Things you had to fix on your first outting in your Gateway?

[GOTTOYS]

I went to the Depot and bout two new heat registers. One for the bedroom and one for the bathroom. Now I can close them down a bit and direct more heat into the living room. Plus it used to get so hot in the bathroom when the furnace was running that you could barely stand it. Much better now. I know some say not to restrict the airflow but it hasn't affected anything....Don

 

[DentguyJC]

Martels, Greg, good morning from Umatilla Oregon, its beautiful here at the marina rv park, pretty much have the place to ourselves. We froze up night before last, not sure why, i ran to the local walmart and.picked up a small ceramic heater and put it in the udc last night and had no issues this morning. It was down in single digits night before so cold, the camp host said his rv froze up as well so didn't feel to bad. My tank heater switch light comes on when its supposed to but the fuze panel led light came on and there is no fuse installed in #13 and its marked tank heater, not sure if the tank heaters are hard wired or not now. Anyway other than freeze up the only thing i have found that needs to be adressed is the shower enclosure, it is installed corectly however the sealant is on the inside so water drains to the outside of the tub, i picked up some silicone sealant and will remove the inside sealant and seal the outside of the enclosure and bobs your uncle!! No other problems at all. My wife and i love our new Gateway!! If any other problems pop up i'll post them but so far so good. We do have a burner on the stove top that quit working, not a Gateway problem, atwoods. I'm sure a new burner will fix the problem there.

I did the same buying heaters, I sure with the furance would heat the living area like it does the bathroom and bedroom. #13 should have a fuse! Your tank heaters should work! I guess everyone is having issues with the shower not being sealed. Best of luck!

 

[danemayer]

My tank heater switch light comes on when its supposed to but the fuze panel led light came on and there is no fuse installed in #13 and its marked tank heater, not sure if the tank heaters are hard wired or not now.

A fuse box light come on when 1) its fuse is open (or missing) AND 2) you are trying to use the circuit. So far as I know, the tank heaters have always been and continue to be 110V AC powered. But it's possible that the switch operates a 12V DC powered relay that in turn controls the flow of 110V to the tank heaters, and possibly controls 12V DC power to the fresh water line heat tape (if you have that).

With the fuse missing, and the LED lighting up next to the fuse position, I wouldn't expect the switch to have any power, unless there's more than one circuit going through that switch. So it's not clear why the switch is lighting up.

Further investigation is needed to figure out what's going on.

 

[shurack24]

As a short follow up question; might I ask the other 3200 owners where you figured the "best" location to place the island is that it doesn't push against anything? This is our first Heartland product as well and i agree; it would have been nice if Heartland left just a single sheet that said "we recommend placing the island 'here' while traveling".

 

[greg7140]

I put my Island so the back portion sits just forward of the two slide front molding, but NOT on the rear floor register...I replaced the plastic floor registers with some nice looking metal ones that can be closed off...so I butt the rear island wheel up to the floor register. I wish the island would have been designed about 2" or so narrower so it was not so sensitive on where it sits to keep from hitting and rubbing. My door side slide molding has a nice little smooth "indentation" in the wood where the island was touching and rubbing during delivery from factory I guess. I know I spent a lot of time positioning and repositioning it prior to even pulling out of the dealers parking lot after the PDI...

One thing else I made up was a little tag with a "remove before flight" tether to remind me to untie the straps to the island before putting the slides out. I sometimes travel with other friends besides my DW...and they alway want to help setting up...and I was worried that one would just jump in and let the slides out and just rip the D-rings out of the floor or the island. OK...really wasn't worried about friends doing it...I was actually worried about me not thinking and doing it! LOL!

 

[csjg3525]

Below is a list of "fix's" I had to make or have done on our 2013 RS3200 we picked up in August.
The biggest are the flooring, rear window and radio.

1) Had to have Flooring replaced due to a screw being caught in the kitchen roller when closing up at pick-up. (caught in the slide roller and cut flooring) cut was there when I opened it up, day of pick-up.
2) Had kitchen side rear window actuator replaced due to one of the rollers being broken. I didn't notice it at the dealer, however, caught it 70 miles away at camp (day of pick-up)
3) Had waste water controls replaced (one actuator was pulled out/they leaked)
4) I had to go through and re-align all drawers. The factory had them so most wouldn't close properly or stay closed when moving.
5) I had to remove microwave to clean under and replace screws. For first few trips, I would end up with sawdust all over. Found screws not even in the wood. There were only 2 holding it in.
6) Fixed bedroom door alignment and striker placement.
7) Replaed the sliding glass door catch in bedroom. (wouldn't hold closed)
8) I re-sealed the entire tub/shower suround. Factory did poor job, leaving gapps in surround at joints.
9) I replaced both sensors for the fridge/freezer. Both quit on second weekend owning the camper and we needed the fridge.
10) Radio issues
1) I had to re-wire all speakers--Factory had them all messed up. The outdoor were alway's on, the bedroom and living room were split (on speaker each)
2) Still trying to figure out why outdoor speakers are very quiet, can't be heard unless stero is turned way up. (will either have to have radio or speakers replaced)
11) local repair guy moved both sets of recliners out @ 1 1/2 inches so all windows will now open/close without touching the backs of them.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Thanks for the input, i installed a fuse in the panel and now can hear blowers running in udc behind access panel so maybe 110 vac and 12vdc for fans?? Not sure, dosn't appear there is any heat tape between pump and fresh water tank. Was getting ready to roll tomorrow so cleaned out water lines of anit freeze filled water tank but pump wouldn't pressurize system, after i installed the fuse i had water within a half hr with heaters on so it did help and something is working now. I can not find any wireing diagrams on tank heaters anywhere so just happy they seem to be doing thier job now

