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bernermom · 01-14-2008, 02:31 PM

I was not in those pictures, only the old guy in the hat. We will probably have to make due with day trips, until the end of March, when we have our first outdoor agility trial. And backyard trips, can be fun too. The CD changer is getting a work out. My CD player in the house stopped working, so now I must go out to the trailer to listen to music. Another good thing about the SS floor plan, is more room to dance

Diane

safari57 · 01-14-2008, 04:07 PM

Dance? In an Airstream? Don't you have problems when they get to the part "swing your partner two by two" or whatever it is?

Glad you are having fun 'streamin at home. Your neighbors must be wondering what the heck you two are doing over there though. Probably shaking their heads and depending on the generation saying either "kids" or "old farts".

Barry

Gene · 01-15-2008, 05:53 PM

Diane,

If you're not in the pictures, who's the woman in Post # 75?

Gene

bernermom · 01-16-2008, 07:39 AM

That would be Robert Cross's better half, and his very fine Portugese Water Dog!

Diane

Gene · 01-16-2008, 04:02 PM

Duh…I guess I forgot to look at who the post came from. I was all crossed up.

Gene

ROBERT CROSS · 01-16-2008, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernermom

That would be Robert Cross's better half, and his very fine Portugese Water Dog!

Diane

Why thank you very much

bernermom · 01-19-2008, 09:28 AM

We found ANOTHER leak in the Silver Lining. We just picked it up last Saturday after having a leak in the panoramic windows fixed. Now the window by the entry door has a leak.

I am rather upset that we spent five times as much on this as our old SOB, and in 13 years we never had a leak with that trailer. I talked to the dealer, and they said bring her in anytime, but we need to wait until we get the hitch issue straightened out. I also called Airstream, and emailed them some pictures of the leak. They assured me that it could be fixed, but I don't understand how a trailer less than two months old, and never really used could have two different leaks. Where is the quality control!

Diane

ROBERT CROSS · 01-19-2008, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bernermom

We found ANOTHER leak in the Silver Lining. We just picked it up last Saturday after having a leak in the panoramic windows fixed. Now the window by the entry door has a leak.

I am rather upset that we spent five times as much on this as our old SOB, and in 13 years we never had a leak with that trailer. I talked to the dealer, and they said bring her in anytime, but we need to wait until we get the hitch issue straightened out. I also called Airstream, and emailed them some pictures of the leak. They assured me that it could be fixed, but I don't understand how a trailer less than two months old, and never really used could have two different leaks. Where is the quality control!

Diane

When we took the Factory Tour several years ago, like most we were

very impressed with the "water test" during production, how about another

after

Really sorry your having such trouble with the new rig.

Hope all smooths out soon for you....chin-up!

safari57 · 01-19-2008, 10:31 AM

Gee whiz Diane,

That's not a good thing to have happen and you haven't even camped in it yet. I'd be having a discussion with the dealer about their own testing as well. Surely they washed it before you picked it up at the very least. Tell them this time you'll be standing inside while they go vent to vent and window to window with water and test for leaks, and just how disappointed you are.

Barry

2airishuman · 01-19-2008, 11:42 AM

bummer!

but not surprising.

u might wanna add your list of fit/finish issues to this thread...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f142...ity-31210.html

one of the frustrating things about buying an a/s in the 'off season' is dealing with issues and paying for it...

while NOT getting any camping fun to balance this out.

it really takes about a year or more of moderate USAGE to reveal most of the issues in the unit.

if buying another NEW unit, i'd INSIST the dealer do a 'leak test' using the best available equipment...

they can find all of the suspect areas and FIX them prior to interior water damage, which isn't covered under the warranty...

and might reduce a big chuck (but not all) of new owner frustration...

http://www.airforums.com/forums/486820-post5.html

there are threads here on the leak testing (seal tech?) and many have been happy with the results...

don't loose hope yet diane, once you start traveling with the trailer, you'll need a notebook just for the repairs list

cheers
2air'

Silvertwinkie · 01-19-2008, 12:12 PM

Hi Diane.

Sorry to hear about the issues you are having. As Joe said, make sure to post your findings with your unit to the 2008 model year quality thread. It's a great place for folks to read about each year's issues...good, bad or otherwise.

As for your issue, the questions going through your mind are most likely the same ones I had as I found a leak in my unit straight off the factory build line only a day at the dealership right down the street from the factory.

Airstream has what looks like the length of half of a car wash, where they spray the shell every which way at once to locate leaks. In my case, the leak was due to no caulk in the wheel well area, where frankly there is little water that I saw in that test hit that area.

