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Old 07-16-2015, 05:34 PM   #1
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Bed, refrigerator, and tinted windows in 2015 Crusader 294

Just completed our shakedown cruise in our new Crusader 294. Overall we were pleased. We did discover that the queen size mattress rests on a frame and plywood board for a double bed. Why on earth would PT do this? We are thinking of cutting a plywood board to fit queen dimensions and putting it over existing board to keep bed from sagging. Has anyone done this or another fix for the problem? My only other complaint is the Norcold refrigerator (all our other campers had Dometic ones which were problem free.). The temperature varied wildly depending on outside conditions and we were constantly adjusting control on fin. Also the door shelves seem to fall off for no good reason. We didn't have a shelf in the freezer and have tried unsuccessfully to get one from our dealer. There is no parts list in the manual so haven't been able to order one from Amazon either. The only other issue was the window tinting. Our previous fiver had darker tinted windows that did not allow heat to penetrate. There is a marked difference in these and lots of heat. Has anyone added extra tinting? Granted it was very hot while we were out and we are usually cooler weather campers. We are going to add the second AC or a fan as one AC couldn't handle near 100 degree conditions ( which we do experience in transit from Arkansas to Colorado in August!

Thanks all! Do love everything else.
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Old 07-17-2015, 07:25 AM   #2
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1. Yes, add the 2nd AC. I am in southern Texas and love that 2nd AC!!
2. The Norcold fridge sucks. I hate ours.
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Old 07-17-2015, 08:59 AM   #3
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I agree with others about the Norcold fridge. You know the nickname for a Norcold is "Nevercold". This company has history, and not good.
My freezer also didn't have a shelf when I took delivery. I told the dealer to get me one or I wouldn't take the unit. The salesman was shocked that it didn't come with a shelf. I now have a shelf, so talk to your dealer, I'm sure he can get you a shelf.

In the bedroom, I'm thinking of installing a fan instead of a second AC unit. For our needs this would work, as we don't use the unit in heat of 100 degrees, and I don't want the extra weight of a second AC unit.

Only complaint I have is that it would of been nice to have a "trap door" to the basement. My friend has one in his 5th. wheel and they use it to drop the dirty laundry to a basket in the basement. Someday if I get the nerve I might do that to my 5th. wheel.
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Old 07-17-2015, 09:30 AM   #4
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Trap door to the basement compartment, cool that's a good idea. Thanks
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Old 07-17-2015, 09:31 AM   #5
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We had the laundry drop in our previous fiver and did like it. I am using large drawer under wardrobe for dirty clothes and that is working for us.
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Old 07-17-2015, 09:39 AM   #6
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We have the trap door and blocked it off. Putting the dirty laundry in the basement was a multiple PITA. 1, it's hard to open the door in the vanity and stuff sheets, etc, in the small opening. 2. It takes room in the basement for the basket. 3. It requires going to the basement to retrieve the clothes to laundry them. 4. It allows cold air to infiltrate the bathroom. We use a small hamper and a collapsible bag in the bathroom. Besides all that, TOWTA hated it!
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Old 07-17-2015, 01:28 PM   #7
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Bed

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Originally Posted by sailors View Post
Just completed our shakedown cruise in our new Crusader 294. Overall we were pleased. We did discover that the queen size mattress rests on a frame and plywood board for a double bed. Why on earth would PT do this? We are thinking of cutting a plywood board to fit queen dimensions and putting it over existing board to keep bed from sagging. Has anyone done this or another fix for the problem? My only other complaint is the Norcold refrigerator (all our other campers had Dometic ones which were problem free.). The temperature varied wildly depending on outside conditions and we were constantly adjusting control on fin. Also the door shelves seem to fall off for no good reason. We didn't have a shelf in the freezer and have tried unsuccessfully to get one from our dealer. There is no parts list in the manual so haven't been able to order one from Amazon either. The only other issue was the window tinting. Our previous fiver had darker tinted windows that did not allow heat to penetrate. There is a marked difference in these and lots of heat. Has anyone added extra tinting? Granted it was very hot while we were out and we are usually cooler weather campers. We are going to add the second AC or a fan as one AC couldn't handle near 100 degree conditions ( which we do experience in transit from Arkansas to Colorado in August!

