Three initial complains / bad design

[treaves]

While working to figure out what is wrong with my brakes, I've found three really bad things; two are bad design, and one is simply cheap & shoddy.

• The 't' connectors that go into the latches to hold open the doors should never have been made out of plastic. They are going to break easily. Our horse trailer is 15+ years old, and the metal ones on there are still going strong, even after my wife inadvertently hit a tree with the door open once!
• The cover over the stove top really should have a latch to hold it up. As it is, it will lean down and hit any pans on the back. Another option would have been to make the front half longer, so that when it was folded, it would contact the top to hold it open. As it is, it's short enough that when it contacts the top (the grooves on the side), it's pretty far forward, rendering the back of the stove unusable.
• The kitchen table is just pure junk. I mean really. The two pieces of he main top do not even touch, and aren't the same thickness either. The leaf has simple screws acting as guides, and have already chewed up the cheap particle board use for the runners and supports. I find it amazing that the shower is as nice as it is, and then there is this $15 dining table. I'll be contact someone to see if I can get this replaced.

[Earth Station]

1/2 of the table opens.... that is why they are not the same thickness. We made our table a bit higher and it now swivels. A stove??? I actually have a stove in the ES??? I've never used it... we cook outside 95% of the time. And I use an electric griddle or frying pan for the other 5%

[treaves]

The thickness isn't due to the leaf; it's also not even thickness from side-to-side. So in addition to the 1/8"-1/16" gap between the two pieces, one is lower than the other (due to thickness of wood).

I won't use propane or electric to grill anything. It's hard wood charcoal, wood, or nothing. I'll take a bag of charcoal with me, but, when you are gone for several days, always cooking outside just isn't easy, or even practical. An electric griddle isn't a bad idea.

[TheFordes]

Took my cover f
off my stove and found a pastry board that matches my cabinet and use it. Looks 100% better than their old cheap standard cover

[edenjw64]

The leaf on your dinette table may not be installed correctly. Ours has the split, but not a much as you describe. We will probably use a table cloth, place matt or other cover. The other RV's we looked at had a table where the top opened from the side, which seems more logical.
Our stove cover is of the 'corian' material like the rest of the counter tops. I liked the looks of this better than the 'cheap' aluminum covers we saw in all of the other RV's we considered. However, it does take up about 2 inches of the stove top available space for the rear burners. We haven't used it enough to see if this is a real problem.
We shall see how long the plastic door latches last. We saw a couple of units from other companies that used magnets or had hydraulic hinges to hold open the doors. This seems like the best approach since you do not need a latch.

[BuckeyeChuck]

I had the plastic "T" latch on my previous camper. Never had a problem with it in over nine years of use. They are on my new Saber and of no concern to me at all. The table in our Saber if also no concern in fact my wife really likes it. I do however have to agree with you on the stove cover being cheap but my wife has not noticed any interference with pots and pans. Maybe yours is different than ours.

[huntr70]

The door holds are made of plastic for a reason.

If it gets windy and the door flaps, they will break. They are better to break and replace than pull the mounts out of the fiberglass camper wall. If that happens, then you have a worse problem trying to fix than having to install a new plastic T bar....

[Herk7769]

The range top cover is not made by FR.
It is made by the manufacturer of your range.
FR just installs them; just like every other camper manufacturer.

Mine is a Suburban Range Top.

Send your comment to:

Suburban Manufacturing Co.
676 Broadway Street
Dayton, TN 37321

[iceblaze580]

The water connections need to be clearly and correctly labeled in the wet bay

[SargeW]

Treaves,

The DW had the same issue with the stove top as you mention. But for here it was a safety issue as our top is made out of the same counter top material as well and a bit heavy. The solution I came up with was to cut two "wedges" out of a piece of 1X4 oak molding. The 1X4 is 3/4" thick and just about the perfect thickness. Each wedge is 1/2" X 3/4" X 4" long. The stove top has a lip that the cover sits in when closed, so the wedge rests on the lip, all the way to the back. The cover rests on the wedges and now leans back flat against the wall.

Not a perfect solution, but doable and easy. I will get some brown stain and make them match a little better. The oak wood is much more dense than a piece of pine, which would dent easily.

I actually bought the oak for another little project in the rig, and that was going to be the left over. Since HD sells molding by the foot, the 12" piece was about a buck.

I can post a pic if you need the visual aid.

[Chaps]

Originally Posted by SargeW

Treaves,

The DW had the same issue with the stove top as you mention. But for here it was a safety issue as our top is made out of the same counter top material as well and a bit heavy. The solution I came up with was to cut two "wedges" out of a piece of 1X4 oak molding. The 1X4 is 3/4" thick and just about the perfect thickness. Each wedge is 1/2" X 3/4" X 4" long. The stove top has a lip that the cover sits in when closed, so the wedge rests on the lip, all the way to the back. The cover rests on the wedges and now leans back flat against the wall.

Not a perfect solution, but doable and easy. I will get some brown stain and make them match a little better. The oak wood is much more dense than a piece of pine, which would dent easily.

I actually bought the oak for another little project in the rig, and that was going to be the left over. Since HD sells molding by the foot, the 12" piece was about a buck.

I can post a pic if you need the visual aid.

Sarge
This sounds like a really nice fix to securing the stove top cover. Would you please include a picture. Thanks for your help.
Mark

[Tim295]

Originally Posted by Chaps

Sarge
This sounds like a really nice fix to securing the stove top cover. Would you please include a picture. Thanks for your help.
Mark

x2 on the picture of your wedge fix.

also x2 on what 2008Wiildcat said about the plastic door stops. (It was broken last week when I looked at it and they fixed it before purchase)

As far as the hinged table top gap, I think mine is probably the worst at more than 1/2". Maybe it was a "prototype" lol. Camping World techs wrote it up at the PDI yesterday, but I'm not sure what they have planned for a fix.

I have other small cosmetic issues and some things that are on order. But I'm not going to let that stop me from enjoying our first outing with it this weekend. I love our new Columbus.

[SargeW]

Here are the pics guys. The DW wanted a slight modification to the original design. I had made them completely square, and it required a slight lift to insert them under the raised cover.

But her point was that what if she had already started cooking, and then remembered that she needed to insert the wedges? Therefore a slight "ramp" was added to the original design to allow her to insert them without having to touch the cover at all. A good point I must admit.

[treaves]

SargeW, perhaps you should sell those; I'd buy two! I'm not much of a handy man.

[SargeW]

Too funny treaves! If I was at home I would make you a pair and send them to you!

[Tim295]

Thanks for posting the pics! I made one from a chunk of scrap oak last night and it works great!