Things that can improve the 3300ck

jbrognano

Member
We are on our first trip and quickly there are things I miss from my old RV. Most are simple but useful. First the biggest thing is the size and placement of the awning. The awning is positioned all the way to the front of the unit and is not long enough. It should go up to or closer to the rear kitchen. The next thing is there is no light in the front of the unit when hooking and unhooking in the dark. The orange lights in the front cap are no help and i am not really sure of their purpose. Third thing is the A/C vents do not have a way to close them. So for instance if your taking a shower and want to close the vent in the bathroom so you don't freeze coming out, you can't. Fourth thing is the outside kitchen door. The arms that hold it up seem too powerful. They spring the Hatch door up quickly and the are warping the door. The center of the door is already sticking out 1/2 inch while the top and bottom are flush. Fifth, why not give the purchaser the connector for the LP outlet, it has been difficult to find and seems obvious that it should be included. Sixth, the holders in the bathroom for the soap dish, toothbrush holder and toilet paper holder should be mounted. I got a bag full of stuff with no way to attach them. I have to find out what type of screws to use to mount them that will hold in the RV style walls. And lastly, why not clean the unit before you ship it. we had to spend the time to clean all the wood, metal shavings and saw dust out.

Joe
 

jimtoo

Moderator
Hi jbroganano,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and to the family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

Thanks for posting your ideas that you feel need to be changed or modified. The factory does watch this area, and they do consider suggestions made by owners and each year changes are made. A lot of the changes are due to customer reports like yours.

The sixth item, soap dish, toothbrush holder, paper holder... they never mount them.. to many times the new owner would not want them where they mounted them.. the dealer should mount them for you if you ask. And also the PDI should have included a good clean up for you, and repair or adjust anything you found wrong... but you will never get rid of all the sawdust. We just attended the National Heartland Owners Rally, drove over some of the worst roads and construction areas I have ever been on. My unit is 3 years 7 months old and we are still getting sawdust out of the secret hiding places it was in when they built the unit.

Enjoy the forum and your new Sundance.

Jim M
 

sjs731

Well-known member
jbrognano,

I have a 2012 3300CK and I can see your side of some of the issues. I guess I haven't run into a situation in the rain yet where I can say whether or not the awning is too short or should be moved back. I guess if they moved it back it would go right across the window on our rear bunk house. I'll let you know what I think the first time I use our rig in the rain. When I hook up in the dark I turn the front lights on and I agree that they don't seem to do much, however the rear cab light that shines into the box of my truck does help a lot. I guess I haven't tried to shut the A/C vents yet so I didn't notice that one yet. The arms are a little powerful, I will agree. My girlfriend's son who is 10 opened the door for the first time the other day and took it to the forehead. He'll be more careful next time. :) The door isn't warped yet but I will keep an eye on it. I will be purchasing an LP connection hose. I would think a camping/sporting goods store would have one. We have a store called Fleet Farm here and I have friends that purchased theirs their for their. We had the dealer mount the TP holder for us when we did our PDI. The other things we didn't want on the wall and pitched them. Probably why they come in a bag. I am also cleaning up sawdust yet but I used to work for a homebuilder so I guess I am accustomed to some being around for a while.
 
J

Jim_Hickey

Guest
Thank you for all of your feedback. We like to take your comments (both good and bad) and make the necessary improvements to our products. However, what might be seen as an issue for one person, may be a positive for another, so we need to weigh everything before we make a change. Again, thank you for your feedback and happy camping!
Jim
 
Make sure the audio video components work before leaving the factory. There are more blogs/complaints on these items than probably any single other item. This includes making sure there is a half decent AM/FM radio antenna connected. Many of us rely on radio warnings of approaching bad weather and updates when they are happening. My unit had nothing but static till I retrofitted a car antenna.

Can you also adjust the low point drains and furnace supply ducting under the sink to allow room for a pots and pans cabinet. I tried to make a new cabinet there but too many obstacles.
 

blueoval

Member
Welcome to the Heartland family. We just purchased ourfirst Heartland (2013 Sundance 3300CK) unit month half ago and so far we havebeen very happy with the unit - customer service has been great to work withwhen we have a problem.

