so impressed with new gateway!!!

[1_oldgoat]

Hey Greg, we made it home yesterday around noon, did your weather break so you can roll south yet?? Icey roads and towing are no fun as i found out the hard way, we got very lucky just the one slide job, we were only rolling 45 or so, i think had i been driving any faster it could have been bad. Once we got on top of cabbage hill outside of pendleton it was clear sailing,
For our fitst outing i am so impressed with quality on the gateway, can't say enough nice things about it. Did you happen to notice on your axles, left side if your break wires were laying across the leaf springs?? They come out of the axles on the right side through a rubber grommet, but through the belly on the left and lay on the springs then into the back of the hubs, i was worried the wires would wear thru and short out the breaks so wrapped em up and zip ties them.out of the way. If you haven't noticed take a look and let me know. Safe travels

 

[greg7140]

Glad you guys made it back OK...with only that one exciting slide. Only problem I have had on bad roads was a 48 hour trip to GA on New Year's Day about 6 years ago! Started off 90 minutes into trip by missing a turn on a secondary road in PA...GPS showed an easy "2 right turns" to get back on track...unfortunately at 10pm at night with it snowing I didn't realize that the road it has me turn was an "OLD" county road that had not been maintained in over 20 years and was really now just a cow path...next thing I know I was stuck in the middle of a cow pasture! 5 hours and $600 later I had been pulled out of the pasture with a winch and semi tow truck...but the fun didn't stop there! I spent 24 hours in a rest area when they closed the interstate in NC due to ice! After a long 48 hours I finally reached my destination in GA. Since then I refuse to tow if there is a chance of snow anywhere on my route!

As for this trip...I leave tomorrow morning and the weather very much is cooperating. Low tonight is only supposed to be 40, mid-west weather is always a gamble this time of year. Last week we were close to records low temps...this week temps are supposed to be above normal until late Thursday when I guess the central IN area will be in a winter storm warning again. but I will be long gone before that hits. The RV stays south until April...but I will be back in the cold of IN by the 21st of Dec. ugh

On a positive note...I have been fighting a gremlin in my F450 TV. Exhaust back pressure has been occasionally fluctuating...when this happens boost pressure climbs very high...finally tracked it down to a fatigued wire going into the EBP sensor. No time to get a replacement pigtail before I leave, so got handy with a soldering iron and was able to get the fatigued wire soldered. Was strange, the wire insulation was fine, but the wire inside was broken and not giving a good connection.

So think I am ready for my 1200 mile jaunt down to central FL tomorrow. Jenni is not going with me on this trip due to publishing deadlines for Model Aviation Magazine (she is the assist editor)...but, I get our dog Topaz for company...Topaz is only 5 in January...but has logged 65k miles in the back seat my truck so far! Lol...can't say she is a good traveling companion tho...all she does is sleep in her "hammock" in the back seat...

 

[1_oldgoat]

Good luck and safe travels tomorrow, i don't plan on towing on bad roads again, we were so lucky nothing bad happened, i honestly don't remember if i let off or gave the truck more juice, just that i was watching the trailer coming around and the truck starting to as well, the next thing i knew we were rolling straight again.
I have seen injector wires do the same thing, plastic sheathing still solid with broken wires inside, i was an avaition electronics tech in the navy so with the great schooling i received its helped my carreer in later post navy years. Speaking of wires, did u happen to he k offdoor side axle break wireing?? Just curious if they were laying across the leaf springs like mine were.
We had 4 dogs that always went with us but lost 3 in 4 yrs, floyd our bullmastiff is the last and has been in the rig since i picked him.up one of the best traveling dos i have ever had.
Best wishs and safe travels. Keep in touch, email is marcusmorgan29@gmail.com

 

[1_oldgoat]

