NWJeeper
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Posts posted by NWJeeper
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I have to urge all RVrs not to buy any product made by Pinnacle or to do business with a company called Appliance Desk, here is our story:
We were given a Majestic 9000MV washer/dryer combo unit by a friend who did not need it. He had bought a 2005 Fleetwood 5th wheel and it had been put in the rig by the previous owner. By all appearances the machine had never been run, it was for all practical purposes, new.
I set up the washer/dryer in our garage for a test run and noticed right away that it was smoking and had a bad smell. Upon investigation I noticed the smoke coming from the motor and found that it was way too hot to touch. I went to the companies web site (Pinnaclecombos.com) and found a parts breakdown for the unit as well as a parts list from which to order from. Clicking on the "parts" menu takes you to a different web page called "Appliance Desk" where you order the parts, you are no longer on the Pinnacle web page. Seeing this to be about the only place on the net to buy parts and because you are led there from the manufacturer's web page I figured it would be reputable and safe to buy parts from them, boy was I wrong!
I placed the order on June 14th for the motor well in advance of our month long trip coming up in September. The following day, the 15h of June, a man named "Steve" called and told me they do not stock these motors but that he could get me a rebuilt one for about 15% less. I said that would be OK as long as it works. After about 3 weeks I called to get any information about when or if the motor was shipped but only got an answering service, my call was not returned. It took until July 14th to receive the motor and at no time was I given any shipping or tracking information. The box was left on my front door and was in perfect shape, however upon opening the box I found that the motor had been dropped on it's mounting lugs, crushing one and smashing the metal case, the motor was not only unusable but it had obviously been placed in the box in that condition when it was shipped! I was outraged! I called "Steve" at Appliance Desk and only got an answering service. I left a message that I was going to reverse the charges on my credit card. The following day I received a call from "Steve" and he stated that he would have another motor sent out right away, I told him I was running out of time and didn't have a month to wait for another motor, he promised me that the replacement would reach me the following week so I agreed. By August 4th I still had no motor, I called and once again got a message service. I decided to call Pinnacle and tell them about the problems I was having with Appliance Desk, low and behold I got THE SAME answering service, Pinnacle and Appliance Desk were one and the same!
Today, nearly 5 weeks later on August 15th I still have no motor, I called once again and expected to get the same answering service but instead "Steve" answered the phone this time! Amazing! I told him I still had no motor and intended to reverse the charges with my credit card company, he started to tell me he would have another motor sent out and I told him I was out of time and patience with his customer service and wanted nothing more to do with him, Appliance Desk or Pinnacle products. He agreed to refund my money. I told him if the motor did arrive in the future he could damned well send a call tag to get it back as I wasn't about to pay the shipping to send it back to him.
So, I have two bad motors and a "new" washer/dryer that will all go to the dump. It would appear that Pinnacle and Appliance Desk are a "one man" operation run by this "Steve" person if that is his real name as he sounded more like a Dell tech support representative from India to me.
I hope this serves as a lesson to other RVrs out there who may be looking to buy an appliance for their RV, DO NOT BUY PINNACLE! If you happen to own a Pinnacle product and need to fix it you are probably going to pay half of what the machine is worth to repair it, that is if you are even lucky enough to be able to get the parts. I hope others can learn from my experience before loosing a lot of money on a machine that has NO support.
I did find it a bit absurd and pathetically funny that all the "testimonials" of great service by "customers" on Appliance Desk's web site were in many cases poorly written with the same bad grammar of someone who has English as a second language. The letters also seemed to reference the same employees at Appliance Desk, many of whom are also listed as employees on Pinnacle's web site, hmmm coincidence, I THINK NOT! This entire operation is a fraud and a sham from where I sit.
