2010 3600re

orkirk · Sep 11, 2009

My wife and I are going to be fulltimers soon. we have selected the 3600RE for our fulltime 5/w. We have sat down with a dealer and checked off nearly every option available plus Good Year tires and the stackable W/D.
My question is ,have we selected the right fulltime RV and does anyone have any feed back on this model 3600RE? Any problems,ect. Thank you for any info you have. orkirk

Ray LeTourneau · Sep 11, 2009

As you are probably aware, a huge majority of us on this forum are Heartland fans. I think no matter what model or floorplan you choose, as long as it fits your need for space and livability it will work. Lin & I have been at it for a short 3 years and have no regrets. Welcome to the Heartland Forum and hopefully our Family.

orkirk · Sep 12, 2009

Thanks and looking forward to getting our new BH 3600 RE. orkirk

kakampers · Sep 12, 2009

We've been fulltime for 4 years, 2 of those in a 3600RL...the only difference in the floorplan is the livingroom layout.

For us, this is the perfect floor plan...especially the kitchen and bedroom/bathroom...do not like the enclosed bath. Makes the bedroom seem way too small...think you'll really enjoy your choice.

I think we would have been just as comfortable with the 3600RE, but choose our 3600RL because we run a business and I needed a desk area.

Everything in this unit is holding up surprisingly well...had friends in it this weekend, that we hadn't seen in years and they thought our 08' was brand new...

Enjoy!

ChopperBill · Sep 12, 2009

We have been toying with the rear entertainment floor plans as well. Renee (5'10") cant see the living area/TV when in the kitchen from most floor plans because of the cabinets. I kind of like the idea of a separate bathroom. No company, just leave the doors open for a visibly bigger bedroom. The 3610RE looks like it would fit the bill.

nemo45 · Sep 12, 2009

We replaced our 2005 Open Road 357RLS which has a floorplan much like the 3600RL with our 2009 3600RE. We love the floor plan but thought we would miss the desk too. However we both have laptops and keep our printer in the right cabinet of the entertainment center next to the recliners. When we need it we just pull it out a little and plug it into one of the laptops and off we go, printing. We don't run a business though. We've had the BH 3 mos. and other than the icemaker line leaking and the kitchen sink dropping about 1/2" from the counter top in front, no problems. Heartland sent me clips for the sink which I installled and I just cut out the pin hole leak in the icemaker line and put in a compression fitting to fix it. Love the 42" Samsung HD LCD TV in the entertainment center and the Samsung Surround sound Is a good one too. Everything else in the rig has operated fine. Im sure you'll love yours for full timing as much as we love ours. I know its early yet. We hope our love affair with it continues on down the line.

orkirk · Sep 12, 2009

HI Ken and Kathy! (KAKAMPERS)

Sounds like you are enjoying your RV. I'm sure we will too. It's nice to hear from the experienced fulltimers before you invest big $$ in a RV. I've looked at a lot of RVs and the BH seems to give you more for your money.
Thanks for all the tips ! Oscar and Reta (orkirk)

orkirk · Sep 12, 2009

retired4fun said:
We have been toying with the rear entertainment floor plans as well. Renee (5'10") cant see the living area/TV when in the kitchen from most floor plans because of the cabinets. I kind of like the idea of a separate bathroom. No company, just leave the doors open for a visibly bigger bedroom. The 3610RE looks like it would fit the bill.

My wife didn't like the W/D up front. She was afraid the washer would leak and mess up the bedroom carpet. Myself,I like the separate commode room. We do like the rear entertainment though. It is hard to find exactly everything you want in a floorplan. We found it is a give and take affair. I think we have come real close to getting everything we want in the 3600RE.

orkirk · Sep 12, 2009

nemo45 said:
We replaced our 2005 Open Road 357RLS which has a floorplan much like the 3600RL with our 2009 3600RE. We love the floor plan but thought we would miss the desk too. However we both have laptops and keep our printer in the right cabinet of the entertainment center next to the recliners. When we need it we just pull it out a little and plug it into one of the laptops and off we go, printing. We don't run a business though. We've had the BH 3 mos. and other than the icemaker line leaking and the kitchen sink dropping about 1/2" from the counter top in front, no problems. Heartland sent me clips for the sink which I installled and I just cut out the pin hole leak in the icemaker line and put in a compression fitting to fix it. Love the 42" Samsung HD LCD TV in the entertainment center and the Samsung Surround sound Is a good one too. Everything else in the rig has operated fine. Im sure you'll love yours for full timing as much as we love ours. I know its early yet. We hope our love affair with it continues on down the line.

We also are replacing an 2005 Open Road with the 3600RE. We thought the Open Road was good quality,just needed more room.
We are going to get a portable Icemaker and give us more room in the freezer. Did they forget to put in the sink clips? That's the first time I've heard about that . I know there are a few bugs to work out in all new RVS. I had 2-3 minor bugs to work out on my Open Road,then everything was smooth sailing. Good Luck down the road with your 3600RE! Thanks for all the info.
orkirk

ztev3 · Sep 12, 2009

We love our 2010 3600re and have had very few problems, most of them Dometic related. Enjoy

orkirk · Sep 13, 2009

ztev3 said:
We love our 2010 3600re and have had very few problems, most of them Dometic related. Enjoy