Need to winterize today, weather is supposed to turn cold, sub zero temps and 20's for highs, i wanted to take another short trip but not looking good. Will post any difficulties if i find any, but aftef reading some great posts on accessing the water heater bypass shouldn't be a problem. Once thats done i plan on writing a little on our first outing exoerience and the options our Gateway has. There is a winterizing hud u can download as well, but this is a straight forward job.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Winterized our Gateway, pretty easy job through the side panel instead of the smaller 1x1 inside. I did pull a bone head move and left the drain open for the fresh water tank so when i turned the.pump on, guess where a gallon of antifreeze ended up. Also the center valve needs to be open so antifreeze can go through the hot water lines, if its closed you only get liquid through the cold water. Finding the valve for the water tank to the pump would be very hard to do through the small access panel as it is under alot of heater ducts, i don't think i could have reached it had i not taken the side panel off. Going from a single bypass system to 5 valves actualy, 3 closed and 2 open was still pretty simple. Ran 2 gallons of antifreeze through the lines and dumped one gallon down drains so the pee traps wouldn't freeze, which probably wasn't necessary. Now just need the weather to cooperate for us so we can head to Spokane for christmas and another week or two in the new rv.

 

[1_oldgoat]

As some of you know i wasn't sure if my tank heaters were working as there was no fuse in the panel and my LED light was coming on when i switched thank heater on and that switch lit up, so, today i installed a fuse, turned the heaters on and now there are fans blowing in udc area behind access panel, i have no idea how tank heaters are wired up and it dosn't appear there is any heat tape on line from pump to fresh water tank, i de winterized and am headed to Spokane tomorrow morning, we drove up for xmas and stayed in a motel, however my mother in law is now in a hospice house with days left to live acording to her dr so i need to get back there asap, i drove home yesterday turned heat on and filled water tank today, must have had a little water in a line still as the pump wouldn't presurize system, thats when i tried the fise in panel for tank heaters, after 30 minutes pump is working fine, so i would say possibly 120 vac and 12 vdc for them to work correctly on my Gateway anyway. Still need to get the offdoor slide adjusted and the stove burner replaced but can do that when i get back. Might be a while.

 

[Mrsfish]

Please drive carefully. Sorry to hear about your mil- wish you and your family warm thoughts.

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

As some of you know i wasn't sure if my tank heaters were working as there was no fuse in the panel and my LED light was coming on when i switched thank heater on and that switch lit up, so, today i installed a fuse, turned the heaters on and now there are fans blowing in udc area behind access panel, i have no idea how tank heaters are wired up and it dosn't appear there is any heat tape on line from pump to fresh water tank, i de winterized and am headed to Spokane tomorrow morning, we drove up for xmas and stayed in a motel, however my mother in law is now in a hospice house with days left to live acording to her dr so i need to get back there asap, i drove home yesterday turned heat on and filled water tank today, must have had a little water in a line still as the pump wouldn't presurize system, thats when i tried the fise in panel for tank heaters, after 30 minutes pump is working fine, so i would say possibly 120 vac and 12 vdc for them to work correctly on my Gateway anyway. Still need to get the offdoor slide adjusted and the stove burner replaced but can do that when i get back. Might be a while.

Sure sorry to her about your MIL, 1oldgoat. I hope you get to her safe and sound. I have enjoyed following your posts. I have a Gateway 3200RS. I also have the same question.

"There is a toggle switch just above the slide room switchs that is unmarked. When I turn it to the on position a red light on the switch comes on and 2 more red lights in the fuse panel below. Anyone have knowledge what that switch is for?" I noticed that an entry had written on the fuse panel cover lists fuse numbers 13 and 14 as tank heaters.

I have a call into Heartland to find out but I had to leave a voice mail. Maybe they can solve the mystery for me!

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

Hey 1_oldgoat....I hope everything is O.K. I just wanted to tell you what I found out about my tank heaters. I put in a call yesterday to Heartland CS but I don't think they are working this week due to the weather. So after reading your posts, I decided to go look at the fuse panel. I removed the cover and confirmed the hand written entry label for the tank heater fuses(13 and 14). Then I started counting down. Lo and behold, like you discovered, there weren't any fuses in those two slots!!!!! I found a couple of 15amp fuses and when I turned on the switch I could hear a click from under the sink. I can only assume that my tank heaters are now working!

Whenever I hear from Heartland I will try to confirm if this is correct.

Thanks for the info.

