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Old 02-08-2012, 08:23 PM   #1
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Rockwood 8280WS Changes

I happened to have looked at a new(est?) 2012 version of our 8280WS with the Diamond Package. I'm not a fan of the exterior colors, but each to their own.

Some other changes that I noticed that are probably not unique to that floorplan.
The oven is now larger. (Good thing!)
It looks like the LCD TV is now mounted on a swing arm. (Good thing!)
A factory mounted, flip down storage platform an the rear. (Probably a good thing, however the 8280WS has only 15% pin weight so I wouldn't be loading it up with that model).
Spare tire is mounted underneath at the front (Good thing!)
There are only 3 steps (instead of 4) up to the bathroom level and a small step up to the bedroom level. (I don't like this change...could see a fall happening in the middle of the night heading to the washroom. It would also reduce the height of the basement storage. I don't understand we they did this).

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Old 04-02-2012, 02:31 PM   #2
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Hello Dave:

I am new to the forum and had a quick question for you or other owners of the 8280ws. My wife and I are considering the Ultralite and it is a go as far as floor plan and colors for her. When we looked at them yesterday I found that it had 2 drains. 1 for the galley and 1 for the bath/black tanks. My current Puma has 3 tanks but only 1 drain. Has having 2 drains been an issue at dump stations on Sunday mornings? I don't want to look like NASCAR tire changer jumping around trying to drain. Allso we camp a few weeks a year on full hook up sites. Do you by the y connector and hook hoses all together or just crawl underneath and connect the hose when you need to drain the gally. The wife is set on the model and looks like we are going to buy/order it with the options we want. I'm just thinking and planning in advance.

Any advice and hints appreciated from any 8280ws owners out there.

Golf
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Old 04-02-2012, 03:06 PM   #3
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We have the Flagstaff model of yours and I just hard plumbed the kitchen (rear galley) tank to the front and leave the rear slide lever open. Added a slide lever just before where it goes into the front 3" elbow and only have to hook up the front to drain all 3 tanks.
And yes, it was a PITA to hook up twice to drain the tanks. Only did it once on our old 08 Flagstaff 831RLSS before I re-plumbed it.
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Old 04-02-2012, 05:23 PM   #4
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golflover, welcome to the forum!

I've never found the two sewer connections to be an issue, but then again, we seldom ever camp with full hook-ups. The odd occassion that we've had a full hook-up, I'd crawl under and switch the lines when needed. We've found that we can go about 10+ days before the galley tank is full. Our previous Rockwood also had the same set-up.

As far as Sunday dump station chaos, we avoid it by leaving on Monday or Tuesday. When we book a weekend, it's usually 4 or 5 nights.

You can plumb the two outlets up as 'dunnnc' suggests and he's posted instructions along with pictures should you want to tackle it. My only concern would be protecting the connecting line from freezing should you camp late in the season as we do.

BTW, does the 8280WS still have a one level floor in the bath/bedroom area?

Dave
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Old 04-17-2012, 02:39 PM   #5
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We have had our 8280ws since Sept. 2011. We are full-timers and stay in places with full hook-up's. I use a sewer cap with a 3/4" hose fitting on the galley discharge. I run a 25 ft. length of 5/8" blue garden hose with a cheap garden type shut-off valve and a 90 deg. pvc elbow with 4" length of pvc pipe attached. About once a week I take the sewer fitting loose and put the end of the blue hose onto the park sewer fitting, open the 3/4" valve and drain the galley tank. This works fine if you are camping in places with temps. that stay above freezing. I leave the galley valve open so I do not have to get under the slide to drain the tank. This works for me, but looks junky if you do not coil up the blue hose after use. Also you cannot put food particles down the drain as it will stop up the smaller hose. Hope this info helps, Tom-s
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Old 04-17-2012, 02:48 PM   #6
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DaveMonica, yall need to move south where you don't have to worry about cold weather. The connecting line doesn't have liquid in it so there is no worry about freezing regardless of how cold it gets.
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Old 04-18-2012, 10:56 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave_Monica View Post
golflover, welcome to the forum!

I've never found the two sewer connections to be an issue, but then again, we seldom ever camp with full hook-ups. The odd occassion that we've had a full hook-up, I'd crawl under and switch the lines when needed. We've found that we can go about 10+ days before the galley tank is full. Our previous Rockwood also had the same set-up.

As far as Sunday dump station chaos, we avoid it by leaving on Monday or Tuesday. When we book a weekend, it's usually 4 or 5 nights.

You can plumb the two outlets up as 'dunnnc' suggests and he's posted instructions along with pictures should you want to tackle it. My only concern would be protecting the connecting line from freezing should you camp late in the season as we do.

BTW, does the 8280WS still have a one level floor in the bath/bedroom area?

Dave

Thank you all for the welcome. Yes the 8280ws still has a one level floor for the bed/bath area. We are debating/negotiating with the dealer at this point. With the options we wanted it would have to be built and the dealer stated that they are 8-12 weeks behind right now. So we may have to use our Puma 5th for another season.

