Frustrated with Starcraft AR-ONE 14RB - At Dealer

Thank you all for your thoughtful and helpful replies! DH talked to the dealer Friday and the sensor wire was moved in the fridge, which they said has helped. BTW, our freezer was doing a good job; it was just the fridge that wasn't cooling. Also, they've replaced the smoke detector battery to see if that was a contributing factor. The camper is still at the dealer. They left the fridge running on gas over the weekend to see if their "fix" maintains a cool temperature in the fridge over time.

The comment about high humidity setting off the smoke detector caught my attention big time. It's on the ceiling right across from the a/c unit, so I'm wondering if that's a factor. We were in FL at the time, which was really hot and humid. I could see where that, coupled with an excessive heat build up from the fridge and hot water heater could trigger it. We'll definitely turn the hot water heater off between uses - not worth the risk in this cheap trailer.

We were actually impressed with how well the a/c unit worked in the heat and humidity. Granted, we had to crank it as cold as it would go, but we have no complaints with it. We put the silver car shades between the windows and the pleated shades, which helped, and we also put a cushioned vent cover to block sun/heat in the living area roof vent and also the bathroom roof vent (when not taking a shower).

With the comments about the lack of insulation in these cheaper TTs, I'm thinking that the heat build up from the fridge, the a/c unit, and the hot water heater could be the culprit in the heat we felt under the bed, which is on the same wall and all near each other.

Taking the back off the fridge vent outside the trailer may be something to consider, to let some heat escape, maybe combined with a fan facing away from the camper to suck heat out and away from it. We'll try it on our Labor Day trip, as long as the weather cooperates. We may also take our dorm fridge, just in case. By the way, we set that fridge up OUTSIDE, plugged into the power post using a heavy duty extension cord, not into the camper (and the fridge was not inside the camper), to avoid overloading the amps used. We didn't need any more problems than we already had... We're still perplexed by the problems we had since we had the same size fridge in our Aliner and had zero problems with it. Now, the one in the Aliner had a fridge vent that we turned on while camping (I'm guessing it was a built in fan venting hot air outside?), which this camper doesn't have. I guess that's the difference.

Our main concern still centers around the odor we smelled under the bed on the same side as the a/c and fridge. The dealer insists that they haven't detected any odor, which is very frustrating to us. The thought of a fire terrifies me. I think we'll call tomorrow and ask that they check the wiring, but how do they do that w/out taking the trailer apart?

Again, thanks for your replies!

Jayco owns Starcraft. I just sold our Jayco Swift SLX 184BH and the swift slx models are the same floor plans as the AR series. The jayco owners forum has had posts about the side vented fridges not cooling well enough in warm temperatures. I put a fan in the outside compartment as others have tried. You just can't keep food at a safe temperature when it gets hot out. Sadly we had to sell ours due to inadequate fridge and A/C.

Not sure where in GA you are located or what dealer you are using, but if you are interested, I can recommend my dealer. He is a small dealer, owned by an RV'er who has always been great about educating me and helping me learn how to use my TT and how to take care of it. Let me know and I will post here or PM with the info.

rexlion wrote:
I had to move the temp sensor wire (it's clipped onto the fins inside the unit) on the farthest-right fin and all the way down, to get maximum cooling.

My fridge is a Dometic, the temp sensor (thermistor) is on the farthest right fin; but it moves up to make it colder.

I looked at the AR-One (same model as yours) at a recent RV show, because it was small and light, but decided it is something I would not buy. It is built to be light and inexpensive, thinner walls than typical for stick-built TTs, equipment borrowed from pop-up campers, under-size heating and cooling. I don't think it is adequate for my climate, probably not for anywhere in The South during summer.

I suspect that a lot of people buying these new small lightweights (Starcraft is not the only company building them) expecting something the same as conventional RVs, just magically lighter weight, will be disappointed. This will be particularly the case for first time buyers, no RV experience, no idea of what they are looking at or maybe not even what to look for.

The fridge is what it is, a 3 cu ft box with a small cooling unit, concentrated around the freezer space inside. If the freezer gets cold, the thing is working. But it can take a day or two of running, before this type of fridge is cool enough to keep food cold. I start my much more capable 6 cu ft RV fridge at least 48 hours before I am going to put anything in it.

