so impressed with new gateway!!!

[1_oldgoat]

Mike, just got a note from Jim a Heartland rep and he did comfirm what we had figured out, the tank heaters are 12 volt!
My fireplace has Greystone on the bottom of it, not sure if thats right or if it was replaced either but works fine and is a nice feature to have, keeps the living room warmer than just furnace alone.
Let me know what you find out with your slide seal, i am curious. Like i said mine has made alot of noise since day one, it is a big slide with alot of weight so something to be watchful for and maybe anticipated by heartland as well since there is a easy was to open by hand if need be. I do plan on making sure ours is adjusted before i take it on the road again.
Something i have not mentioned is the flooring, wasn't sure about it at first but after living in the rv for over a month now love it. We have a 180 lb bull mastiff and his nails are rather large and can do serious damage to alot of things, this floor is not one of them. Strong as can be and easy to clean up slobber as well. It has not gotten one mark from the dogs nails and i do not believe it ever will. Nice stuff for sure. We keep the couch covered with blankets for protection, the bedspread was not so lucky! The dog had it destroyed in a few days, we had a new one ready to go as the one from the factory was nice, just not quite what the dear wife liked so now a new one is on the bed with matching colors along with new throw pillows. Matress is changed as well, factory bed was nicer than our last rv had but still a little tough to sleep on so we switched to the matress we had in our cougar and sleep like babies again.
Get 6 inch of snow last night, figures now its almost time to head home, we will just wait it out since we don't have to be anywhere anytime soon.
Marcus

 

[TravelTiger]

"My fireplace has Greystone on the bottom of it, not sure if thats right"

That is the brand of the fireplace, a little confusing since Heartland used to make a Greystone line.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Erika, thanks for the information, that was the exact reason i wasn't sure if the fireplace was out of a Greystone unit because i knew about Heartland building that model. I appreciate the information. I guess i need to join the owners club to get your newslettter, would love to see whats going on with Heartland and when and where rallies are.
Again thanks for the info
Marcus

 

[danemayer]

Graystone in this case is the brand name of the fireplace. Here's a link to the manual.

 

[1_oldgoat]

I just spoke with my salesman from our rv dealership and he is getting with the service dept to make sure any parts we need for repairs will be in stock when we are able to get back and into the shop for warrenty repairs. The list is pretty short considering we have been living in this for a month and a half and towed over 3000 miles in a couple of trips for the first two outings.
After our Gateway was the first to leave thier lot, he has informed me they have sold several more Gateways and all have had glowing reviews from the new owners, he didn't know about the tank heaters needing a fuse or two in the panel for tank heaters to work so was going to inform.all the rest of the sales staff and call every new owner to let them know as well. Nice to be able to help with a small thing like this.
I have decided against a washer dryer and instead plan on slide toppers instead. We have gotten several inchs of snow the last few days and i do not want to climb on the roof to sweep snow off the tops of the slides but may have to if it dosn't warm up and melt off before we leave. Not out of laziness but for safty reasons. Normaly wouldn't be staying in snow country but had to out of necessity this trip. I think the slide covers will be a nice addition as well, may help cooling in the summer, any ideas or experience with them and you would like to share pleas do so and thanks ahead of time for any and all help, info.
Marcus
Shelli
& Pretty boy Floyd

 

[danemayer]

I have decided against a washer dryer and instead plan on slide toppers instead. We have gotten several inchs of snow the last few days and i do not want to climb on the roof to sweep snow off the tops of the slides but may have to if it dosn't warm up and melt off before we leave.

The slide toppers are good, but if you get more than an inch or two of snow, you'll need to support the toppers so they don't get damaged. We're currently using pvc supports. And if you get 11 inches of snow overnight like we did last night, you'll have to clear the snow off the toppers, either by pulling the slides in, or by getting on a ladder.

