Heartland Milestone 386bh
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taskswap
Well-known member
We just bought one. I've been spending a lot of time documenting it. Message me for anything you want to know. Here's a video where I walk through ours and some of the issues we found. If you already bought one this may be too late for you but it's stuff to be aware of / look for at the dealer:
We were in a rush and bought it anyway. If things like loose screws bother you, be careful - this is a "budget" camper and "budget" does not mean "built with love and care". That said we're happy with it anyway, you get a LOT of camper in a $55k price point. I'll just brain dump some things you may be interested in, mostly stuff that was hard to find documented anywhere else. But if there's anything else you want to know just tell me.
1. Fully walkable roof, and the roof is just VAST. I've got 1200W of solar on there already and I've barely used a sixth of it. Funnily enough, it comes "with solar" already installed, but it's a 20W panel so it's basically useless. You might think it will trickle charge your battery but if you have the switches "on" for this to actually happen, the OneControl system, TV standby, and other parasites drain more than 20W. I have no idea why they bothered.
2. I've recently discovered they used WACO connectors throughout, which all the RV makers are going to anyway (for assembly speed) but it also makes wiring super easy. In general you can find/fish power and signal wires really easily from almost anywhere you need them. There are service panels everywhere.
3. East/west master bed on a slide. The mattress is trash, it was one of the first things we replaced, but the layout is really great. I cut a desk top panel into a triangle and fitted it into the empty space next to the dresser, which makes a perfect mobile office for me.
4. Kids bunk area with FIVE (count 'em) bunks. One is a dinette that makes into a bunk, be aware this is 8" shorter because of the dinette framing. The dinette seats 4 comfortably, which is unusual, most bunkhouse dinettes only seat 2. The bunk room itself is vast and can easily hold a queen inflatable bed on top of everything else. However, there is almost no storage, it's the funniest thing to have room to sleep five and storage for 1-2, charitably. If you use this room a lot, you can fit an IKEA cube storage unit (4x4 or 4x6) sideways when both bunks are "in", then move it against the sliding bunk room door when you're camping. It works fine.
5. Septic dump valves are very weird especially in the front. You CANNOT dump only the front grey tank. There are two valves, but the "lower" one opens the black tank and the upper opens the grey. To dump the grey you have to dump the black too. Which most people want to do... but if you camp in an area that allows you to dump grey on the ground (lots of state parks allow this in some states) this is not an option for you. So... in the front... lower valve closer to the port dumps the black, upper valve dumps the grey.
In the rear, there are two separate valves clearly marked grey and black that do what they say. This camper's septic is divided front/rear, so it's advertised as 50 fresh, 80 black, and 120 grey, but really it's 2x40 black and 2x60 grey. Not a huge deal, just bear that in mind. If you use the front bathroom a lot, you're going to fill that tank fast.
There are three water ports in the "wet bay". They are poorly labeled. The top one says city water and it is. The middle and bottom are not labeled, and are front black tank flush and rear black tank flush, respectively. Do not use an anti-siphon valve on your hose when flushing. I don't know how they plumbed these (Heartland refused to give me a plumbing diagram despite owning one, they told me they "don't give those out") but they did NOT work for me with mine installed on my hose. I suspect the tank sprayer requires a lot of pressure. It works fine if you run a hose right to the port.
The wet bay has a plastic plug to close the bottom hole, which is mean for running hoses and cables up into the bay. It's not a great setup IMO, and I'll be modifying mine, but it's better than exterior-wall ports for sure.
6. No manual or online review says this, but you can absolutely install a generator. It's not technically "prepped" for it but only because you'd have to add the wiring and propane tee. But it's a standard LCI fifth-wheel chassis so it has the cutouts in the front bay.
7. The dealers make a big deal out of the dual AC, "we load them up with all the toys." Whatever, as far as I can tell every 386BH is equipped with dual AC. Nice feature for camping in the South.
8. Six point electric auto-leveling. There is a huge sticker on the side about how great hydraulic leveling is. YMMV but mine came with electric. Another fun joke.
