Off to a Rough Start

[desalvo55]

Hi,

New to this community and to RV'ing. I knew there would be growing pains and here's a few.

First time retracting the kitchen slide we tore the drawers right out of the cabinet breaking the cabinet spine into pieced. Ouch. Mostly fixed now.

First time draining the sewer tanks sewage immediately exited the drain plug with valves closed. Lost a nights worth of sleep and have PTSD with any type of smell. Are you kidding me? This was on Thanksgiving Day and no help from FR until Monday. RV park folks are very helpful but had no solution because there seems to be none other than a broken valve. RV park employee bravely opened the drain and plugged in spoiling the driveway but hey, he's my hero. Seems to work now.

Family was anxious to go for a trip south to Paso Robles so here we are, 8 of us and a wild cat that howls all night inside the RV (long story). Kids playing with master bed got it stuck in the raised position. So that's how I slept. Now I need to troubleshoot the mechanism. I noted alternating red and green lights behind the cover of a control panel.

Ladder to upper bunk is tearing away from the wall. Looking at its feeble mounting points, that was inedible. It's a ladder FR, come on!

Other than that this Arctic Wolfe 295QSL is cool.

Anyone want a cat? Her name is 2tours. Guess why.

Happy trails folks.

[GoneSouth10]

On the bright side, no where to go from here but up!!

Hang in there - think of it as accumulating some ammunition for the inevitable fire side "RV War Stories Competition"!!

[HangDiver]

Sometimes we go on a vacation; sometimes we go on an adventure.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by desalvo55

Hi,



New to this community and to RV'ing. I knew there would be growing pains and here's a few.



First time retracting the kitchen slide we tore the drawers right out of the cabinet breaking the cabinet spine into pieced. Ouch. Mostly fixed now.



First time draining the sewer tanks sewage immediately exited the drain plug with valves closed. Lost a nights worth of sleep and have PTSD with any type of smell. Are you kidding me? This was on Thanksgiving Day and no help from FR until Monday. RV park folks are very helpful but had no solution because there seems to be none other than a broken valve. RV park employee bravely opened the drain and plugged in spoiling the driveway but hey, he's my hero. Seems to work now.



Family was anxious to go for a trip south to Paso Robles so here we are, 8 of us and a wild cat that howls all night inside the RV (long story). Kids playing with master bed got it stuck in the raised position. So that's how I slept. Now I need to troubleshoot the mechanism. I noted alternating red and green lights behind the cover of a control panel.



Ladder to upper bunk is tearing away from the wall. Looking at its feeble mounting points, that was inedible. It's a ladder FR, come on!



Other than that this Arctic Wolfe 295QSL is cool.



Anyone want a cat? Her name is 2tours. Guess why.



Happy trails folks.

You can buy a valve that fits on the sewer line so yo will have no more surprises . I probably sent two

[2rad4u]

Originally Posted by HangDiver

Sometimes we go on a vacation; sometimes we go on an adventure.

So true. Been on a few of those "adventures"

[wabakami]

Welcome to the forum from snowy Ontario, Canada!


Hopefully this is the looowww point of your RVing, all the best for the future.


Geoff & Francesca
.

[ijon]

Sounds like you were in the movie Vacation.

[desalvo55]

Originally Posted by spock123

You can buy a valve that fits on the sewer line so yo will have no more surprises Attachment 192073. I probably sent two

Nice [emoji848]

[GL1800Rider]

Good to see with all these troubles you still have a sense of humor with the cat.

Cat = 1
Campers = 0

[Cold Lake Kid]

Yes, it seems to be the "Horror Shows" we've endured, that we remember the most and talk about.
The smooth as silk trips barely get a mention.
Are we all masochists at heart??

[Reverse_snowbird]

Hopefully you had some good times inbetween the bad.

For the sewer problem, gt a Valtera Twist on Waste Valve (available at rv stores or Amazon). It prevents surprises like you had.

Poor you. That kitty cat probably wants to play with all the critters she can hear outside your rig at night. No solution for that unless you pick up some catnip so that she'll calm down.

Hope you have better luck in the future.

[ferrisjc]

Sorry to hear. No matter how many YouTube's you watch, manuals and posts you read the first couple or more trips out "it happens". During the first couple of months went through thinking my grey tank was over filling when in fact it was the fresh water tank and a bad 4-way Anderson when using City mode. It didn't happen every time but was aggravating just the same. In my panic I was reading the wrong led light and tried convincing others that the impossible was happening. All better now. Oh and did I tell you after watching so many YouTube's that I was convinced even with a 4-way valve that Dynamax actually still had 2 fresh water ports for adding fresh water. Turned out they still were using an old panel and the fresh water hole was a false one without anything behind. I tried it just in case. Yeah it found places inside the MH to come out before I realized Barnum was right---"there's a sucker born every minute". RVing I wouldn't trade as a new lifestyle as it definitely pays back all the mishaps.

Retired Army CWO//DoD Civilan//Dynamax Isata 3 Apr 13 2018

[kittlecat]

Wow, what a trip! From the time I started camping as an adult, I have yet to have one trip that has not had its share of "situations." People ask me 1) why I still go and 2) why I haven't written a book about my many adventures. My answers are 1) I love camping and 2) I haven't had time to write a book yet. I'm glad you made it through and would ask you to rethink the experience as I have learned to, and that is: no one is gravely injured or dead so it's all good! As far as the cat, I have camped with a cat consistently for all of my adult life. Some cats have taken to it better than others, but usually by the second or third trip, the cat has settled in and actually enjoys the adventure. Hopefully, your kitty will settle down after another trip or two as well. Hang in there, it does get better!

[desalvo55]

Well one of the reasons I'm happy about my situation is that folks seem to be so helpful and down to earth in the RV world.

Thanks for your support.

We are back from our movie "Paso Robles Vacation 1". It was pretty good. Wine makes everything better. Bed being stuck in the upright position was uncomfortable. 2tours meowed all through Friday night. I warned them but was mostly quiet Saturday night.

And so being a newbie in the RV world, I expected a learning curve. I'm pissed that I couldn't fix the bed. Looks like a bad motor. Went through all of the Lippert modes and the motor doesn't even dim the lights when the switch is activated. Wire loom is connected but motor is probably dead. Hey it sleeps eight and we are down to 3

RV owners all must own brad nail guns....

Jr (my eight year old) is assembling a towel holder for the bathroom. He's an 8 year that insists on performing all RV functions. I mean everything, auto leveling system, hooking up water power and sewer, lighting, network, TV, you name it. He'll get pissed if you miss a step either hooking up or setting up. "Dad, you didn't block the wheels!" Jeez I hit the lottery with this boy so late in life

Driving back I was thinking should I have drained the black and grey water tanks? They are mostly empty at 1/3 but still hold weight and I got crumby gas mileage on the way home. Like 10 mpg

[HangDiver]

That your 8-year old is learning all the RV functions is a great learning opportunity that'll carry forward in other aspects of his life.

Priceless!