alpine 3500re First Trip

[Goinbroke]

We got to use the new trailer this weekend and did not have any major issues, had to run off the holding tanks at night to avoid freezing the water hose, the water pump in this thing is very noisy, it sounds like it may have a line up against the shower wall and it bangs when running. when i find the water pump im going to try and calm this down. only other issue i had was with the digital thermostat i think i need to learn more about how to program it to get it to quit cycling the furnace and heat pump.
overall were very pleased..

[2011 keystone]

you can check in the mod area here and find lots of good ways to calm down all the water pump noise. this is a common problem with TT. Glad to here your shake down trip went well.:wave:

[hsmunoz]

the water pump is just behind the panel in the basement. Same side as the vaccum bag access.
noisy as heck, been there done that!. I pulled off the panel, added 3 ft of flex hose on both the intake and output of the pump, then added some foam tubing insulation to all the hard lines that contact any part of the frame. Now it's so quite that if there was a leak any where, or someone leaves the water running ,I can't hear the pump running.
while you have that panel off, use metal tape to secure the furnace vent plugs. they are just on there with friction and can come loose , causing you to vent the heater in the basement more than necessary.
cheers!

[geo]

The water pump may be located behind either basement panel. Just depends on which Keystone builder was on shift and how he/she is feeling. On my Alpine, the water pump would probably successfully wake the dead! I pulled the panel immediately behind the WaterWorks to find the pump and the Pex elbow against the basement panel. A SurFlo pump quieting kit (flexible connection hose) from CW and moving the pump about three inches made all the difference in the world. Now I can just barely hear the pump.

DocData757 is best to advise you on the thermostat.

Ron

[Goinbroke]

thanks for all the info i will pull the covers off and see what i can do quiet it down, I told my wife the same thing, it would wake the dead!!, i need to do a search on the thermostat .

[KanTC]

Welcome to the forum Goinbroke & congrats on your new Alpine.

There's a few other members here from the 'Land of Enchantment' too..
just wanted to pop in & say :wave: from Carlsbad.

Happy trails to you & the Mrs.,
Terri, the Chevy co-pilot & DH Kevin :)

[turbopilot51]

We got to use the new trailer this weekend and did not have any major issues, had to run off the holding tanks at night to avoid freezing the water hose, the water pump in this thing is very noisy, it sounds like it may have a line up against the shower wall and it bangs when running. when i find the water pump im going to try and calm this down. only other issue i had was with the digital thermostat i think i need to learn more about how to program it to get it to quit cycling the furnace and heat pump.
overall were very pleased..

We are looking forward to our first trip in our Alpine 3500re. There are a few warranty issues to take care of at the dealer first. Can't wait to rough it in our 3500re after five years in the tt. :bdance:

[hankaye]

Goinbroke, Howdy;

More of a 'Welcome Howdy" fro Southern N.M. (Arrey 1/2 way between TorC and Hatch).

hankaye & Rascal (woof)

[Goinbroke]

I got the water pump issue fixed. I replaced the discharge line with a longer flex hose that is not in a bind now. Then I took foam insulation and slid it up the lines between the walls where I could get to, and also put it between all things the line touched to reduce the rattling, it is very quiet now. Only other thing is I found is the shower drain leaking, I haven't decided if I want to fix it or let the dealer handle that. they are 2 hours away!!

[turbopilot51]

I got the water pump issue fixed. I replaced the discharge line with a longer flex hose that is not in a bind now. Then I took foam insulation and slid it up the lines between the walls where I could get to, and also put it between all things the line touched to reduce the rattling, it is very quiet now. Only other thing is I found is the shower drain leaking, I haven't decided if I want to fix it or let the dealer handle that. they are 2 hours away!!

Are you getting good airflow from the furnace in the living room area? Our bedroom/bathroom gets really warm. But it seems like little heat makes it in the living room.

[Goinbroke]

That's the same way this one is. It will run you out of the bed and bathroom but cold in living area.

[DocData757]

During the day, we cover the floor vent in the bedroom and this helps a lot.

If you want to cover the one in the bathroom, a bowl works fine.

