Newbie's (Texas Gulf Coast)

TexZen · 01-28-2008, 11:59 AM

Hello everyone.

This is a fantastic AS forum site!! We are new to AS's and this web site, but not new to camping. After over a year of researching, we recently took delivery (1/22/08) of a 2008 25' International FB Ocean Breeze.

I hope this isn't the beginning of a long string of problems. But here goes...

During the walk-through at the dealer upon delivery. A small condensate leak appeared from the roof AC forming a sizable pool of water on the floor. The tech performing the walk-through promptly addressed it by removing the filter louvers and tightened the AC to roof gasket bolts. The dripping immediately stopped. We finished the remainder of the walk-through w/o any further problems and proudly took delivery of our new AS. Hauling it home involved a trip of roughly 60 miles to where it sat for three days while we outfitted the rig.

Over the three days it sat at our home, we experienced three solid day's of heavy rainfall. The water leak from the roof AC returned during the rains, requiring a bucket to placed on the floor instead of a towel or rag of somekind. Got to thinking, well...when it stops raining we'll deal with it. Meanwhile...we have two 5 y.o. twin grandson's that were "dying" to go camping somewhere, soon. Living on 5 acres, they settled on the backyard.

Saturday morning brought clearing skies with a 38 degree temp. No problem. Got to prepare for the maiden "camping trip" in our backyard. Major adventure in the eyes of two 5 year old's. With plenty of "help" from them, we plugged in the service power, turned on the L.P. tank and boarded the shiny two-axled contraption thier grandparents' call a camper. They proceeded to check out all the light switches, which worked. We scoped out the hot water heater and fired it up. Ahhh...a TV and a microwave. Saturday morning cartoons were in order. Yep...TV works fine as does the microwave.

Little chilly in here, eh boy's? Well...let's see about getting some heat going. Walked up to the Duotherm Comfort Control Thermostat and flicked on the power switch. No display came up even after numerous tries of the power and mode switch. It worked fine during the walk-through. Hmmm...maybe the breaker or fuse. Checked those visually and cycled the AC breaker. No luck. Back tracked through all the switches we might have had turned off/on. No luck.

Called the tech up at the dealer. He ran me through what I already accomplished trying to troubleshoot the issue. He didn't have a clue. He attempted to contact the guy that field-installed the thermostat. He was out of town for the weekend. Will have to wait til Monday.

Monday arrives. Appt set up for this afternoon to bring it in to resolve the thermostat problem. Will keep ya'll posted. That warm & fuzzy feeling we experienced when we drove off the dealer's lot upon delivery. Just melted away in a matter of day's.

BTW...Noticed some threads about ham operators...callsign here is N5CJ.

Regards,

Joe & Beth
Wallisville, Texas

**Mel** · 01-28-2008, 01:25 PM

Joe & Beth, welcome! Bummer about the issues you've experienced so far. I'm hoping your local dealer will make good on the repairs and you'll be back to camping with the grandsons in no time. Best of luck to you.

**Stefrobrts** · 01-28-2008, 01:44 PM

Welcome to the forum!

I can't say how I'd feel if my new 2008 was heading back for work already, my vintage trailer came with the knowledge that it was a work in progress. I'll bet they get it all worked out and you'll be camping without incident soon. At least you're getting the bugs worked out before spring hits!

Congrats on what must be a beautiful unit! We visited the dealer last year and the FB models were the ones I really wanted to take home!

silver&gold · 01-28-2008, 07:02 PM

Welcome Fellow Texan,
Happy Trails.

rmpray · 01-28-2008, 07:18 PM

Welcome aboard! Sounds like a nice rig you have. Sure, a few bugs to work out, but expect that will come together soon. COngrats and happy camping!
Rob N Terry

ole81 · 02-03-2008, 11:37 AM

Hi TexZen,
Glad to see more rigs in the area. Are you going to the Vintage Rally this week? I know you are not exactly vintage, but most attending are newer.

Hope to cross paths with you in the near future...

Ole81
Bob and Gail

Allen H · 02-03-2008, 01:55 PM

Welcome Tex, Hope all goes well with your repairs,you will love Streaming and this Forum. We are headed for your fine state next Wed. We will be spending a couple of weeks on South Padre Island after visitng Big Bend.

2airishuman · 02-03-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexZen

... we recently took delivery (1/22/08) of a 2008 25' International FB Ocean Breeze.

I hope this isn't the beginning of a long string of problems. But here goes...

hi tex and welcome to the forums...

is this your first rv?

if so, i'd be curious to know what your expectations were/are for the product?

and if you've had other rvs, how did they compare on fit, finish, repairs and reliability issues?

they all have a string of problems, it's called camping!

while it appears u had a 'walk through',

staying overnight IN the dealer lot and using everything for a few hours is very useful on new units...

of course taking it out on the road and into some campsites will find even more surprises...

as things come up, and they will...

here is a thread on 2008 units and the string of camping surprizes...