Mike

 

[1_oldgoat]

Grumpy, thanks for the information, sounds like the same issue i had as well, the unmarked switch is for the tank heaters and mine will light with or without shore power, my fuse panel only has #13 marked for tank heaters so every model must be slightly different. I have been told the 12 volt dc is for heat tape on waterr line from fresh tank to pump and the tank heaters themselves are 110 volt ac but i can't confirm that as i can not see any tape on the waterline so still not sure. After i installed a fuse i can hear fans running in udc when i switch tank heaters on but they could be from converter.
If you find out anything from heartland please let me know.
Thanks again Marcus

 

[1_oldgoat]

I made it back to Spokane with no issues, mother in law is in a hospice house and i set up the new gateway in front of her home, we have power, 15 amp only but have had no problems at all. I did hang to much weight on the shelving above washer dryer prep area and yes, i broke the shelving, my fault from way to much weight, heavy winter shirts coats and jeans. I plan to screw and glue tthe suports back together instead of using a staple gun, should be much stronger. I also have a piece of trim on the nose coming off along the edge on corner from bedroom floor area where it turns down to storage door, probably from cold and shrinking, nothing major, still no problems inside and everything is working as it should. So impresed and happy still with our decision to buy the Gateway.
I have been using propane for heat and hot water so a tank of propane is lasting 3-4 days, not bad considering its winter and the warmest it has been is 42, more below freezing than above, with no water or sewer hookups i have had to fill the water tank every 4-5 days and drain the holding tanks once in 10 days, could have held off as they were not yet full but had a break in weather so used portable holding tank for black tank and hauled it to a dump station, had to make 2 trips, the grey water i have ran off with a hose to the side pasture and have had no problems. I did have to hook up a hose to get the black tank to flow which is no big deal since we have been sitting for over a week.
Mother in law is day to day, dr gave her 1-2 weeks 12 days ago so pretty lucky to have her still but we know its coming. Never prepared, thank you all for your kind words of support, they are very much appreciated.
More to come
Marcus

 

[1_oldgoat]

Still in Spokane and questioning wether doctors know what they are taking about, mother in law has been doing great and well past the 2 weeks we were told she had left, still in hospice house because my wife and i can not care for her needs at her home.
As far as the Gateway goes, the longer we stay in it the more enjoyable it gets, so nice to come home to. I have been using the oven more thanany of our past units and am finding i need to turn the temp up slightly higher than directions on packages suggest, its working fine, however a second burner on the stovetop has quit working so am down to one, thats really not a manufacture issue so can't complain. For some reason my black holding tank valve is not sealing as it should, need to play with some more today to see what the deal is, also one propane tank seems to last way longer than the other, i know, shouldn't make a difference side to side, but i only turn one tank on at a time until it gets low and then will turn the second on and refill the near empty, not sure if i have a valve that is not allowing full tank pressure to pass or a valve that is stuck open on the other side, standing at the door looking at the tanks with the switch to the right taank i have been getting recently 6 days and still half full compared to 3 days on the left tank??? Weather hasn't changed so i don't know whats going on there, not complaining, just odd. I had read where others have changed valves. More to come

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

Hey 1_oldgoat, glad to hear your MIL is doing great.

We just came back from 4 nights camping in Pelham, AL. We had pretty good weather, lows in the upper 30's. We did run out of propane during one night but I always keep both tank valves open so it will switch over automatically. Never had a problem doing it this way. I also have a problem with a tank gate valve. One day I saw a puddle of water under the camper and saw it was leaking from joint right behind the termination cover. When I opened the termination cover I got a bath!...Luckily it was Gray WATER!!!!! I traced it down to the Gray 1 gate valve. Now I just leave the tank valve open when hooked to sewer.

I never did hear back from Heartland about the tank heaters. I will try calling back today. Will let you know if I find out anything new.

Take care,
Mike


UPDATE:
I talked to Terry Hayes from Heartland this morning about tank heaters on my Gateway. He checked with the Gateway production manager. Terry was told that if we have a switch above the slide out switches then we do have 12v heating pads on the unit. All Gateways with "Enter the Gateway Package" has these tank heaters. As others have stated, make sure all the tanks have liquid in them to prevent heating pad or tank damage.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Hey Mike, thanks for the update on the tank heaters, i kind of thought they were 12volt since the switch would.light with or without shore power. My propane regulator is going out, i had been only leaving one tank open at a time until it is almost empty then switch the other on so i never run out but when i have my switch on the left tank, i get two out of three stove burners to work, i lost the front burner our first outing and have not been back to the dealership to have it replaced, anyway when i turn the switch to the right tank only one burner works and the oven doesn't heat as well either, the right tank will last 6 days compared to 3-4 on the left so has to be partialy blocked or just stuck. The tank guage is nice to have but not really accurate unless the tank is completley full, once they drop below half my guage dosn't go all the way red as it should, the way i have been using propane with one open at a time its not a big deal really, but i do plan on replacing the regulator. Really the only problems i have had are with parts from suppliers rather than manufacture other than a piece of trim and the offdoor slide adjustment. Thanks again for letting me know about tank heaters, much appreciated.
Still in spokane, mil is day to day, i don't think she will last much longer, but she beat the odds from what her dr said so just happy to have her still with us.
Thanks again
Marcus