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Old 05-08-2012, 06:50 PM   #8
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My 2013 8280WS has 3 steps to the bathroom/bedroom level, the tv does swivel, the spare is mounted on the bumper and no rear cargo platform. I do have two gray tanks and even the dealer can't tell me the individual capacities. (I did see some comments in these forums that they may be 38 gal each) I do have two 721 keys that do not fit the cargo hatches and I can't find what they do fit. I'll put them in the spare parts box.
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Old 05-09-2012, 09:51 AM   #9
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Holding tank qty.

If the pamplet is correct, you have 38 gal. grey and 38 gal. galley tanks. As to the keys, ours is the old style #751 that every almost every camper has. Yours must have the new style "slam latch" our dealer was telling us about. I hope your Ecoboost holds up if you tow in the mountains. I tow with a F150 with the cargo pkg, 5.4 V-8 and extra helper springs from Helwig Mfg. So far no problems even at 11,000 ft. Monarch Pass, Co. Good luck with your new 8280ws and happy travels. Tom-s
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Old 05-09-2012, 11:53 AM   #10
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Thanks Tom-s, I do have the slam doors so they must still give out the old keys. We'll see how the two tanks work out, that 50/50 split should be fine for two people.
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Old 05-14-2012, 05:27 PM   #11
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I ordered my 2013 8280ws Diamond package, at the Boston camper show Feb 2. It rolled off the assembly line April 10th and was delivered to my local camper dealership April 20th. Though I love the camper the two tanks really ticked me off. I usually camp in friends and family’s back yards and the 38 gal gray tank fills very fast, when I looked in the Rockwood brochure and saw 76 gallon gray tank I thought “Perfect!!”.
Other than that It is a beautiful 5er.
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Old 05-14-2012, 07:04 PM   #12
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I thought the same thing. The tanks are split, one for galley and one for bathroom so we'll see how it works. Maybe we can hook up a pump and transfer water from one to the other.
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Old 05-18-2012, 10:09 PM   #13
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The extra keys fit your outside shower door???
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Old 05-19-2012, 05:35 AM   #14
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Two gray tanks fix!

I too had the same problem with the two gray tanks dumping when set up! My fix was to install a remote dump valve on the rear tank with the remote dump handle just aft of the large bump out. When setting up, I use two sewer hose, one hooked to the rear gray dump, one to the front tank. I use a "Y" (by rhino) connector and a 5" Rhino short sewer hose to connect the two gray tanks together at the RV parks sewer connection.

This setup works very good for dumping both tanks. I also use two flexible
sewer hose supports to achieve good drainage. I know it is a PIA for two connections, but this is the best solution I have come up with to prevent crawling under the 5VER to dump rear tank.
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Old 05-19-2012, 08:08 PM   #15
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The extra keys fit your outside shower door???
There is a separate key for the shower door. I did get an answer from the dealer who said that it's for cargo doors that every Rockwood owner gets however I have the new slam doors with their own keys. It's a key for nothing I have and they didn't need to give me one. Thank you.
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Old 05-30-2012, 08:10 PM   #16
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follow up on eco boost after our first outing. I am impressed! This 6 cyl hauled the 8280 up mountain roads without slowing down and even accelerated on hills from a stop. Pin wt wasn't a problem in the bed. I got to highway speed long before the end of the ramp and it got 11.2 mpg on mostly secondary roads. It was probably hauling 8000# and performed much better than expected. Again, impressed!
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Old 05-30-2012, 08:28 PM   #17
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I too had the same problem with the two gray tanks dumping when set up! My fix was to install a remote dump valve on the rear tank with the remote dump handle just aft of the large bump out. When setting up, I use two sewer hose, one hooked to the rear gray dump, one to the front tank. I use a "Y" (by rhino) connector and a 5" Rhino short sewer hose to connect the two gray tanks together at the RV parks sewer connection. This setup works very good for dumping both tanks. I also use two flexible sewer hose supports to achieve good drainage. I know it is a PIA for two connections, but this is the best solution I have come up with to prevent crawling under the 5VER to dump rear tank.
I just hard plumbed the galley tank (rear tank on our trailer) to the front discharge outlet and added a valve. Use one sewer hose and have no problems whatsoever.
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Old 06-05-2012, 12:20 PM   #18
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I just hard plumbed the galley tank (rear tank on our trailer) to the front discharge outlet and added a valve. Use one sewer hose and have no problems whatsoever.
I saw in a earlier post by you that you had posted pics on how you did this. Can you post a link?
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Old 06-05-2012, 12:33 PM   #19
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I saw in a earlier post by you that you had posted pics on how you did this. Can you post a link?
It is an easy but time consuming project (about 6 hrs). You need a dremel or other small hand grinder to contour the holes in the existing sewer lines. You just have to take your time to make the connections fit so the abs cement will work. Even tho I didn't have any leaks with just the abs cement, I used a black rtv silicone to smooth the outside and insure a somewhat nicer looking connection.

I used plain old rubbing alcohol to clean everything before using the cement.

Forest River Forums - dunnnc's Album: Connecting holding tanks
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Old 06-05-2012, 01:16 PM   #20
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dunnnc: with this setup can you open both grey tank gates to equalize the amounts in the tanks?
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