New Gateway 3650BH Inspection Help!

[Turtlpwr]

Hi All:

My wife and I were at the Pomona CA RV show back in October with my out-laws. They bought a beautiful new Monaco coach and we just fell in love with the Gateway 3650BH, so we put one on order. We are upgrading from a bumper pull toy hauler. I'm really excited for the extra space and luxuries over the plain toy hauler.

I called McMahon's RV down in Palm Desert, CA this last week and it just arrived from the factory. They said a few days for prepping, so we plan on picking it up just after Xmas. This is my first new fiver and wanted to get some opinions on what to watch out for as this is my first inspection. Any current GW 3650 owners out there that would like to share their experiences?

Thanks in advance!

Jared

 

[danemayer]

Hi Jared,

Congratulations on your new rig. Take your time with the walkthrough and videotape it if possible. There's a lot to take in and being able to review later will help.

Make sure you understand the plumbing connections and how to winterize. You'll want to see how to get to the bypass controls and antifreeze control valve, as well as any cutoff valves such as you would have if your frig has an icemaker.

Check the operation of everything, including TV, radio, surround sound, DVD player, and all plumbing fixtures. Check the A/C and furnace operation. If you have auto-leveling, make sure you understand how to operate it in manual mode as well at auto. Also ask them to show you how to access the pump and hyrdraulic valves for manual override. It's rare to need to know how, but if you're the exception, you'll appreciate knowing.

If possible, stay for a couple of nights at the dealer or very close by. If you find anything that needs explanation or adjustment, you'll be able to get it corrected on the spot, rather than dropping the rig off and waiting for them to get around to it.

I'm sure others will chime in with additional thoughts.

 

[Turtlpwr]

Thanks for the quick reply danemayer!! Those are some really good suggestions. I'll have my wife video tape the whole thing so we can refer back to it later if needed. Think we'll stay somewhere close to the dealer for a couple days just to give it a shakedown. If we have any issues we can take it back before heading home.

 

[GWRam]

Jared,
Just a few thoughts to add to danemayer's comments. From things I missed or let them gloss over on our 3650BH walk through. Open every window. two of ours the knob would not turn to open window. Check floor in front of kitchen slide, make sure its not dragging on the flooring especially if you have the residential frig. Have them actually open the panel in the basement for winterizing access. One gotcha I never expected. All the tvs were running showing a great picture using the antenna during demo. First trip out when trying to use cable the picture on all tvs was poor at best. I found at least 4 loose cable connections and 1 that the connectors were just touching.
We love our 3650BH.
Good luck and have fun with it.
Dave

 

[Turtlpwr]

Thanks for the good info Dave!! We just picked up our new Gateway this morning and are spending our very first night in it tonight before heading for home tomorrow. We really took our time on the walk through and only found some very minor stuff. One of the latches on the rear bunk beds wasn't lining up, a few minor touch ups and a couple door latches needed adjusting. Other than that, we really feel like it is a well built coach. I did find one interesting thing though. In running the furnace is it normal for the roof air intake for the AC to run when the furnace is on? The thermostat on the wall is set to furnace and I can hear the furnace kick on and warm air comes out of the floor vents. What's wierd is that the roof AC air intake is also drawing in air and there is room temp air coming out of the ceiling vents (even after the furnace shuts off). Is this normal as my previous trailer didn't do this. I can see that keeping me up at night if that vent sucks in air to run the heater as it is quite loud.

 

[danemayer]

In running the furnace is it normal for the roof air intake for the AC to run when the furnace is on?

The fan speed is set to HIGH or LOW instead of AUTO, which tells the A/C fan to run continuously.

Change the thermostat mode to FAN and then press the + or - key to cycle it to AUTO. Then change mode back to HEAT.

 

[Turtlpwr]

The fan speed is set to HIGH or LOW instead of AUTO, which tells the A/C fan to run continuously.

Change the thermostat mode to FAN and then press the + or - key to cycle it to AUTO. Then change mode back to HEAT.

Thanks so much Danemeyer!! That was it. Didn't think to check the fan speed for auto. It only got down to 37 where we're staying but we still got pretty cold. Had to get our 9 month son and put him in our bed, which means my wife and I didn't sleep a wink!! Lol. Glad we got the heater sorted out. Now my wife can shed a layer of clothing.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Jared