First Trip Report

[vicali]

Hooked up and took the new Hideout to Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park for the May-Long Weekend.. we chose the campsite because it was about 20km from home, after booking we realised that it was also 1273m (4120ft).. The forecast was predicting rain all weekend and so we packed extra warm clothes and off we went.

Friday night was nice, pretty chilly though, inside we were at 14c inside before we fired up the furnace for the rest of the night (we have a 2 year old and a 9 month old, first time campers so we didn't want them to freeze right off the bat!).

Saturday started out raining and continued to pour.. although it didn't snow so that was nice. We kept busy inside with lots of colouring books and games and toys. Saturday night was another cold one but the furnace was dialed in so we stayed warm and toasty inside.

Sunday we made it through half the days worth of rain before we pulled the plug.. Overall the trip was a success, we set up our full camp and everything worked. We had lots of time stuck inside to re-organize where things went and how they fit in cupboards. Too bad about the weather but it was more of a practice shake-down trip than anything else.

Cable (our Tacoma) pulled the Hideout perfectly, we're not racing up any Hillclimbs anytime soon but it had enough power and felt well in control of the trailer at all times. We used the PO settings for the equalizer hitch (they had a 4runner) and ended up going one link tighter on the way home to get rid of some porpoising.. I'll get out the tape measure and make sure everything is within the limits on flat pavement.

The only thing we had a question on was our water pump; We noticed that usually it would run normally and then ease right up to barely running before stopping, two or three times it didn't actually stop until I switched it off manually. I'm not sure why it didn't turn off, I'm planning on looking through the forum to see if anyone else had the same thing happen.

This week I'm busy building real plywood seat benches, and looking for some non-shaking towing mirrors for the Tacoma, we'll see how they both turn out.

[Ken / Claudia]

All the RVs I have had, have had a factory water pump and they seen to do what you said and make alot of noise. Why it would not stop could be do to a faucet left on, the toilet running or the hot water tank filling. The worst case is a leak somewhere. The pump will stop once no water is being drained from the system.

[bsmith0404]

You let out probably the most important thing you learned on this shakedown trip. Although mother nature didn't comply with you for outdoor adventure, I'd say you are pretty confident at this point that you don't have any leaks!

As for the water pump, as already stated, they operate on a pressure system. They pump until the line pressures reach a predetermined point. An open faucet or water heater that is not full can cause the line pressures to be low . Once everything is full and the pressures build up, the pump will shut off. Do you happen to know if maybe you used hot water during the times when it seemed to keep running?

[vicali]

Originally Posted by bsmith0404

Do you happen to know if maybe you used hot water during the times when it seemed to keep running?

Seemed to do it when hot water was used. I was wondering about the air cushion in the HW tank, I couldn't tell if it was releasing water at the pressure valve because of the deluge outside -'hmm, it does look wet'..

[Kristi]

Glad you had a good trip despite the weather. Isn't that the wonderful thing about a trailer vs. tents? Rain or shine camping!

[JRTJH]

Air in the lines (near the faucets) will cause the pump to keep running until it pressurizes that air pocket, then it will shut off. If you were stuck inside and this was the "first trip" it's possible that you may have some air in the lines at the outside shower. I'd try turning it on with the pump running, let those lines purge and see if the pump action becomes more "on/off" rather than "undetermined what to do" in how it shuts off.

On our Springdale and also on our Cougar, if we left the pump on while towing (sometimes forget to turn it off) the bouncing from travel will "confuse" the pump and when we unlock the door, it will be running. Actually, it's "cavitating" (running without pumping water) and won't stop until we open a faucet allowing it to develop flow again, then it works as intended. I think what happens is that the vibrations set up air bubbles in the pump causing it to not draw water, but I've not really done a lot of researching to find the cause, so I could be off base on that.....

Anyway, you've probably got some air in the system that's "confusing the pump". Purge all your faucets and the toilet and you should resolve that pump issue.

It's good to hear that everything worked as designed. Kudos to your dealer's service department for doing an effective PDI...

[vicali]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

It's good to hear that everything worked as designed. Kudos to your dealer's service department for doing an effective PDI...

Interesting, I forgot about the outside shower!@

And I think the previous owner must have gotten all the kinks out on their 5 camping trips for us

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by vicali

Interesting, I forgot about the outside shower!@

And I think the previous owner must have gotten all the kinks out on their 5 camping trips for us

Well then, KUDOS to the previous owner for doing a good PDI LOL

[vicali]

Going to go with the Milenco Grand Aero 2;



They look like a good compromise between the $30 shaky view mirrors we have and the $400 Dodge retrofit mirrors..

[GMcKenzie]

Yeah. Wasn't the best camping weekend for the start of the season. We ended up packing up Sunday afternoon as well. Was at Kekuli just south of Vernon.

Running the furnace at night is going to burn up both propane and your batteries. I know when my batteries are low, the pump does run on longer than I like so I'm wondering if that was the issue with the pump. Did it shut off quicker at the start of the weekend?

[vicali]

I was watching my levels pretty closely, 'excessively' some might say
Batt never wavered, and I'm sure the two full propane bottles are still almost full.

Haven't been to Kekuli, we really liked Ellison though..