jleamont

msu1966, I spent a small fortune on a brand name RV cover on the last coach and this one, both scratched the coaches (all 4 corners) and were a pain to install, remove and store when not in use. I gave up, this year I cleaned the unit and had it waxed....no more cover for me. Funny you mentioned the mice, I only have ever experienced mice when it was covered and I never made the connection until I just read this post.

Brett, as I was typing it I was out weighing the pros and cons either way. I figured changing it in the spring was probably the best route since I can assume there will be moisture collecting from sitting in the winter that could potentially be riding along all season unless it’s dumped ASAP, this is when I also pull an oil sample. Up here in the North East I will not move the coach or start it until all of the road salt and brine has been washed away by late winter/early spring rain so I can complete a through warm up cycle. The stuff that gets put on the roads up here makes sulfuric acid look like something you would consider placing on your pancakes in the morning. Thanks again

So, lets add to the question, do you change it before it's stored for the season or in the spring before your first trip? I always take it for a ride in the spring, get it warmed up and service the coach for the season, immediately upon return while its hot, is this the correct process?

Thanks Bill. I will have to add that to my list.

Welcome. I would also lean toward the dealer that treated me like I was important to them, both coaches are of exceptional quality, I do not believe one would be better than the other in quality. We started with a Gasser Class C 31', looking back I wished I had talked my wife into the DP on the first purchase. Mostly the ride quality and the overall quality of the unit is much greater. I didn't have to modify the suspension and steering on the DP to handle a pickup truck passing me and blowing us off the road. Now tractor trailers do not move me. When we arrive at our destination I feel relaxed and comfortable, not stressed and exhausted. The increase in fuel mileage and power was another big plus. Good luck with your shopping.

Thank you everyone for the recommendations. Bill we will give that a try. I immediately noticed there are 14 brewery’s in Portland.... good thing my wife doesn’t drink beer she can drive back to the campground.

Just spoke to Aqua Hot tech support, I was told no issues to run the unit after it has been winterized, with RV antifreeze in the unit on the fresh water side, they designed it that way so it could still be used as a heater only. the more I learn about this system the more i like it.

We are looking for a campground in Old Orchard Beach Maine with full hookups able to handle 40'DP 50amp. We are planning a trip next summer and we are looking for that perfect campground. First family trip up north, so far the 1st runner up is Old Orchard Beach Campground, there are several others in the area. Also looking for things to do in the area with two teenage kids. Any recommendations?

Thanks Herman, during the winter I will often go out to the coach which is winterized to do some work on the interior. With the antifreeze through the system I wanted to know if I could run the diesel burner for interior heat with antifreeze in the system in the fresh water side of the system, I had a concern it would crystilize or evaporate and damage the Aquahot.

Bill, I use mine eveytime since I had a problem at a campground a few years ago. I have friends that do not have one and have no intension of purchasing one, it baffles me. Trust me, when you are eating breakfast with the family and you smell burning electrical on a holiday it is a sure way of destroying your vacation, take it from me. Like I said.....never again will I trust a tower without a surge protector.

Thank you Roger! I was just thinking about this the other day....you answered my question on your blog, put wood under them. My coach parks on a gravel base when stored, tires covered and cleaned 1st. Thanks again. Joe

jwolive, Do you have the system winterized when you run it in the winter months?

An RV body shop/dealer should be able to correct your concern. I have heard of gel coat being repaired, usually after it has to be painted (hard to match the pigment) from what I have seen they do a nice job of matching the natural gel coat color that was blended when it was built. From the work I have seen the only way you can tell it was touched is the shine on the new area vs the old.

jjday, I have good luck with www.NWRVSUPPLY.COM. I have had good luck locating odd parts for my coach from them. again, this is not an ad or endorsement. Nice people always seem to have odd parts and a good selection.

If it is the gelcoat pulling away from the wood behind it, very common. Usually caused by water or moisture finding its way behind the gelcoat. Or in our case with our old coach the fiberglass was so pourous it leached its way through the skin, broke down the glue and started to bulge the outer wall. It happed in winter with snow pressed up against the right side wall. Lessons learned, always keep bare gelcoat (none painted) waxed with a gelcoat wax/sealer and be sure to check all caulk joints around windows. We have a local RV dealer with a very large body shop that told me that it happens more often with RV's that do not have full paint, the paint acts as a sealer and blocks the water intrusion. Suprisingly they also told me that it happens more often with TT's due to a thinner cheaper gelcoat, I never realized there was a difference. I had to have the entire right side wall skin removed, reglued and reinstalled. 31' Class C $6500.00 for the job. I have heard of gelcoat peeling where the surface drys out from lack of maintenance and flakes off. I would imagine it could also happen from a manufacturing process failure.

