Need opinions, please.

[dshinnick]

Flew 800 miles to check out a 2012 Itasca Sunstar 30T; identical to Winnebago Vista 30T. 22,000 miles, 6 (yes, 6) hours on the generator.

I've had numerous issues pop up ever since I looked at this thing since yesterday. Condition is excellent; little things just keep going wrong. Not sure if I"m losing confidence in it or not.

My two questions:

1. Even though the coach has a transfer switch (Parallax ATS301), apparently it didn't do its job, and when the coach had the gen running while plugged into shore power, an excess of power was sent to the coach, and blew the inverter. As a result, when the gen runs now (which it does well), there is no power sent to the coach. In fact, one mechanic said that when he tested it, half the inside coach outlets get power, half got none, and there was no 12v at all. Different mechanic says the inverter must be operational for any power to get from the generator into the coach itself. Does this sound right?

2. We've flushed the water system a few times to clear out the winterizing that the previous owner did. Then filled the water tank, disconnected the water hose, turned on the pump, and ran the water to clear out the air. I then turned on both gas and electric water heaters and left it alone for an hour. When I turn on the hot water, at either of two sinks, I get hot water for a few moments, then cold, then hot, then cold, then hot, then cold.....and it just keeps cycling. The water is running continuously, there's no break in the water stream. Never seen that before. Any thoughts?

And, if anyone has any experience with the Winnebago/Vista line, or Itasca/Sunstar line, I'd be interested in that as well. Trying to decide whether to keep giving this guy another chance...it's gorgeous interior and all-around excellent-appearing condition....or to call it a day and walk.

Thoughts? Advice?

Thanks-

dave

[wa8yxm]

First You said with the generator running an "Excess of power" was sent to the inverter and bad things happened.

Typically inverters have two circuit breakers. Or more. if two they may be on the inverter itself. if more (mine has 3) in a "Sub Panel" (2nd breaker box).

A tripped breaker may take out half the outlets in the coach. More or less.

Second. Were you plugged into shore power when you started the genny.. One of the things they forget to tell you is "DO NOT DO THAT" especially with the A/C's running.

WHY Well A/C's are BIG inductive loads. And Electricity like everything else obeys the laws of motion. (An object in motion tends to keep moving in the same direction at the same speed unless an outside force acts upon it).

So when the transfer switch "Broke" the connection the electricity wanted to keep flowing.. and the voltage as a result.. SPIKED. this spike can fry the transfer switch.. And other things.

Turn off wait 3 minutes then activate alternate power source.

[dshinnick]

The transfer switch is supposed to. I called the mfr and he said that 2012 was in the period when they were getting questionable relays from their supplier and, yes, there were "occasional" problems being reported with transfer switches of that vintage.

[Tinstar]

I didn't think a transfer switch even can allow power from two different sources at once. The internal design prevents that from happening,,, even accidently.

[TropicalRV]

If it doesn't feel good, stay away.

[Jim]

You have plenty of experience with RVs to handle most issues so, from a fellow full timing RV'er, who spent a full year seriously looking for the 'just right' RV, I'd say go for it if it's what you want. You can work out a price that suits the situation but you'll likely regret not getting it more then you will getting it...fingers crossed.

[Dennis12]

welcome to the rv world. more to come

[Juzaxadar]

1995brave wrote:
Here is a link to the Winnebago website. in the lower right corner are the links to the Manuals and Diagrams for your RV. Download and save the Parts, wiring, and plumbing diagrams. They will come in very handy when trying to troubleshoot problems.

That's how my Winnebago works and it's a good design because it prevents hooking up two sources at the same time.

[Bumpyroad]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
With my 2012 Winnebago Itasca you must plug in the power cord into the plug in the electrical cord box in order to get power from the generator into the rig. Yours might be like that. It's designed that way so you either are plugged in to shore power or generator power. There is a large receptacle inside the power cord container in the motorhome.

With the generator running and the cord not plugged in, there is no power available from the generator.

one of my Class As worked this way, no transfer switch to go bad. worked great. just kept it plugged into gen set except when at campground with 120 v.
bumpy

[1995brave]

Here is a link to the Winnebago website. in the lower right corner are the links to the Manuals and Diagrams for your RV. Download and save the Parts, wiring, and plumbing diagrams. They will come in very handy when trying to troubleshoot problems.

[Artum_Snowbird]

With my 2012 Winnebago Itasca you must plug in the power cord into the plug in the electrical cord box in order to get power from the generator into the rig. Yours might be like that. It's designed that way so you either are plugged in to shore power or generator power. There is a large receptacle inside the power cord container in the motorhome.

With the generator running and the cord not plugged in, there is no power available from the generator.

[mmccray100]

I just replaced the Transfer switch on my 1999 Winnebago Cheiftain. Plugged it into a mis-wired 30amp pedestal (don't ask). !2v seemed to work ok, but 2 days later I lost all 12v, so no AC outlets, no refer, Air Con, hot water etc.
Seems the inverter was damaged, just took 2 days to fail completely. Once both items were replaced, everything come back to life except the microwave. That will have to be replace, too.
In my coach, all 12v goes through the inverter, so it it goes bad, that power is not output to all the circuits.

[Farmboy666]

dshinnick wrote:
Ok....I got that valve-thing on the back of the "wand" of the outside shower to work. I see it turns on and off the flow of water. It is shut off now, as are the two valves outside. Upon checking the inside valves, I see that the shutoff on the back of the wand in the shower is NOT working; with water flowing, the wand shutoff does NOT turn off the water. I turned off the two wall valves. Could that broken shutoff on the wand allow the hot/cold to mix? Seems unlikely if the wall valves are off.

Not unlikely,impossible

[OLYLEN]

Gen first, check the breaker on the Gen, turn it off and on. Then check the GFI right by the door near the house battery switch. If you do have an inverter and not just a converter there are circuit breakers there also. Then on the back of the water tank there are two valves for winterizing, sometimes hard to get too.

LEN

[dshinnick]

Ok....I got that valve-thing on the back of the "wand" of the outside shower to work. I see it turns on and off the flow of water. It is shut off now, as are the two valves outside. Upon checking the inside valves, I see that the shutoff on the back of the wand in the shower is NOT working; with water flowing, the wand shutoff does NOT turn off the water. I turned off the two wall valves. Could that broken shutoff on the wand allow the hot/cold to mix? Seems unlikely if the wall valves are off.