[travelbugger]

I have same heating problem in my Alpine 3200Rl.
I bought these magnetic floor vent covers from Lowe's, which you can cut to size. I cover the bedroom and sometimes the bath. If I don't cover the bath one I leave the door open there. I reversed the ceiling fan in the living room to push the air that rises back down, and I removed the back side of the underbelly (outside) in the LR area and put fiberglass insulation down there. Aparently there isn't any down there! I had noticed the vents in the LR area felt cold in the winter when the furnace wasn't running. I also use a small electric heater in the LR area to save on propane. Hope some of these modifications I made helps someone. I wish I knew why these Alpines don't get much air flow in the rear. Maybe the distance is too long and it has a larger diameter duct? No idea. Good luck

[mikell]

Michigan has been really warm so the heat pump has been running instead of the furnace. the fireplace helps alot too. It's 40 again today and only going to be 30 tonight so it looks like the heat pump will be working for another week

[geo]

About a year ago, I discovered what was causing my "hot bedroom, cold living area" problem. It was posted in "Repairs and Maintenace":

http://www.keystonerv.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1798

Now, this may not be everyone's problem, but once I moved the duct work around so as not to be "pinched off" by the incoming electrical cable, the vents at the rear of the Alpine are flowing air very well. When I was installing the heating pads on the waste tanks, I was directly below this area, so I reached up and even re-arranged the heavy input power cable even a little more.

Attached is a picture of this "pinched duct" that on the 3640RL is in the lowest basement area immediately behind the WaterWorks. Note: the 3" duct is part of the basement warm air circulation system that was my modification.

Ron

[f6bits]

I have the same duct problem as geo. The undercarriage ductwork is pinched due to poor routing. I was able to get in and improve the rear ducting, but the front (bedroom) is still pinched somewhere, but the coroplast is a pain to remove up front. Some day I’ll dismantle the underside and fix up my ductwork. For now, I use a space heater when necessary.

[travelbugger]

Is the coroplast the underbelly covering?
As far as I know my ducting isn't pinched anywhere, but I wasn't able to get the underbelly removed in the middle of the camper to take a look as the gas lines run there. I hope we wont have to worry about heating too much once I move to houston in may. I just gotta fudge a few more months. ;)

[f6bits]

Yes, Coroplast™ is the black plastic cardboard stuff that seals off the underside. If you’re not getting airflow (cold or warm), then I’d suspect a pinched duct. I even went so far as to open up my furnace cabinet to plug the plenum openings that went to other ducts, and that didn’t improve the airflow. And that’s when I opened up the underbelly and discovered the horrendous routing of my ductwork.

[travelbugger]

I had wondered if mine was pinched, but couldn't find it in the places I did look. The only place left to look is probably in the most awkwardest place ever! Somewhere back in this mess maybe....

[geo]

Try removing the storage compartment panels that hide the "utility" basement. That would be where the furnace and convertor would be. There is an upper and lower part - separated by the floor base of the main living area. Look in the lower portion.

Ron

[har29]

We just ordered our 2012 AlpineRE, should be at the dealer in a couple of days. The posted duct pictures are very good on this site. The one showing a cable crushing the duct is very interesting, it also looks like the duct has been bent at an angle more than 90deg. which in itself can cause air flow loss. Also, the duct that attaches to the floor registers should have been sealed so as devert heat/cooling to the interior not the basement. I hope this is not Keystones way of heating the basement. I will be spending a large amount of time inspecting our new unit before leaving the dealership. I am also a licensed home inspector. We should always insist on a through pre-delivery inspection of any RV new or used. We get our cars inspected and our homes inspected, the RV is a car/home combination. I will be using an infrared camera to aid in my inspection to check for heat/ cooling losses. I have already informed my dealer that they may refer to me as the Alpine buyer from hell. Inspect, Inspect, Inspect....

[travelbugger]

Har 29 - Some of these places are not easy to see when signing off on delivery. Do you plan on opening up the underbelly and stuff to look? Just curious...
I believe the way they heat the basement is by running 3" ? ducts to the areas letting the heat blow on them when the furnace is running. My storage area also has a small vent to heat it there and I noticed a duct running down to the black/grey tanks. But that is behind the retaining wall in the storage area.
Getting a new camper is exciting, congratulations!

[travelbugger]

BTW- here is a pic of the rear living room underbelly. This little slip of insulation was all that was in there. I wonderd why the floor was feeling cold! I put some R-19 fiberglass insulation in there. Probably a little too thick, but I got it cheap as the roll was damaged at Lowes. It has helped dramatically, but I think it should have been in there in the first place, especially since they claim the floors are R-40! These Alpines are really nice otherwise, they have nice features. I just wish they would have insulated better. Under the closet floor seems to not be well insulated either.

You guys have me wondering if those hangers that are holding that duct up in the pic is actually what is restricting the air flow. What do you think?

[hsmunoz]

the problem with the 3500 re is the design of the heat distribution.
the heater itself is right behind the basement panel by the vaccum unit. The heater pumps into one main cavity that has knockouts for ducting runs. The ducting run to the bath and bedroom are straight shots, while the ducts to the living rooms are 30+ft long, and I think the the bath/bedroom/basement/kitchen vents get the lions share of the heat.

so if you want more heat in the living room you need to restrict the others, I am going to see if i can find the vents with the sliding closure on them so I can decide where the heat should go.

