brianreed

I have been working from the road for a couple years, not fulltime, but for several months at a time. I have used a combination of a ATT and Verizon hotspots, and also my phone for backup. I purchased Nomad Internet, which was great for about a year of so. Their support was so shady I did some looking and all I can say is that the company has some questionable business practices that I did not feel comfortable using them anymore. And it would stop working then days or weeks later I would get new equipment... anyway I would run from them. I saw other options, but decided to give the new Tmobile Home Internet a try, and so far it has been great. I still have my ATT and Verizon, but they are now my backup. There are no equipment costs and it is a flat $50 a month with autopay, and there is no commitment so really there is zero risk to giving it a try. I have only been using it for 2 months and two different locations in WA, but it has been great. 5G unlimited and no throttling. Until I can get Starlink this will be my go to. Thought I would share!

I saw you tuber Changing Lanes do the Moryde brakes and independent suspension, with some before and after rides. It seems like a great upgrade.

I had an issue with my aguahot leaking antifreeze. It started as a leak and would blow white smoke sometimes from the exhaust when it started. In taking it in they said the heat exchanger had small crack and that it was terminal. They said it would last through that winter as long as I kept the antifreeze topped up. Well it lasted about another couple weeks and cracked bad enough that the crack caused all the antifreeze to runout the exhaust on to the ground and that was it. $9,800 for a factory refurb was the end result, which included installation and a 3 year warranty. Not saying that is what is happening to yours, but that was my experience.

I have the same issue. The Direct Sourcing light fixtures seems to NLA and the plastic covers have become brittle over time. In fact I have one that has no cover and looks horrible looking at the tubes and the light to harsh and not diffused properly. I have done some looking and I was hoping to find a fixture that could fit in the same rectangle hole that the old ones fit in, but have not found anything. 2006 Newmar Mountain Aire 4304

Here was my personal experience with Bikes. I have a 43' DP, with a Toad. It is a 2008 Mini Cooper S with a roof rack where we had both of our beach cruisers. During the hot summer the bottom bracket, (the center section of the frame where the cracks pivot) grease would get hot and drip hot grease out onto the top of the car. Not great and not something that I thought about.

Sorry was not on here for a few days. This engine preheat feature may bein my AQ unit but I do not think it was used. I do not have the switch for preheat on my AQ control panel. It could just be there and run automatic, but I am not sure. I can look into it.

I went a picked up Doris yesterday and she is back home. Turns out it was a aquahot 450D that was installed not the 400D. Looked and it has a better gallons per minute which will be nice. It was a reman unit, but looks brand new to me. Running in tip top shape, all the costs or worth it once you see it all shiny and new.

The RV Geeks just had a live stream yesterday and they are still in their 2005 MADP.

I agree, at the time it seemed like a good idea, but like you said 20/20. Even though there have been repairs, I love our RV.

Manholt, It was quoted though the FMCA recommendation of Warranty Wholesalers of of Sand Diego through Member Benefits. I went back and looked it was not exactly $1,200 a month, was $15K for 3 years, but the payment schedule was $1,200 a month until it was paid up. At the time is seemed high, but like I said in retrospect perhaps it would have been a good idea. Yes it has been a journey, but I think maybe you are confusing me with someone else on things unheeded. I had a full inspection by an independent repair facility as well as Cummins prior to purchase. I even enrolled in MH driving lessons to ensure I knew how to drive such a beast. On top of that I made 4 weekend trips to local camp grounds to ensure I understood how to run every system as well as making sure everything worked prior to any long distant trips. I thought I did pretty good. What things did I miss?

Yes that would have been a good thing. When I requested a quote it was $1,200 a month and I thought, "no way". But with all of these costs including the Aquahot, one AC unit replaced, and a TV as well as the dash AC going out, it would have been worth it. Now not so sure as I cannot think of what else could be replaced. Ceste La Vie!

I have a 2006 Newmar Mountain AIre 4303 which has an older Hydrohot HHE-500 unit that has failed. At first we had a pump go out and the combustion chamber crack and general maintenance it has cost me $2K just in those items over the past 18 months. Then during the winter the until entirely failed when it overheated and the internal heat exchanger cracked and all of the antifreeze ran out the exhaust pipe. After some research and taking it to a Aquahot dealer here in WA it was suggested a get this until rebuilt. A new 400D unit was going to cost about $10K (8K for unit, 2K to install) and a rebuilt was going to be $8K ($6K unit, and 2K) install. With any of this stuff there are unknowns and I am just beside myself that these things cost so much. I opted to get the rebuilt unit a newer 400D as it was a direct replacement. The old unit was removed and sent back as a core and a rebuilt 400D unit was delivered to the dealer and installed. Of course the costs for install were understated and grew from the original $2K to $3,100 which is frustrating. Then they gave me a call and said that there were some blown fuses and during their trouble shooting the control panel is also bad!! That thing costs $500 for a new one and installation and testing! I am sure we are well over $10K for the final bill!!!. Just wanted to vent!

I had a similar issue with the 7 way plug for trailer lights on my 2006 Newmar Mountain Aire 4304. The diagram said there was a fuse, but we could not find the location. I ended up hiring a auto repair guy who said he specialized in electronics. It took him 3 hours to find the fuse was right on the top of the house batteries. It was a burned out in line fuse that was right on top of the House batteries. Strange place for it so I never looked there.

