Notes from first Camp out with 3650RL

[D_BTravelers]

Took the BC 3650RL out for our first camp and a shakedown. New, but a 2016 model. Loved the way it tows behind the dually, and was surprised how little the 25-30 MPH wind affected it. Different from a TT for sure.
Here are some issues/questions that I encountered which I am sure someone in the forum has answers to:

• Water heater (Atwood CG-10A-4E) would not run on shore power. Did work on propane, but not 110. Both the 12 volt and 120 volt switches were on, breaker was not tripped, still only used propane. The tech said to turn on both switches and the heater would pick what it needed to operate. Turned off the 12 volt and waited to see if it was overriding the call for shore power with call for propane. Nope, water did not heat at all. Ideas? Did I not do something?
• Refrigerator seemed to work better on propane also, than it did on shore power. It is the 18 cu. ft. 4-door RV dual fuel type. Sorry, I don't have the model number here. I set the controls to AUTO-Elect-Gas and temperature to 8; still didn't seem cold in the refrigerator, but was keeping frozen food frozen. I have since put a thermometer in it so I can be specific.
• Connecting the RV to shore TV cable. I found a total of 5 RG6 connectors in the utility compartment. Four were labeled for the pre-wired roof satellite living room or bedroom as loops, or portable satellite. One more on the right side of the utility compartment, under the light, had no label at all. From the schematic I have from Heartland, it appears that is for park cable. I turned off the antennae switch in the front closet but the picture was really snowy and only got a few channels. I even connected to an adjacent site and got the same results. What was I missing, other than several TV programs? I was out where there was no broadcast stations, but in town I have turned it on with the antennae not even cranked up and got a good picture.
• Mr. LCI leveling system and I are not very compatible at this time except on manual. When getting ready to hitch up, I followed the instructions on the sticker just above the unit; tripped the master breaker twice when I pushed both right and left buttons at the same time trying to retract them. How do I know what model this unit is so I can verify those are the correct instructions? I don't see any markings as to which generation of Leveling system it is. How do I find out? I have the LCI book, but it has several generations of instructions with no discernable difference in unit appearance.

So, other than these items we had a wonderful time in our Big Country and love the layout. Just pesky things like hot water, cold food, and no TV seem to get on my nerves! LOL!

 

[For20hunter]

On the hot water heater, make sure the on/off switch outside on the hot water heater (behind the hot water heater access door) is turned on. If it was ever winterized before you purchase it, it was probably switched to off.

My guess on your cable is that there are some loose connections. Both of my rigs have had connections that were not even hand tight, and once I removed my basement wall and tightened all of them behind their and at all of the connections in the rig, everything seemed fine from then on.

If you are going to retract manually, the best way is to hit the "retract" button on your LCI control panel after you turn your controller on, and then push the "rear" button, which takes all 4 rear jacks up independently and then raise/lower the front 2 jacks to your hitch height using either the LCI control panel or the front jack switch. You should not be trying to operate two solenoids at once (such as left and right together), as the pump and the solenoids opening all at once would probably draw too much power. However if you just push the rear, it operates only the one solenoid, which works all 4 of the rear jacks on the same solenoid.

Unfortunately I have a residential fridge so I can not offer much advice on your fridge. What was the temperature outside? If it was super warm out, then that is not all that uncommon, however this time of the year, I can not imagine that was the problem. My guess is that there is something that needs to be addressed by a service department.

Rod

 

[TravelTiger]

Hey DB Travelers, congrats on the new BC.

Were the level up, fridge and HWH were tested during PDI and now they don't work?

How long did you wait for the fridge to cool on Electric? It can take a while for the fridge to get to temp.

Also, did you do a scan on the tv specifically for cable channels? It will be different than the antenna channels.

On the level up, what master breaker are you referring to? There should be an auto reset breaker (it stops operation, then auto-resets after about 20 seconds). I have read these get weak over time. How long had this unit been at the dealer? You can check the build date on the tag by the propane door on the off-door side.

The hot water heater switch outside is my first thought too, but also if you don't have water in the tank and someone turns on the HWH it will burn out the element.

Hope to hear these are easy to correct with owner operation adjustments.