 

[1_oldgoat]

Dentguy, tank heaters are working fine now i installed a fuse in the panel, the shower had sealant on the inside of framerails so water drained out onto bathroom floor, so an attempt was made at the factory to remedy that issue but that was nothing compared to other new rv's we have bought, the last one especialy, every trip we had problems and just got used to fixing things whenever we arrived at our destination. That being said the shower needing sealant was nothing or a worry for that matter!!. Thanks for the input.

 

[danemayer]

Thanks for the input, i installed a fuse in the panel and now can hear blowers running in udc behind access panel so maybe 110 vac and 12vdc for fans?? Not sure, dosn't appear there is any heat tape between pump and fresh water tank. Was getting ready to roll tomorrow so cleaned out water lines of anit freeze filled water tank but pump wouldn't pressurize system, after i installed the fuse i had water within a half hr with heaters on so it did help and something is working now. I can not find any wireing diagrams on tank heaters anywhere so just happy they seem to be doing thier job now

Hi 1_oldgoat,

Tank heaters just heat the bottom of each holding tank. There are no fans involved. Each heater is a flat pad roughly 1x2' that has adhesive sticking it to the tank. Mine are 110V AC and have nothing to do with the fusebox. I believe the vendor makes 12V pads, but I don't think Heartland uses the 12V variety.

There should be a circuit breaker controlling power to the wall-type switch that illuminates. If not labeled in the circuit breaker panel, you can probably try turning breakers off one at a time until the switch goes dark.

If you have the Yeti option, the fresh water line probably has heat tape and insulation protecting the area in the underbelly, but perhaps not the area visible near the water pump.

Fans/blowers running behind the basement wall could be the power converter that changes 110V AC to 12V DC to help run 12V devices/lights and to charge the battery. The furnace blower makes noise in that area, as does the water pump. So far as I know, there aren't any fans associated with the tank heating pads or fresh tank heat tape.

If you're headed for sub-freezing temps, you may want to take a look at some of our owner-written user guides, including the Water Systems Winter Usage Guide.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Danemayer, thanks for the information, my tank heater switch would illuminate when switched on, but my fuse panel LED light on #13 that is marked tank heater was missing a 15 amp fuse, thats where i was a bit confused. After i installed a fuse the LED light is off when the switch for tank heaters is on and now i hear fans running in udc, they will shut off when i switch heaters off so i don't have a clue what thats about, i just know the tank heaters seem to be working, or at least i think they are working. I need to do a little more investigating when i get home. Thanks again for the information.

 

[danemayer]

The only likely possibility I can think of is that if you do have the fresh water line heat tape, when its thermostat calls for power, maybe it's putting enough additional load on the power converter to cause the cooling fans to come on or speed up. That makes me wonder if your battery is either low, or perhaps isolated from the converter and fuse box. There's an automotive style 12V circuit breaker on a buss bar near the battery. That breaker connects the battery to the fuse box and power converter. If it's tripped, no battery voltage gets to the fuse box and the also the battery doesn't get charged. You can find out more about this in our 12V Block Diagram and Diagnostic Guide.

One quick way to determine if this breaker is tripped is to cut off the shore power and see if your interior 12V lighting still works. If not, there's no power coming from the battery.

Btw, the fresh water line heat tape is thermostatically operated. If cold outside, it'll draw power continuously. When on shore power this isn't an issue, but when running on battery, it can run the battery down more quickly than expected. Perhaps your dealer pulled the fuse to keep the heat tape from draining the battery.

 

[ILH]

When my wife and I picked up our rig for our first trip, we had planned a local trip just in case of any serious issues. Sure enough, the box frame for the bed collapsed mid-weekend. We also didn't have hot water. The dealer was supposed to have de-winterized it - and I hadn't yet gone through the process... So I had to work out the details by myself. The upside is that I'm very comfortable winterizing my rig now!

 

[1_oldgoat]

I just came up to spokane with new Gateway, stopped overnight and ran batt only, the tank heater light switch comes on with batt only, no power hook up so they must run off of a converter is all i can think of. Also never had to rely on water tank for fresh water first outing but this trip i filled up b4 i left home and tank was empty when i got here, i just filled up the fresh water tank again and am.loosing water out of the overflow behind the left rear axle?? Don't know whats going on there. I have some trim around the nose that is coming off as well, not a bid deal, but water concerns me a little. Anyone else had any issues loosing water from fresh tank??

 

[danemayer]

overnight and ran batt only, the tank heater light switch comes on with batt only, no power hook up

That suggests to me the switch is on a 12V circuit. That circuit probably powers the heat tape on the water line, along with the light in the switch. The switch probably also controls a 12V DC relay that supplies 110V AC to the tank heating pads. Since you were on battery only, the heat tape was on, but the tank heating pads were not on.