Thanks all! Do love everything else.
I just measured the plywood for the bed -- 54.5". (never thought to measure) combine this with the cheap -- no support mattress that came with the Crusader and you have one bad nights sleep. We bought a firmer , more expensive mattress and thus far it hd been good sleeping at night. I instaled a Maxxair fan in the kitchen area and in the bedroom. We miss the paddle fan and thermopane windows our last rig had. We downsized both in size and quality. I am not complaining, just facts, and thus far we very happy with our Crusader. We stay in it an average of 60 -70 nights a year.
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Old 07-17-2015, 02:38 PM   #8
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Hubby busy now putting in plywood to give mattress full support, so future nights should be more comfortable. Camper World installing second AC next week, and have ordered freezer shelf from Amazon after trying for over a month to get one from dealer. Will pack as little as possible in fridge for the two hot days crossing Texas before we get to Colorado. Once we are settled, hoping NoCold�� will perform a little better.
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Old 07-17-2015, 03:10 PM   #9
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Hubby busy now putting in plywood to give mattress full support, so future nights should be more comfortable. Camper World installing second AC next week, and have ordered freezer shelf from Amazon after trying for over a month to get one from dealer. Will pack as little as possible in fridge for the two hot days crossing Texas before we get to Colorado. Once we are settled, hoping NoCold�� will perform a little better.
Our Rockwood 2306 we had was made the same way... Problem was the bed was left to right not front to back... So the person on the one side of the bed would basically roll off since they had not support under them.. We had a queen bed and they had an option of a king.. That would have been even more interesting...
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Old 07-17-2015, 03:15 PM   #10
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camperdave825--Hi have the same motor etc and RV290rlt--its brand new the truck--rv 3 years---CAN YOU TELL ME AT WHAT NUMBER YOU HAVE YOUR BRAKE CONTROLLER AT, THANKS
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Old 07-17-2015, 05:55 PM   #11
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Our Rockwood 2306 we had was made the same way... Problem was the bed was left to right not front to back... So the person on the one side of the bed would basically roll off since they had not support under them.. We had a queen bed and they had an option of a king.. That would have been even more interesting...
Plywood sections allowing storage to raise and extending to mattress dimensions totally fixed our problem! Next night's sleep will be great!
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Old 07-17-2015, 06:33 PM   #12
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Brake controller setting

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camperdave825--Hi have the same motor etc and RV290rlt--its brand new the truck--rv 3 years---CAN YOU TELL ME AT WHAT NUMBER YOU HAVE YOUR BRAKE CONTROLLER AT, THANKS
CLAUDE002
Ours is built into the truck and we set it at nine. Started at five but have gradually moved it up.
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Old 07-17-2015, 07:00 PM   #13
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I did the plywood mod within the first few nights of rolling out of bed as well... Made the DW much happier as she slept on that part of the bed.
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Old 07-18-2015, 07:00 AM   #14
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We found our mattress to be more like a board, so we just changed it iut to a Serta we found on sale. Seems to have good strength on outside edges so may not require underlay mod. Fridge seemed to work fine for our short shake down trip. We do use a Progressive Industries surge/voltage protector. That did trip on and off one night as the campground filled up. All running a/c made for some voltage drops I imagine.
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Old 07-18-2015, 10:53 PM   #15
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Norcold Refrigerator Deluxe Fan to INCREASE cooling inside

I added one of these fans to my fridge and I leave it running while traveling. I don't drive with my propane/fridge running.

