Copper Canyon 273 FWRET

[lcfd1150]

I purchased my 273FWRET in March 2011. Took possesion while it was cold outside, AC appeared to be cooling. Got home attempted to extend the awning found the button stuck down and motor wasted. (what no fuse?) Returned to dealer awning motor and switch was replaced. Camped in it one weekend. Took it in to have decals and front hitch mirror replaced which was agreed upon during delivery. Returned to dealer to retrieve RV only to find mirror installed wrong. Left the RV at dealer for the entire month of April to have the mirror replaced again. Picked up the RV made the 75 mile trip home to find one of the slides stuck. Returned to the dealer again to have slide repaired. Returned home and RV sat parked until end of May. Took a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway. Temps outside 95 degree F a/c would only drop temp to 87F inside. Fridge came open during transit dumped everything on floor. Front jacks blew multiple fuses, stepped on heater vent in kitchen and it collapsed under my foot. Button stuck on rear jacks button stuck on awning. Too hot to sleep in bedroom. Tested a/c again at home, let it run 24 hours with the door not being opened, a/c will only drop temp 10 to 12 degrees below outside temp. Guess I'm making the 75 mile trip back to dealer.
Not a happy camper right now!

[RonVal]

Sorry to hear you have had that much trouble with yours. Mine has been great so far. I did have a small leak from the range hood vent, there was a small gap in the caulk on the outside of the vent. Fixed that myself. Everything else has been great. I am in Florida and my a/c works really well. I have it parked at a hunting camp. The slides and awning, jacks etc have had no problems at all. I love the layout and the advantages of a fith wheel. I had an older class a rv before so this one is heaven to me.

[JerJan10]

RonVal and lfcd1150,

Just found your posts today!

We bought our 273FWRET in February and have been on 4 short (<300 mi one way) trips. So far everything has worked well. Heading out to Utah next week so we'll see how the lonnnnng trip goes in the heat.

Bought and installed a Progressive Industries power management system.

Blew a fuse in the landing gear because I didn't stop the Retract when the gear was all the way up. Replaced the fuse and marked the legs with a marker so I will know when to stop.

Fabricated covers for the reading lights in the bedroom to prevent them from shinning right in your eyes when trying to read.

A/C wasn't blowing air in the Bath and Bedroom. Removed the A/C inside cover and found the silver duct tape covered the hole for the plenum to the front. Cut and formed the tape (like it was for the LR/DR vents) and now have air up front.

Bottom line, so far so good and we really enjoy the 5er.

Jerry

[RonVal]

I too am really enjoying mine. I have it set up at a hunting camp with power and water run to it. I plan to make some trips but will use it mostly at the camp. We have spent 2 weekends in it so far and ours has been great!

[hankaye]

lcfd1150, Howdy;

Pull the filter cover off of the A/C and look way up inside..... That's where I found the Warrenty reg. paper for my air conditioner.. blocking the fresh air inlet grill.

AMAZING what ya find when ya look around...

hankaye

[bdaniel]

I now have about 2000 miles on mine. I have not found anything structurally wrong, just shoddy assembly. My ductwork was also half blocked in the A/C with tape. Also the divider between the input and output in the A/C was not installed correctly and a lot of the air was leaking from the output back to the input and not going out to cool the camper. The drawer latches are pathetic. And the tall vertical drawer between the sink and stove is useless. I added another latch and a childproof latch and the drawer broke thru all three and dumped everything out into the floor. We had a broken bottle of soy sauce soaking into the carpets. We now have a bungee cord holding it closed. My NY wife is ready for someone's head. Several of the doors keep coming open. This is our 4th RV and we never had this kind of trouble before.

Again, nothing structural yet like cracked frames or flexing kingpin box. But I still think if the Japanese would build an RV the domestic manufacturers would clean up their act like the auto manufacturers did.

Bobby

[therink]

X2 what bdaniel said about a/c vents. Remove main ac cover and all vent outlets in ceiling and check that the foil tape is sealed properly, not causing blockages or allowing cool air to flow into ceiling cavities. This is the first thing I did when I brought my rig home brand new from the dealer. I ended up redoing all vents and used a whole roll of the heavyweight foil tape. I learned this 3 trailers ago that Gilligan at the factory is not too concerned with effecient ac operation.
Sorry about all of your other issues. Be patient, I'm sure you'll get them worked out.
Steve