 

[TravelTiger]

Erika, thanks for the information, that was the exact reason i wasn't sure if the fireplace was out of a Greystone unit because i knew about Heartland building that model. I appreciate the information. I guess i need to join the owners club to get your newslettter, would love to see whats going on with Heartland and when and where rallies are.
Again thanks for the info
Marcus

Heartland offers a free introductory membership for a year! I hope you join, and plan to attend a Rally. You'll be hooked for sure!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[1_oldgoat]

Hey Dan, thanks for the information, i appreciate it very much. I was complaining about 4-6 inchs of snow, wouldn't be happy if there was close to a foot, you must be in north country as well. Best of luck and safe travels if you are on the road. Did you make stands out of pvc to set under toppers?? If you can post a picture that would be great. Thanks again
Marcus

 

[1_oldgoat]

Erika, thank you for the reply, once we get home and i have access to my laptop i will join, just using ky phone for now and alot of typing with small keys and old eyes!!
Marcus

 

[1_oldgoat]

Erika, i just tried to join the club however my vin number would not benaccepted so sent a quick not to admin. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[jbeletti]

Erika, i just tried to join the club however my vin number would not benaccepted so sent a quick not to admin. I'll let you know how it goes.

I saw your note to Julie - she'll get back to you soon. Until then, you can use seventeen 1s > 11111111111111111

Jim

 

[1_oldgoat]

Jim, thank you for the help, i just filled out owners club information and the 1's were accepted. I had another question on the tank heaters, we now all know they are 12 volt, which tanks have heater pads on them, grey and fresh?? My salesman told my wife and i we were good to minus 6 degrees, i don't think we would ever plan on staying in the rv in that extreme cold weather but have been in single digit weather a few times and have not had any issues, i do use a small ceramic heater in udc i turn on when temps get below 20. It was single digits last night and we didn't have trouble but i do worry when its that cold out. Only using water from fresh tank, no hookups other than power.
Just curious on which tanks have heaters and your opinion on when to use them.
Thanks again
Marcus

 

[danemayer]

Hey Dan, thanks for the information, i appreciate it very much. I was complaining about 4-6 inchs of snow, wouldn't be happy if there was close to a foot, you must be in north country as well. Best of luck and safe travels if you are on the road. Did you make stands out of pvc to set under toppers?? If you can post a picture that would be great. Thanks again
Marcus

Hi Marcus,

Here's a picture of one with about 4" of snow on top.


The lengthwise piece is in 2 parts for this slide, 3 parts for the other side, and 1 part for the bedroom. The pieces are joined in a tee fitting. The ends have 90 degree fittings. Fittings are glued but the pieces are kept separate until installed.

Each end and the middle are supported by an upside down t-shape made of three short pieces and a tee fitting. The t-shapes are all glued together. The t-shapes are inserted into the fittings on the lengthwise piece, and are held by gravity.

The lengthwise pieces have holes drilled near the center joint. Cotter pins in each piece allow me to tie them together. When not in use, the pieces are a manageable length. When pulling removing them from the slide, the cotter pins tied together keep the pieces together in case one piece comes out of the tee.

The longest slide has 2 center supports.

As you can see, the weight of the snow flexes the 1/2" pvc quite a bit. But it has supported a foot without breaking or allowing too much deflection of the fabric.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Dan, thanks for the photo and information, thats what i had pictured in my head when you mentioned using pvc for holding slide toppers up. Nice and a great idea with the cotter pins, i do believe that will be our next investment for our Gateway and maybe some skirting as well, the prices vary quite a bit on both so must be material that makes the difference. I think black skirting and toppers will match the rest of the black trim and awning quite well and the skirts i have been looking at use pvc for bottoms as well. With all the storage this rv has there is plenty of room for everything. We usualy stay a few weeks at most rv parks so installing and removal of material won't be much trouble and from what inhave read actualy helps with both heating and cooling. There are several companies but i think i have it narrowed down to two. I just need to make some calls. I wish Heartland offered a kit but i haven't seen one yet so will have one made to fit.
Again i appreciate the information and picture as well as all your help, i am a newbie when it comes to fw's and all the bells and whistles on this rv so every bit of knowledge i can get shared from experienced owners is great.
Thanks again and safe travles, we are going to try to get home next week some time depending on weather and road conditions, plus i need to get into the dealership for some warrenty work so we can roll this spring without worries. Keeping fingers crossed our luck holds out!!
Marcus, Shelli & pretty boy Floyd