I do really love Doris and we have no plans to replace her (2006 Newmar Mountain Air 4304. My coach is maintained very well and has been maintained well by previous owners. I have 2 full binders of every record and I am containing to do that. The only place that works on the Spartan chassis (Motor, chassis, and Generator) is Cummins. I get everything from them OE all the way. The Coach itself is either me, Andre an amazing independent repair guy up here in WA or Maplegrove RV, unless there is an emergency. I think the only Newmar maintained better than Doris is the RVGeeks 2006 Mountain Aire.

Yes that is the way it is in my coach. I only say that the way it is wired is a bit confusing. I will post a picture of how their are wired when I get my coach back from the deal next week. It is currently getting the Aquahot replaced. Cha Ching$$

Thanks for all the input. I may be right or I may be wrong here are my thoughts. 1. We rarely boondock, my wife does not like it. I have done it for two weeks last year with a friend and loved it. But generally it is Thousand trails and KOA. 2. There is some weird wiring of the 4 house batteries. I have looked at it many times but best I can see if that there are a few 6 volt items so there are some extra battery cables,. When I get #TravelingDoris back from the Dealer I will take a picture so you can all see it. Because of that I wanted to stay with the 6 volt. 3. The cost of lithium is enough to keep me away, but I do not think I will use that capacity anyway.

My reference to AC above is American Coach, not Air Conditioning.

I have a 2006 Newmar Mountain Aire and I am in the middle of some upgrades and now I need to purchase new House batteries. There are 4 6 volt batteries currently the Interstate have been in there since august 2014 and have needed replacing since last year. All 4 of the current batteries are building on the sides and I have no idea the life they have lived, but I do know they discharge faster than one would think. So it is time and since I am upgrading the inverter/charger to a Xantrex Freedom SW at the same time it just makes sense. Pulling the old Magnum Energy ME2012 modified sinewave unit. I can get these same batteries from Costco for $89 each, the Interstate CG2 6 volts. However reading the reviews on their site they are not rated real well, but they have lasted 6 years in my coach. I would say 5 years is right as they should have been replaced last year, but I did not do it. I called Pacific Power and they have Crown batteries that they recommend a US made battery and they are $219 each. What would you all do? Spend double on the Crown, or roll the dice on the Interstate (Exide)?

We are fortunate to have enough space at our house to stop our MH. I have 5 cameras around my property, two of them watch the coach. They work both day and night and are recorded. They all have a infrared on them so there is a slight red light that is easy to see at night. I think this has been enough to keep thieves away.

Not that this answers your question directly, but I get my 2006 Newmar Mountain Aire serviced at a AC dealership up here in WA, Maplegrove RV. They do service and repair on any coach. The place is so nice and their prices are good (shop rate is $135 an hour). They are so nice, they know me by name and are always friendly. They seem to take care of #TravelingDoris very well even though she is usually the oldest coach in there. I trust them more than the dirty RV shops I typically see around.

Herman, Sorry I did not respond earlier, I thought I had, but must have missed submitting. I did think about that and I have a 33 gallon LP tank and only the 3 burner stove that uses it because we now have a residential fridge. Unfortunately the costs were so high already I did not want to introduce getting the LP lines plumbed and possible other lines not lining up. Just wanted to replace like for like. Thanks for the suggestion, I bet it would have been nice.

It was the original Hydrohot HHE-500 and the internal heat exchanger just corroded over time and caused all the antifreeze to run out from the exhaust pipe. This caused the unit to overheat and just cracked the heat exchanger where the entire antifreeze tank dumped in a matter of minutes even after the thermostat popped the diesel burner. At least that is what the Aquahot dealer here in WA told me. It is being replaced with a 400D, the HeatMyRV.com guy said it has all the exact same dimensions and attachments. Unfortunately it is $9k is get it replaced with a factory refurbished and I have to send them my old one as a core. To me that seems expensive, but seemed like the best option without heavy retrofit. The old unit was from 2006 so it lasted a good long time and I was not sure what life it lived before me. However it was a bummer that I have spent over $2k in just the last year in broken parts ( 1 pump and combustion chamber) and maintenance and now I am just replacing it. I was a little suspect when it finally crapped out on me was 2 days after the annual service.

I have no complaints about the space or storage in my MADP 4304. There is plenty of pantry space in the kitchen area. my front living area over head storage is not really used. I get #travelingdoris back in the next week after getting that expensive Aquahot 450D replaced. That one hurts the wallet!

Thanks Joel, someone in the past put in an extra circuit to the kitchen it seems they had a larger appliance, perhaps a big coffee maker. Thanks Ken, I will loo at the Vesta as a comparison.

I have a 2006 Newmar Mountain Aire 4304. We love our Coach we call her Doris and even removed the Mountain Aire logo from the front and made one that says #TravelingDoris. I have upgraded the electrical system with modern inverter and batteries, replace a bunch of existing systems Aquahot, A/C heatpumps, newest Splendide washer/dryer, and even have a brand new residential fridge. That was tough because to get it in we had to pull the front windshield. One option it did not come with from the factory is a dishwasher, which was an option. After doing some looking around, it seems the Fisher & Paykel was the unit that would have come in Doris originally. My question has anyone done the retrofit of the unit. I know we would lose two large drawers below the cooktop, but honestly there is so much storage in Doris we do not even use it all. Looking at the dishwasher unit right next to the sink it does not seem hard, but wanted to hear from anyone who has done it. I have searched here and there has been discussion about dishwashers, but not installing one. I have searched youtube and I cannot find one video on retrofit installing one, not even in a residence. We plan on full timing in Doris in the coming years and want it to be as much a home as possible.