The new Forester 2501ts (2017.5)

[Medic1]

I'm not resistant to change but it would have been nice to know the change was coming. There was no warning. No pamphlet, nothing online, nothing at the dealership except the couch or recliners no longer available.

There are many different RV lines out there, not just Sunseeker and Forester and I was looking at all of them. I chose the Forester for many reasons. Some are on the coach we received. Some no longer are. I don't like that I wasn't able to make an informed decision. Change can be great but it shouldn't be changed until the purchaser is made aware and able to see the changes. Yes it all functions the same as before but that is an invalid argument. I could have purchased a Jayco for $20k less and had it function the same.

Josh is correct about the "no power" problem. My concern was if for some reason the wifi module went bad and the app no longer worked properly. I don't know if this is even probable or possible but it was just a concern. Software messes up. It happens.

OneControl is a learning curve we all can get used too. But (for instance) Old way: I want to turn on the bedroom light..*click*, it's on. New way 1) go to the panel, turn it on, push "my control panel", push "lights", push "bedroom light on". New way 2)get smart phone, go to apps, go to OneControl, connect to MyRV wifi, sign in password, go to "my control panel", go to "lights", go to "bedroom light on". And the same for the generator, water heater, water pump, etc.. It seems like it's a solution in search of a problem. I'm not saying it's bad, I just haven't seen the upside yet.

[KayleysMom]

Originally Posted by Medic1

OneControl is a learning curve we all can get used too. But (for instance) Old way: I want to turn on the bedroom light..*click*, it's on. New way 1) go to the panel, turn it on, push "my control panel", push "lights", push "bedroom light on". New way 2)get smart phone, go to apps, go to OneControl, connect to MyRV wifi, sign in password, go to "my control panel", go to "lights", go to "bedroom light on". And the same for the generator, water heater, water pump, etc.. It seems like it's a solution in search of a problem. I'm not saying it's bad, I just haven't seen the upside yet.

Exactly. This is why I am so surprised that there is not another way to at least turn on the lights. Why take 7 steps to do something when one will do? I can understand if you are outside and want to turn on the inside lights for some reason - you don't have to enter the coach. But if you are inside and simply want to turn on a light to read? Unless I'm missing something, and Joshua please let me know if I am, then I'm confounded as to why this is thought to be an improvement. Granted, in certain situations it would be helpful, and on the surface it is pretty cool, but on a day-to-day basis, it appears to make things more complicated and complex than necessary.

Medic1: Do you have a unit with the new controls?

[AbdRahim]

X2. Simple is better. I was camping this summer when a guy came in with a million dollar coach. everything was controlled from an iPad. poor guy had to call tech support to operate simple stuff.

[Medic1]

Yes. I have the OneControl. There are manual light switches for over the dinette, over the sink, the medicine cabinet and the bathroom. We generally only use these lights. I think I might get one of those pod LED lights for the bedroom. Oh and there are reading lights over the pillow area. I also wondered about how much this system pulls from the battery because it is always on whereas the older system only used electricity when you were actually using the devices. Probably not very much but if you're boondocking, every little bit counts.

To be fair, I still use the knobs on my car radio, not the buttons on the steering wheel. I used to be a techy person but I feel like it has reached a point of diminishing return.

[Joshua Cavitt]

Each light can be turned on individually from the panel. At most you will take two steps to get to the light function.


There are lights in the slide, bathroom and over the bed that have a push button to turn on and off.

[falconracer]

I also traded a perfectly good 12 FR Sun Seeker for a new 17 Forester. My trade had been really good but with the miles we drive it was time. The 17 Forester has all the features we needed. I want name them. I'm like a lot of you, the new technology. MyRV is nice I don't like all the added steps to turn things on an off. My BIGGEST concern is there is no hour meter for the generator. The guys at Lippert told me how to have it display a meter on the touch panel and it does now. Now I have an hour meter that's sitting above the picture of the generator. One problem is It don't actually work. It doesn't count hours. It also has a neat maint. reminder but it doesn't work of course. Talked with Lippert about this and they say the generator is not sending the hour info to their Generator Geneie. OK, Don't get me wrong the guys at Lippert are great help.

I am an Automation and Control person, I understand this stuff. I did study out their system and found that there are ways to bypass or at least find easy enough ways to run the lights, slides, pumps, awnings and other devices if the panels fail. (Don't do this at home all this needs to be tested and verified) I'm also looking at a tethered interface, with real buttons and switches, that I may install for emergency use. I need to do a little more work before this happens though. But for now, I installed an hour meter that work straight off the generator, works great. But I would rather have it work rather have it on the MYRV panel, isn't that what we paid for???

