Shake Down - Finally

[JoeCampnEat]

Dear Forum Friends, The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will go on our first trip this next week. We ordered the trailer in Feb, brought it home in May and have had it in storage since. We will pull from Cypress to San Antonio this weekend and will be in a park for 7 days. I chose a full service park so we can test all the features. I will keep all updated as to how it goes. Question #1.. I plan to fill the fuel cell and add Stabil... any advice on Ethanol treatment. I do not anticipate running the genny this trip and no toys.... so the fuel will be used for later running the genny periodically. I may also unplug on this trip and run it for 30 minutes or so for breakin.

 

[porthole]

Hey Joe - good luck with your shakedown.

I use Stabil with every fillup since i never know how long that fuel may be in the tank.
I also have been using Valvtec brand stabilizer that is made for fuel with ethanol.

I would highly receommend a stabizer that covers teh ethanol issue too.

 

[TravelTiger]

Dear Forum Friends, The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will go on our first trip this next week. We ordered the trailer in Feb, brought it home in May and have had it in storage since. We will pull from Cypress to San Antonio this weekend and will be in a park for 7 days. I chose a full service park so we can test all the features. I will keep all updated as to how it goes. Question #1.. I plan to fill the fuel cell and add Stabil... any advice on Ethanol treatment. I do not anticipate running the genny this trip and no toys.... so the fuel will be used for later running the genny periodically. I may also unplug on this trip and run it for 30 minutes or so for breakin.

Joe, where are you staying in SA? We'll be at the KOA.

 

[JoeCampnEat]

Joe, where are you staying in SA? We'll be at the KOA.

I booked the Blazing Star -- it has real good reviews, but looks like a sardine package from the satellite view. I sprung for the high dollar site so hoping for shade and a little space. We have stayed in several KOAs and so far all positive experiences. I may try the SAT KOA next time we are over there. I also want to do the Lake Conroe KOA -- they have back in sites to the lake and I think that would compliment the ramp/patio feature very nicely.

 

[TravelTiger]

I booked the Blazing Star -- it has real good reviews, but looks like a sardine package from the satellite view. I sprung for the high dollar site so hoping for shade and a little space. We have stayed in several KOAs and so far all positive experiences. I may try the SAT KOA next time we are over there. I also want to do the Lake Conroe KOA -- they have back in sites to the lake and I think that would compliment the ramp/patio feature very nicely.

This park is fairly nice, on par with other KOAs we've been to. We wanted to be close to downtown.

We've been to a Heartland Rally at the Lake Conroe KOA, it's nice too. I agree, sites on the lake would be great for your patio.

Enjoy your coach!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[scottyb]

Joe CampnEat, congrats on your new Cyclone. Sounds like you have a good plan. I think you will love the patio when you get to use it. We certainly like ours. I use my fuel tank as a gas depot at home. I fill my commercial mower, my mule, and all my small engine tools with it pretty much year round. I also start my genny every week. The gas is constantly getting cycled. I put a Sta-bil in it during the winter but the fuel gets used fast enough the rest of the year. Not sure if this applies to your situation.

 

[JoeCampnEat]

So far shakedown is going well. No water leaks after being on city for about 24 hours. Got cable working in living room, but not master bedroom through either connection. Question - what does the button that makes the red light on the cable outlet do? Guessing antenna booster, but makes no diff on getting a cable signal to the TV. Also, missing one pin on the happy jack for the upper bunk. Stopped in at Camping World in New Braunfels, TX and they do not carry them in the main store. Said to come back during service bay hours and maybe they have some. My kiddo noted that the happy jack rail vibrates with the AC on.... anyone noticed this and put in a fix? More later. Enjoying my first 24 hours in shakedown mode. PS. The LED lights in the awnings are spectacular! Joe

 

[JoeCampnEat]

Safety alert: For those that have had toyhaulers with happy jack beds, get ready to chuckle. I am guessing that during the PDI, the tech told us that we needed to run the lower bunk up, prior to pulling the keepers on the upper bunk. I found the missing keeper mentioned below in the far corner of upper bunk jack rail, it was not holding the bunk correctly as it was in wrong hole, but it was providing enough support that when I pulled it with the lower bed down -- look out below. Thank goodness for my cat like skills -- no injuries. Anyway, no teacher like experience -- we will not soon forget how to properly lower the upper bunk.

 

[oscar]

Question - what does the button that makes the red light on the cable outlet do? Guessing antenna booster, but makes no diff on getting a cable signal to the TV.

Yes, antenna booster, only for antenna reception.

Missing pin, use similar sized nail for time being. Long term, Happijack is a pretty good company and is responsive to stuff like this; call (801) 544-2585

 

[JoeCampnEat]

Shake down complete. Ram 3500 pulled the trailer no problem between Hou and SAT. Cruised I-10 at 70 mph on cruise control with no issues. The pin weight is a bit heavy for a SRW, I want to upgrade to a DRW -- but this trip proved to me that my truck handles the trailer just fine. The unit had no leakers, no shorts and I tested pretty much every system and it worked fine. Including keeping the coach comfy in hot and humid SAT. I did have a bit of shade in my spot to help out. We really liked the bench seating and large table in the garage. Allowed us to all sit comfortably and eat or play games without feeling like we were crowded. The two young kids like sleeping the garage. We got complimented on the led lights factory installed the awnings by a 2012 Cyclone owner. They are going to see if they can get their rig retrofitted to include them. Can't wait for 2nd adventure - now that I have my unit down to less than $10k per night - my goal is to get it into the $100s.

 

[HornedToad]

Dear Forum Friends, The good Lord willing and the creek don't rise, we will go on our first trip this next week. We ordered the trailer in Feb, brought it home in May and have had it in storage since. We will pull from Cypress to San Antonio this weekend and will be in a park for 7 days. I chose a full service park so we can test all the features. I will keep all updated as to how it goes. Question #1.. I plan to fill the fuel cell and add Stabil... any advice on Ethanol treatment. I do not anticipate running the genny this trip and no toys.... so the fuel will be used for later running the genny periodically. I may also unplug on this trip and run it for 30 minutes or so for breakin.

Check out the recommended breakin from pg 12 of the Onan manual... 1hour @ 1/2 load and 1 more hour @ 3/4 load. http://www.cumminsonan.com/www/html/Common/pdf/manuals/983-0101.pdf

 

[JoeCampnEat]

Check out the recommended breakin from pg 12 of the Onan manual... 1hour @ 1/2 load and 1 more hour @ 3/4 load. http://www.cumminsonan.com/www/html/Common/pdf/manuals/983-0101.pdf

Thanks for the note. I did not run it last week. I ran it at PDI and once at storage, but for ~5 minutes or less. I have filled the fuel cell and stabilized. I plan to break in the genny when at a more remote campground. So 1/2 load sounds like run the coach AC and 3/4 means turn the bedroom on too?

 

[HornedToad]

Thanks for the note. I did not run it last week. I ran it at PDI and once at storage, but for ~5 minutes or less. I have filled the fuel cell and stabilized. I plan to break in the genny when at a more remote campground. So 1/2 load sounds like run the coach AC and 3/4 means turn the bedroom on too?

I figured the AC @ 2000 watts and converter @ 500 was about 1/2 load and then switched the fridge 500 & water heater 1000 to electric to take it up to 3/4 load. A second AC should be about the same. Also, check out the altitude setting on the generator, there is a big difference between Harris county @ 50 ft above sea level and 5000 ft at McKittrick Canyon in the Guadalupe Mountains.