Day 3 with our new Forester, lots of questions?

[Sagecoachdriver]

Anyone know what these are: photo at bottom

Noticed that the range vent light is not very bright and totally useless.

The range hood vent didn't vent to outside and I had to work to get it free. Like paint over. Do you leave it open all the time or close it after use?

Pulled out house batteries to install my Xantrex Battery Monitor shunt. Notice there was no Brand label or anything on it what so ever. Wonder who made it, any guarantee?

Tried to check tire pressure and found the valve extension made it impossible. I had a set I took off my Winnebago and replaced them. It was the only way to get air in them. All tires were 50-60 lbs and the air bags were 30. All aired up now.

Still trying to figure out where to put the TP in the bathroom. DW bought a stand, but it was too big and the lid hits the TP. We are either going to use 3M tape and mount it on the shower door or on the wall. Question about the wall, it's the drivers side wall not an interior wall. Will normal screws work and do I need to worry about hitting an aluminum wall stud?

I am sanitizing the fresh water system. I would normally just drain the tank and water heater. Then begin filling, adding in 1 ounce of bleach per 8 gallons and once filled run all the faucets for a minute or two. Then let it sitting for 6 hours and later drain the tank. Then add fresh water and run all the faucets.
Question, does the water filter take out the chlorine and make is useless to flush the lines? Does the chlorine ruin the filter?

That's it for today, more tomorrow I'm sure

Oh, driver side mirror camera still out. works very intermittently.

[JohnF]

If the water filter contains activated charcoal or carbon it will remove the chlorine. Most filters included with new units do. Their description includes "taste and odor removal". You won't necessarily ruin the filter because they have capacities. It is best to bypass or remove the cartridge before sanitizing your system.

John

[RSchleder]

On the 2 Wildcats MAXX trailers I've purchased in the past couple of years, the vent bulb was defective (burnt out). They put out a weak illumination but were useless. Replace the bulb and the vent light will be useful. I have no idea why they are defective from the factory, perhaps the vent manufacturer uses cheap bulbs from you know where!

PS- it's hard to tell how big the items are in your picture or what they are made of. We have two similar looking pieces made of plastic that holds the frig door open an inch or so while in storage. Perhaps that's what you have there, can't tell for sure.

[Forester Fred]

You should have a vent that closes on the exterior for the range hood. Mine has 2 snap shut connectors that flip open to open the vent cover. When turning on the range hood the force of the air holds the flap open. Just remember to snap it shut before hitting the road.

We've got a 2301 so I don't know how our bathroom setup compares to yours, but we found the best spot for the piano roll holder was just to the right and below the toilet mounted on the wall. It's out of the way but still easy to reach.

I didn't even bother using the water filter. We don't drink any of the water in the storage tank or from the campground water hookups so I'm not worried about filtering it. We buy bottled water for drinking. Not using the filter will save you some money too as they're not cheap!

[Sagecoachdriver]

Thanks for the replies.
The things in the photo are thin metal about 2-3 inches long. Not for the fridge, I have the blue things for that. Thought maybe to remove radio?

Going to mount TP holder to wall beside toilet today. Just hope I don't hit anything in wall.

Dealer installed filter priorr to PDI. Now just wondering how to sanitize the lines. Poured bleach and filled tank late last night and ran some thru line. Left over night and just drained. Takes forever to drain.

That range hood bulb gets very hot in seconds. May swap it out for a bayonet type and use a LED. That bulb must be a halogen.

Thanks for the info on the vent. So close when traveling and open at CG.

[aceinspp]

Foe my vent light I installed an LED made a big difference. Later RJD

[Mark_Harrington]

The tabs are indeed to remove the head unit (radio).

[Sagecoachdriver]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I wonder what the Ahr is on the batteries? I know they are group 27. Again, brand unknown.

Probably going to install the adjustable thermostat in the water heater. Getting 145 degrees currently. I was getting 155 degrees in the Winnebago. Replace it with the adjustable and got it down to 117 degrees. It's just the DW and I and we've never run out of hot water with that lower temperature.

we are getting there moving everything over. Once done, I will take the MH out for a spin and see how it handles and stop by the scales to see what going on weight wise.

[frogsandhogs]

There was recently another inquiry about the tp holder. I found at a large home improvement store a bracket that goes over the edge of a drawer or door that holds the toilet paper. I added a little extra padding to it to make sure it did not mar the wood. Have used for 4 years now, works great. Similar hooks (and they are nice metal) can be found for hanging dish towels etc.
Our old incandescent bulb in the range hood was also useless, and got so hot it melted the cheap plastic over it. We were at the rally at Goshen and replaced bulb with a LED purchased at a vendor there. No need to change socket, it fit right in. What a difference!!! And not hot!!! Also replaced the over sink bulbs and 1 of the bathroom mirror bulbs with LED. Can actually see now! Will do more down the line.
Enjoy your new camper. Oh, we use water from lots of places...drink bottled while driving but use campground water when we are hooked up anywhere. Never a problem.

[Cfritts]

Battery - was told by FR they are NC-27, MCA 730, RC160, AMP/Hour 100

They are Exide brand, marine, dual purpose batteries. I googled and printed out the information from the Exide site.

[oakprk]

I replaced all my incandescent bulbs with LEDs..much better. I thought FR was doing that now!

Hope the TP mounting location works out, we're still moving the floor stand model around as we use it!

I went with the TST flow-thru TPMS and am very happy with it.

Unrelated question...where does the bed go when the slide is in!?!?!?

[Creativepart]

I think you have the 3051S... is that correct?

We mounted our TP holder on the wall to the left of the toilet (the wall with the door) and as I said we found wood straping (1x2?) inside the wall at pretty much just the right height. We used a stud finder and that's how we found it.

