Owner's Manual that actually reflected their RV they purchased.

[GregBassine]

Hello, We recently purchased a Bighorn 3260 Elite and of course got manuals on every product which was installed in our new Bighorn. We also got an owners manual from you which was mostly a CYA in my opinion. There was some good stuff though. What I did not see was (for example) the instructions and what each button was for on the control panel. We had to learn by randomly pushing buttons what most all of them did. We still have a couple of buttons that we push where we can't see they do anything. We are sure they do something, but couldn't tell you what. An example is this: We currently have an orange light under our step that is on 24/7. We can't figure out where to turn it off. We've gone through every instruction/installation manual from every manufacturer, but no where is anything about the light under the step. Your help would be appreciated here by the way. I know it costs a lot to create decent manuals, but just add a little to the price to cover the costs. Not all buyers of your products are safe RV'ers. Dumb it down for us guys please. Be the first in the industry to create user manuals which actual reflect the product you are selling.

 

[8paws]

Re: Can't turn off ourange light under outside steps.

Try your remote control.

 

[GregBassine]

That did it! Thank you! Would be nice if there was a manual which let me know what each feature on the remote did. Sorry for venting. I spent over an hour searching through everything to no avail. At 63, every hour get's more and more important they not be wasted.

 

[karykatz]

Greg,

thank you for the purchase of your Bighorn 3260. You will love this unit. The step light is controlled on your remote for the slide rooms, awning and front landing gear. I am sorry this want covered on your walk through.

I hope this helps.

 

[kowAlski631]

Really surprised that your dealer didn't cover your remote's functions on your PDI.

Martha

 

[GregBassine]

I supposed they did as well as every function they knew existed. There were still buttons not marked, I have two manual slideout buttons on the panel which are marked the same. Not sure if I can just put the kitchen (door side) out without putting the other side as well. Would be great for pulling off the road to get a snack. The dealer briefly going over things (not all of them) is not to be compared to a manual which lists each function. My car manual does that, why not my RV? Just saying it would be VERY helpful as not all people retain everything by memory.

 

[kowAlski631]

Owning an RV is just like owning a house in that there are manuals for everything. You're correct in that it's impossible to retain all the info given during the PDI. The owners forum here has lots of info on every subject as well as real life experiences from owners. You can either search the forum for answers or just pose a question. As you saw, not only do HL owners such as Paul & I answer, but also HL brand managers.

Enjoy your rolling condo.

Martha

 

[murry135]

Issues like this and others can be prevented if the dealership had properly trained sales or delivery guy's. When we took delivery of our second Heartland product in three years we had to tell the first kid to go find someone who knew more about the product them himself. My wife even had more knowledge of the Landmark just from shopping. And, no I am not picking on my wife, or any lady out there, but for a woman who does not work at with RVs she had a better knowledge base.

 

[JohnDar]

Fortunately, my lights, etc., are not controlled by a key fob. All of my "antique" manual switches are labelled. Maybe new and improved really isn't.

 

[priorguy]

Now I know who actually reads their manual. Years of technical support experience has taught me that it is rare. Callers were also quick to point out any short comings in the manuals too. That helps everyone who reads later printings.

 

[Theresau]

Last we knew, BH's come with individual hydraulic valves which would allow you to select the individual slide you want to open. We had these in our 2010 BH and ordered them for our 2014 BC.

I supposed they did as well as every function they knew existed. There were still buttons not marked, I have two manual slideout buttons on the panel which are marked the same. Not sure if I can just put the kitchen (door side) out without putting the other side as well. Would be great for pulling off the road to get a snack. The dealer briefly going over things (not all of them) is not to be compared to a manual which lists each function. My car manual does that, why not my RV? Just saying it would be VERY helpful as not all people retain everything by memory.

 

[donr827]

Last we knew, BH's come with individual hydraulic valves which would allow you to select the individual slide you want to open. We had these in our 2010 BH and ordered them for our 2014 BC.

On our 2013 BH one switch opens and closes both the hydraulic slides in the LR. I believe that each slide should have it's own switch. The bedroom slide is electric and has it's on switch.
Don

 

[danemayer]

On our 2013 BH one switch opens and closes both the hydraulic slides in the LR. I believe that each slide should have it's own switch. The bedroom slide is electric and has it's on switch.
Don

I think you can get the Bighorn with separate switches for each slide - it's called a Landmark.

 

[JanAndBill]

Unfortunately when we took delivery of our 2013 - 3260EL, we knew more (because of our research here on the forum), than the salesman, and the service manager. That lack of a comprehensive manuals on any unit has been hashed and rehashed here on the forum. The Heartland Users Guide (HUG) here on this forum under tools is great, you'll find a lot of useful information there.

As to the main slides, open the front door under the 5th wheel. On the right side above the hydraulic power unit are two valves with knurled knobs. Closing one or the other will prevent one side or the other from operating. Just don't forget to reopen them.

 

[SeattleLion]

I supposed they did as well as every function they knew existed. There were still buttons not marked, I have two manual slideout buttons on the panel which are marked the same. Not sure if I can just put the kitchen (door side) out without putting the other side as well. Would be great for pulling off the road to get a snack. The dealer briefly going over things (not all of them) is not to be compared to a manual which lists each function. My car manual does that, why not my RV? Just saying it would be VERY helpful as not all people retain everything by memory.

I agree. My dealer doesn't sell that many Bighorn's. The PDI is performed by a tech who may or may not know everything about the RV. The big question is how is the dealer supposed to train his techs to properly perform the PDI? The more complex the RV, the less likely the PDI tech will either know or remember to show each and every function. Our truck came with a huge manual that explained every single detail. Shouldn't our fiver have that too?

There is a much more significant issue: Without exhaustive documentation, how does Heartland train its inspectors and QA techs to properly test each RV? If there is a QA checklist that has every single feature for a given model on it, that same checklist could easily be converted into a proper operator's manual. I realize that Heartland purchases the technology in their products and depends on the included documentation from these third parties to support purchasers. In the automobile industry, much of the technology is also purchased. However, the car and truck companies take the information from their suppliers and incorporate it into the user's guide. More work? Yes. Better customer satisfaction? You bet! More importantly, by taking ownership of the vendors' contributions to each RV, Heartland forces its own organization to have intimate knowledge of every component used to build its products. That is a good thing.

My two cents.