Took delivery of our 300C finally!

[CrazyCooter]

Well I seriously doubt it's every unit produced.....

Poo happens sometimes! We really would like to just have a defect free toy hauler. I'm getting ready to move into it for a few weeks while working on the house master bed/bathroom remodel and have trips planned after. Really can't afford the down time.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Well maybe this could have something to do with why this pig wouldn't stop on the last leg of our trip?

 

[71stang99]

Thats sucks. You have had a difficult time with this particular unit. When you upgraded the wiring to the brakes how hard was it and was the difference really felt? How much wire did you need and was it straight forward? thanks

 

[CrazyCooter]

Yep, this rig has been a big disappointment, although when I'm not wasting my weekends repairing it and get to go camping, it has been awesome!

We really had high expectations being a Heartland product and all, but.....well....

At least I am a lot more patient now with a few more years under my belt..... 6 years ago dealing with the idiots at Komfort and their blowing me off, I was ready to drive to Oregon and get things "handled". When I told them I would be there by end of shift, I was assured all would be corrected with quick turn around. Funny that there is always time to build more product, but no time fix warranty issues on units already paid for.... Our last rig only went in one time for a much shorter list of fixes that were hack jobs from the start and I was really ****ed about that.

I'm unsure at what point it would be OK to feel like I got screwed and I'm stuck with a POS? I guess after that warranty expires with 14 years of payments left?

Anyway, the wire upgrade is the single most important safety upgrade you could do since the brakes suck! If you know anything about 12V wiring, it is easy. I had almost no noticeable brakes while loaded at any speed until I added the extra copper. 35-40' should do the job...I don't know exactly how much since I was pulling from a 500' spool. The hardest part will be dropping the plastic belly down and fishing it back. I was able to get it up to the neck area easy.

I made another improvement today when I realized the rear axle brake drums averaged 110 deg cooler on my road test than the fronts.....245 vs 135, so I had to investigate further. I had been noticing the same trend since my second trip since I always run around the rig with the infrared thermometer when stopping for a rest break and check tire, axle, and brake temps. The only thing I could find other than 15' of extra wire was 0.66+V between the rear axle negative brake wire and the chassis ground, so I added another 10ga ground at the rear axle. After doing this, the controller showed another .8A current draw! Baby steps and improvements.

Forgot my thermometer at the shop, so you will have to wait for the results on that mod.....

 

[porthole]

Tony, you have self adjusting brakes on your trailer?

Not going to dispute whether you have a good product or bad, as I feel, based on the issues of others that I have been on a big plus side. Very few problems and nothing I couldn't fix easily myself. Although, I did do a "preemptive" strike by replacing the suspension and brakes on the trailer before I left Elkhart.

My biggest issue now is a third water pump failure. What stinks about that is the pump I have is an OEM part with a 1 year warranty, the exact same pump available at West Marine has a 3 year warranty. Thinking I had a standard 3 year warranty I didn't take care of the problem when it failed in under a year, no sense taking things apart now when I can do it in the off season. Oh well.

What is disturbing though after looking at your picture, is the American flag on the backing plate designating a made in America part.
I worked in the automotive field (new cars) from the mid 70's to the early 90's and saw first hand what poor quality parts and workmanship got us.

It got us the foreign car invasion and 3 major manufacturers who almost disappeared.

And even though the early toyo's were rust buckets before they were finally sent to the scrap yard, they were rust buckets with 3-400,000 or more miles rust buckets!
Granted, that invasion woke up the American auto industry and the cars we have now are better then ever.

Maybe the workforce as a whole is slipping back towards the 70's

Quality should be job 1!


Hope your water leak turns out to be something simple.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Yep, this one came with the Dexter Nev-R-Adjust backing plates AKA Nev-R-Have Worked

"American Made" means nothing to me as far as quality is concerned. This past year has been plagued problems from pricey American products. Pretty bad when a customer asks me my opinion on what car to buy and my answer is Japanese unless you can afford to take one for the team.