[har29]

Travelbugger,
Realizing that I will have a 1 year warranty from Keystone, I would be careful not to remove any covers myself without their permission so as not to void any warranty. I use an Infrared camera which can see a difference in temperature of down to a tenth of a degree. I will check inside and from underneath the unit for unusual temperature variations. It is simular to checking typical home attic insulation from living areas underneath. It will show areas of missing insulation. If large amounts of insulation appear to be missing there will be a follow-call to Keystone as to the way they they want to approch this problem before I complete the purchase. As far as heat/cooling distribution is concerned it is difficult to evenly distribute even amounts especially using a heat pump, as the same duct is used for both functions. The new Alpine is supposed to be multi zoned, which is difficult to accomplish without separate t-stats, one for living room and one in hall by bedroom. And to help the heat in the living room the fan should be used to blow heat down from the ceiling, since heat rises. Slightly closing off the bath and bedroom vents should help the living room area. The pictures of the basement duct shows what appears to be a string or wire supporting a portion of the duct, a wider cloth-like strap is normally used so as not to risk cutting the outer duct insulation material that the duct itself is wrapped in. It is worse when a flex duct is bent beyond a 90 deg.
The bottom line is it is an RV and not built to the standards as most of our homes. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open. Looking forward to checking mine out and taking it to Sand:obridge resort america in Virginia this year.

[travelbugger]

Har29,
Has your camper arrived yet?
My neighbor and I just used an infrared sensor made by Flir in and outside of our campers. It is 19 degrees here right now so a perfect time to see heat loss! =)
Well keep me posted on what you are able to find. Especially as a professional inspector I am sure you will know what to look for and sounds like you have cool devices to do so with.
The ducting under my livingroom is held up by some kind of metal that is welded to the frame. I would say it is approx. 1/4" in diam. I was wishing I had put something there to support thsoe ducts when I had it open. But you know what they say..hindsight is 20/20!
I am sure you will be happy with your new camper- I can't wait to hear what you find!
And Sandbridge looks like a great spot!

[Jim_VaBeach]

Travelbugger,
Realizing that I will have a 1 year warranty from Keystone, I would be careful not to remove any covers myself without their permission so as not to void any warranty. I use an Infrared camera which can see a difference in temperature of down to a tenth of a degree. I will check inside and from underneath the unit for unusual temperature variations. It is simular to checking typical home attic insulation from living areas underneath. It will show areas of missing insulation. If large amounts of insulation appear to be missing there will be a follow-call to Keystone as to the way they they want to approch this problem before I complete the purchase. As far as heat/cooling distribution is concerned it is difficult to evenly distribute even amounts especially using a heat pump, as the same duct is used for both functions. The new Alpine is supposed to be multi zoned, which is difficult to accomplish without separate t-stats, one for living room and one in hall by bedroom. And to help the heat in the living room the fan should be used to blow heat down from the ceiling, since heat rises. Slightly closing off the bath and bedroom vents should help the living room area. The pictures of the basement duct shows what appears to be a string or wire supporting a portion of the duct, a wider cloth-like strap is normally used so as not to risk cutting the outer duct insulation material that the duct itself is wrapped in. It is worse when a flex duct is bent beyond a 90 deg.
The bottom line is it is an RV and not built to the standards as most of our homes. You just have to keep your eyes and ears open. Looking forward to checking mine out and taking it to Sand:obridge resort america in Virginia this year.

Good sound advice in not tampering with the warranty. BTW, we camp at Sandbridge www.indian-cove.com

[har29]

Jim VAbeach,
I forgot there are other fantistic RV camps in Sandbridge area, we stayed at the resort along the ocean at the south end of Sandbridge, the one right next to the Baja restaurant. Loved it.
The Infrared camera useage is great, one has to be able to interpret the results correctly. Infrared does not work on glass surfaces. Will post anything I find that may be unusal. My unit is not in yet, any day now.:thumbsup:

[Festus2]

It would appear that this thread has wandered off the OP's in which he briefly made a general comment about his first trip out and about a problem he had with the water pump and thermostat. Since then a wide variety of topics have been talked about and we are now on infared measurements and heat loss.
I would suggest that when har29 picks up and examines his rig with the infared device, he can start a new thread and report his findings to us.
Thanks to all who took part in this discussion. This thread will now be closed. If you want to comment further on any of the topics discussed in this thread, please start a new one. Thanks.
:wave: