It's heeeeeerrrrrrre!

[JackAndJane]

It's HERE!! The 31FQSL arrived Friday morning! Man, we are wiped out now. Spent the whole weekend trying to clean up the mess of the bomb going off and dropping all the boxes of our stuff in the middle of the camper!

Everything we've tested so far works flawlessly. About the only things left are the generator, fuel station and doing a sewer dump. Lot's of valves there (either 3 or 4, can't recall at the moment) where we only expected 2 so the fun is going to be figuring out what's what. I will say that the documentation is pretty much useless. It's mostly generic stuff, no good pictures, etc. That tends to make this process a LOT more difficult. We didn't have the luxury of a dealer walk thru since we had it delivered to a CG so we're having to figure these things out on our own. Oh well, it was our decision and it's part of the adventure I guess. I'm sure that I'll be posting more questions here in order to tap into the wisdom of those that have forged the previous path.

I was a little apprehensive after seeing so many FB posts and others about things that were broken or assembled incorrectly on arrival. We're soooo happy that we don't seem to have any issues at all. Thanks FR for a great product!

[Wiscampsin]

Congrats

[TURBS]

CONGRATULATIONS!
have fun!

[CampingGator]

I'm sure you are glad that the first weekend in the trailer went well! Where do you like to camp? We travel up to Georgia on the way to our daughter's in Chattanooga.

[themounties]

Congratulations

[JackAndJane]

Originally Posted by CampingGator

I'm sure you are glad that the first weekend in the trailer went well! Where do you like to camp? We travel up to Georgia on the way to our daughter's in Chattanooga.

We're new to this whole camping life so we don't have preferences yet other than places that are pet friendly.

We had the camper delivered to the Sawnee COE CG on Lake Lanier for our shakedown cruise. Other than the wind that occasionally was getting up to around 30 knots or so, it was a fantastic weekend to get started on our new adventure.

We're heading to Hunting Island the last weekend of February. That should be a great time.

[MtnGuy]

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by MtnGuy

X2!

[JackAndJane]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

X2!

LOL! Hint received!

We're going to try to get some worthy pics now that only the garage looks like a disaster area.

[taken]

Congratulations! I am waiting patiently (sort of) to start a similar thread...

[FIVE2MH]

As my grandchildren say, "So COOL"!
Hope you enjoy many happy and safe travels along the way!

[rsv4pilot]

Just make sure the plastic strip behind the screen is out of the generator door!!!! Mine wasn't and the generator overheated several times before we discovered that.

[taken]

Originally Posted by rsv4pilot

Just make sure the plastic strip behind the screen is out of the generator door!!!! Mine wasn't and the generator overheated several times before we discovered that.

Attachment 68703

I wonder why? Lots of other RV brands don't have a ventilated door for the generator and are fine. What could be the difference here?

[rsv4pilot]

There is no room for cooling air to get to the generator. At least in my XLR Hyperlite.

[taken]

Originally Posted by rsv4pilot

There is no room for cooling air to get to the generator.

Right, but other brands are setup the exact same way but without the vents and are fine. My last Heartland product had the gen in the front with a solid door. My new 395 will have the gen in the identical spot but with a ventilated door. Not sure why it's required on an FR product but not on other brands. Maybe Bob can clear this up...

[rsv4pilot]

Clarity would be good.

[donanddona]

If the genny compartment is separate from the battery compartment their may not be proper ventilation.

[taken]

Originally Posted by donanddona

If the genny compartment is separate from the battery compartment their may not be proper ventilation.

That's what I'm saying though. The Onan 5500 on my Road Warrior was in the front compartment with the forward facing hatch. It was in it's own box that had a rubber seal around it so when you closed the front hatch, the generator was completely sealed off from the rest of the compartment and from outside air. Never overheated once...

[Kaboom]

Originally Posted by rsv4pilot

Just make sure the plastic strip behind the screen is out of the generator door!!!! Mine wasn't and the generator overheated several times before we discovered that.

Attachment 68703

I have the same door on my 27 HFS and the plastic panel is installed behind the screened portion of the door. After reading other posts about water intrusion into the compartment and rust forming on the surfaces, I would not want to remove the panel and cause more problems.

So far I have no signs of water entering the compartment. However if I remove the plastic panel from the top portion of the door there is nothing to keep rain water out.

I rarely use the generator and the last time it was over 105 degrees, I just opened the door to allow ventilation while the generator was running. The other times the outside air temp was much cooler and I left the door closed and ran the generator without any problems.

[bulletbob]

The short and sweet explanation is....on the Onan 5500 series, both the intake and exhaust are located on the bottom of the generator. The vented door is not necessarily needed but we choose to use it for more air circulation. On the 4000 watt (which we use in the travel trailers) Onan requires the extra ventilation in the door because the intake air comes from the upper portion of the Gen set.