Only thing I didn't check

[divedreamer]

I received my new Big Horn 3610 a week ago. Had it shipped as I could not schedule around work. Did what I thought was a pretty thorough delivery inspection. Only found one leak in water connection under kitchen sink. Fears were laid to rest. Yesterday I got a chance to crank up the antenna and could not get even a remote shadow. Everyone else here (North Dakota) in the man camp gets good reception. Any ideas? And yes I did not check the over the air tv hookups with the delivery guy. Now the only other thing is the fresh water tank is showing that it is slowly filling up and I don't think there is any water leaking at the valve into the tank. I do have the black tank closed. Could the wiring for sensors be hooked up wrong? I am in love with this Vegas suite on wheels. Skirting, Dish and Pin box next.
Brad

 

[danemayer]

Hi divedreamer,

First of all, congratulations on your new rig and welcome to the Heartland family and to the Owners Forum. You'll find lots of friendly people here who are willing to share their knowledge and experience.

On the TV receptions, first thing to check is the amplifier switch that's often found in the bedroom where the panel for the bedroom TV connections are. There's a small button that when pushed in, turns on the amplifier for over-the-air reception. It'll light up when the amp is on. When hooked up to cable, the amp must be off or you won't get a signal.

If the amp is already on, make sure the TV is connected to the correct connector. There'll be a connector for antenna/cable, and another for satellite.

If that's ok, you have to set your TV to AIR (not cable) and search for signals in the area.

If none of that solves the problem, you may have a bad connector between the antenna and wall connector. Check for loose coax connectors, or threads from the ground touching the center conductor. If you can run a cable from the bedroom connector directly to your TV, you may be able to narrow down the search. The antenna signal usually goes to the bedroom, then to the basement, then to the living room.

The water system with the new valve, where you change the dial to fill the fresh tank, should fill the tank as fast as water is coming in from the hose. If you have a 90 gallon tank (not sure what yours is), and you're getting 3 gpm through the hose, it'll take 30 minutes. But you're probably using a water pressure regulator (and should be). The cheap ones may only allow 1 gpm - which would take 90 minutes. More expensive regulators allow 4-6 gpm while limiting pressure. If you have a water filter, that may also slow the water flow. Here's a link to more info about water pressure and water flow. They also sell better regulators.

 

[brianharrison]

The fresh water tank could be filling slowly by backfeeding through the water pump - yes it has a check valve but it can pass some water backwards. I have infrequently drained the fresh water tank, or added a positive isolation valve or another better quality flapper check valve in the pump tubing.

I doubt the tank sensor wiring is incorrect. - try the drain on the water tank to find out......

Hope this helps.

 

[cookie]

One thing I need to add to the TV dilema is that you need to do an 'Auto Channel Search'
Access that by using the menu function on the TV remote.

Peace
Dave

 

[SmokeyBare]

Since we've gone with Digital over the air the analog signals are nearly all gone. Its become far more difficult to aim the Antenna so you can pull in a signal.

I've found using one of the Internet sites a great help with finding a Over the Air TV signal.

http://www.antennapoint.com/ (This is my favorite)

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

Even if you don't have Internet at the camp site... you can plan ahead and find the compass settings for the closest local stations before you leave home.

Just aimed the Antenna today... once I located the direction to aim the antenna towards... then using the TV's Channel Scan program... found the stations... and finally made a slight adjustment of the antenna for the strongest signal of those stations I wanted to view.

Good Luck

 

[divedreamer]

Thank you all. The choices were a little odd and some menu functions greyed out until I hit menu while on a channel on the tv. Whoda thunk. TV locals are up and fabulous.

The water tank is remaining at 1/3, but the black tank is now registering. Possibly missed there was some water in tank when delivered??

This is getting better and better. Now I can't find any info on the heating pads on the tanks with Yetti option. There is an unlabelled big red button where the light switches, generator switch, and slide switches are. It illuminates when turned on. Is that it?