2008 model year quality....

i suspect the ac will need 2b removed and the drip pan/gasket inspected...

it may need another 1-2 lbs of sikaflex!

cheers

2air'

ole81 · 02-03-2008, 06:17 PM

AllenH, if you are going to Big Bend, the #1 Priority should be taking a guided canoe trip up the Santa Elena Canyon. we used Big Bend River Tours, Big Bend River Tours and had a young man as a guide, whose father is the Park Geologist. Besides getting a first class tour of the canyon, we got a first class tour of the park on the way....ask for him.

Allen H · 02-04-2008, 05:58 AM

Thanks Ole, We will do that, sounds great

Snowey BC · 02-04-2008, 10:34 PM

Oh I had to try my first post here, the thought of above freezing temps and taking possesion in Jan gives me a chuckle. 7 ft of snow in the past 6 weeks (and yes snow before that too) means no hope for camping anytime soon. We plan on delivery of our 16 ft 2008 bambi in April by then the gravel and snow is hopefully off the road. We are concerned about our tv, and researching our options.

TBRich · 02-05-2008, 09:29 PM

Welcome to the Airforums, TexZen (great handle)... You're going to love your new AS...once the bugs are taken care of—and rest assured—they will be...just be patient and persistent... and then you'll be off enjoying yourselfm your AS, and your family...towing your AS proudly down the road...

Congrats and travel well!
TB

SilverCabin · 02-05-2008, 09:42 PM

Hi TexZen and welcome to the forums. I'm sure you will get your problems sorted out and then the joy will return. We had some issues too but we couldn't be happier now. Here's a thread where AC problems were discussed:Air conditioner works, but not cool. In post #15 I posted a reset procedure that fixed our non responsive AC. Maybe this will help you too. We haven't needed it anymore since then.

Randy

TexZen · 02-08-2008, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ole81

Hi TexZen,
Glad to see more rigs in the area. Are you going to the Vintage Rally this week? I know you are not exactly vintage, but most attending are newer.

Hope to cross paths with you in the near future...

Ole81
Bob and Gail

(Update To Our Warranty Work Below)

Bob & Gail -

We tried to "slip-in" under the registration deadline for the Vintage Rally, but did not make it. Sure wanted to check it out. I imagine plenty of opprotunities will present themselves in the near future however. Was wondering if you run HF either from your TV or your AS? I have VHF running in the TV and will have HF pretty soon. I mounted an HF screwdriver in the bed of the TV, but haven't finalized the wiring to the cab yet. I'll probably will leave the screwdriver on the TV and run some coax to the AS when camping. Maybe I'll get the chance to mess w/it over the next week or so.

************************************************** *****
We would like to thank everyone in this thread for their warm welcome & extending their best wishes.

We dropped off our 2008 Int. FB Ocean Breeze on 1/28 for warranty work. The morning of 2/1, a phone call was rcv'd confirming that the work was completed and the AS was ready to be picked up. We picked it up that evening. Karen of Demontrond RV service department in North Houston, was a pleasure to deal with. They addressed and corrected the two main problems we had w/the AS and worked on a few simple items we were not aware of.

AC Unit Condensate Leak - New unit-to-roof gasket was installed & resealed. All mounting hardware was replaced w/new. (No more leak, even through recent heavy rainfall)
Non-Functioning DuroTherm Thermostat - Power wire to the thermostat was found to be "pinched". Tech pulled all the old wiring out & rewired. (All thermostat functions now work as their suppose to).

Long story...short. We headed out to San Luis Pass on the morning of 2/2 w/grandchildren in tow. Stayed overnight and really got to know our new AS. Slight learning curve compared to other non-AS units we've had in the past. All in all...we are very pleased with it so far!! We will be going back again this coming weekend. Heading out this evening, Friday & staying through the weekend.

Meantime, Beth has spent most of this past week sewing up covers for the cushions in the Ocean Breeze. We really like the Blue/White striped covers, but grandchildren tend to
drag around everything from sand to leaves and plop down anywhere. Better to be prepared. We did notice a slight leak from the shower door last weekend. I originally thought it may have been from one of the grandkids playing with the removable shower head. Will look at it a little harder over weekend.

Also did a little work on our TV over the last two weeks. Installed a pair of Air Lift Super-Duty air bags on the rear. Controller is in the cab. Had a front shock absorber that developed a slight oil leak. Replaced the shocks all the way around w/Bilstien gas shocks. Tremendous improvement overall. TV is a 2006 Dodge 2500 4x4 Cummins.

Again, thanks for all the comments & best wishes. Hope to eventually place names to faces at some point in time. Take Care.

Beth & Joe (N5CJ - Good on qrz.com)
Wallisville, Texas