Issues resource/solution resolution for Newer Airstream Interstates

[sthrngary]

Right now, if you have a common issue, you have to search that issue on the board. I thought maybe if we all chose an issue we had and how it was resolved, we could have it all one string. All I would ask is to attempt not to do duplicates unless your resolution was different then the posted solution on this string. Let me start:

Subject Line: Electric Step

ITEM: Electric Step—WHEN: Happened 3 months after delivery—WHAT: Some time the step comes out and some times it does not—SOLUTION: Coach needed a new door magnet. Airstream warrant sent a new part. Locate RV mobile tech fixed it in 20 minutes.

Please put the item in the subject line in this stream.

Gary T.

[sthrngary]

ITEM: C.R. Laurence Co. Rear Passenger Side Window Glass.

WHEN: March 3, 2018

WHAT: While inspecting the exterior of the AI, the glass pane simply fell off it's track. I caught it so no damage to the glass. Seems the adhesive used to keep it on its bracket came off.

SOLUTION: Initially I called the C.R. Laurence Co Auto Parts division. This is a great company and has excellent customer service. Then I realized, the window bracket was still there and all I needed was an Auto Glass local company. Took 30 minutes and 1/2 labor hour. Problem solved.

[InterBlog]

The idea is spot on.

The platform is perhaps the worst possible choice, because it is effectively unsearchable. Go ahead - try it. Search "awning". You'll retrieve 229 threads, none of which is distinguished from any other. Search "step", and you'll find 379 threads. THIS thread will eventually become every bit as indistinguishable to many people who would want the info but are low-volume forum participants and therefore are not the best at mining for it.

That's why newbies get so lost here. Social Knowledge LLC designs their products for banter, not for archival or organization. I've been on here for 3.5 years and I have a very good memory and half the time I cannot find key information even though I have advance knowledge of where to look for it.

Blog would be better for consolidation purposes. Wordpress is tough, with a female dog of a learning curve. Blogger is archaic but incredibly simple - a toddler could do it. Someone could perhaps think about starting an NCV3 Interstate blog just as I started a T1N Interstate blog.

[sthrngary]

InterBlog:

That was great information. I thought I was the only one to have a hard time searching specific situations. You made me feel so much better. Funny you should say "Awning". Seems my new 2018 Carefree Awning just flew over my roof.

I will let this stream die and put a similar stream on my business blog which is "WordPress". My intentions were good but maybe I should have taken a bit more time on my execution.

You have been very helpful. Thank you.

Gary T.

Originally Posted by InterBlog

The idea is spot on.

The platform is perhaps the worst possible choice, because it is effectively unsearchable. Go ahead - try it. Search "awning". You'll retrieve 229 threads, none of which is distinguished from any other. Search "step", and you'll find 379 threads. THIS thread will eventually become every bit as indistinguishable to many people who would want the info but are low-volume forum participants and therefore are not the best at mining for it.

That's why newbies get so lost here. Social Knowledge LLC designs their products for banter, not for archival or organization. I've been on here for 3.5 years and I have a very good memory and half the time I cannot find key information even though I have advance knowledge of where to look for it.

Blog would be better for consolidation purposes. Wordpress is tough, with a female dog of a learning curve. Blogger is archaic but incredibly simple - a toddler could do it. Someone could perhaps think about starting an NCV3 Interstate blog just as I started a T1N Interstate blog.

[Titus]

I too am glad to see that it was not my feeble searching skills that was the problem. I have got into the habit of copying key posts associated with problems, solutions, or upgrades into a Word file. That Word file is only a dozen or so pages long, and easier to search. If the topic is too long for my Word file, then I put the link to it in my Word file. Not real elegant, but works for me... The post of 'Interstate Mods - I'll go first' is way too big for me to navigate.

[InterBlog]

Case in point:

I just guided an amazingly capable Air Forums DIYer to the correct entry point in my husband's lithium thread to answer his specific question. This is someone who has previously posted in the trailer sections but not B-Van.

Without foreknowledge of what to look for, there is no way he could have navigated that 484-entry thread to find the reference, and his question had not been covered by any of my own blog posts to date.

In fact, he would have been lucky to have even found my husband's lithium thread in the first place, let alone successfully searched it internally. He contacted me via my gmail, not through the forum.

And this is someone who is capable enough to strip a trailer down to its frame and rebuild from bare steel. Verily I say, the whole thing is effectively unsearchable.

[sthrngary]

I will let this be my last word on this. When I had my Electric Stair issue, the way I found the blog or stream was to search in on google. Google linked me in to an airForums.com stream and I got my solution to resolve my issue. I asked directly on AirForums when I had my CareFree Awning issue. All I wanted to know was it is a warranty issue or Insurance issue. The group condenses was Insurance Act of God. Not the case, but yet to be resolved.

My point is my honest hope was to have a little stream of information of what the most common issue that happen to AirStream Interstates in the first few years. It is really scary to have an issue with a six figure item where the dealers service departments can see you for 4-6 weeks.

InterBlog gave me the answer to that issue buy simple using a different blog with correct search words. Google will do the rest.

Thanks folks. Nice to know I was not going crazy.

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Case in point:

I just guided an amazingly capable Air Forums DIYer to the correct entry point in my husband's lithium thread to answer his specific question. This is someone who has previously posted in the trailer sections but not B-Van.

Without foreknowledge of what to look for, there is no way he could have navigated that 484-entry thread to find the reference, and his question had not been covered by any of my own blog posts to date.

In fact, he would have been lucky to have even found my husband's lithium thread in the first place, let alone successfully searched it internally. He contacted me via my gmail, not through the forum.

And this is someone who is capable enough to strip a trailer down to its frame and rebuild from bare steel. Verily I say, the whole thing is effectively unsearchable.