses. Your right… the factory could do much better at customer service and should cover the conversion on those with unreliable valve results. I went in to the dealer and appealed to the owner and have his support for conversion back to manual valves…….New 27-5Ls are now mfg'd with manual valves….smart move! For those switching back, did you use cable valves or were you able to engineer a rod pull?

[GON2SKI]

Update…..here the score card on our electronic valves passing and failing. Eight trips completed. Five successful dumps and three failures. Last failure fall of 2014 occurred in eastern OR at Farewell Bend SP and we were headed by the mfg facility at La Grande, OR so I called the service advisor and told him I was going to stop by the factory with my load and let them sniff out and trouble shoot our dilemma. That did not set well so he arranged to have me go to a repair center and a good tech swapped switches and we dumped successfully at Wallowa SP. Yes things are improving and time will tell!

[IDLE_WILD]

GON2SKI wrote:
Update……Took unit out trip #4 after electric dump valve repairs……Shazam 3valves worked at the State Park. I even refilled some water to test all tanks again after getting home and it worked. Dealers fix included removal of galley water tank valve, cleaning adjusting and bench testing….now I want to use this rig many times with dependable dumping prior to passing one year warrantee period.

definitely done with arctic fox, had the unit less then 2 years, they saw a big enough problem with the electric valves they went back to manual valves the next year. obviously a defect, they just told me to pound sand about getting it fixed, said it was my problem. good luck with yours i hope it works for you.

[IDLE_WILD]

AVCM Retired wrote:
My wife and I bought a 2013 Artic Fox in November 2012. Since then we have had to take it in 3 times, and are about to take it in for the 4th time, to get the electronic dump station fixed. The first two times the adjusted and lubed the valves and that worked for a time or 2. The last time they replaced the black water valve and adjusted the other two.

When I went to dump last weekend, the black water and gray water #1 would not dump... I cant even begin to tell you how frustrated we are.

The dealer tells me we are the only ones having this problem. So this is my question, is anyone else having this problem, and if so were you able to fix it? Thanks

yep same unit with the same problem here

[timflood]

Well I just got my new 27-5L 2014 and it does not have power switches it has the pull handles. I am glade they went back to the pull style

[GON2SKI]

Update……Took unit out trip #4 after electric dump valve repairs……Shazam 3valves worked at the State Park. I even refilled some water to test all tanks again after getting home and it worked. Dealers fix included removal of galley water tank valve, cleaning adjusting and bench testing….now I want to use this rig many times with dependable dumping prior to passing one year warrantee period.

[MrD]

This problem seems to be just affecting the 275L model, since I have a 295k with the electronic dump valves and although I only used it a few times last year, I have not had any problems. Hopefully it will stay that way. B.T.W this is my second arctic Fox and I love them.

Mike

[oldbeek]

To many gadgets! auto. dump valves, auto awning, auto leveling ect keep it simple. We started with a tent!

[AVCM_Retired]

Man oh Man Gon2ski I am really sorry to hear that. We took ours in and they replaced everything. All three valves and the switches. The manager of the service department told me that there seemed to be some sort of glue on the valves.. Yea okay maybe... anyway I have used it twice and they worked both times. We use twice the recommended amount of Odorlos and have been dumping the soapy water from the sink into the toilet. The camper as sat the last 2 months so I don't know if the problem has gone away for good. Heading to the races on the 19 so I will let you know. The leaking valve seems to have gone away also.. Fingers Crossed.

[GON2SKI]

The Dumping Saga Continues; We completed trip #3 and had our second Galley gray water dump tank failure! After picking up our 27-5L from the dealer in Sept 2013 I went to the dump site to test the repair and it worked. The winterized unit has been in storage until recent trip #3 Mar '14. It is now back in the dealer's shop for technical trouble shooting of electronic dump switch or valve failure. Two failures in three trips is not acceptable!! AVCM Retired and others have you received dependable dumping results? I will update my repair results in about one week. FYI No red light comes on…..on that switch. The dealer said that the last repair was made only checking and reconnecting wire connections to the back of the switch. I pulled the switch and it all looked clean and secure.

[oldbiker7]

bsostrich wrote:
I have been having a terrible time with the electric dump valves on my 2013 27.5 Arctic Fox 5ver. The black tank valve has been worked on 4 times. . . .

Does the red light on the valve switch light up during the times when the valve fails to open? I had a problem with mine on a couple of trips but the lights did not come on - we eventually found that the wiring to the back of the switches was loose and dirty so the electrical current was not always getting through the switch to the valve motor.

[bsostrich]

I have been having a terrible time with the electric dump valves on my 2013 27.5 Arctic Fox 5ver. The black tank valve has been worked on 4 times. Manually opened 3 times, replaced once at repair places. I have now opened it twice on my own. In talking with Dump Master they indicate that the valves have plenty of torque to open so I doubt if the discussion on the need to over lube is going to solve anything. Mine only takes a minor turn of the manual over ride and then the button will open the valve. Having owned 5th wheels (2) for over 15 yrs I feel that we do everything necessary for maintenance (chemical wise). So this is very depressing. I plan on having the valves removed and replace with manual valves. According to a maintenance person at one of the dealerships we have visited this is going to be a rather extensive job. I am tired of crawling under my brand new trailer and manually opening my valve!
Seeing as how we are on a rather long trip right now it has not been a positive response I have given to the several people that have asked me about my Arctic Fox. I do tell them we really like the rest of the vehicle, just don't buy one with the electric dump valves.

[Alley_Fox]

On our 29 5T I have to cycle the black dump valve switch a couple of times before it works. The grey valve works every time. I usually wait til the black tank is 3/4 full before I dump. I haven't taken a look yet to see what the actuator mechanism looks like but I probably should because I'm sure there will be a time when I can't make it work....

[AVCM_Retired]

Goducks10 and Gon2ski,

What great ideas.. I bought the Odorlos they recommended and trippled the amount recommended on the instructions. I will take it to dump on the 3rd or 4th after my truck gets fixed, (long story), and let you know how it goes.
I really like the dishpan idea and will give it a try along with 3-5 gallons of water in the black water tank right off the bat. Our next trip is the 18th of October so will update then.. Thanks for all the help.