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[D_BTravelers]

All good suggestions, thank you Rod and Tiger.

• The PDI was good, the refrigerator was running fine on their electricity and we had turned it on a day before we left out. We have power in our storage stall, so we can do that.
• I will check the switch outside on the water heater, but I think it was running on propane even during the PDI. Burned element also occurred to me, and looks like I have to access it from inside the utility wall in the basement. I'll check the switch first then use my meter to look for power and test the element. Can't wait to run to storage and look for the switch.
• Yes, I did a channel scan on the TV and it just didn't find anything but snow. I'll check the connections because I know how hard the RG6 are to screw together for the first time or two.
• When I pressed the LEFT and RIGHT buttons simultaneously the first time I tried to pull them up it killed the power for the entire RV for about 10 seconds then restored. Being the slow-learner I re-read the instructions and tried again...same results! I think the instructions on the inside of the basement door may not be for the model that I have, that is why I would like to know how to find the model number on the unit so I can confirm. I read technical statistics for a living and am detail oriented (read: anal retentive) when it comes to reading the instructions before trying to operate something unfamiliar to me, so I am pretty sure I did what the sign told me to do. At this camp out I turned it on and scrolled to RETRACT REAR STRUTS then hit ENTER the front legs started retracting and I had to hit OFF to get it stopped before it was on the ground. Then I just retracted them manually and the same for the front legs. Enough excitement for one campout with a new RV.

Thanks guys!

 

[Divotf15]

For the level up system....I have heard of several of the systems having solenoid and lines mixed up from the factory. That could be your problem if it channels two pressure lines into each other. Especially with the description of the wrong legs retracting. I don't believe the model would be the issue. You shouldn't be able to command it to do something that would trip a breaker. You might make it retract onto the tailgate of your truck, but it shouldn't trip anything. Probably will require warranty work.

For or the water heater, check the outside switch. If that is not it, make sure the wire connectors are still on the heating element..... Power disconnected from trailer if u need to handle them. Other than that, they are either working or not. If you have the 12v and the 120v switches on, you turbocharge the system......at least it does on mine. About 10 min less recovery time for a depleted tank with both on.

cable... Sure the cable in the park wasn't bad??. Sounds like you were running it correctly with the amplifier off.

Refridge.... The propane seems to be more efficient with ours. Electric works fine though. I turn mine on the day before. Takes about 8 hours to cool the refrigerator section with no food. If I put food in it that is not already very cold, it takes a day to a day and a half to cool down with the food. I lived in mine for a month on electricity and had to turn the temp setting to mid range after 4-5 days cause it started freezing the food.

dont know if you had a chance to use the heating system......it rocks! 21 degrees outside and it was off more than it was on to maintain 75 degrees.

wish I had better answers. Good luck.

 

[danemayer]

All good suggestions, thank you Rod and Tiger.

• The PDI was good, the refrigerator was running fine on their electricity and we had turned it on a day before we left out. We have power in our storage stall, so we can do that.
• I will check the switch outside on the water heater, but I think it was running on propane even during the PDI. Burned element also occurred to me, and looks like I have to access it from inside the utility wall in the basement. I'll check the switch first then use my meter to look for power and test the element. Can't wait to run to storage and look for the switch.
• Yes, I did a channel scan on the TV and it just didn't find anything but snow. I'll check the connections because I know how hard the RG6 are to screw together for the first time or two.
• When I pressed the LEFT and RIGHT buttons simultaneously the first time I tried to pull them up it killed the power for the entire RV for about 10 seconds then restored. Being the slow-learner I re-read the instructions and tried again...same results! I think the instructions on the inside of the basement door may not be for the model that I have, that is why I would like to know how to find the model number on the unit so I can confirm. I read technical statistics for a living and am detail oriented (read: anal retentive) when it comes to reading the instructions before trying to operate something unfamiliar to me, so I am pretty sure I did what the sign told me to do. At this camp out I turned it on and scrolled to RETRACT REAR STRUTS then hit ENTER the front legs started retracting and I had to hit OFF to get it stopped before it was on the ground. Then I just retracted them manually and the same for the front legs. Enough excitement for one campout with a new RV.

