New Basecamp Propane Cover?

[Bborzell]

Originally Posted by YoungishJedi

Hey Gail,
The fridge fix they did was for the water coming in. Apparently there was a bezel and some water routing added to prevent flooding.

I did speak with them about the newest fridge fix and they said that not all basecamps were affected and Airstream would be mailing a service bulletin to those that are. Who knows the truth of this but I guess we need to keep an eye on the mail.

Well, all Basecamps have the same fridge, the same passive vent system and the same inability to cool to food safe temps when the exterior temp reaches 80 degrees, give or take a couple of degrees.

The only way one might get away with the assertion that not all Basecamps were affected would be to presume that not all Basecamps will ever see greater than 80 degrees outside temperature.

Perhaps Airstream has decided that the fix will not be announced to all owners, but based upon my discussions with Jackson Center, I doubt that is the case.

I was told by AS that all the new production models are getting the fridge cooling fix so it would be very strange for AS to deliberately overlook those owners who have yet to camp in a hot setting.

Is the reference to "them" in your post above your dealer of Airstream at Jackson Center?

[YoungishJedi]

Originally Posted by Bborzell

Is the reference to "them" in your post above your dealer of Airstream at Jackson Center?

No. Them in my previous post is Airstream of Albuquerque. While they have played dumb about some of the issues reported here that I brought up with them, they have been very easy to work with to get things resolved. At this point I don't believe they are trying to mislead me rather they are providing more of a stock answer about service recalls.

[BkroadTravlr]

Will somebody please tell me that Airstream has come up with an answer for the rain running down the front and into the fridge vents. Every time it rains I have to sop up water inside. It's not condensate. It only happens when it rains.
I haven't gotten any help from the AS Service people. My dealer says they haven't heard anything from Airstream about it. They said I could bring it in (3 hr. away) and they would check it out and order what was needed! Why hasn't Airstream addressed the issue with the dealers and provided them with the parts that are needed? I'm about ready to start posting Twitter comments and pictures after all of their glossy promotional posts! They need to get their act together!

[Gail Miller]

Originally Posted by BkroadTravlr

Will somebody please tell me that Airstream has come up with an answer for the rain running down the front and into the fridge vents. Every time it rains I have to sop up water inside. It's not condensate. It only happens when it rains.
I haven't gotten any help from the AS Service people. My dealer says they haven't heard anything from Airstream about it. They said I could bring it in (3 hr. away) and they would check it out and order what was needed! Why hasn't Airstream addressed the issue with the dealers and provided them with the parts that are needed? I'm about ready to start posting Twitter comments and pictures after all of their glossy promotional posts! They need to get their act together!

This is why we are all so frustrated with the fridge-fiasco ... I sent an email to Gretchen, in warranty, last week asking about the new service bulletin on the fridge. She said; "Yes, we have the bulletin out, we are still gathering parts". She did not offer the share the bulletin, which I would like to see before I take mine in for yet another 'fix' that doesn't adequately fix anything.

[YoungishJedi]

Originally Posted by BkroadTravlr

Will somebody please tell me that Airstream has come up with an answer for the rain running down the front and into the fridge vents.

This is the fix that was performed on my BC. I believe they added some baffling and a small vent to help the water drain to the hole that's under the fridge.

It sounds like the real issue is the spread of information from the mothership to their employees and dealers.

[Gail Miller]

Originally Posted by BkroadTravlr

Will somebody please tell me that Airstream has come up with an answer for the rain running down the front and into the fridge vents. Every time it rains I have to sop up water inside. It's not condensate. It only happens when it rains.
I haven't gotten any help from the AS Service people. My dealer says they haven't heard anything from Airstream about it. They said I could bring it in (3 hr. away) and they would check it out and order what was needed! Why hasn't Airstream addressed the issue with the dealers and provided them with the parts that are needed? I'm about ready to start posting Twitter comments and pictures after all of their glossy promotional posts! They need to get their act together!

When I read on the forum that lots of folks were having water intrusion issues around the fridge vets when it rained, I looked at mine and it had a significant gap where the vent frame meets the camper skin. I had it caulked. Attaching a photo. Look as see if yours has this problem.

[Tom P.]

Airstream Service Bulletin #172, Basecamp Refriderator Cooling

After seven days in my new BC, the '80's hit Massachusetts and my fridge, which was doing fine, became anemic - Airstream of Nashua will let me drop off tonight and will repair (fridge-o-plasty? fridgotomy?) tomorrow. Here is a link to a pdf of the fix. I haven't read it thoroughly, but will. Any one else care to comment on the fix? (Best to read the first page carefully to understand the BC's that need some/all/none of this fix.)