Thanks again

Brad

 

[danemayer]

I can't find any info on the heating pads on the tanks with Yetti option. There is an unlabelled big red button where the light switches, generator switch, and slide switches are. It illuminates when turned on. Is that it?

In ours, there are 2 big light switches that illuminate when on. The switch on the right, in a group of 4 switches, is for the electric side of the water heater, and it's probably labelled. The switch by itself, in the center of the panel, is for the tank heating pads. The Yeti option also includes heating for some water lines - no switch - that's turned on by a temperature sensor.

Btw, when using the electric side of the water heater, before flipping that switch, always make sure you have water in the tank. If not, you'll burn out the heating element very quickly. Also, there is a 2nd switch that has to be on for the electric heating element to work. It's located on the outside surface of the water heater, under the cover, bottom left corner. There's a small cotterpin that prevents accidentally turning it on. The black switch is left off to prevent you from burning out the element if someone flips the control panel switch when there's no water in the water heater (like when you've winterized, for example).

 

[JasonShrout]

On that illuminated red switch, when it's on, we have hot water along with hot air being pushed out from a vent in the kitchen area. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't emergency heat? It for sure keeps the ac on and the electric bill high.

P.s. I did check the 'manual' that came with my 3950, but despite my best efforts, nada.

 

[danemayer]

On that illuminated red switch, when it's on, we have hot water along with hot air being pushed out from a vent in the kitchen area. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't emergency heat? It for sure keeps the ac on and the electric bill high.

P.s. I did check the 'manual' that came with my 3950, but despite my best efforts, nada.

Turn off the switch and run the water heater on LP for a while to see what happens. Maybe the hot air coming out of the basement is unrelated to the water heater electric switch.

The kitchen vent is usually the air return to the furnace. If it continues, maybe it's time to take the basement wall down and see what's going on.

 

[evolvingpowercat]

As an engineer working in Telecom for 35 years, I am just shaking my head with all the threads talking about people getting brand new travel trailers from Hearland with leaking water connections, switches not labeled, black/grey tank level indicators not labeled right, etc. Makes me wonder who is in charge of the factory in Elkhart and why they don't have a better team addressing why trailers are leaving the line with such basic defects. Did Thor taking over Heartland make them lose their way as to making sure trailers leave the factory without easy to spot defects? Or did they start building so many versions on the same lines without taking the proper steps to have engineers create detailed build sheets for each department on how each version needs to be done i.e. how to wire how to label, etc.

I don't want to see Heartland lose their way.

How hard is it to have a check list for each model and someone whose job it is to run thru the list at the end of the line ? If someone was supposed to label the switches per a build sheet and is not doing it all the time then it should be caught and fixed farther down the build process.

 

[ILH]

I can't speak to all the issues, but when I toured the Road Warrior and Cyclone plant last week, it was pointed out that all water lines are tested before leaving the factory. They fill the lines and hold them for a period of time and check for leaks.

One of the more interesting discussions I had with the rep regarding quality was that when a unit leaves the factory - road bumps and vibration can equate to a house shaking under a level 5 earth quake... for hours at a time.

 

[evolvingpowercat]

I know the water lines are tested before the trailers "travel". They are tight enough to not leak at the factory before first travel event. But all the threads resolve "connectors were tightened, leaks stop". As an engineer I am just saying that the engineers at Heartland can figure out "how tight do they need to be to stay tight with travel vibration" and create a tool for the workers so they get them tight enough. I would think something that "clicks" when the nut on a threaded fitting is tight enough would do the trick. Or perhaps another way would be for the Heartland engineers to find a plastic compatible non permanent thread locker compound so that the initial force needed to break the locker would be more than what travel vibration could cause.

 

[ILH]

Hi Randy,

I agree with you completely. Ultimately, poor quality, the perception of poor quality or even an inability to react to customer concerns can really hurt your product brand.