For reference. Pinnacle markets washers, dryers, washer/dryer combo units and ice makers and Appliance Desk sells parts for the following brand names:
Conserv
Deco
Equator
Galaxy
Hirundo
Majestic
Meridian
Pinnacle
Triton
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I have never heard of the ability to get your email with a ham radio perhaps this is something new? I installed a Yeasu FT8800 2M/440 with detachable face. I prefer these types of rigs so that I can mount the body under the dash and just have the faceplate on my dash. I fashioned my own antenna mount for above the driver's door. Can't remember the antenna I used but I think it was a Larsen.
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Rob,
We have an '09 GT 378TS and I had noticed that it was listing a bit to the passenger side for some reason. Several other GT owners on the Forest River owners forum were seeing the same thing with their rigs, all different floorplans. What I found and so did the others is that FR had installed spacer pucks under the spring packs on the driver side. Upon sending a letter to FR about this they told me that the spacers were installed at time when "it was customary to do so" and they were no longer needed. FR paid to have ours and the others spacers removed. They can have a profound effect on handling. You can read the entire thread on the subject here
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I would add, POIs for the Diner's, Drive Ins' and Dives restaurants from food networks show with Guy Fieri
YUM! Don't miss one!
Also lots of other good POIs at POI Factory
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Where the tire diameter thing comes into play is if the GC is 4X4 AND has locking limited slip differentials on both ends, as mine does!Trust me guys, I have air locking differentials on both ends of my Wrangler( these are not limited slip but fully locked when engaged with a switch in the cab) running 35" tires and wheel some of the most insane looking terrain you have ever seen. I have NEVER ruined a set of gears and I have never seen anyone else do it either unless they are running insane amounts of power (like a hemi V8) through the drivetrain and then you snap U-joints in the drive shafts first as they are meant to be the "fuse" in the system. It is IMPOSIBLE to do damage to your differential gearing because you have a tire or two wearing faster or slower than the rest. We wheel in 4-wheel low, with dual lockers on, on slickrock in Moab that has 100% more traction that the average city street and don't do damage. It just can't happen. I think what you guys are confusing is Anti Lock Brakeing and 4x4 or AWD (all wheel drive) The onboard computer for ABS has to have all 4 tires be the same size. That is you can't have 30" tires and put a 31" spare on if you blow one out, it will mess up the ABS computer and try and apply braking. We have tested it out to see what it does. But there is NO WAY you are going to mess up the differential gearing!
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The tires all have to be very close to the same circumference, otherwise damage can occur to the differential as a result of excessive stress on the gears.Trust me Mike, I know Jeeps, this just isn't true. The stress put on the diff. gearing while off-roading is way more than you will ever put on your Jeep. Stress does not occur on the gearing because you wear a few thousandths of an inch off the circumference of the tires. The only thing you cannot do is mix tire sizes because of the anti-lock brake system. Vehicles with ABS will come with a full size spare because using a smaller spare would screw up the computer's logic and try and apply brakeing.
I have seen Grand Chrokees like yours in action on some pretty rough terrain here at home and in Moab Utah (the Jeepn' meca), Trust me there is nothing you are going to do while towing your rig to mess up the gearing in the differentials.
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We found out when we bought our new rig that our auto insurace company wanted to rake us over the coals for insurance on the rV (Hartford). Our broker found us Foremost insurance who specializes in RV insurance and the price was 100% better.
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I replaced our original 2.4gpm pump with the Shurflow 5.7 smart sensor and after installing a battery monitor system and watching it's amperage draw I was amazed that it pulled 15amps once a faucet was turned off as it built up the pressure just before shut off. While running it draws around 8 to 10 amps.
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After doing some more digging I looked at the Towable Guide put out by the FMCA for the 2004 model year vehicles. It shows the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee to be a 4-wheel drive system not AWD. Are you sure about what you really have and aren't confusing the two?
The guide says that you are good for 4-wheel down towing with no distance limits.