Thanks for the info! We may be able to order a 2011 3600RE. We are helping our daughter with our new grandson till may of 2010. We are going to order our 3600RE about Jan.2010 so we can get it by Mar.2010. That way we will have a couple of months to work out the bugs here in IN. before we head out West and maybe Alaska.
The salesman we are working with in IN. is very helpful. He told us when he goes to the RV convention this DEC. he will check for any new options that we may be able to order. He is also setting up a personal tour of the Heartland Factory for us in the next few days. We are looking forward to that.
Thanks again for the info and hope you continue to have smooth sailing.
Safe Travels, orkirk

nemo45 · Sep 14, 2009

We loved our Open Road too. It was a good quality rig like the BH made to compete with the Montanas. We had it 4 years but only full-timed in it one. One thing it had that the BH doesn't was flourescent lighting, which I took care of at the DW's request. It cost $205 from a supplier on Ebay, much cheaper than camping world. I replaced 10 lights. Most the full-timers I know that go to Alaska do not take their big fifthwheels but either buy a used slide in truck camper and sell it when they get back or rent one. When we decide to visit Alsaska that's what we're going to do.

nemo45 · Sep 14, 2009

orkirk said:
We also are replacing an 2005 Open Road with the 3600RE. We thought the Open Road was good quality,just needed more room.
We are going to get a portable Icemaker and give us more room in the freezer. Did they forget to put in the sink clips? That's the first time I've heard about that . I know there are a few bugs to work out in all new RVS. I had 2-3 minor bugs to work out on my Open Road,then everything was smooth sailing. Good Luck down the road with your 3600RE! Thanks for all the info.
orkirk

Think about doing this: We got the icemake in the freezer and bought a 2.5 cu ft. freezer and put it in the basement by the 110 outlet. I also installed a 800W inverter near the freezer in the basement to operate it while we are on the road. We had a portable icemaker but found it inconvenient to refill and empty and store the ice. The icemaker in the refrigerator does a good job of keeping up with our use and so far no problems with it. And yes they forgot the sink clips it was just epoxied to the counter top. Ours wasn't the only one they did it too.

orkirk · Sep 14, 2009

nemo45 said:
Think about doing this: We got the icemake in the freezer and bought a 2.5 cu ft. freezer and put it in the basement by the 110 outlet. I also installed a 800W inverter near the freezer in the basement to operate it while we are on the road. We had a portable icemaker but found it inconvenient to refill and empty and store the ice. The icemaker in the refrigerator does a good job of keeping up with our use and so far no problems with it. And yes they forgot the sink clips it was just epoxied to the counter top. Ours wasn't the only one they did it too.

We do have a 5 cu ft. freezer that our daughter used during her college years. I think it is about 35" tall. I didn't think about using an Inverter for the freezer though. I will check on the amp rating on our freezer it may take more than the 800 watt inverter that you have. I think the Icemaker option on the BH is about $300 so close to the price of the portable Icemaker and a lot more handy.
We didn't have fluorescent lights in our Open road. Do they have little starters in them and take more current to light? Thanks for all the tips!

Safe and Happy Travels!
Oscar and Reta (orkirk)

nemo45 · Sep 14, 2009

Our little freezer is rated at 67 watts or about 6 amps. A freezer 35" tall won't fit in the in the basement but it will in the closet for the W/D. My experience with the portable ice maker is it is not more handy, it only holds about a gallon of water and you have to empty the tray as it is making ice as it will start to melt before you can get it into the freezer. It takes much more attention than the one in the freezer. You do lose considerable freezer space, but you can buy a small freezer for less than the portable icemaker. Yes, the flouescent lights have starters but once on, use less elec. than incadesant lights and put out much less heat. They put out considersably more light than incadescent too. I thought that this was a quality upgrade for the money. Landmarks come with flourescent lights standard.

orkirk · Sep 14, 2009

nemo45 said:
Our little freezer is rated at 67 watts or about 6 amps. A freezer 35" tall won't fit in the in the basement but it will in the closet for the W/D. My experience with the portable ice maker is it is not more handy, it only holds about a gallon of water and you have to empty the tray as it is making ice as it will start to melt before you can get it into the freezer. It takes much more attention than the one in the freezer. You do lose considerable freezer space, but you can buy a small freezer for less than the portable icemaker. Yes, the flouescent lights have starters but once on, use less elec. than incadesant lights and put out much less heat. They put out considersably more light than incadescent too. I thought that this was a quality upgrade for the money. Landmarks come with flourescent lights standard.

I think I may be off on that 35" after thinking about it. I'll measure it next time I go to our storage building. We are ordering the stackable W/D so that space is spoken for. Next time we are looking at a BH I'll have my tape measure with me.
So the fluorescent is still a 12v light? It sounds like a good idea. How much do they cost and is it just a light change out?
It is amazing how many options I have planned for an Rv I haven't even ordered yet.
Again thanks for your time,
Oscar and Reta (orkirk)

nemo45 · Sep 14, 2009

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FOUR...m7QQcategoryZ50070QQihZ022QQitemZ350124413097

Here's the website where I bought the lights off ebay. I used 16" and 12 ". I bought 4 of the 16" and 6 of the 12". Yes, take down the old ones and install the new while covering the holes. After I refigured what I had in the lights it was $195 for all 10 lights, shipping was free.

orkirk · Sep 15, 2009

nemo45 said:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FOUR...m7QQcategoryZ50070QQihZ022QQitemZ350124413097

Here's the website where I bought the lights off ebay. I used 16" and 12 ". I bought 4 of the 16" and 6 of the 12". Yes, take down the old ones and install the new while covering the holes. After I refigured what I had in the lights it was $195 for all 10 lights, shipping was free.

Thanks for your help and I'll check that out. All the tips are great!
Safe Travels, Oscar and Reta (orkirk)

Larryheadhunter · Sep 16, 2009

I was considering at one time buying the 3600RE, but some of the RV campers I trust warned me about a kitchen slide being problematic. I would be curious of anyone's experience with their kitchen slide has experienced any problems. I ended up with a 3400RE that we are very happy with. Good luck on whatever Heartland RV you buy.

kakampers · Sep 16, 2009

More than two years fulltiming with a kitchen slide...had to have a minor adjustment once...other than that no problem whatsoever..

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