We have some of the complaints you have:

a/c vents – they do need to close and we have been looking for replacementunits.

radio – The booklet they supplied is ok but does not haveenough info to walk you through the set-up or how things are connected to theunit. During the PDI the dealer could not even figure out how the unit works orto get surround sound to work with the TV. This past week we camped and went toturn on the radio and would not power up. I had to pull the whole unit out ofthe wall and pull the power plug and do a power rest and after that it poweredup. The cool thing about the radio is the blue tooth but does have some hit andmiss on working when taking your Iphone outside. We had a Forest River unitbefore this and their radio was so bad that the manufacture of the radio couldnot even tell you how to fix problems. I feel all the radios in the RV industryare not very good, I think that is because they have gone to these compact typeunits.

hinges – They are very strong on the outdoor kitchen door but I was thinkingthey were designed that way since the door doubles as awing and needs to support(hold up) the door. Have not noticed a problem with the door but will look atthat the next time we camp.

awing – I think it is a good size whay roughly 18’ or so? Our last two unitswere 18' to 20' long. The outdoor kitchen door being 5' to 6' long doubles asan awing.

Nose cap lights - Have not hooked up at night so sure if they are good thing ora bad thing. Have only turned them on to make sure they worked.

LP - On the 2013 unit they came with BBQ pit so we have an LP hose.

Bathroom Parts - I agree, they should not even be sent, pain to put up and abigger pain to even find a good spot to put them. We have never used thoseparts and they just sit under the cabinet.

Over all we have been very happy with unit except for a two leaking valves onthe gray water tanks and the fresh water tank senor does not read correctly, whenfull and water coming back out the fill hose it only reads 1/3" full.

Again, welcome to the family.

 

M-S

Member
We like many others, have noted the Outside Kitchen door being quite hard to close, opens quick and if you are not paying attention to it, will get it on the chin. Ours shows some curving of the door at the gas support connections. Not bad enough to get too worried about. However the seal around the door does not seal real good. Have had some water get in when it rains on that side of the camper, or if you go down the road in a rainstorm. We have noticed some water damage to the counter in the outside kitchen, particle board does not do well if it gets damp. It showed up after some hard rains, and there was no water inside, just the dampness outside. The outside storage next to the kitchen, the door swings in the wrong direction for access, but we wonder if this is for the fact of preventing opening while traveling. Overall, a great camper, as we use it in a leased site park on the weekends, and then travel on the road twice a year.
Wife wishes that there was shutoffs on the AC vents. But blocking too many of them actually affects the performance of the AC unit like in your own home. Maybe a more direction vent cover would satisify the problem. Have had issues with the Furnace and summer is not a time to do a lot of troubleshooting. Electronic ignitiion issues.
Sawdust was a big issue as well as metal shavings from the screws. Also, had to shorten some of the furnace hoses to the ducts, since they would collapse due to the bends, or wiring laying on it. Once this was fixed, things were better, but had to do this myself.

Mark and Sue
 

929Coug

Member
I just purchased a new 2012 3300ck and I was some what surprised what I saw when I removed the access panel to the water pump and docking station. Lots of wood scraps,loose wires & saw dust. This could certainly lead to a fire hazard if one of the wires came loose and ignited some of the dry saw dust. With the amount of wiring and water lines I see in there, I wonder why they don’t engineer a system of wire harnesses and keep it all clean, efficient, and safe. Rather than have the manufacturing employees spend their time splicing and terminating wires, a pre-engineered system of harnesses would allow for leaner manufacturing, better reliability, and less warranty work. Once I get my rig back from warranty repairs, I am going to remove the entire wall inside the storage compartment and make sure all of the wires and hoses are zip tied and fastened securely.
 
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dalspot

Well-known member
I'll second this! We replaced our rear LR and bath vents with these: http://www.dwincorp.com/products/2/Aireport-5840-RV-AC-Ceiling-Vent You can adjust how much air you want out of them.

While the price is VERY reasonable, shipping is not, so make sure you get all you need, or pick up a few extra for a friend or two.

here's a great site for air duct covers that adjust. i also had the outside faucet on the last camper and loved it. i am going to ask for one this christmas for the new camper. http://www.dwincorp.com/index.php?cPath=55

Karen
 
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