[Helkas]

I know I'm late to the party... but...

After picking up my new 2017 2501ts a couple weeks ago I was extremely skeptical of the MyRV control panel, especially as a network engineer. I still have my reservations, but it got a LOT better after connecting my phone.

The good:
Controlling everything from my phone.
The monitor screen (for fresh/black/grey water, etc, is quite a bit better than the old push button "check" lights.
There are still quite a few manual push button lights around the coach
I LOVE being able to be outside of the rig and extending the slides from my phone to watch for clearance issues. No more wife screaming about a nearby tree. =)

The bad:
Pretty slow and clunky interface.
*Turn on control panel* 1 second.
*touch the myrv main control center button* 2-3 seconds load time.
*touch the desired item you would like to interface with (lights/monitor/generator/slides/etc...we'll go with lights)* 2-3 seconds load time.
*read through the list of lights and find the one you want (you may need to scroll down)* 4-5 seconds of searching.
*touch "on"* 1 second.

That is to get 1 light on that use to take 1 second and a flip of a switch for the light I wanted. Repeat to turn light off. It get's old when you only wanted the light for 5 seconds to find something, but it takes 15-20 seconds to turn it on and off, each.

My phone now connects automatically to the RV when I get close rather than to my internet connected hotspot, so I have to manually switch to my internet network. Frustrating.


Overall, I am getting more use to it. I think the more I use my phone to interface with it, the more I'll like it. I do wish I had to open the app before it connected to the RV wifi though. Maybe I need to patch it online still.

That is just my experience with it. I am 50/50 still on whether the MyRV is an improvement or a hassle.

[KayleysMom]

Originally Posted by falconracer

My BIGGEST concern is there is no hour meter for the generator. The guys at Lippert told me how to have it display a meter on the touch panel and it does now. Now I have an hour meter that's sitting above the picture of the generator. One problem is It don't actually work. It doesn't count hours. It also has a neat maint. reminder but it doesn't work of course. Talked with Lippert about this and they say the generator is not sending the hour info to their Generator Geneie. OK, Don't get me wrong the guys at Lippert are great help.

falconracer,

Just thought I'd let you know our experience with MyRV and the generator hour meter. We picked up our 2017 2861 Forester on January 17th. The generator hour meter on the MyRV display showed 17 hours. We ran the generator for at least 10 hours during our 2 day trip home to New York state from RVW in Ohio but the hour meter continued to show 17 hours. I called Lippert and as soon as I told them the problem they told me they had gotten a "bad batch" of generator genies and it needed to be replaced. They gave me a case number to provide to the dealer when we set up a warranty appointment to have this fixed.

[Tim.little]

As an AF Avionics Technician / Space Systems Technician I am very wary of this OneControl system. I opened up the panel to see how this thing works and was shocked to see the control modules covered in sawdust ... apparently the install tech doesn't have the same level of quality in mind that I would expect. As I looked at each module I started envisioning manual switches put in parallel with most of the circuitry, especially the lights and the slide outs. As I researched Lipert components, it looks like this is actually an option. So I will be looking to do this an a future upgrade, if possible. I can see where I would be able to jumper the slide outs to control them, if there was a systems failure and will make me some bypass jumpers for now. I have a 2501TS, Does anyone know how to manually disconnect the wardrobe and bed slides, if you needed to push them in or out, if the motor burned out or something?

[Duckogram]

Welcome to the FRF Forester MH Section. Interesting apraisal of the One Control.
Suggestion(s) for posting: Might want to avoid resurrecting a thread that is over 2 years old and dorment for over a year. If you cannot find what you are looking for in the old thread, you are better off starting a new one and asking a specific question.
As for your actual question regarding slide outs, yes I do because your question is not model specific. If you search youtube for Lippert in-wall slide outs or schwintek you will find many videos on how to do that. Some of them are posted by LCI. No need to reinvent the wheel here. Safe Travels

[Medic1]

Tim, I found the same sawdust along with a wiring rats nest. So, if you ever do that upgrade, I would love if you posted pics and instructions in the "upgrades" section of the forum. Thanks for your service. (my hubby is a AF Vietnam vet. I like to refer to him as "Wingnut") ��

[AbdRahim]

Hopefully enough people will complain that they will go back to switches for future models.