Forgot to mention i can not get the black tank valve to completly close, just a slow leak, i flushed the tank twice to where i was getting clear clean water but after putting blue packets of deodorizer in the tank am getting blue water dripping from the drain, not good so something to have checked whenever we do get back home. Just leaving sewer hose hooked up to portable tank and running to dump station every couple days

 

[1_oldgoat]

Well, lost mother in law yesterday morning, so sorry to loose her but she went fast and peacefuly, when its my time i hope its the same way. Don't know many people who haven't lost a loved one to cancer or have friends who have. Since i retired, i keep busy in a small machine shop and what little money i make, i donate half or more to The American Cancer Society, the rest i use to keep materials to work with, its not much but think every little bit helps, hopefuly one day there will be a cure.
Our Gateway has been wonderful to have, can't imagine staying here in our old Cougar, we would have frozen inside and out. My propane regulator is giving me fits, if i leave both tanks open and the switch to the right tank, the left will empty first so i have been uaing it set to the left and just switching the tanka.over when one gets low. We also have a mystery kitchen sink leak, when we first took the rv out for turkey day i had a puddle on the floor from the water leaking from drains, i tightened the fittings all up and never had any problems after, at least i thought anyway. For some reason i am getting water under the sink, not alot but enough to make a mess, but can not find where its coming from, all drain fittings are dry as are the water line fittings, which are reverse threaded if you ever try to tighten them keep that in mind.
Everything else is fine and we are still happy with our choice in rv's, considering we picked this up the first week of Novemeber 2013, we have spent over a month in it all in sub freezing weather, over a week the first outing over thanksgiving and now from the first of the new year and will be here in Spokane for another few weeks, so will have spent more time in the rv than in our home. Amazing considering the weather. Little things that have happened are nothing major so can not complain at all.
If anyone has had sink leaks let me know what or where you found them, this one is driving me nuts trying to find!! More to come as we continue our winter stay.

 

[JohnDar]

Several of us have found water leaks from the interface of the sink and countertop. There should be six metal clips holding it up. Two in back, two in front, and one at each end. If the front or rear two are missing, the weight if the basin will eventually allow it to separate slightly and water will drip underneath. The clips are hard to see, you have to look up under the sink. A bead of silicone around the joint will temporarily stop it, but the clips need to be there to make it permanent. I was missing the two front ones.

 

[jimtoo]

The leak may also be because of the sink drain gasket in the wrong place. The strainer body should have plumber's putty under it,, not the paper gasket like has been found many times. Look at the picture... It is showing metal washer,, some use paper or paper in place of rubber gasket,,, but whatever,,, it should all be under the sink like the picture.

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

Well, lost mother in law yesterday morning, so sorry to loose her but she went fast and peacefuly, when its my time i hope its the same way. Don't know many people who haven't lost a loved one to cancer or have friends who have. Since i retired, i keep busy in a small machine shop and what little money i make, i donate half or more to The American Cancer Society, the rest i use to keep materials to work with, its not much but think every little bit helps, hopefuly one day there will be a cure.
Our Gateway has been wonderful to have, can't imagine staying here in our old Cougar, we would have frozen inside and out. My propane regulator is giving me fits, if i leave both tanks open and the switch to the right tank, the left will empty first so i have been uaing it set to the left and just switching the tanka.over when one gets low. We also have a mystery kitchen sink leak, when we first took the rv out for turkey day i had a puddle on the floor from the water leaking from drains, i tightened the fittings all up and never had any problems after, at least i thought anyway. For some reason i am getting water under the sink, not alot but enough to make a mess, but can not find where its coming from, all drain fittings are dry as are the water line fittings, which are reverse threaded if you ever try to tighten them keep that in mind.
Everything else is fine and we are still happy with our choice in rv's, considering we picked this up the first week of Novemeber 2013, we have spent over a month in it all in sub freezing weather, over a week the first outing over thanksgiving and now from the first of the new year and will be here in Spokane for another few weeks, so will have spent more time in the rv than in our home. Amazing considering the weather. Little things that have happened are nothing major so can not complain at all.
If anyone has had sink leaks let me know what or where you found them, this one is driving me nuts trying to find!! More to come as we continue our winter stay.