Thanks guys!

Hi D_B,

Couple of things:

Atwood water heaters don't have the secondary switch, so it's likely you have a loose wire, or damaged element, or perhaps a problem with the control board or switch. You should be able to access some of this from the outside of the trailer.

On the Lippert 6 point auto leveling system, power comes primarily from the battery, through a 12V DC mini circuit breaker with an auto-reset. If that breaker trips, other things on the RV will still have battery power, and 120V AC systems should be unaffected. So when you say "killed the power to the entire RV", I'm not sure how it could do that.

Also, when you scroll the control panel to RETRACT, on every one I've ever seen, that's a RETRACT ALL function. To retract all 4 rear jacks, you would first put the panel into MANUAL mode, then push the RETRACT button at bottom left, which lights up the LED next to the button. Then press REAR to retract all 4 rear landing gear at the same time.

There is a LEFT/RIGHT function when hitching up that in a typical situation will use the front landing gear to get back to the position the gear were in just before you pressed the AUTO button to level. If you chose MANUAL operation instead of AUTO, there's probably nothing to remember. And in some leveling situations, the function is programmed to not operate. Why it would trip the breaker is an unknown unless it's trying to operate all 6 jacks simultaneously, which might be putting too much load on the pump motor, tripping the breaker.

The 4th document down in this folder has a simple control panel explanation with pictures.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

Sounds like you have a few problems that need to be fixed. I have the same floor plan and really enjoy it. As far as the fridge goes......I recently replaced mine with a residential Samsung RF18 model because of the exact problem you described. Sure hope yours starts working correctly. We really, really enjoy the residential fridge. It wasn't too hard to replace, I just had to remove that drawer below the old norcold to gain the extra height the residential fridge required, and add an inverter. The fine folks on this forum can sure help out with advice and help. Good luck.

 

[travelin2]

Refer---we have the newer 18 cu ft Norcold. First few trips ours didn't cool to my satisfaction on either power source set at maximum setting. Working with Thetford and a mobile tech determined the thermostat in the outside cabinet that powers the 3 external exhaust fans was faulty. Replaced and relocated.
Now it will freeze things in the refer on the 6 setting


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[D_BTravelers]

Hi D_B,

Couple of things:

Atwood water heaters don't have the secondary switch, so it's likely you have a loose wire, or damaged element, or perhaps a problem with the control board or switch. You should be able to access some of this from the outside of the trailer.

On the Lippert 6 point auto leveling system, power comes primarily from the battery, through a 12V DC mini circuit breaker with an auto-reset. If that breaker trips, other things on the RV will still have battery power, and 120V AC systems should be unaffected. So when you say "killed the power to the entire RV", I'm not sure how it could do that.

Also, when you scroll the control panel to RETRACT, on every one I've ever seen, that's a RETRACT ALL function. To retract all 4 rear jacks, you would first put the panel into MANUAL mode, then push the RETRACT button at bottom left, which lights up the LED next to the button. Then press REAR to retract all 4 rear landing gear at the same time.

There is a LEFT/RIGHT function when hitching up that in a typical situation will use the front landing gear to get back to the position the gear were in just before you pressed the AUTO button to level. If you chose MANUAL operation instead of AUTO, there's probably nothing to remember. And in some leveling situations, the function is programmed to not operate. Why it would trip the breaker is an unknown unless it's trying to operate all 6 jacks simultaneously, which might be putting too much load on the pump motor, tripping the breaker.

The 4th document down in this folder has a simple control panel explanation with pictures.

Thanks for the reply,
While I haven't gone to the storage unit to look for an outside switch on the Atwood, I did have it open that day and didn't notice a switch. Doesn't mean it doesn't have one, just didn't see anything that looked like a switch. I'll look today or tomorrow for sure. The LCI leveling document you linked looks very helpful. I am sure the system is working correctly, I am thinking it is an operator error. When I said it killed the power I did not explain. We were not on shore power at this time and when I pressed both up and down buttons at the same time I heard a click and the 12 volt lights in the basement and outside went off. A few seconds later it clicked and everything came back on. Probably the 12 mini breaker you mentioned.

