I think it's time to trade her in !

Just thought I would replay my current year in the Sundance since it's been so much fun. This summer I find that the Water heater is fried. Apparently the Heating Element burned in two and this caused the thermostat to burn up as well. Got that fixed and then Toilet started leaking through the seals. Got that fixed with a new set of seals. Then as I was installing a Hard Start kit on the AC Unit I noticed one of the roof vents was cracked so I replaced that and added all new Roof Vent covers to help protect them from future damage. Then the Converter burned up and had to replaced. After replacing that I found out that the refrigerator apparently burned up with converter. I was able to replace the control board and get it back to functioning and then today I find out that the Awning motor is burned up as well. I have ordered a new motor and will fix that soon enough but I am just sick of fixing things. I think I will look into trading up to a toy hauler really soon. Not sure if it will be a Heartland or not at this point, just haven't had a good experience with this trailer. Oh yeah, I had to replace the roof just last summer too. This trailer is only three years old and I have had my fill with it.

You've certainly been through more than your fair share of issues but on the other hand you know exactly where you stand with this rig. A new one may or may not be loaded with things to resolve too.

Do you have or did you have a surge protector? Where you ever near a lighting strike? Just seems like a lot of electrical problems that could be caused by a surge and maybe not all show at the same time.
Also, why did you have to replace the roof?

Like Jimtoo, I have to wonder about all of the electrical issues being related to a bad supply or even a loose wire on an internal connection. Maybe at the point where the cord plugs into the trailer or at the breaker box. Can you get a little more specific about your roof?

I think the electrical problems all stem from the roof in a round about way. The roof just simply dry rotted away and came off in patches. The dealer said he had never seen anything like it before. I treated it each year too and never saw it coming. I thought at first it might have been critters that chewed on it while it was in storage but apparently not. I think the leaking roof might have let water get in to the converter and that might have been the cause for it's failure. I never saw any evidence of water getting in to it but I started seeing signs of a converter failure when I got the rig back from the dealer. I changed the battery out and thought that might have been my problem but apparently not. I then think once the converter failed it caused a 12 v surge and that fried the refrigerator and the awning. I fixed them all myself so the price has not been too bad either. Refrigerator was the control board ($75) the converter I bought online for $175. It was really fun to squeeze in that access hole and swap out. The awning motor I just ordered and it was $225 from carefree but I then found out that it is actually a motor from a 1999 Cadillac Deville and you can get them from an Auto Parts place for $37 online so I bought that instead. I'm just tired of fixing things and would like to enjoy my trip. It would be nice to haul the Harley with me when that happens so I'm leaning towards a toy hauler.

I do have it on a surge protector too and the electrical connection is very reliable at the storage site. So I don't think that has anything to do with it. I'm 99% sure the converter did it all when it went.

We all expect some repairs but it seems you have had more than your share. Good luck with whatever you get to replace it.

Do you by chance have any pictures of your roof. I have never heard of a roof rotting away. I think the rubber material has a long warranty.

John,

Like Jim mentioned, the EPDM rubber roof material has a long warranty. What did you use to treat it annually?

Stinger381 said:

Just thought I would replay my current year in the Sundance since it's been so much fun. This summer I find that the Water heater is fried. Apparently the Heating Element burned in two and this caused the thermostat to burn up as well. Got that fixed and then Toilet started leaking through the seals. Got that fixed with a new set of seals. Then as I was installing a Hard Start kit on the AC Unit I noticed one of the roof vents was cracked so I replaced that and added all new Roof Vent covers to help protect them from future damage. Then the Converter burned up and had to replaced. After replacing that I found out that the refrigerator apparently burned up with converter. I was able to replace the control board and get it back to functioning and then today I find out that the Awning motor is burned up as well. I have ordered a new motor and will fix that soon enough but I am just sick of fixing things. I think I will look into trading up to a toy hauler really soon. Not sure if it will be a Heartland or not at this point, just haven't had a good experience with this trailer. Oh yeah, I had to replace the roof just last summer too. This trailer is only three years old and I have had my fill with it.

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Boy, for a 2011, lots of problems - more than normal.

I took some pics of the roof before I had it replaced. I will check on the computer and see if I can still locate them. Luckily insurance did pay for that repair. I just used the Protect-All rubber roof cleaner and treatment from my local RV dealer. It was really simple to use but I don't think it helped much. I took the trailer back to my dealer where I purchased it and he told me it was not covered by warranty and I believed him. I wasn't too pleased with their work either. There was a lot of stuff marked replace on the estimate and there was a lot of stuff that was re-used and not replaced. I think they over estimated the repair and pocketed some change.


I think I will add a post under the repair section and tell people where to get the awning motors though. That saved me a heap being able to use the car motor instead of the awning motor from Carefree.

Stinger381 said:

I think I will add a post under the repair section and tell people where to get the awning motors though. That saved me a heap being able to use the car motor instead of the awning motor from Carefree.

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Pretty awesome stuff right there, thanks for sharing.
Sucks to hear about all the repair/replacements, its quite a bit for someone who can take care of it since we tend to just chalk things up to the rolling earthquake effects.
Toy haulers are nice nowadays, if I could I'd probably do the same just for the deck alone, the dogs would love that and it would be a good excuse to get a nice road rider as well