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Hmmm, well I don't quite understand the "AWD transmission requires even tire wear" thing. Just in normal driving you will wear the tires unevenly. Usually the requirement is for all tires to be the same diameter such as with the anti-lock brake system but this doesn't mean the tires can't wear unevenly which would be very hard to do but rather that you can't mix sizes (ie. a 30" spare with the others being 28") Also you might want to find a chart that shows if the rig can even be towed 4-down as I though you couldn't tow any AWD vehicle 4-down. With other Jeeps with transfer cases (Wrangler and Liberty to name a couple) you can simply put the transfer case in neutral and your good to go.
As for a towbar I have been using Road Master for several years with our Wrangler and Liberty. For breaking I had found a really slick system that is an air cylinder that inserts between the master cylinder and the air canister on your brakes. Using compressed air from your tow rig it applies the brakes directly. What is nice is that it's unobtrusive, and no big box in the way of the driver seat when you need to disconnect and move the rig like some other systems. I will try and find out what that was.
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Hey, thanks for the insight. I don't have such a contraption on ours but the slides will not operate with the ignition key on, they lock out. Best way to learn is by stupid mistakes. I do it all the time.. Boy you would think I would know it all by now, but stupidity seems to be endless sometimes.. LOL
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Wow, That's a first. I have never heard anyone complain that an RV mattress is too soft. Rather just the opposite, usually hard as a rock. I am sure there might be someone here that would be willing to trade with you. Usually the topic of mattresses comes up because people are looking for a foam topper to try and make them a little softer.
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Good points. I just assumed...new batteries, no problems here. I'm charging right now and will purchase an SG tester.However, I still don't completely understand the role of the converter/charger. With shore power available, does it take over from the battery completely? Its function then being to solely power the 12 volt system as well as supply a small trickle charge to the batteries? It seems odd that the batteries would be discharging (supplying the 12 volt system) with the converter functioning. Meter readings at the converter and the battery read nearly the same...13.4 volts plus/minus.
Phil
How the conveter/charger works is as such: If you have a 60 amp charger for instance, if you have no load running (lights, fans, furnace, etc.) then most of the 60 amps is available to charge the batteries. Once charged the charger will taper down the voltage and the amperage to a point where it will keep your batteries up for "storage". Usually this will be around .1 to 3 amps at 13.2 volts. Every 21 hours or so the PDI will up the voltage to 14.4 to "stir" the batteries, a necessary step for good battery health and longer life. Now if you turn on a light that takes 2.5 amps after the batteries are in the storage mode then the converter will automatically up the amperage output to compensate, therefore it will put out for instance 2.6 to 5.5 amps to account for the load and to keep the batteries on the charge side rather than the discharge side. If you then turn on your furnace (which draws in the neighborhood of 7 amps) then the converter will again adjust up to cover that. The charger will only put out max amps for charging if the batteries are really drained. Without a good battery bank monitor like the Trimetric 2025 it's almost impossible to see what is going on with your converter output and your batteries. If the converter is bad then it may not be stepping up the amps when you apply a load and therefore the batteries have to take up the slack.
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Hwy 101 for the southern half of Oregon is a good road and acceptable for a big rig. It is very scenic but it can be an exercise in frustration as you have to drive so slow. Most of the going is 35 to 45mph so don't plan on making time. That said our favorite places are Tillamook, OR. Visit the cheese factory and plan to have fresh ice cream for lunch, yum. Just about 40 minutes north is a state park which we absolutely love, Newhalem Bay state park.
Washington's coast is not as scenic but Grayland Beach state park has a whole new section on the beach which is great and has huge pull throughs and back-ins almost big enough for two rigs! We just loved it. Make reservations, both of these state parks are very popular but shouldn't be all that full yet in May.
If you want other ideas for Washington or Oregon let us know, it's our back yard.
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None of this surprises me by the conversations that I have had with other RVrs. Generally speaking diesels just cost more to have fixed no matter what the problem and everything I can find on extended warranties for RVs says RUN don't walk away from them. Was this a new '08 that you bought? In this economy it may be wise for others to look at the health of the company that built the rig before they consider buying. I am sure there are a lot of Alfa owners in the same boat as it was my understanding that they went under last year.