Things I hate about the fridge:

- Should have fans to circulate interior air by default

- Should have a control for the temperature, not just this mystic sliding of a piece of metal on the fin (is up cooler or warmer and how much change is it going to do? Do I move it a little or a lot?) I'm contemplating this mod to address this vagueness

- No ability to force the fridge to stay on propane. When I turn my generators on to charge my batteries, the fridge switches to electricity and steals about 4 amps from my generators.
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Old 07-19-2015, 12:11 AM   #16
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- No ability to force the fridge to stay on propane. When I turn my generators on to charge my batteries, the fridge switches to electricity and steals about 4 amps from my generators.
I'd bet that if you were to open the lower reefer vent on the outside of your rig, you would find a 110-volt outlet somewhere with the Norcold plugged in. If you simply unplugged that, I'd bet that you'd find that the reefer would stay on propane.

Alternatively, there might be a breaker dedicated to the reefer inside your power panel. Flipping that breaker off would accomplish the same thing, wouldn't it?

Pop
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Old 07-22-2015, 09:25 AM   #17
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Quote:
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Norcold Refrigerator Deluxe Fan to INCREASE cooling inside

I added one of these fans to my fridge and I leave it running while traveling. I don't drive with my propane/fridge running.

Things I hate about the fridge:

- Should have fans to circulate interior air by default

- Should have a control for the temperature, not just this mystic sliding of a piece of metal on the fin (is up cooler or warmer and how much change is it going to do? Do I move it a little or a lot?) I'm contemplating this mod to address this vagueness

- No ability to force the fridge to stay on propane. When I turn my generators on to charge my batteries, the fridge switches to electricity and steals about 4 amps from my generators.
[/QUOTE]

If you don't leave the propane on while traveling, I don't see any way for these fans to cool the fridge while traveling. Am I missing something?

If you look at the Amazon page where the link takes you, take note of what he says about wiring the fans to the light, which is wired to the fridge circuit board.

I would not take a chance on $16 fans possibly blowing out the circuit board to the fridge. In my fridge I see no other way to hook up these fans to a different 12VDC power supply. I like the idea of fans but I would need further instructions on how to wire them to a separate power source.
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Old 07-22-2015, 09:29 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kohai View Post

- No ability to force the fridge to stay on propane. When I turn my generators on to charge my batteries, the fridge switches to electricity and steals about 4 amps from my generators.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SpringerPop View Post
I'd bet that if you were to open the lower reefer vent on the outside of your rig, you would find a 110-volt outlet somewhere with the Norcold plugged in. If you simply unplugged that, I'd bet that you'd find that the reefer would stay on propane.

Alternatively, there might be a breaker dedicated to the reefer inside your power panel. Flipping that breaker off would accomplish the same thing, wouldn't it?

Pop

x2, there should be an easily accessible plug behind the panel. Mine has one also.
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Old 07-24-2015, 07:34 PM   #19
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Sailors, yes, the fridge is the weakest link in that trailer. I installed the fridge fan and when not 90+ degrees outside it will freeze milk sitting in the door. I have the same camper. They are not the best insulated for the Texas heat so I installed a 15K A/C with heat strip in the bedroom. That was a life saver in Destin, FL. Also installed a Maxxfan in the kitchen overhead vent and JT Strong Arms. I also cut the post that holds the spare tire off and lengthened it by welding on an extension so the bottom of the spare tire will not drag below the bumper. I tore it off twice pulling in to fuel stations in the Texas Hill Country. As far as the fridge goes, we also have a 63 quart ARB fridge freezer we are happy with that does a great job. Due to its weight when loaded, it is not a friendly accessory to move! Keep an eye on that front cap, ours was replaced (twice), due to cracks. Also where the roof membrane meets the side, keep an eye on that area, that separated in two places and they did some major surgery to fix that twice.


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Old 08-01-2015, 08:51 AM   #20
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Anyone attached a bicycle rack to the spare tire on the 294 ? I would like to do that and carry 2 cruiser type bikes. Total additional weight approx 100 lbs.
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