So sorry Marcus, may she rest in peace.

I had the mystery leak also under the kitchen sink. Never did find where. Tightened everything I could. It seems gone, for now....we also love our gateway Like yours we have a small list to have the dealer fix. Also I want them to align the Correct Track. Have you had yours aligned yet? I'll be dropping mine off at the dealer in De Funiak Springs, Fl. tomorrow.
Wish me luck!!!!!

Mike

 

[1_oldgoat]

John, Jim and Mike, thanks for the information, i think the water is coming from between the sink and countertop, i noticed the sink is not tight against the bottom of the counter and mising clips as well, i have tightened every fixture there is and haven't ever found water or any wet areas for some time, my hot water line was wet right at the coupling but after i wiped it down it has not had any water on it so the only conclusion is the sink and counter themselves.
As far as the alignment of the correct track i haven't had it looked at, axles seem to be fine and towing is not an issue and tires look fine so far,my offdoor slide needs adjusted so it will open and close corectly, a few pieces of trim need repaired or replaced and the stove burner and propane regulator need replaced and a valve for the black tank needs replaced, really all parts issues not a manufacture problem, this is the most solid rv we have ever owned and we love it, we have been in Spokane now for almost 3 weeks and we are both still comfortable as is our dog, we used to start getting cabin fever after a few weeks in our last unit!

 

[kernst]

Forgot to mention i can not get the black tank valve to completly close, just a slow leak, i flushed the tank twice to where i was getting clear clean water but after putting blue packets of deodorizer in the tank am getting blue water dripping from the drain, not good so something to have checked whenever we do get back home. Just leaving sewer hose hooked up to portable tank and running to dump station every couple days

Marcus,
We've have a Gateway 3650BH, bought it back in June. Absolutely love it. Sounds like you're loving yours just as much. One thing I wanted to mention was that we are having an issue with the forward black tank valve (3650BH has a set of black/gray tanks up front as well as in the rear) like you are, just a very slow leak leak there. But ANY leak there is quite a surprise when you first remove the sewer cap. The front tanks are "remote" valves, with the the handles being in the docking center. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the black valve not closing 100% or not. The gray valve up there works fine. And both valves in the rear (handles directly open/close the valves) work fine. So far it hasn't been too much of an issue, as we're typically parked in a full hook-up spot. I just make sure I have my rubber gloves on when I first open the cap. You never know what might be behind door number one.

We had a similar issue as you did with the shower. Nothing a little silicone caulking towards the rear of the shower door couldn't fix.

Our last trip out one of the ducts off the heater unit under counter in the kitchen area had worked its way loose. I noticed everything in the drawer directly above the heater unit was very hot. It had been blowing hot air into that space for well over an hour at the point. I was able to get the wood panel off and get duct back on and tightened all the rest of them up while I was under there. The drawer right above the heater still gets pretty warm though. Just ratiant heat off the heater unit from what I can tell. I'm considering putting in a piece or two of that 1/2" insulated panel board that has aluminum on one side of it. Not sure what its' called but you typically see it used to make the "boxes" when running HVAC duct work in an attic. I figure just lay a piece or two in there, shiny side down, to keep the radiant heat off the bottom of that drawer.

I'm also going to check the fuse(s) for my tank heaters. I assumed that turning the switch on and getting a red light there at that switch panel was good. But maybe not. While it was down into the mid 20's last time we camped, and I had the tank heater switch on at night, we had the heater going pretty good inside, so that may have helped a lot too. Nothing froze up. Still, I'm making a mental note to check those fuses and see if I hear the converter (or is it inverter, I can never remember) fan kick on when the tank heater switch is on.

I'm very sorry to hear about your mother in law, but it sounds like shes in a much better place now. I hope everything goes smoothly for you and your family during this transition.

Kurt