2014 233s 1st trip.

[WFDEric]

1st i'm glad to announce it worked awesome. Seems the Roo has been taking a beating on here as of late.

I took my 233s out for the 1st trip this last weekend. Hook up, hauling, and backing up was easy. I have a Husky WDH with sway bar handled great in very bad rain.

I found out the dealer was wrong. 2014 bunks still need to be weathered for the seems to seal up. We had some leaking problems. Nothing to bad but still disappointed the dealership didn't even know that this was needed. My luck, we had rain similar to a cow peeing on a flat rock. Even so the leaking was minor. I let it dry out and I'm hoping the next time wont be so bad.

AC (15,000 BTU) worked great. We had a lot of condensation from the main unit and also from the duct openings. There are 2 fan opening in the ceiling and we had both going to help with moisture. Again, not bad but not sure if this is normal. We got a 20 inch fan that we placed at 1 end of the unit to move air and that was nice to keep air moving inside. Also noticed the caulk around the AC unit on the inside was peeling off already. I called the dealership and they said bring it back the will fix it no problem. No other workmanship problems was noticed.

Set up and tear down was quick and easy. We took WAY to much stuff for just a quick 1 night stay. Live, camp, and learn. Out door grill that comes standard with the 233s is not the best. Not enough BTUs I'm guessing. Everything took forever to cook. Weather was mild with no wind so I cant think of a good reason other than i'll need to replace the unit. After cooking breakfast in the morning sun here in Texas (88 sunny at 7am) I told my wife I wanted a cooker that was mobile so I could always find shad to cook in. So again to me, sucks but I would have changed this out anyways.

I found the unit to have a TON of space. I have read threads that have mods done to the 233 and I will do some of those things myself. Minor things quick cheap and easy.

Sleeping we had plenty of room for 5 peeps. We did buy the 3 inch mattress toppers for the beds and everyone slept great. I'm 250lbs and I even found it comfortable with the toppers. 99 dollars at Kohls stores here in Houston.

Hot water heater works great. To good really the water was VERY hot. I have a question for 233 owners. I started the hot water heater and when I got up the next morning I had 1 empty propane tank. Is there a way to run the hot water tank off electric? I'm sure there is, I'm thinking I was a little over whelmed while doing the walk though when I took delivery and I have forgotten.

Over all I would give MY 233s Roo a 8 out of 10 rating. Caulking around the AC peeling and leaking bunks are a concern. I do however feel comfortable in the dealership taking care of these issues. I'm new to travel trailer camping and I felt that things went very smooth and the unit was easy for a neebee to haul and setup/tear down. I'm happy with our choice.

Sorry to ramble this long but I wanted to let others know how our trip went and pros/cons for us. Hope it helps someone looking into buying this unit. I'd recommend it to others....

[Triguy]

Glad to hear you had a good one.

The WH switch for electric should be accessed from the outside door for the heater; Lower left

[shott]

Thanks for the write up. We will be picking up our new Roo 233S sometimes next week.

[Archicamper]

If you use the water heater on electric be sure that the water heater is full of water anytime you are running on electric. The electric element will last about 10 seconds with an empty tank!

[WFDEric]

The hot water tank doesn't just fill up automatic when hooked to a camp ground water source?

[Archicamper]

I think that it will if you are using "city water" connection. If you are using the on board tank it will not fill until the pump is turned on. You can verify that there is water in the water heater by pressing the pressure relief value at the top of the water heater compartment on the outside of your camper. If water sprays out, you are good to go!

[Triguy]

And, making sure that the WH is not bypassed. That's normally an issue in the spring but you never know how the dealer could have left it.

[ebemis]

Eric,

Nice write up, same things happened to us as well, although our dealer did tell me they already soaked the bunk ends, I still got rain through the stiches the first Florida rain dumping!

I re-caulked the AC grill myself, was surprised like you that it was separating on its own so early...ours was actually making tons of noise (like the paper stretched between your fingers and blown across) whistling away all night, enough to aggravate me and remove it before I got a change to re-caulk.

TriGuy is right....I had several warnings from my dealer to ensure that I NEVER energized (or fired) the water heater unless I was sure it was full of water, same thing you do at home but I would suspect perhaps since this one is so small you will damage quicker if empty.

As for the propane...we use ours to keep fridge cold when traveling, and I don't use the electric H2O heater, just propane.....and I actually made three camping weekends, maybe four before I got to an empty bottle......there is a chance your dealer didn't deliver to you with full bottles, if not it would seem strange to go through so much gas so quickly.

As a Florida camper, we deal with the moisture similar to what I am sure your Houston weather supports......I did not have moisture problems with the AC running unless I left roof vents open...when I close them I can cool the rig down ok and maintain the night easily......daytime in full sun, the AC runs pretty much non stop unless you set it to a warmer temp........I have no idea what the recommendations are from everyone about roof vents and AC use....I know moisture inside is a bad thing, but with four Florida summer time camping weekends under our belt, roof vents closed while living/cooling seemed to work fine. When we unpack at home before parking, I have every window and roof vent open to "air out" and then when I park I put a throw rug on floor and set out a Damp-Rid bucket....so far so good.

Happy Camping!!

P.S. & by the way... I picked up feedback from this forum and have followed the same ritual since the start with the water heater.....

After a camping event and before storing again, turn all power off to the unit, remove the Anode Rod to drain tank...inspect that rod while you have it out....when tank is empty re-apply Teflon tape to the threads and reinstall. I put a blue painter masking tape "tab" over the water heater power switch on the main panel that I have written "FILL TANK!" in sharpie on.......

This way when I get ready for my next camping trip, I hookup H2O supply then open both sink hot water faucets until water comes out steady.....THEN I energize the water heater and everything is good to go.

My rig has bypass valves installed that came factory direct, I have left them alone as I do no winter camping or storage

[NewBerkFamily]

Congratulations!