2016 390MBL Craftmanship Issues

[Sam-Tafi]

Greetings Factory,

We have had three drawer malfunctions in our 2016 390MBL which has been a little frustrating, especially considering the cost of this brand new unit.

Here's what is happening, and we suspect will happen again. A drawer will suddenly not go back in all the way. So, we remove the drawer and have discovered three times now- that's not a typo- THREE different drawers have malfunctioned.

What happens is the support board- a pressed fiber board strip- has not been properly attached. You can see in the attached photo that the assembly person has hit the staple gun three times, and three times, the staple has not seated properly. Eventually the board gives way, and when it does, it causes the support board to spring loose and not allow the drawer to close all the way.

We have had to repair three drawers now by removing the ill-applied staples and applying our own small brad style nails to hold the support board in place. It's an easy fix, but as I said- frustrating when you consider this has happened in the first 4 outings. If the assemblers were paying a bit more attention when they see that clearly the staple has not seated- it would be an avoidable problem.

Pick, pick, pick. Overall we have REALLY enjoyed our purchase and are delighted with our experience so far. This is a quality control issue easily addressed at the assembly level.

Thanks for listening.

San ands Tafi

 

[mlpeloquin]

I would add some wood workers glue or 5 minuet epoxy. Brads or staples only to help hold things until the glue bonds. It may be over kill, but I don't like to fix things twice. I don't know why the factory doesn't glue it and then staple to begin with. Wood workers glue is cheep!

 

[Shortest Straw]

Same issue with our drawer under the fridge. I took that piece off, added glue, used my nail gun and added a bunch of nails. Problem solved and I did each of our drawers just in case.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Mine fell apart the first trip out. I rebuilt it with a heavier bottom and sides. Sure glad I wasn't trying to carry the cement block like it showed in their brochure. It probably would have gone through the floor!...Don

 

[JohnD]

We had the same issue in our 2015 Prowler while we were down at the Tucson AZ HOC Rodeo Rally in February . . .

This is what I found:



I removed the staples and drilled a couple of pilot holes on each end and screwed that thing in.

This one ain't commin' apart again anytime soon . . . and I will do the same to any other that comes apart in the same manor!

 

[Bob&Patty]

Unless things have changed...maybe they have...HL does not build the cabinets. That is farmed out and HL just installs them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mlpeloquin]

Bob. My very well be, but Heartland should spec that glue be used under the support.

 

[Bob&Patty]

How true.......but.

 

[JohnD]

Unless things have changed...maybe they have...HL does not build the cabinets. That is farmed out and HL just installs them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Hey Bob . . .

That is your Bighorn in the background of my drawer repair photos above!

 

[Pirana]

We just took our first 7 day trip on our new 390 and once you start to have some time in it, you start to see the short cuts...from trims not cut properly (so they are long and not fitting) to how cheap Dometic has become! We have scheduled an appointment with our dealer for all the little fixes needed, but it is frustrating that things like this keep happening on the RV industry and basically we get short changed with the puny 1yr warranty...specially when it takes months to get anything done...SMH

 

[brianlajoie]

Good luck with the dealer helping you. I would recommend finding a good certified RVIA/DVDA tech to do your warranty work. I was able to watch and talk to the tech as he fixed it. As a reminder, all warranty work needs to be pre-approved by HL.

 

[Pirana]

Correct, they are already in the process with HL. For now I have been lucky with the dealer, they call me with updates from HL and have answered every email and phone call...so lets see what happens.