John, I have walked down this road before. I would try and locate where the water is coming from. If it is fresh water its usually an o-ring at a faucet, toilet or appliance (HW heater or water pump) where the lines connect to it. There is usually an access panel in the wall to the rear of the faucet or like in our new coach the you have to remove the mirror on the wall for access. The units I have had experience with have had access in one place or another, just hidden or right in plane view. I did fix my friends TT also, his was leaking behind a drawer where the water pump was hidden under a thin peice of wood at the bottom of the drawer. My old coach had this happen almost every trip until I made my way around the inside replacing the faucet o-rings in the walls and then ....you guessed it the shower drain began to leak. If you need the o-rings for the faucet connections you can purchase them at a plumbing supply or home improvement center. A house hold toilet flexible water supply tube has the same cone shaped o-ring inside the hose, I just looked for the cheapest one, bought it and pulled the o-ring out and installed it on my fresh water lines. I am not sure if these can purchase these by themselves, my local RV dealer told me NO, you have to purchase a new fitting and have it installed via a crimp with a special tool, I found a work around. The key is locating the source before the side wall starts to delaminate or the floor begins to warp. I have had the best luck with a mirror and flashlight or just feeling around the connections while the unit is hooked up to fresh water. Good luck let us know what you find.

Carl, good advice, sorry to hear about your friends nail, I cringed when I read that.. I think I am up for it, just finished the valve adjustment and replacing all of the interior lights with LED. I cannot believe how many light tubes were not working. Valve Adjustment; the odometer has 73967 on it and they were all in spec. But my valve cover doesnt leak anymore. Pretty soon I will be board with this thing, running out of things to do. Still cheaper than the boat I owned a few years back

Be sure when you order the EZPass you order one type and place it where it belongs for that type. Example, they make the following that i am aware of; 1, windshield mount 2, roof mount 3, license plate mount If you order a license plate mount and put it on the roof or up high they tend not to work. I had a driver at work take a license plate mount off and had one of our shops place it on a roof faring, needless to say the booth missed the transponder everytime. Funny the roof mount and license plate mount look identical.

Brett, funny you mentioned this. Reading the article on Tuesday night is what brought me to rethinking how I should proceed with this unit. I look forward to that publication every month. That article and many others over the months was great. After reading it I thought "hmm this doesn’t seem so bad maybe I can just fix this unit and continue to operate it". After a long phone conversation with the nice folks at Aqua-hot I feel more confident about their product so I think I will give it a shot. Once the parts arrive and I tackle the unit I will repost on what I learned, in case anyone else has the same thoughts as I had. I was hoping for some "lessons learned" experiences from a few that have conquered their system already.

Anyone ever taken on servicing one of these Aqua Hot systems on their own? I have been thinking about leaving the diesel fired unit in the coach and just performing an annual service/nozzle replacement and attempting to locate the source of the raw diesel fuel this thing is leaving behind in the compartment. I tried to locate a local certified repair center....none near me. I called Aqua Hot today and spoke to their tech department about my raw fuel smell when running on diesel, they recommended just replacing the nozzle and performing an annual PM might solve my problems. I have repaired Webasto in cab heaters before and also installed a few so this should be similar but in a much tighter space. I ordered all of the parts needed and the Electrode setting tool, I am going to make a fuel pressure gauge from the old nozzle after I remove it to check fuel pressure. Any advice?

UGGG, thats not good. Like Jim said "good thing it broke at home".

Same here, when I dump the air bags, I do loose maybe 15psi on the dash gauge from 120, (still seems odd to me), the coach levels and I usually end up with 95-110 psi in my tanks. Over the course of a 4-5 days it will bleed down to 50 psi. if and when it drops below 40psi you cannot press the button down...well you can but it pops back at you. If you press the button down with more than 40psi you had better hope your chocked or you are going for a ride with a ghost driver.

Herman, you are lucky it fit out the door, I had to remove the old one and bring the new one through the window. Which sounds difficult but was actually very simple to remove.

Herman, if you were up this way I'd say stop over to my house, I would be glad to help with the install. I found that when you call friends and offer beer and home made BBQ they line up to help. In the end I am suprised it's straight in the hole.

Carl, never happed to me but I see it quite a bit, not sure if it was routed wrong and got snagged when turning or if its from the weight of the cord bouncing down the road and the connector lids are not properly positioned to lock the connector into the sockets? I just followed a Class C Sunday from Hershey with no toad lights when I backed off I could see the cord under the front of his Jeep Liberty bouncing off the highway.