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Old 05-05-2021, 01:40 PM   #1
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Join Date: Jun 2020
Posts: 8
19.8 Review

Hey everyone, We recently took delivery of a 2021 NOBO 19.8 and wanted to put together a review of it for others that are looking at the same type of trailer.

First, a little background information on our family. We are a family of 4 with two young boys. We previously owned a Hideout 26B which is a bunkhouse trailer that was 30' long and close to 7k lbs fully loaded. Our tow vehicle is a 2007 Tundra which did alright with that trailer, but definitely didn't want to go too far with it. We live in Jackson, Wyoming and generally speaking, there is a lot of camping opportunities around us, some of which are down long dirt roads. We liked our old camper, but wanted something shorter and lighter to better match the boondocking sites that we frequented.

Last summer, we decided to sell our old camper and purchase a new one. Last July just so happened to be maybe the best time ever to sell a camper, but also maybe the worst time to buy one. After researching, we narrowed our search down to the NOBO 19.8, the Kodiak Cub 198BH, and the Geopro 20BHS. After comparing specs, we decided to go with the NOBO 19.8. We ordered it from Couch's in Ohio as they were the only dealer that would call us back and also seemed to have the best price by far from what I could tell. After many months, our camper was ready in early December. They stored it for us and we had it delivered to Lincoln, NE in late March where we met the delivery guy at a Walmart.

Our unit came with the convection microwave, 12v TV, Power tongue jack, cold weather package, central vacuum, solar , and the bush kitchen. Prior to picking up the trailer, we purchased a memory foam mattress from Amazon to upgrade the queen one that came with the trailer. I also had two 100AH gel batteries and a spare propane tank. The original mattress was donated to Goodwill in Lincoln before we ever used it. This was the start of a 2 week camping trip as our kids were out of school on spring break.

The initial impression was that there were some minor issues, but we would work through everything as we went. There was a lot of sawdust from the manufacturing that came out as we towed it around as well as some screws that must have been dropped during manufacturing floating around. I kept a bag of that stuff in case I found out where it went, but haven't found any holes missing screws yet. The solar wasn't working initially, but after switching the lead at the battery from the positive to the negative terminal, that issue was solved. We were also missing our fresh water tank cap, but found one in the middle of Kansas on our way South.

We did find a few manufacturing issues that I will attempt to get fixed by warranty. The biggest issue that was noticed right away is that the door frame on the outside door was warped such that it was really tight against the latch. I ended up having to take off the strike plate as the door could not be opened by my wife or kids with it on, and trying to close it from the inside felt like you were going to break the handle off. Because of that warp, the top and bottom of the door was also not sealed with the frame and you could see light coming through. The black water tank sensor also appears not to be wired correctly as it always shows empty. There was also a faulty hinge on the outside hatch that is slowly pulling itself apart. I also found some wiring in the electrical panel that wasn't tightly secured, but that was fixed easily.

Now for the review of the actual unit. I'll go through it piece by piece trying to share what we found.

Starting in the bathroom: The bathroom was fine, and we lived in it for two weeks taking showers every few days Some of the push pins in the bottom of the shower enclosure plastic liner came out, but I'll find some new ones of those and replace them. The shower control has a valve on the right side of it which redirects water somewhere besides the spray head, but I could not figure out where it redirected it. My best guess is straight into the gray water tank. I may take a look at replumbing it to the water spray attachment on the outside of the trailer to have an outdoor shower option. The sink is a little tight to brush your teeth in, but not a big deal overall. Having the controls to the hot water heater, water pump, tank heaters, and solar controller in the bathroom doesn't seem to be ideal, but it's also fine. The closet is good storage space and I'll most likely take the safe out to increase the storage there. Overall, the bathroom was very usable and the layout seems to be about the best you could do with the space available.

Moving over to the bunks: The bunks each have their own two prong 5V usb charging plugs there as well as their own lights, windows and curtain setups. My boys each slept really well in their little caves. Really nice setup as there is no fighting on whether their window it open or closed, they each get their own.