[Lmnhead]

Originally Posted by Gail Miller

When I read on the forum that lots of folks were having water intrusion issues around the fridge vets when it rained, I looked at mine and it had a significant gap where the vent frame meets the camper skin. I had it caulked. Attaching a photo. Look as see if yours has this problem.

This was the original leak we had -water running down the front into the same kind of gap in the refrigerator vent. The dealership fixed that gap as well as other leaks that sprouted up (around door, around the exterior light over door, over the front window). I am pleased to say the BC was thoroughly buffeted by tropical storm wind and rain when Irma came through, and not a DROP of water came in!

[Gail Miller]

Originally Posted by Tom P.

Airstream Service Bulletin #172, Basecamp Refriderator Cooling

After seven days in my new BC, the '80's hit Massachusetts and my fridge, which was doing fine, became anemic - Airstream of Nashua will let me drop off tonight and will repair (fridge-o-plasty? fridgotomy?) tomorrow. Here is a link to a pdf of the fix. I haven't read it thoroughly, but will. Any one else care to comment on the fix? (Best to read the first page carefully to understand the BC's that need some/all/none of this fix.)

Hum .... after reading that ... I wonder how little insulation is in the original installation, also the heat sensor probably originally in was the wrong place. When I read the installation info that came with my BS/Dometic fridge, I always questioned the foam sealing tape, or lack there of. Also, I wonder if the added insulation will help with the fan noise. Interesting ... I hope it works. Thank you for sharing the PDF file!

[roc97007]

Originally Posted by BkroadTravlr

Will somebody please tell me that Airstream has come up with an answer for the rain running down the front and into the fridge vents. Every time it rains I have to sop up water inside. It's not condensate. It only happens when it rains.
I haven't gotten any help from the AS Service people. My dealer says they haven't heard anything from Airstream about it. They said I could bring it in (3 hr. away) and they would check it out and order what was needed! Why hasn't Airstream addressed the issue with the dealers and provided them with the parts that are needed? I'm about ready to start posting Twitter comments and pictures after all of their glossy promotional posts! They need to get their act together!

I need to find out more about this. Airstream did "service bulletin 172 -- refrigerator cooling" in 2018 on our 2017 Basecamp, but although I did not notice any water seeping in during heavy rains, I noticed in the spring of 2020 a soft part in the floor on the right front edge of the fridge. I talked to the local dealer about it, and ended up taking the trailer into service in the fall of 2020, after coming back from vacation.


Service says that the floor has rotted out under the refrigerator. This is only a few months after they worked on the refrigerator. I've heard stories from other Basecamp owners about the floor rotting out at that exact same spot, almost certainly due to the fridge. (Which was replaced in 2019 Basecamps with an all electric model.)


The dealer wants $ six grand to replace the floor. I have a hard time believing this is our responsibility, considering we've gotten such few uses out of the thing since we bought it, and the fridge has known problems.


The trailer has been sitting at the dealer for months. They're not returning my calls.

[roc97007]

Originally Posted by Bborzell

AS told me that the black plastic cover serves an additional purpose of blocking wind blown rain from entering through the front fridge vents.

Clearly THAT doesn't work. I'm told that the floor rot under our fridge was due to rain blown in through the fridge vents, despite the cover being down and locked.

[roc97007]

Originally Posted by YoungishJedi

Hey Gail,
The fridge fix they did was for the water coming in. Apparently there was a bezel and some water routing added to prevent flooding.

I did speak with them about the newest fridge fix and they said that not all basecamps were affected and Airstream would be mailing a service bulletin to those that are. Who knows the truth of this but I guess we need to keep an eye on the mail.

Do you happen to know the number of the service bulletin? I'd like to track that. We're currently dealing with a rotting floor under the refrigerator on a 2017 basecamp, and I'm looking for evidence that Airstream knew that water coming in the exhaust pipe was an issue.

[roc97007]

Originally Posted by Trae and Ann

Attachment 294773

I guess my plastic cover must be defective too ...

Nope, leakage from the fridge intake was common with 2017s. It happened to us too. We had to replace the subfloor. At the same time we swapped out the propane fridge (which never worked well anyway) for a Norcold compressor fridge and had the intake vent blocked. Problem solved.