2 months of ownership Heartland Focus 17" and...

RichTully

Member
I have now had my Focus for 2 months. Perhaps not a Heartland problem but the battery takes 2 days to charge at a 2 amp charge. Recharge the very next day takes 2 or more hours. It is an exact duplicate to another battery I have which gives me NO problem. I will check with the dealer about this. Getting ready to a trip next weekend and decided to give the roof a good cleaning along with the rest of the outside. Found the the "rubber" roof lamination is bubbling on several spots and since it appears to be only about a 32nd of an inch thick I am sure it will tear in the wind in no time. Good Job Heartland!!! Also, I found a scratch in the fiberglass in the front (top of curve which could not be seen from the ground) that goes all the way through the gel coat, glaze or whatever it is. This scratch goes from side to side and is about 4 feet long. Today I had to rewire the light switches at the entrance for the interior and outside light. It was wired so the inside switch had to be on to be able to turn on the outside light. The seat fabric got some nasty pulls in it when I removed them to get to the storage space underneath, The problem was the the staples (brads or whatever) were sticking through and caught the fabric and pulls threads. I have a bad feeling that these may not be the only problems that I will find. I am definitely NOT happy with Heartland Quality control. I will be visiting the dealer about these things today. At this point I do hope no one asks me about Heartland since I have too many negative things to tell them.

Unhappy Heartland Owner,

Rich Tully
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
2 amps is really a low charge rate. I usually only use that for low amperage batteries like in my lawn tractor. I usually use the ten or fifteen amp rate for deep cycle batteries (I have two different chargers).
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
Hello Rich!

I am sorry about the issues you are experiencing with your new Focus. No one likes to spend so much of their hard earned money and be disappointed with the purchase.

One thing I have noticed over the years regarding RV ownership is the terms "quality control" and "expectations" seem to go hand in hand and are different for every buyer. We all want our rigs to be perfect and there is no reason they should not meet those expectations. Owner expectations vary from each individual. There is no right or wrong, simply a difference in tolerance.

Our new Big Country also has a few roof bubbles. Every RV I have owned has had a few small air bubbles in the EPDM. I accept that as a normal condition of rubber roofs and everything I have been able to research supports that contention. I would be much more concerned if these bubbles were large and getting larger over time but they have not.

The first time I waxed our rig I noticed the rear fiberglass cap had what looked like two holes punched through it. They had been professionally repaired and looked like they would be a non-issue other than a slight color difference in the finish. Initially I was very disappointed the cap was not perfect but the integrity of the repair was excellent and I resolved myself to accepting it. So far no one notices unless I point them out.

On delivery we had a couple of burned out light bulbs, a few loose nails and screws etc. For me personally, these were items I would expect to happen from a home traveling down the road at 60+ for the 3000 mile delivery trip. Many others would not find this acceptable and that is fine.

I am certainly not making lite of your concerns and hopefully all will be made right ASAP. Many of the smaller problems occur during the first few months of ownership. Work with Heartland Customer Service and your dealer to get these issues resolved and I am confident you will have many years of good service from the Focus.

Best Wishes!
 

RichTully

Member
First, thanks for your replies. Second, for pegmikef. The battery will NOT charge at 15 amps. It sits there for days. I have a microprocessor controlled charger from sears that I have used for several years and have no problem with my boat batteries. It works fine with an identical (but older) battery but not this one.
SJH, learned a long time ago not to expect perfection, I guess I just expected the "rubber roof" to be a bit more substantial. The spots did stick back in place when I rubbed them but I am sure they will not stay. I will check them from time to time and hope they do not get worse. I am more concerned about the crack. It I am sure will leak over time. It is probably something I will have to repair myself or I will probably end up with silicone sealer smeared on it by the dealer.
Will follow up on all this as time progresses.

Thanks again. Heartland owners seem to be great. We will see how Heartland and the dealer turn out to be.
 

TeJay

Well-known member
Pegmikef... About the charge rate. Recharging a wet cell battery is a chemical process. It may take longer to charge at 2-amps/hr but it is easier and better for the battery. Charging at a high rate will not do as well at the molecular level, it causes more gassing and it may warp the plates due to heat. In other words when possible charge at as low a rate as possible for greater battery life.
RichTully..... If one battery charges and the other does not and you are using the same process there's a problem. When you are charging the suspected bad battery put a meter on it and measure the voltage at the posts. If the battery is sulfated and won't accept a charge the voltage will probably be above 15 volts. That's a sure sign that the batter will not accept a charge. Think of it this way. If you're trying to fill up a football and the hose on your hand pump kinks the pressure will rise. The same thing happens when charging a battery. You're trying to force electrons into a battery plate that is sulfated and won't accept the electrons so the pressure (voltage) rises.
Hope this helps
TeJay
 

pegmikef

Well-known member
Thanks for explanation TeJay. I think I knew part of that. I'm always hooked up to shore power in storage so those batteries (trojan 105s) aren't an issue and I normally use a trickle charger on the boat, but after being out all day I like to use the higher amperage for the trolling moter battery as the low rate takes too long. I'm not sure of the amperage on the golf cart because it is not marked anywhere on the charger, but it typically takes five hours to charge the six batteries (36 volts). I try not to get these batteries below 50% down. I like 13.n volts for fully charged 12 v and around 6.7 - 7 volts for the six volt batteries.
 

TeJay

Well-known member
Mike,
That's good thinking on the battery charge. If they stay at a low charge for any length of time they are more likely to sulfate. I've resurrected many a battery by slow charging them for several days or weeks. Most people don't understand wet cell technology. If they aren't being used they should be slow charged about every month or so. Good news is that most chargers today are smart and they are less likely to overcharge a battery.

I really like the Trojan golf cart batteries. Besides the obvious extra capacity they will give many years of good service. When we purchased our North Trail last Feb the dealer was to provide the 12-V battery so I asked him to get two Trojan 125's and I'd pay for one. It was strange because he'd had few buyers request that kind of switch. As I've read here most owners get the information concerning switching to 6-V batteries and make the switch when they have to do their first battery swap.

The dealer should swap your battery if it won't take a charge. If you've had it on a charger for several days and it falls off then it's sulfated and won't hold the charge. A good load test will show that. Have them take it to a decent shop and they can load test it. I'm sure most Wal-Mart auto shops can do that. Save yourself some time by making sure you've had the battery on a charger for 24 hours so they won't want to start the process with a battery charge.

Best of luck and have a good trip.
TeJay
 

TXBobcat

Fulltime
I had a bad experience with the Interstate Battery that came with my trailer. Take it and have the cells checked. I had a similar problem and one of the cells was dead. It burned out two converters until I found out the real problem.

BC
 
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