The water leak will be a simple fix I think. I'm more concerned with lasting effects of the water that has leaked so far. Good thing it has been an unseasonably dry winter to date.....

 

[CrazyCooter]

Got the brake fixed yesterday. Called Dexter and explained the situation....a few pics, and the parts were on the way. Since I own an axle shop they even paid me to fix it. Kinda weird writing myself on the schedule to work on it. Every time I have dealt with Dexter, it has been a positive experience, so no surprise there.

The water leak has been located with the help of a really cool pressure testing procedure using a SealTech 430R http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeoTlfnkNZQ The water is coming in 4 different spots at the seams connecting the front cap to the side walls. The whole rig was resealed just after delivery as a precaution and the front cap has been seal once again as I had noticed the sealant splitting after a trip.

Now we wait for the solution.....

 

[CrazyCooter]

Well the water leak in the front cap is hopefully fixed It rained this weekend and no water leaked out of the underside of the nose. There were numerous broken screws holding the cap to the sides. Explains why the sealant always split after a trip.

While filling up for this weekend's trip, I have what appears to be a water leak in the fresh water tanks again. Water leaks out the belly again as the tanks approach full.

When will it end?

 

[CrazyCooter]

I can't believe it's been 10 months since I updated this tread! The rig is still leak free and hopefully all dialed in.

Getting ready for another trip to so cal to play in the warm desert and had a few odds and ends that I have been wanting to do....

I built some carpeted shelves for the front compartment to cover exposed power terminals/cables. Storage in this model is at a premium, so you have to be organized!

Before:

Made some wood spacers to get the plywood up off the battery valves:

Carpeted and installed:

12V Refer/freezer sandwiched in there with storage for beer/soda:

I also built a little shelf in the A/V cabinet as permanent home for the satellite box while on the road:

 

[oscar]

Very nice. Right color too!

 

[CrazyCooter]

Almost perfect! It was the keyboard tray for my desk in the house.

 

[scottyb]

Are those 4D batteries?

 

[CrazyCooter]

Are those 4D batteries?

Deka 8d AGM's

 

[scottyb]

Deka 8d AGM's

Nice. I may need a jump start from you some time.

 

[CrazyCooter]

Lol!

 

[scottyb]

That is impressive and some serious 12v storage. I see you like to do some boondocking in the desert. Assuming normal dessert sunshine, how many watts can you sustain with your setup?

 

[CrazyCooter]

That is impressive and some serious 12v storage. I see you like to do some boondocking in the desert. Assuming normal dessert sunshine, how many watts can you sustain with your setup?

Yep, boondocking exclusively and mostly desert. We live/work in a populated area, so I really don't want to camp anywhere near one.....

I don't know exactly what you mean by sustained watts, but on a typical spring/fall day we usually harvest 375-525Ah from the rated 1110 watts of panels depending on ambient temps and have a total of 785Ah battery storage. I feed 90V off the roof (optimized for winter) and use an Outback Flexmax 80 for a charge controller. On a cold sunny day I have seen charging as much as 96.7A peak!

I have people tell me all the time that I need to get some golf cart batteries and 2 80w solar panels like they have so I can get double the power that I have from my 12V batteries. I think they have been internet camping too much and reading on RV.net...... Cost, Ah, Agm, charge/discharge rates, and physical size all pointed me to these 8d's although Costco GC2's have their place.

I do however wish I went with the MS2800 inverter for the larger 125A charger for those times in the winter when camping in the trees and need to run the genny for a bit.

 

[oscar]

LOVE 8D AGM's. Ran a small AC on a boat at night off 4 of them for years......

If anyone is near Eastern PA and wants a deal on one..... Deka sells scratch and dent out of a little shack on the factory property....I got my 4 for $125 each.... (OK, that was 7 years ago, but still. At the time they listed for a lot more)

 

[CrazyCooter]

$125 is a steal! I think I paid almost $450 ea and that was wholesale.....

 

[porthole]

Eastern PA where Oscar?