9. Residential fridge. OK this is a pro/con situation. We LOVE the fridge, it is a great unit with four separate doors so you're not losing all your cold air when the kids insist there's "nothing in here to eat" while standing there with the door open looking at a ton of food. The four separate doors also makes organization really easy... HOWEVER it is ELECTRIC ONLY. The unit comes with an inverter to run it off battery but it draws a ton of power (Furrion says 2.1kWh/day but that's at 70F outside temp and with the unit already cold - it's 4x that as I measured it starting from room temp before a trip). Unlike electric/propane units you can't flip it to propane to get it cold for a trip or during travel, then back to AC while camping.
The problem is the unit (assuming your dealer installs one, which they all do) comes with a 100Ah SLA battery. That's barely enough to run the fridge for a day on battery. If you're plugged in 95% of the time this is a non-issue. If you plan to install a ton of solar like I did, also a non-issue. But if you're an occasional camper... It's a challenge. You're going to want your generator most of the time.
I could say a lot more but let me pause here and see what else you really want to know
We were in a rush and bought it anyway. If things like loose screws bother you, be careful - this is a "budget" camper and "budget" does not mean "built with love and care". That said we're happy with it anyway, you get a LOT of camper in a $55k price point. I'll just brain dump some things you may be interested in, mostly stuff that was hard to find documented anywhere else. But if there's anything else you want to know just tell me.
1. Fully walkable roof, and the roof is just VAST. I've got 1200W of solar on there already and I've barely used a sixth of it. Funnily enough, it comes "with solar" already installed, but it's a 20W panel so it's basically useless. You might think it will trickle charge your battery but if you have the switches "on" for this to actually happen, the OneControl system, TV standby, and other parasites drain more than 20W. I have no idea why they bothered.
2. I've recently discovered they used WACO connectors throughout, which all the RV makers are going to anyway (for assembly speed) but it also makes wiring super easy. In general you can find/fish power and signal wires really easily from almost anywhere you need them. There are service panels everywhere.
3. East/west master bed on a slide. The mattress is trash, it was one of the first things we replaced, but the layout is really great. I cut a desk top panel into a triangle and fitted it into the empty space next to the dresser, which makes a perfect mobile office for me.
4. Kids bunk area with FIVE (count 'em) bunks. One is a dinette that makes into a bunk, be aware this is 8" shorter because of the dinette framing. The dinette seats 4 comfortably, which is unusual, most bunkhouse dinettes only seat 2. The bunk room itself is vast and can easily hold a queen inflatable bed on top of everything else. However, there is almost no storage, it's the funniest thing to have room to sleep five and storage for 1-2, charitably. If you use this room a lot, you can fit an IKEA cube storage unit (4x4 or 4x6) sideways when both bunks are "in", then move it against the sliding bunk room door when you're camping. It works fine.
5. Septic dump valves are very weird especially in the front. You CANNOT dump only the front grey tank. There are two valves, but the "lower" one opens the black tank and the upper opens the grey. To dump the grey you have to dump the black too. Which most people want to do... but if you camp in an area that allows you to dump grey on the ground (lots of state parks allow this in some states) this is not an option for you. So... in the front... lower valve closer to the port dumps the black, upper valve dumps the grey.
In the rear, there are two separate valves clearly marked grey and black that do what they say. This camper's septic is divided front/rear, so it's advertised as 50 fresh, 80 black, and 120 grey, but really it's 2x40 black and 2x60 grey. Not a huge deal, just bear that in mind. If you use the front bathroom a lot, you're going to fill that tank fast.
There are three water ports in the "wet bay". They are poorly labeled. The top one says city water and it is. The middle and bottom are not labeled, and are front black tank flush and rear black tank flush, respectively. Do not use an anti-siphon valve on your hose when flushing. I don't know how they plumbed these (Heartland refused to give me a plumbing diagram despite owning one, they told me they "don't give those out") but they did NOT work for me with mine installed on my hose. I suspect the tank sprayer requires a lot of pressure. It works fine if you run a hose right to the port.
The wet bay has a plastic plug to close the bottom hole, which is mean for running hoses and cables up into the bay. It's not a great setup IMO, and I'll be modifying mine, but it's better than exterior-wall ports for sure.
6. No manual or online review says this, but you can absolutely install a generator. It's not technically "prepped" for it but only because you'd have to add the wiring and propane tee. But it's a standard LCI fifth-wheel chassis so it has the cutouts in the front bay.
7. The dealers make a big deal out of the dual AC, "we load them up with all the toys." Whatever, as far as I can tell every 386BH is equipped with dual AC. Nice feature for camping in the South.
8. Six point electric auto-leveling. There is a huge sticker on the side about how great hydraulic leveling is. YMMV but mine came with electric. Another fun joke.
9. Residential fridge. OK this is a pro/con situation. We LOVE the fridge, it is a great unit with four separate doors so you're not losing all your cold air when the kids insist there's "nothing in here to eat" while standing there with the door open looking at a ton of food. The four separate doors also makes organization really easy... HOWEVER it is ELECTRIC ONLY. The unit comes with an inverter to run it off battery but it draws a ton of power (Furrion says 2.1kWh/day but that's at 70F outside temp and with the unit already cold - it's 4x that as I measured it starting from room temp before a trip). Unlike electric/propane units you can't flip it to propane to get it cold for a trip or during travel, then back to AC while camping.
The problem is the unit (assuming your dealer installs one, which they all do) comes with a 100Ah SLA battery. That's barely enough to run the fridge for a day on battery. If you're plugged in 95% of the time this is a non-issue. If you plan to install a ton of solar like I did, also a non-issue. But if you're an occasional camper... It's a challenge. You're going to want your generator most of the time.
I could say a lot more but let me pause here and see what else you really want to know
taskswap
Well-known member
Why does this site not process Youtube links properly? This is absolutely a published, public video and Embedding is enabled.
Just search for Heartland Milestone 386BH Owners Review on Youtube. That's the one. Or maybe this will work?
Just search for Heartland Milestone 386BH Owners Review on Youtube. That's the one. Or maybe this will work?
danemayer
Well-known member
Heartland Owners manual can be downloaded from either here, or the HeartlandRVs.com website. The manuals are pretty generic but we have a collection of owner-written user guides that fill in the information not in the official manual.
Why does this site not process Youtube links properly? This is absolutely a published, public video and Embedding is enabled.
Just search for Heartland Milestone 386BH Owners Review on Youtube. That's the one. Or maybe this will
Thanks a bunch for all the info. You've done a lot of research on this thing. Can't understand why they couldn't label the wet bay properly. Any thoughts on what to do with the dish thing on the roof ? ( wi fi extender ?). You should take another look at the plumbing in the front. We are able to keep our grey tank open all the time. Also what are you towing with? We need to upgrade our tow vehicle.We just bought one. I've been spending a lot of time documenting it. Message me for anything you want to know. Here's a video where I walk through ours and some of the issues we found. If you already bought one this may be too late for you but it's stuff to be aware of / look for at the dealer:
We were in a rush and bought it anyway. If things like loose screws bother you, be careful - this is a "budget" camper and "budget" does not mean "built with love and care". That said we're happy with it anyway, you get a LOT of camper in a $55k price point. I'll just brain dump some things you may be interested in, mostly stuff that was hard to find documented anywhere else. But if there's anything else you want to know just tell me.
1. Fully walkable roof, and the roof is just VAST. I've got 1200W of solar on there already and I've barely used a sixth of it. Funnily enough, it comes "with solar" already installed, but it's a 20W panel so it's basically useless. You might think it will trickle charge your battery but if you have the switches "on" for this to actually happen, the OneControl system, TV standby, and other parasites drain more than 20W. I have no idea why they bothered.
2. I've recently discovered they used WACO connectors throughout, which all the RV makers are going to anyway (for assembly speed) but it also makes wiring super easy. In general you can find/fish power and signal wires really easily from almost anywhere you need them. There are service panels everywhere.
3. East/west master bed on a slide. The mattress is trash, it was one of the first things we replaced, but the layout is really great. I cut a desk top panel into a triangle and fitted it into the empty space next to the dresser, which makes a perfect mobile office for me.
4. Kids bunk area with FIVE (count 'em) bunks. One is a dinette that makes into a bunk, be aware this is 8" shorter because of the dinette framing. The dinette seats 4 comfortably, which is unusual, most bunkhouse dinettes only seat 2. The bunk room itself is vast and can easily hold a queen inflatable bed on top of everything else. However, there is almost no storage, it's the funniest thing to have room to sleep five and storage for 1-2, charitably. If you use this room a lot, you can fit an IKEA cube storage unit (4x4 or 4x6) sideways when both bunks are "in", then move it against the sliding bunk room door when you're camping. It works fine.
5. Septic dump valves are very weird especially in the front. You CANNOT dump only the front grey tank. There are two valves, but the "lower" one opens the black tank and the upper opens the grey. To dump the grey you have to dump the black too. Which most people want to do... but if you camp in an area that allows you to dump grey on the ground (lots of state parks allow this in some states) this is not an option for you. So... in the front... lower valve closer to the port dumps the black, upper valve dumps the grey.
In the rear, there are two separate valves clearly marked grey and black that do what they say. This camper's septic is divided front/rear, so it's advertised as 50 fresh, 80 black, and 120 grey, but really it's 2x40 black and 2x60 grey. Not a huge deal, just bear that in mind. If you use the front bathroom a lot, you're going to fill that tank fast.
There are three water ports in the "wet bay". They are poorly labeled. The top one says city water and it is. The middle and bottom are not labeled, and are front black tank flush and rear black tank flush, respectively. Do not use an anti-siphon valve on your hose when flushing. I don't know how they plumbed these (Heartland refused to give me a plumbing diagram despite owning one, they told me they "don't give those out") but they did NOT work for me with mine installed on my hose. I suspect the tank sprayer requires a lot of pressure. It works fine if you run a hose right to the port.
The wet bay has a plastic plug to close the bottom hole, which is mean for running hoses and cables up into the bay. It's not a great setup IMO, and I'll be modifying mine, but it's better than exterior-wall ports for sure.
6. No manual or online review says this, but you can absolutely install a generator. It's not technically "prepped" for it but only because you'd have to add the wiring and propane tee. But it's a standard LCI fifth-wheel chassis so it has the cutouts in the front bay.
7. The dealers make a big deal out of the dual AC, "we load them up with all the toys." Whatever, as far as I can tell every 386BH is equipped with dual AC. Nice feature for camping in the South.
8. Six point electric auto-leveling. There is a huge sticker on the side about how great hydraulic leveling is. YMMV but mine came with electric. Another fun joke.
9. Residential fridge. OK this is a pro/con situation. We LOVE the fridge, it is a great unit with four separate doors so you're not losing all your cold air when the kids insist there's "nothing in here to eat" while standing there with the door open looking at a ton of food. The four separate doors also makes organization really easy... HOWEVER it is ELECTRIC ONLY. The unit comes with an inverter to run it off battery but it draws a ton of power (Furrion says 2.1kWh/day but that's at 70F outside temp and with the unit already cold - it's 4x that as I measured it starting from room temp before a trip). Unlike electric/propane units you can't flip it to propane to get it cold for a trip or during travel, then back to AC while camping.
The problem is the unit (assuming your dealer installs one, which they all do) comes with a 100Ah SLA battery. That's barely enough to run the fridge for a day on battery. If you're plugged in 95% of the time this is a non-issue. If you plan to install a ton of solar like I did, also a non-issue. But if you're an occasional camper... It's a challenge. You're going to want your generator most of the time.
I could say a lot more but let me pause here and see what else you really want to know
A
Thanks, we did go to the site and yes the information is very generic.
We previously owned a Grand Desighn Reflection, so a bit of an eye opener.
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