A few issues with my A122

[D-mo]

Hey all ...
well I've been very happy with my new A122 for a number of months now, but now I have noticed a few things that ... well, I really think should not be. About 2 weeks ago, while towing it back from Virginia Beach I noticed some marks on the face of the fridge. No problem I thought ... I took a clean cloth and tried to wipe the brown marks from the stainless steel. Low and behold, they wouldnt come off ... and upon further closer inspection, it turns out that the "stainless steel" appliance isnt really stainless at all, but faux finish, that wears of very easily if rubbed with a duffle bag. I'm not sure if I should be contacting, Rockwood, Dometic or going back to my dealer with this issue, as basically all these units are sold advertising Stainless Steel appliances, when they are not. Anyways, your thoughts on this issue would be appreciated ...
Also ... I am finding that the interior metal roof and doors dent extremely easily. I have already managed to put a dent in the door of the unit, just by having it fall on a chair that i was trying to put into the interior before going camping. Would this even be fightable for warrenty ... the interior metal skin dents and scars very easily and i find this to be a quality control issue.

d-mo

[daveinpickerington]

D-mo,

I don't think the fridge markings would be covered by warranty. I believe they would say the abrasive nature of the duffle bag was the problem. I am not sure if dents would be a warrantied item, but, I don't think so.

I am have been looking at an A122 to pull behind my 2011 Xterra. How does it tow behind your Frontier? What is you highway mileage while towing?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[rawlus]

I have an A122 as well. Have not seen either of the issues you mention but I don't believe they would be warranty items, as the earlier poster said, the fridge issue was you letting something abrade the surface during transit, the latter issue was carelessness for lack of a better term. Both of the issues are purely cosmetic so in due time the sting should wear off. Like anything brand new, the first scratch or dent is the toughest to deal with. When you get a ding on your car door at the supermarket, you don't have an action against the manufacturer for not making a ding-proof door.

The stainless finish thing is pretty common, many household appliances are treated in this manner as well. I would not expect true stainless appliances in this type of vehicle, but that's just me. I think operationally, the fridge has worked great for me on A/C or LP, gets cold and stays cold.

In the end, the plusses should outweigh the negatives, it's a great little camper, tows well, sets up quick and has many of the optional features of larger, more expensive rvs as standard..

I tow ours behind a jeep liberty with a tranny cooler. Tows fine, I don't know gas mileage because I don't really count that stuff. When the tanks empty I fill it, what choice do I have you know?

[rawlus]

I will say this however particleboard is crap. Especially in an outdoor or high humidity application. The outdoor shelf is getting remade into something useful that doesn't de-laminate at the suggestion of rain. I'll probably take the bracket and mount it to a nice bamboo cutting board of similar or larger size.

I expect the dinette to be remade with plywood and laminate at some point s well as it lacks rigidity for a bed/seating surface when in the down position and will warp eventually as a table.

I realize the particleboard is a cost saver to keep the retail price down, but I would have preferred an even lower price and just give me the hardware and call it a make-a-shelf and make-a-table kit. Lol.

[D-mo]

Yea ... i guess you guys are right about the door ding ... it sure killed the day after i did that.
However, im still having a hard time this the cosmetic finish on the fridge .. so i will take that up with the dealer and see how that comes out. Just incase it doesnt work out .. does anyone know of a paint product that could be applied to hide these brown primer marks ???
Other that this two things that have happened to this unit .. it performs like a champ and tows real well behind the Frontier. Gas mileage is very acceptable ...but i really cant give you a figure, as i just pay the price and go.

d-mo

[rawlus]

i don't know that i'd recommend a paint product, it would seem like you'd need to remove the rest of the faux finish to achieve sufficient adhesion - my suggestion would be to pursue either a skinning approach (like people do with ipods and laptops), this thread may be of help: Skinning Your Kitchen Appliance | Apartment Therapy Unplggd

another option, and one i would pursue myself, would be to use decals/stickers from the places you go with the camper and just use the fridge face as the place to create a collage of these stickers - over time this can become a very interesting piece that provokes frond memories...

[daveinpickerington]

Thanks for the replies.

[Jeep4Two]

The fridge (and other appliance) were both things that I checked when we went to look at the A126 we just bought. Our appliances have actual stainless steel skins (front of fridge, front trim on microwave, lid on the stove). I was actually impressed that there was that level of detail.

I know it's a tiny interior and tiny little appliances, but the stainless does set of the interior in my opinion.

We are still going over the camper with a fine toothed comb (just brought it home yesterday) but so far the overall fit and finish seems OK. I've seen some cloth that's got loose threads that didn't get trimmed when sewn (over by the hinges on the front side interior) and I noticed on my way out the door to work this morning that the top part of the door seems to have a loose fit to the door frame. I'm going to look at that when I get home to ensure it's tight enough to prevent leakage during a rain.

Loving it - and I do like the idea of stickers to take care of the aesthetic problem should your dealer not replace that door for you. If the sticker says "Stainless Steel" then steel it should be. If it was painted, it should have said "Stainless Steel Look"

[dimurrrw]

Don' you know that "stainless steel" has now become a color? No? You don't? Try this! Go out and buy a "brass" lamp. Such is the world we live in.