Sorry to hear of the troubles. I feel for ya.
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I don't know if this topic is also somewhere for Class C's, so if anyone has replaced their carpet in a Class C with vinyl or wood, can you tell me what you did for the drivers area?In our last rig ('94 Fleetwood Flair) I stopped short of the driver area as it was a step up and a good place to end it. Much easier that way. You can get carpet transitions for the laminate flooring, just leave carpet up front.
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The question for you is how much amperage can your inverter draw from the batteries? My 1000w Prosine manual said to try and keep the inverter within 5 feet of the batteries and to use #2 wire. I too have 6 6V batteries. 4 are about mid rig and two are up front behind the grill. For those I used 3/0 as it is a long run back to the other 4 and mostly because I got the wire for free. With DC wiring I tend to error on the big side rather than the small side as the consequences can be disastrous. I always use welding cable as it is much easier to run and work with rather than battery cable. Your inverter manual should spell out what wire size to use depending on how far away it is from the bank. For the extra 2 batteries I would use heavier wire since they are away from the bank a bit and never smaller than what is used between the batteries.
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My only comment would be to be sure and check out going with a true/pure sine wave inverter. It's much better for your electronic equipment, including electric blankets, electric tooth brushes, entertainment systems, etc...
Yes I alread have a Xantrex Prosine 1000 installed. It was the converter/charger that I replaced.
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Thanks guys, just installed the PDI 9270 the other day. Kept an eye on it with the Trimetric 2025 that I installed and it's working great, just as advertised. Now I feel confident that when we leave home for a dry camping trip we have fully charged batteries.
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This winter I used rope lights strung throughout my plumbing bay and attached to a digital temerature controller. If it sensed temps below 38 degrees it would turn the lights on and heat up the bay. Nice thing with the rope lights is that they are waterproof and can be strung along or wrapped around the water tubing quite easily.
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What Kalynzoo said. I'm not for a bunch of noice when I'm trying to relax in an RV park or campground.
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No more so then when you add bleach to your laundry. Don't worry about it.
Welcome to the forum.
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My roof is bare except for the vent pipes and to radio antennae. Putting a satellite antenna on it would raise it from 12' 4" to 12' 12" based on a 12 inch high dome (some are 15).Height was a concern for us too as I store our rig in our garage which has a 13' opening on the door. However the Trav'ler is the lowest stow height of any of them at just 9.75" and is actually lower than my AC unit.
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Just to be clear, the "tail wagging the dog" syndrome is not the same as body sway and is caused by the lack of a track bar on the rear axle which many RVs do not have. On vehicles with leaf springs the springs themselves serve to keep the rear axle centered under the vehicle. However with the amount of weight involved with an RV the rear of a motorhome can flex the springs to the left or right and causes the rear of the rig to "wag". All vehicles with coil spring suspension have track bars. The track bar mounts from the frame of the rig to the axle and parallel to the axle to keep it from being able to "un-center" under the vehicle. The addition of a swaybar will cut down on "wag the dog" but wont eliminate it entirely. The newer Ford F53 chassis such as on our Georgetown has not only swaybars to control the side to side "sway" but the track bars on both axles to stop the "tail wagging the dog" It is by far and away the best riding chassis I have driven in a gas rig.
Pinnacle Appliances--Be Very Very Cautious!
in Systems and Appliances
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Thanks Harley. I did see those listed on Sears but they want $380 for a $150 motor. The $265 I had paid through Appliance Desk was about $100 too much in my opinion. I don't want to sink 2/3 the cost of a new machine into this thing if something else goes wrong too. As our up coming trip takes us through Phoenix AZ I am going to check into AZ RV Salage and see what they have. They list having good used Splendide washers on their site. If I can get a good used washer for not much more than Sears wants for a motor then I would rather go that route. Besides, we are just 2 weeks from blast off, I don't have time now to fix the danged thing and get it in our rig.