[Creativepart]

Did you... or anyone... get a wheel simulator wrench with your coach?? I sure can't find one.

We had nice metal extended valve stems on all but one of our tires. Of course the missing one was a back/inside tire. I purchased a rubber screw on extension from an auto parts store so I could air it up.

All the tires were at 60 psi and the airbags at 10 psi after I picked up the coach. You'd think the dealer would AT LEAST set the tire pressure to the numbers on the door jam. But nooooooo.

We've set our airbags to 78 psi and tires 80/75 rear/front.

[oakprk]

Originally Posted by Creativepart

I think you have the 3051S... is that correct?

We mounted our TP holder on the wall to the left of the toilet (the wall with the door) and as I said we found wood straping (1x2?) inside the wall at pretty much just the right height. We used a stud finder and that's how we found it.

If this question is for me, I have a 2451S (discontinued model) but the bath layout is the same as a 2701.

[Creativepart]

Originally Posted by oakprk

If this question is for me, I have a 2451S (discontinued model) but the bath layout is the same as a 2701.

Sorry I was responding the OP -Sagecoachdriver - and his question of where to put the TP Holder. But I think I see now that he doesn't have a 3051S, after all.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Tried the driver side camera again. Didn't work, then later in afternoon it began working when I moved the MH to dump ( I tested all water systems tank and city ,the faucets and fittings then dumped and used black tank flush) All OK. Then later this afternoon I checked and No Signal again.

Thanks Cfritts for the battery info. Have to reset my Xantrex Battery monitor as I thought it was 220 ahr. Easy reset to 200ahr.

TP holder has been mounted on a piece of birch plywood temporarily and using 3M double stick industrial strength tape to attach to wall beside toilet on right side. Seems to be fine and may be able to just screw initiate the wall instead of using a black and 3m tape.

All my lights are the round LEDs except for the stove vent hood. Sure puts out a lot of heat and no light. Will change it out when we get back from maiden voyage next week.

Captain Skip, I wish I would have told the dealer not to install the water filter. We only drink bottled water like you.

Creativepart- I asked the salesman during the PDI where is the T wrench to remove the wheel simulators. He checked with service and they said they are push on type. Sure enough, I found the paper work for them in the driver's door cubby hole. I had to pull mine off the check and add air. Guess the factory puts in 60psi in tires and 10 psi in air bags. I now have 70psi in air bags and 80/75 rear/front.

We did manage to get towel racks in today. Hope to move the kitchen stuff over tomorrow and maybe try spending the night in the driveway. I have a 30 amp dedicate RV panel and water line right behind the MH in the driveway and a sewer cleanup at the end of the driveway out about 8 feet for dumping.

If anyone needs photos let me know. Finally figured out how to post them.
Have a great weekend and labor day.

[benagi]

Sage, ain't it great trying to get to know your new MH. I see you are getting a lot of help on this thread. Only thing I can add at this point is the question about the range bulb. Ours burned out after the second trip. We pulled it and saw it was a 13watt. Went to ACE hardware and replaced it with an 18watt. They didn't have the 13 watt. Now we have plenty of light, but like you and others have said, they get hot right away. If this one goes out, I will replace it with an LED. Good luck on your up and coming trip. Ben

[Sagecoachdriver]

Finished moving everything out of the Winnebago and into the Forester.
Gave it a wax job and boy what a difference, lots of comments!

TP holder is temporarily on a board and was moved around. Only spot is on the left side. Will just remove from board and screw into wall. Tried to upload photo and can't??

Spent a few minutes watching the slide-out Youtube videos. My dinette only has the gear tracks on the bottom side. Couldn't find the control box, but did find a shaft coming out of the bottom with a cotter pin thru it. Is this used for manual in and out and how?

The other seems to be the Schwintek with the 2 gear tracks mounted on each side. This slide out is for the bed. The salesman says the control box is under the mattress behind the converter charger. Will check that out tomorrow morning.

Boy, it's tiring giving guided tours and very time consuming. The DW is loving it!


Did find USB changing stations on each side of the bed. That's a nice surprise!

Tomorrow I am loading some food and filling the water tank. Then it's off for a test drive with the DW and over to the scales.

Driver side mirror camera still has no signal.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Here are photos, first is TP mounted on a board and using 3M tape to secure temporarily.

Second, is this the manual override for the dinette slide? Do you just pull the pin and push in the slide or use a racket?

[Sagecoachdriver]

We finished moving everything over and I filled the fresh water tank. Took it for a drive to see how it was handling with an almost full load and get it weighed.
Handled fine and the scales showed her weight as
Steering axle 4420
Drive axle 8540
Total 12960

I know the E-450 is rated at 14,500 lbs but what is the front and rear axle ratings, are they front 5000 and rear 9600?

Also, based on the weight am I looking at 65psi front and 70 psi rear? Looked at Michellin's chart, but its for XPS Rib 225/75/16

Good news!!! When I disconnected the shoreline power and started the engine for the drive, the driver side mirror camera worked fine. Stopped and shut it off a few times at the scales moving it around and going into the office. Still worked every time. For some reason, it doesn't work with the shoreline hooked up or maybe the engine battery is low and it needs the alternator to run for a while for it to work?? Anyway, it's working while driving. I don't know what use the remote is good for.

Had the refrigerator running for the past 3 days and the temperature doesn't seem to get below 43 degrees. I did see the thermistor on the fins and the label saying colder. I moved it up to the coldest with not much change.
My Winnebago's Norcold would freeze the water bottles and the overnight temperature could drop to 28 in the fridge. Usually set it down from 5 to 3