First long dry camping trip... with issues

[Rdowns]

We did our first long dry camping trip with our 371 for a week. All and all had a great time but realized a couple of things when we were out.

1) Generator gas gauge is stuck at about 1/2 tank. At the start of the trip we thought we had a full tank... and it was only half full, we found out when the lights started to flicker. We also found out that when the gen. is low on gas and a major draw of power happens (microwave) it trips the 30 amp breaker on the gen. Which was a little tricky to figure that out once we put fuel back in the gen. out of the aux tank... couldn't figure out why the microwave would not come back on, check the main breaker/fuse panel and everything was ok there, look at the gen and sure enough a popped breaker!

2) The water pump, if the switch is on (gen. not running) is it supposed to make a constant running sound? Our old 5er we had you could turn it on it would make a sound for a couple seconds then it would shut off and only turn on when a fixture was opened up. Is this normal for it to run constantly?

3) The rear ramp door when closing it and latch the handles, it seems that the handles tighten and compress the door gasket pretty well on the lower half. But the upper half looks as though it does not seal up real tight? Normal?

4)The front pass through storage bin door has the slam latch door with the air shocks to hold it open. The air shocks would no longer hold it open. Has anyone replaced these, maybe got them from a local auto parts store?

5) Dirty bikes going into the garage. Lots of mud while we were out and I tried to knock most of it of but it still gets in the garage with the bikes and gear. Any ideas, tarp, painters drop cloth... what do you guys do?

6) Has anyone done anything to quite down there Generator? I know it is pretty damn quite as it is but compared to the actual Honda "quite" Generators it seemed to be pretty loud when we were running ours side by side with the person next to use.

7) Black tank sensors are off also, say they are a 1/3 full when not. How do you get those clean, I have seen many suggestions of throwing chemicals in their to putting ice... but what really works?

I will get some pictures up soon!

[tzman]

These are all warranty items that your dealer should take care of for you. :confused:

[dcg9381]

We also found out that when the gen. is low on gas and a major draw of power happens (microwave) it trips the 30 amp breaker on the gen.

This sounds odd, as the breaker doesn't care how much fuel is in the tank. Is it possible that you were running the fridge, electric water heater, other accessories, and the microwave? The electric water heater is a pretty big draw and it's not obvious if the element is on.

If you have an external generator it's also like that your 30A breaker isn't really 30A.



2) The water pump, if the switch is on (gen. not running) is it supposed to make a constant running sound?

No. It should stop running. Constant running is something wrong with the pump or a leak.




3) The rear ramp door when closing it and latch the handles, it seems that the handles tighten and compress the door gasket pretty well on the lower half. But the upper half looks as though it does not seal up real tight? Normal?


Check the door for bowing. Our rear door seals well.



4)The front pass through storage bin door has the slam latch door with the air shocks to hold it open. The air shocks would no longer hold it open. Has anyone replaced these, maybe got them from a local auto parts store?


Warranty. Or measure them and they're available online.





6) Has anyone done anything to quite down there Generator? I know it is pretty damn quite as it is but compared to the actual Honda "quite" Generators it seemed to be pretty loud when we were running ours side by side with the person next to use.



What generator do you have? People build boxes around them and that sort of thing.. Or move up and spend the money on a much higher dollar generator that is quieter.


7) Black tank sensors are off also, say they are a 1/3 full when not. How do you get those clean, I have seen many suggestions of throwing chemicals in their to putting ice... but what really works?


I've given up on these. I've ever had an RV where they worked well consistently. My suggestion is that if you're off by 1/3, just live with it, otherwise it's going to drive you nuts....

[hoffbrew]

The only thing I can add, is the ramp door. Make sure the lock latches are not too tight, unloosen them a few turns. I noticed mine was bowing a little.

[Moomba80]

As far as water pump goes make sure you switch the auto fill lever back to off. If it is left on while trying to use pump the pump will continue to run.

[wtxdxer]

2) The water pump, if the switch is on (gen. not running) is it supposed to make a constant running sound? Our old 5er we had you could turn it on it would make a sound for a couple seconds then it would shut off and only turn on when a fixture was opened up. Is this normal for it to run constantly

Our pump does that when the battery is low. The voltage drops and the pump is unable to build up enough pressure for the pressure switch to shut off the pump.

[dcg9381]

I never thought about that.. But that certainly could happen.

As has been mentioned in other posts, your battery disconnect is really a "most-things-disconnect". There will still be parasitic drain that will likely kill your battery in 1-2 weeks. You need to have it on a charger or install a real disconnect in order to save yourself $100 or so in a new battery this year...

[Rdowns]

Ok, So I have quick disconnects on my batteries already. The batteries were not low when the water pump was running full time. The one thing I can not answer is about the quick fill control... not sure if that was on so maybe this was the problem.

As far as the warranty, I think it is up. They only cover 1 year correct? So I think I am on own?

To be honest not even fully sure what every control is, in the convenience control box. Our previous 5er did not have that. So I get the basic set up of water, waste valves, waste tank flush. But what is the fill/quick fill do? there area a lot of extra little controls in there that are outside of the standard older RV.

[Ram189]

Was your pump trying to fill your hot water heater?

Mine runs forever when I first turn it on after filling up the water tank. I boondock 99% of the time so I am used to it now.

One thing that I have found helps a little is turn on a hot water valve to help draw water into the tank. If you don't want to do that then I sometimes will pop the relief valve on the hot water tank and that seems to get it to fill faster.