Kitchen and dining: The slide out in the dining area is a feature that we really looked forward to as our old camper was long, but narrow. This is the common space in the camper and having the extra width there is really nice. We used the table outside some nights and it was nice to have the option. We haven't used that area as a sleeping area yet, but it appeared there may be some issues with the cushion that you put on top of the table sliding around throughout the night. The kitchen has a two burner stove and a convection microwave oven. Each worked fine, although the flame control is really sensitive on the low side and you also have to watch the heat on the right burner to make sure it doesn't melt the control knobs. I would have preferred a gas oven as we mostly boondock around home, but found the convection microwave to be useful when we were plugged in. We used the oven feature of it to cook frozen potato patties for breakfast as well as bacon. It's a bit small, but if you get a pan that fits in it well, it will be fine. The sink was bigger than I had imagined and that's a good thing. It also comes with a sink cover so you can use that area for prep. The storage above the dining area is great for dry goods and we used the storage behind the "couch" for games and stuff. Storage is a premium in this area, so you may have to get creative. We're still figuring out some options for cooking utensils. The two way fridge just worked like it should, but really like the separate freezer and fridge.

Master "Bedroom": Like I said, we replaced the factory mattress with one from Amazon that was super comfortable and we both slept really well. I like the full queen size of it. The storage at the head of the bed was useful as well as the 120V outlet. I wish there was a 5V USB charger setup there like the kids bunks had though. We got more use of the TV than we had anticipated and anytime we were at full hookup campgrounds, we had cable, which is something we don't have at out own house, so it was a bit of a novelty. I ended up getting a chromecast for when it's at our house. I can also play movies downloaded on my phone for the kids if we're boondocking. The only issue with it is that the USB doesn't provide enough juice to run the chromecast, so I have to run the inverter and plug it in.

The outside: Our unit came with the bush kitchen which we did actually use a bit as well as a water hose hookup. The kitchen consists of a propane fired skillet which hooks onto the side of the camper along with a small platform. The propane hookup for that is just below and can be used for other propane accessory items if you have them. The hose is a quick release fitting which hooks into the cold water line and is actually fairly useful for washing stuff off, putting out the campfire, or just spraying down the kids. The gray water tank seems to be the weak link on this trailer as that will fill quicker than you anticipate. I had a couple of 6 gallon jugs that I could refill the fresh water tank with, so supply was fairly unlimited. The hot water heater is a Suburban propane and electric unit with the electric switch being on the unit itself. I believe that will heat electrically if you are plugged in even if the hot water switch is turned off in the bathroom, but not sure. I was assuming the switch in the bathroom was only for the propane side of it. Either way, with the propane and electric running, it would recover temperature quite quickly.

I was very pleased with the solar system. The controller they supply is a fairly cheap one, but it does work. It kept the batteries charges up and topped off before the daylight was gone. I do plan to add another 175W panel on top and I've upgraded the controller to a Renogy Rover which will handle the additional current of the second panel. I will also upgrade the 10 gauge wiring between the controller and the batteries when I do that.

Being a single axle, I opted to put a pressure monitoring system on the tires, so if one started to lose air, I would know before it became a disaster. I used the Tymate one I found on Amazon and it just worked, very happy with it.

Overall, we've been really pleased with out decision to purchase this trailer. It does seem to be a lighter made trailer with regards to the insulation, but getting the door to actually seal should help that a bit. I never felt cramped for space after having 4 of us living in it for 2 weeks. I wouldn't full time in it, but it's great for shorter periods of time.

Let me know if anyone has any specific questions, and I'll try to address them. Happy camping!
lawless154 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-09-2021, 08:29 PM   #2
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Join Date: May 2021
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Thanks for the review! Which model Renogy Rover did you get?
Ryguy71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-10-2021, 09:06 AM   #3
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Join Date: Jun 2020
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My coworker had an extra Rover LI 20 Amp laying around, so I went with that one. I figure with the extra panel I want to install, I would be pushing a maximum of 15 amps, so the 20 Amp unit was fine.
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