Thanks,
D_B

- - - Updated - - -

Refer---we have the newer 18 cu ft Norcold. First few trips ours didn't cool to my satisfaction on either power source set at maximum setting. Working with Thetford and a mobile tech determined the thermostat in the outside cabinet that powers the 3 external exhaust fans was faulty. Replaced and relocated.
Now it will freeze things in the refer on the 6 setting


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Thanks,
We are going out again in a couple of weeks and usually power up the fridge 24 hours ahead of leaving. We are lucky and have 15 amp shore power in our stall. If it doesn't work this time, I give Dometic a call and see what they suggest.
D_B

 

[danemayer]

We were not on shore power at this time and when I pressed both up and down buttons at the same time I heard a click and the 12 volt lights in the basement and outside went off. A few seconds later it clicked and everything came back on. Probably the 12 mini breaker you mentioned.

The basement and outside lights get their power through the main fuse box inside the coach. When not plugged into shore power, the fuse box gets power from the battery only. The fuse box should not be on the same circuit as the hydraulic pump.

If the lights stayed off for just a moment, I'd guess that the pump put a very heavy demand on the battery and the lights may have gone out at about the same time as the breaker to the pump tripped. But the lights would have come back on almost immediately.

If the lights stayed off for 10 seconds you have something that needs further investigation. Maybe a problem with the battery or battery connections, or a bad ground for the negative battery cable.

I'd suggest taking the battery out and having it load tested at an auto parts or repair shop. Make sure the connections are tight and battery terminals are clean. Also check for loose crimps on the cables.

 

[Gaffer]

For the TV cable try bypassing the rv cable and connect the tv directly to the pedestal. If it is still snowy it is the park. Many parks have poor cable.

 

[lynndiwagoner]

Many of the parks rely on local cable TV for their hookups to RVs, many of which have gone digital. You will need a cable box for it to work properly. Ask the office about it.

 

[mlpeloquin]

• Refrigerator seemed to work better on propane also, than it did on shore power. It is the 18 cu. ft. 4-door RV dual fuel type. Sorry, I don't have the model number here. I set the controls to AUTO-Elect-Gas and temperature to 8; still didn't seem cold in the refrigerator, but was keeping frozen food frozen. I have since put a thermometer in it so I can be specific.

LOL!

The 4 door fridge.

Ours takes 24 hours to stabilize. It was not ideal at all. I then search the net and decided to jumper out the thermister that controls the fan located at the top exterior cooling coil. The thermister is to allow the external fan turn on at higher outside tempertues. Then I added two internal fans inside the fridge on the top of the fridge. They push air inside and keep thing from freezing. The fridge works quit well now on electric or gas. Ice cream is firm, but not hard and the fridge is around 34 to 36 degrees. I think that the fridge has problems cooling the outside coils do to the way the compartment has to be designed being in a slide. Hot air wants to go up, but the outflow of the air is blocked and has to drop down in order to flow out. The hot air fills the space up top and it doesn't flow out easy without the help of the fan. Having it run full time really helps. We now actually like the fridge.

 

[travelin2]

The 4 door fridge.

Ours takes 24 hours to stabilize. It was not ideal at all. I then search the net and decided to jumper out the thermister that controls the fan located at the top exterior cooling coil. The thermister is to allow the external fan turn on at higher outside tempertues. Then I added two internal fans inside the fridge on the top of the fridge. They push air inside and keep thing from freezing. The fridge works quit well now on electric or gas. Ice cream is firm, but not hard and the fridge is around 34 to 36 degrees. I think that the fridge has problems cooling the outside coils do to the way the compartment has to be designed being in a slide. Hot air wants to go up, but the outflow of the air is blocked and has to drop down in order to flow out. The hot air fills the space up top and it doesn't flow out easy without the help of the fan. Having it run full time really helps. We now actually like the fridge.

The newer rigs now come with the Norcold 2118 18 cu ft refer. When ours wasn't cooling last fall I discovered the external fans (3 of them on this unit) weren't operating. We called a mobile tech authorized to work on Norcold and he confirmed it was the thermostat in the outer cabinet not thermistor or it's location. The replaced thermostat is now in what he said a better spot than where Norcold had it. Our install too has a curved baffle of aluminum from the top of the refer to the top of the grill vent to divert the hot air out. We can easily keep the refer in the low 30s at the 5 setting. Any higher foods start to freeze!!! BTW this unit also has fans in the freezer and fridge compartments unlike the previous one.