 

[traveler44]

I tightened a few water lines on mine and considered that a minor issue. If I had known back in 09 I would have ordered the Bighorn with a few upgrades like the better tires but all and all I am real happy with it and every time I read where somebody has a problem with their unit I check to see if ours has the same issues and how they fixed theirs. I think you will find a few things will that need fixing as you go along but I do know that other brands have some real major issues at times. I was in a big shop having my wet bolt kit installed and they had several new ones of a different brand that had axle alignment problems and I haven't seen much of that on here. Maybe that is why I don't mind the small stuff. Tom

 

[wdk450]

Gang:
Just a couple of months ago Heartland hired a director of Quality Control with a history in the quality control industry. Jim B. posted a thread on this. As I remember 1 or 2 coaches a day are to be pulled to special bays for in depth quality inspections. This program is in its infancy at Heartland, but they are listening and trying.

Winegard has an antenna amplifier faceplate for digital TV that has audio and visual feedback for received signal strength to help aiming your antenna. Here is a link:
http://www.winegard.com/mobile/wallplates.php . There are .PDF and video guides on the webpage.

 

[divedreamer]

Thank you all for all the feed back. I am now sure I missed the fact that there was some water in the fresh water tank when shipped. Everything checks out no problems. The big red switch is still a mystery, but must be the tank heating pads. The ice maker water leak is probably from vibration and I am working on a ladder to see if I can see the connection (and access it) through the the upper vent. I have not filed a warranty claim yet and may not have to. Does anyone know if the ice maker water connection is accessible through that upper vent? The water was sopped up and every thing dried out with no problems what so ever. The auto level was easy to recalibrate. The counter tops puzzle me as I was a cabinet installer and none of them match each other or the floor when using an accurate electronic level. I jacked my Big Horn about 2 inches higher during that process and minimized the shaking during the washer spinning. I absolutely love the trailer and will continue to work at fine tuning things that come up. The Dish connection is defying my logic, but that too shall pass. Have a great weekend everyone.
Brad

 

[ShoganCO]

I wish they would have QC'd our 3250TS. Staples sticking out of the wood, trim coming apart, slides out of adjustment, doors damaged in the kitchen and bathroom, sealant missing, decals peeling and now it seems to have some structural issue that I will be briefed on tomorrow by the guys at Pikes Peak Travleland.

As it stands, what we purchased just a few months ago is far from a quality product. Sadly, we have only been out camping in it twice, it has spent a good deal of time in the lot awaiting parts. I'm starting to regret even buying this. At least my AF 1150 Slide in camper had zero issues on purchase and we got alot of use out of it with no failures. Kudo's to the guys at Pikes Peak TL, not real happy with Metra RV who probably should have caught and fixed alot of the issues we have had before we even purchased the unit. So far Heartland seems to be working with the repair folks but it should never have even left the mfg site like it was.

Gang:
Just a couple of months ago Heartland hired a director of Quality Control with a history in the quality control industry. Jim B. posted a thread on this. As I remember 1 or 2 coaches a day are to be pulled to special bays for in depth quality inspections. This program is in its infancy at Heartland, but they are listening and trying.

Winegard has an antenna amplifier faceplate for digital TV that has audio and visual feedback for received signal strength to help aiming your antenna. Here is a link:
http://www.winegard.com/mobile/wallplates.php . There are .PDF and video guides on the webpage.

 

[divedreamer]

Scott, first of all thank you for your service. Second bummer on the problems you are having. I figure even though I spent the money for new, there would be some time spent chasing bugs. Good luck.
Brad

 

[ShoganCO]

Scott, first of all thank you for your service. Second bummer on the problems you are having. I figure even though I spent the money for new, there would be some time spent chasing bugs. Good luck.
Brad

Thank you Brad and yes, I'm coming to that realization as well. Bugs and wear and trear are acceptable, happens with anything with moving parts.