 

[JohnDar]

Good idea about the cotter pins, Dan. I've had one of those PVC supports for my main slide topper for some time, but have had to fish the center support out a couple of times when it came apart during removal.

 

[danemayer]

Orient the pins horizontally so they don't rub the fabric.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Dan, thanks again, appreciate the tip! Looks like we need to try and roll by tuesday or we may get stuck by weather and extreme cold temps with snow.
I need to get home and the rv into the dealership, now i have a grey tank valve leaking as well as my black tank, must be a common problem.as i have heard from other Gateway owners of the same.problem. I would open up and take a look myself to see whats happening but since we are still under warrenty will let the dealership deal with them.
Nothing major and still happy campers. Spent all of January in the fw and love it, i can not express how well built this rv is, just amazing and beautiful inside and out.
I'll let you all know what the dealer finds when they look at the tanks.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Well i just checked extended weather forcasts between Spokane and home and its looking pretty bleak after this tuesday through the 14th of Feb, not waht i was hopeing for at all. I don't worry much in this rv when temps are in the teens and up but once it gets down in the single digits i do worry about freezing up, i am going to use my tank heaters once we get in the teens now i know it is safe to leave them on when its that cold as long as there are a few gallons of water in them. I am just guessing but would think the grey and fresh water tanks are the only ones with heater pads under them, like i said thats just a guess and i would think if the black tank has a heater under it, things could get a little ripe......
I also wanted to take a minute here and let everyone know i started this thread last november to express our pleasure in owning a great rv andour first outing experiences, i appreciate everyone who has comented or helped us out with questions or problems we have encountered. What a great bunch of people there are on this forum and the Heartland employees who have responded to, thank you all. I still can not believe how much pride in ownership there is out there for Heartland rv's and how employees are on top of everything, no matter how small a problem may be. What a great company and great products. I have said this before and if i sound.like a broken record i am sorry but it is nice to see a company in the USA still takes pride in what they do and what they make. Thank you all.
If i have been to long winded or taken this thread to far or made it to long i am sorry as well but again am so impressed all the way around from our dealership salesman to ownership to being introduced to such great peopleon the forum its hard not to make a comment or two.
Thanks to everyone again for all the help, ideas, opinions and for sharing in thier experiences as i enjoy hearing from you all.
Marcus, Shelli & Pretty boy Floyd

 

[1_oldgoat]

Sitting in the rv this morning watching it snow, not what i wanted to see, so i got my hunting and fishing regs out, called my cousin, we grew up together and have been hunting together since we were children. My wife noticed what i was doing and overheard my conversation, after i finished talking with Marv, my plans on hunting with our new Gateway came.to a screeching halt!! I guess i won't be using the new rv for elk camp, spring bear, moose or any hunting for that matter. I had hoped to be able to hunt in style this year!
Guess its a good thing i kept our '05 pop up, we bought it new for quick get aways and so we could get into some lakes that we couldn't get our other bumper pulls into. I will be slumming it again, shouldn't ***** at least we will be off the ground inside the tent trailer but after living with all the bells and whistles its going to be tough to adjust......

 

[GrumpyOneandTwo]

LOL 1_oldgoat, They just don't understand! Last year I took our Jayco to fish camp for a week,no problem. I mentioned fish camp awhile back and got that cold, evil-eye!!!!!!! I took that to mean I wasn't taking the Gateway this year!!!!!

Have a safe trip home(that is when you get the chance!)

Mike