Warranty Repairs in or near Corpus Christi, TX - Suggestions Anyone?? Also, slide seal question....

bswitter

Member
Hey everyone,
My DH and I are camping just outside of Corpus Christi, TX, in Riviera. We are having a few problems with our '11 Grand Canyon that we need addressed while we are here (when it rains, it pours), and I am looking for any positive or negative experiences you may have had with either service centers or mobile repair folks near us.

Our RM 1350 refrigerator is not cooling properly. Our ice keeps melting and refreezing, cubes in ice trays didn't even freeze over night last night, our ice cream is melted, and our refrigerated foods are no where near cold enough. Also, the digital temperature is not correct. I called Dometic this morning, who offered me no help other than to tell me to look on the internet and find a service center near us. I have read about the problems others have had with this particular model and dread the potential craziness to come.:rolleyes:

The support arms on our left rear jack are bent so the jack is not preventing our rig from bouncing. I contacted Lippert this morning, and was told to either take it to a dealer or send them an email with photos and they will contact me within 24 hours. I told them that we can switch out the arms if they will just send us the parts. I am waiting on a response from them we take our camper to someone, with the hope that they will come thru for us.

Also, one of our slide seals is loose again. This was one of the warranty repairs that was supposedly made by our dealer a while back. However, we just discovered that instead of repairing the seal properly, they merely filled the gap with caulk, which came loose from the rig. Thus the seal is peeling loose from the camper again. Can anyone tell me what is used to hold the seals down between the screws??

I'm really frustrated and disappointed with all of the problems we have had with our rig considering the amount of money we paid for it. I just hope that there will not be any more if we can get these issues corrected. Thanks for your help!!!
 

bswitter

Member
Quick update. Lippert came thru! They are going to ship the arms to our RV park. One problem solved.:angel:
 

Willym

Well-known member
There are a large number of posts on the forum relating to the RM1350 fridge. We have one, are currently in the RGV and it is working well. Here are a few ideas to start with,

You could turn off your icemaker as this will lessen the strain on the fridge's cooling system as a temporary measure. Check to see if the rear mounted cooling fans are working, you should be able to hear them. Check also that your doors are fitting , including the flap between the doors, and that the cooling HX in the fridge is not iced up. You can also try propane operation, as your electric heater may be faulty.
 

Ray LeTourneau

Senior Member - Past Moderator
bswitter, 2 years ago, Camper Clinic in Rockport was a Heartland Dealer. I pretty sure they still are but you might give them a call. For your fridge, you can also have your unit service by any authorized Dometic agent. I would first call Heartland Customer Service and then Dometic for assistance. Have the model number and Serial number information of the fridge for Dometic.
 

bswitter

Member
Willym: We've practically neighbors. :cool: Glad to hear your fridge is working well for you. We have read through the posts re the RM1350 and checked what we could. We have turned the ice maker off as the ice cubes just keep melting and refreezing as a sheet in the bottom of the tub anyway. This didn't seem to help it run any colder though. We took the covers off and checked the fans. They are turning on and off intermittently but don't seem to run very long. Of course, it has been relatively cool here. The doors are reasonably tight fitting. I think they could be better; however, they do not seem to be so loose as to allow enough cold air out and warm air in to cause the problem we have. We did notice when we first began having problems a few days ago that the fridge runs a couple of degrees colder on propane, so we have left it on propane. Perhaps not significant, but at this point every degree helps! What do you mean by "cooling HX"? Is that the fins in the top of the fridge? If so, there is condensation on those, but it is not frozen. Curiously, it seems that if we turn the fridge off and then turn it back on, it will cool off a little....not where it should be, but some. Makes me wonder if there isn't something going on with the computer board.

Ray: Thanks. I will check out Camper Clinic tomorrow. I have a list of authorized service centers from the Dometic website, which Dometic referred me to when I called them for assistance today. That was all I got from them, no suggestions, troubleshooting, zero, zilch, nada. Oh, except she did ask me if the fridge was turned on.:mad: I am also going to call Heartland tomorrow to see if they can recommend someone. On our last trip, when our washer/dryer called it quits on us, I could not get return calls from any of the three mobile repair companies that the manufacturer gave us to choose from. So I'm running a little gun shy of those this time.

Thanks to both of you for your advice.
 

Willym

Well-known member
There are quite a few Heartland rigs wintering in the RGV. We have four BH's and 2 LM's in our park in Pharr right now. Come on down, there's even a Heartland dealer here - in Donna.

Yes, by HX, I meant the cooling fins inside the fridge. Have you tried the fridge at its coldest level (5)? Have you checked that the thermistor (temperature sensor inside the fridge) is attached properly? It should be clipped securely to the fridge "ceiling".

By the conditions that you describe, it sounds like the cooling unit is not operating for long enough periods - your fans don't seem to run very long and your freezer temp alternates. This could mean a problem with the control module or the thermistor itself. One other thing that you could check are the electrical connections to the various modules of the cooling unit. I've seen corrosion on some of these in the past, although this shouldn't be a problem on a new problem. Road vibration can cause connections to loosen also.
Good luck, let us know what is found.
 

bswitter

Member
Just a quick update. I received a surprise phone call from Joe with Heartland this afternoon ,before I had a chance to call them. (The call is much appreciated :D). He gave me recommendations of service centers in Corpus Christi and Rockport. We have an appointment with Camper Clinic in Rockport on Saturday. I'll let you know what I find out.
 

bswitter

Member
Re the temp, yes, we have kept it on 5 since we left home. The thermistor thingy is attached to the ceiling.My hubby checked the connections that he could see from taking the cover off outside. Nothing looked loose, and the fuses are all ok.

There are quite a few Heartland rigs wintering in the RGV. We have four BH's and 2 LM's in our park in Pharr right now. Come on down, there's even a Heartland dealer here - in Donna.
Yes, by HX, I meant the cooling fins inside the fridge. Have you tried the fridge at its coldest level (5)? Have you checked that the thermistor (temperature sensor inside the fridge) is attached properly? It should be clipped securely to the fridge "ceiling".
By the conditions that you describe, it sounds like the cooling unit is not operating for long enough periods - your fans don't seem to run very long and your freezer temp alternates. This could mean a problem with the control module or the thermistor itself. One other thing that you could check are the electrical connections to the various modules of the cooling unit. I've seen corrosion on some of these in the past, although this shouldn't be a problem on a new problem. Road vibration can cause connections to loosen also. Good luck, let us know what is found.
 

SmokeyBare

Well-known member
Once more Heartland comes through and Shines Brightly with their effort to make Heartland Owners Happy Campers !
What other RV company calls their customers to help them through a problem??

Way to go Heartland... for going far beyond any other RV company. Heartland ROCKS !!!

That goes for Lippert to in this case... Nice that they came through for bsWitter.

Marv
 
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