Seriously though, I'm just kidding and I sympathize with you. Would something like this product be of help to you?

[trudinator]

[QUOTE=rawlus;127033]I will say this however particleboard is crap. Especially in an outdoor or high humidity application. The outdoor shelf is getting remade into something useful that doesn't de-laminate at the suggestion of rain. I'll probably take the bracket and mount it to a nice bamboo cutting board of similar or larger size.


Our outside shelf on our Rockwood 8293RKSS showed water damage after the first weekend. My DH is going to get a scrap of Corian and make a new one using the existing bracket. The designers obviously didn't think rain would be an issue with these things! Must have been designed by a man.

[thehamguy1]

Originally Posted by Jeep4Two

I noticed on my way out the door to work this morning that the top part of the door seems to have a loose fit to the door frame. I'm going to look at that when I get home to ensure it's tight enough to prevent leakage during a rain.

Ours also has the slight gap at the top of the upper part of the door. It can be made worse if the plastic turnbuckle (for lack of a better word) on the upper door isn't turned exactly vertical. After 7 months of use, there has never been a leak around our door, so although you should check it a time or two at first, I don't think it'll be a problem. The door gasket is good at channeling rain away. When you're inside, you can use the turnbuckle to hold the door even tighter. It's also a handy place to hook a bungee cord when you want to keep the door open (turnbuckle to lift handle).

[D-mo]

heres a pic of the fridge ... showing the faux finish .. which looks so close to stainless steel it had me fooled .. now it just has me upset that it looks so bad ... i may have to reskin the thing if things dont turn out the way i wish.


d-mo

[thehamguy1]

That's really disappointing to see. It would upset me greatly too. I suppose the panel comes out if the edge molding is taken off. I wonder what's on the other side of it? Even if the other side isn't suitable you'll have a template for replacement. On some TV home decorating show they mentioned a thin SS veneer you could buy to reface kitchen appliances like dishwashers, etc. I wonder if that's available in your area (haven't seen it here, nor looked). Think I'll mosey over to homedepot.com...

[D-mo]

some good thoughts about doing a rip on the door and checking to see whats on the other side of the panel ... never even gave that a thought .. most likely these things are dipped in the finish .. so i may get lucky ... a good little project when we get back from pres'quille provincial park ...

thanks .. d-mo

[D-mo]

well, its not dipped i can tell you that ... i just pulled the door and unscrewed 3 little screws on the bottom and the whole panel was able to slide out. The faux SS finish is on super thin plywood, believe it or not. What im thinking now is just do the darn thing properly and have someone cut a piece of real stainless up in the matching colour - using the origional as a template, like you suggested hamguy. this way i will have no more of these issues again.

d-mo

[rawlus]

its not that they didn't think of rain i don't think - i think it comes down to being able to hit the target pricepoint while still delivering on certain essentials. they've made most of the appliances, heat, a/c, heated mattress, stereo, outside shower, etc standard... i think this is more than others come with standard... so i expected some cost-cutting elsewhere to keep it around $10K retail. i can remake the particle board shelf and dinette table on my own with better materials... so the OEM tables are junky, i get it, but i don't think for a minute that was a "mistake" they made. it was a deliberate decision and i'm sorta okay them cheaping out there instead of somewhere else that i might care more about.

[Jeep4Two]

Originally Posted by D-mo

heres a pic of the fridge ... showing the faux finish .. which looks so close to stainless steel it had me fooled .. d-mo

That looks just like mine - so it had me fooled too. While I agree that the ease of messing it up is a pain, I have to admit that Dometic did one heck of a job on a faux finish. For kicks, I'm going to see if the coating on mine is conductive.

[D-mo]

yea .. im in the same boat as you guys ... im just going to fix the fridge with a Stainless steel film that i found on the i-net ... used on HGtv to cover "older appliances". Thanks again to previous posts, and supporting posters.
I totally agree with the statement of cost statements Rawlus is making. This i can fix for with 40 bux or so. No big problems ...and no dragging it back and negotiating .. which i know is a loose/maybewin/baybe loose scenario ( my time/my effort)
This is just a good heads up for anyone with a hardside, or other popup that has this new finish.

cheers d-mo

[hardsider]

I was "lucky" and didn't dink my refrig until the end of the summer. I called Rockwood and they basically that the brochure should have read "Stainless Steel Appearance" like some other trailers but it was a typo. I saw it before I bought it so it is my problem.

The Dometic owners manual says:

13. INSTALLATION OF DECORATIVE
DOOR PANEL
The door panel can easily be mounted. The dimensions
of the panel must be:
Height 19-3/4"
Width 17-27/32"
Thickness Up to 1/8"
Weight 49 lbs.
A. Remove the door. See Section 12.
B. Remove the lower trim molding. (NOTE: Trim molding
is not installed on new units in cartons)
C. Fit the new panel in place and slide it up as far as
possible.
D. Fit the trim molding back in place.


A 304 #4 Finish 24 guage SS panel is about $ 16 cut to size online

[Jeep4Two]

When my panel gets it's first nic, I'm sure I'll be lookingmfor a real panel...