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[D_BTravelers]

I went up to the RV storage and checked the Atwood water heater, there is no switch on the outside of my unit. Both the 12v and the 120v switches are on the main panel inside. I am going to try to get up there again this weekend and pull the utility access panel in the basement so I can see the back of the heater and put a meter on the element. That should let me know if the issue is the element is burned out or just not getting power to it.
I turned on the TVs and did station scans on both of them. Insured they were set to antenna and both came in with crystal clear pictures for the local stations; not bad considering the antenna is 3' directly under the building's steel roof. I am beginning to suspect the park cable wasn't up to snuff. Although I did go to the next site over while camping and connect to theirs; same result. While I have the access panel off in the basement, I'll act on the suggestion to tighten all the RG6 connectors. I may set the Tailgater satellite up and see what happens when I connect that to the RV. Everything in the utility bay is labeled except for the single RG6 connector right under the light and convenience outlet on the right side; that is the park cable connection, right?

 

[TravelTiger]

DB, some guys here at the park were trying to help get cable working for a Big Country owner, and found many cable connections were not tight.


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[D_BTravelers]

For the TV cable try bypassing the rv cable and connect the tv directly to the pedestal. If it is still snowy it is the park. Many parks have poor cable.

Speaking of that, I tried to figure out how to lift the living room TV off of the wall mount so I could check connections there. I have a Big Country 3650RL if any of you have been able to remove it I would appreciate the "secret" method. And yes, I am going to check the tightness of all the cable connections per several recommendations. Thanks!

 

[D_BTravelers]

Update on the water heater not working on 110v. I opened up the basement wall and used a multi tester to determine if power was getting to the element and if the element was burned. I found power was present, but was not being allowed past the relay at the element. The element was good continuity so that was not the problem. Because we have only camped in this one time since new, I thought I would call Atwood/Dometic/LCI and ask for the part number and relay. Well...the guy was pretty insistent that I could void my warranty if I replace the relay and told me to go to an authorized repair facility. Luckily we have a great private RV repair place in north Fort Worth, so I called and he said to bring it out right away. We pulled it in and they checked all the connections while we waited. The tech said indeed the relay was bad and took the numbers so they could contact warranty. We are going camping this weekend but using propane until the part arrives. They said they would call and just to pull up out front so they could install it. If you are in the Fort Worth area and need a good, friendly , honest RV repair place, check out Texas RV Guys in Haslet north of Fort Worth. They have treated us like family every time we have needed something. They are approved for warranty work by many manufacturers already and will call for approvals for the remainder.

 

[avvidclif]

If your mount is like mine there are 2 Phillips head screws facing straight down. Once loosened the bottom tilts out and then lifts off the top bracket. Problem with mine is the bottom of the TV is abt 3" off the top of the cabinet....GRRRR. I used my remote eyeball to see what I was doing and guide the screwdriver into the screw... PITA And the screws are LOOONG

 

[D_BTravelers]

If your mount is like mine there are 2 Phillips head screws facing straight down. Once loosened the bottom tilts out and then lifts off the top bracket. Problem with mine is the bottom of the TV is abt 3" off the top of the cabinet....GRRRR. I used my remote eyeball to see what I was doing and guide the screwdriver into the screw... PITA And the screws are LOOONG

Avvidclif,
While we were out at the RV repair place yesterday I asked the owner if he knew how to get the TV off of the wall. He looked it over and found one screw that he thought held the bottom in; he also said that it should let the TV swing out then up and off. The reason I was asking is this Big Country doesn't have any inside speakers other than the sound bar (110v), so if you are not on shore power you don't have any tunes inside the living room via the IR3. I wanted to look at the black panel behind the TV and see if I could mount a couple of 8 ohm speakers in it and gain some music inside. The TT had a LOT of speakers and we are kind of spoiled now.
Thanks for the input and advice.