If the fridge will not keep cold food cold, it is not working well enough, and that can be partly a climate issue: how hot outside, how much sunlight heating up the wall behind the fridge. If the fridge will not cool down warm food, that is something it is not really designed to do. Actually, the fridge installed in the AR-One was the first thing that turned me off about the RV. I know by looking at the size and model that it will not be adequate to my needs. I carry lots of frozen foods, like to make ice, and like my ice cream frozen hard. There is not a 2 to 3 cu ft RV fridge designed to do that. Those in the 4 cu ft range are a little better, if well located in a space that doesn't get too warm.

If you are always going to be hooked up to electricity, the dorm fridge is not a bad solution. It might be putting extra heat inside the RV, which might challenge the small air conditioner more. But given the choice in a RV between an ice box and a 2-3 cu ft RV fridge, I would probably choose the ice box.

A RV water heater mounts entirely inside, and substantially heats up the space that encloses it. They are not usually mounted under a bed, nor close to the refrigerator, that's just bad design. (Nor should the furnace be close to the refrigerator).

The water heater should, however, not be heating the enclosing space enough to produce combustion gases, which will be what trigger the smoke detector. There are a few possibilities. The water heater might be installed too close to the enclosing structure; there are clearance specifications for all of these appliances, and getting too close to flammable structure would be an engineering mistake. The installation could be not sealed properly, and combustion gases could be getting inside, particularly if a vent fan is running. The water heater could be defective and leaking gases on the inside, but I know the way my Atwood is constructed, and that's quite unlikely. Also, the CO detector should also be going off in those cases, maybe before the smoke detector.

These TTs are pretty leaky to gases, and any time a vent fan is running to reduce pressure inside, they start pulling air in through all the joints, crevices, and openings for plumbing, wiring, and accessory fittings. I would not at all be surprised to find that a super light TT like this one could be even leakier than most.

Now, if you had a LP detector going off, this is easier to understand. The smell of a dog will do that, as a LP detector is actually a total hydrocarbon device, looking for absorption of a particular wavelength by hydrogen-carbon bonds. People, dogs, cosmetics, foodstuffs can all put gases like that into the air, and the device has to be extremely sensitive.

Smoke detector is different, it is either looking for particles, or ionized gases from an early stage of "hot fire" combustion. Dogs might emit ionized gases in some small quantity, but not enough to trigger a smoke detector usually.

A bad or low battery will cause false alarms. High humidity will cause false alarms. A defective detector will frequently false alarm. Replacing the battery is a valid way to try to fix the problem, on the principle "try the least expensive solution first."

I had a 14RB too, but it was a KZ not Starcraft. Nice floor plan.

Mine had a Norcold 3 cubic foot fridge with freezer compartment. I had to move the temp sensor wire (it's clipped onto the fins inside the unit) on the farthest-right fin and all the way down, to get maximum cooling. I also found that I could hang a small battery-powered O2Cool fan outside of the upper external vent and the increased air flow let the fridge get 10 to 15 degrees cooler; some folks rig a computer muffin fan just inside that vent, so it sucks air from the bottom and blows it out the top.

My trailer also triggered an alarm during the first camping trip, but it wasn't the smoke alarm. It was the other one... not sure now if it was carbon monoxide or LP leak detector. When I took it in, the dealer found a leaky connection somewhere. Oh, the smoke detector always would go off any time I took a shower! I guess the moisture in the air was doing it... talk about sensitive!

You may be able to reduce the heat in the water heater area by setting it to Pilot once the water is heated for the first time. The pilot light was always enough to keep the water plenty warm for me, without actually having the WH kick on any more.

As for the burned smell that's setting off your detector, I would look for a wiring problem. Somewhere there may be some wire with the insulation rubbed off, or something like that. This could be serious; it might start a fire. If the dealer can't find it, I'd say find another dealer who can.

By the way, you could always pack a plastic container with a secure lid, which you can fill with ice and set inside the fridge. In a pinch this will keep your temps down, although it will reduce the available space inside the fridge. Or... just take a cooler (ice chest) along.

For the fridge, is it possible you weren't level? Can't that make the fridge not work? For the smell/detector, I'd rent/borrow a gas leak detector or get a plumber/hvac guy with a detector to come out and check for leaks.

I'm guessing that you have an under-the-counter fridge like mine. I'm pretty convinced that they just aren't as efficient since they vent out the side, no matter how they're installed. Check out the recent thread here. Don't know what to say about the other problems -- sorry.