In your case however, since the leaks you are talking about are in the area where the water test should have caught it, draws two conclusions from me (which may or may not be correct). Either both were missed in the water test, or, the most likely senario, it was not sealed correctly and although it did pass the water test at the factory, while in transit, the body did flex a bit (as it normally might) and the lack of correct sealant or assembly became more pronounced, thus allowing the water to now pass by into the interior.

One other area I agree with Joe on is that in some cases, it can take a full camping season to find any of the little joys these artisans (as Airstream calls their line workers) did or did not do.

I would encourage you to read at least the last 3 model year quality threads to see some of the items you too may come across and/or be on the lookout for. There is a wealth of good info. The model years go as far back as 2004.

bernermom · 01-21-2008, 10:26 AM

Thanks for all the good advice. I did add a post to the 2008 model year quality thread.

One disadvantage to picking up the AS in December was that the temps were below freezing (and it was snowing) the day that we picked it up. Not sure if they every did a full water test then, we had a very hard driving rain the day before we picked her up from the repair of the first leak, and this leak did not show up then. It has been very cold here the last few days, and we are thinking that it might be best to wait until the weather gets a bit warmer to take her in for the repair, so that they CAN do a complete water test and not make the lot an ice skating rink

.

Diane

Silvertwinkie · 01-21-2008, 11:08 AM

It's pretty cold here too!

FWIW, the factory water test is indoors, so regardless of outdoor temps, that unit runs every work day. We were told on hot days, the factory workers hangout around it a lot!

2airishuman · 01-21-2008, 12:54 PM

yea it makes sense to wait out the freeze...

unless the leaks are really bad or interior stuff gets wet.

because the interior ISN'T covered for water damage by the warranty.

---the 'leak testing' i referenced above uses air pressure INSIDE to find the gaps, the unit isn't hosed down 4 this...

the only water used is a bottle of soapy spray...

cheers
2air'

bernermom · 01-21-2008, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2airishuman

---the 'leak testing' i referenced above uses air pressure INSIDE to find the gaps, the unit isn't hosed down 4 this...

the only water used is a bottle of soapy spray...

cheers
2air'

Thanks 2Air, I will check with the dealer and see if they can do that type of test.

The leak was not so major as to cause interior damage, but I was concerned about the insulation getting wet. The dealer said that is not usually a problem, and the factory rep said they can peel back the aluminum to check for wetness of the insulation. But I hope that does not cause other problems.

lovingtahoe · 01-21-2008, 03:17 PM

We have a 2008 Intl 25fb that was delivered in August. We have had some minor warranty work done (mostly cosmetic) but... during those really heavy rains in December we were in SoCal and water started coming in behind the stove (where a backsplash would be in a home kitchen). We have the exposed aluminum interior and the water was coming in through one of the overlapping seems. I called up Airstream and they gave a recommendation of a dealer in Irvine who could fix it. We took it there and they were able to diagnose it as a leak from our skylight that was running down the sides to the stove area. They knew where it was coming from without really doing any testing yet. Guess it is a common issue now

It is fixed now as far as we can tell but it is kind of a bummer that Airstream seems to be having so many problems with these new trailers.

1Bombshell · 01-28-2008, 01:04 AM

We had a few leaks when we first got our A/S. They've since been fixed. After a long drive back to Southwest Coaches (not a fun drive through L.A.). Overall, the number of things that needed attention were minimal. I wish the experience with the manager and service manager went as well. Never did I imagine spending so much for something to be treated so poorly. We now take our trailer to C&G. Fortunately, we have had zero problems with the A/S since. We average about 9 trips a year. Did I mention that we love our A/S? You'll get the bugs worked out and you'll have many enjoyable adventures. ~Rob~

bernermom · 01-28-2008, 12:09 PM

Rob, it stinks that you were not treated better by the service department at Southwest. The service department at Colonial has been very good to deal with. We averaged about 16 trips a year with our old SOB, and plan to do at least that many in the SilverLining.

We are going to wait till the weather improves before we take it back in to have the leaks fixed. Our first weekend trip is in the end of March, we cannot wait!

Diane

Gene · 03-29-2008, 08:01 PM

Diane,

It's the end of March and hopefully you're out on the road and have gotten your leak fixed. Out in the SW, not much rain, but we did have some over winter and lots of snow, and no leaks so far. I hope our luck continues and yours gets better. We are finding little things that need fixing—like the propane tank cover rests on some wires and wears the insulation off. I fixed that with a pipe clamp over the wires. One the the locking catches for the stove fan vent came off. When we make a list to take our unit to the dealer I'll post the problems.

Gene

bernermom · 04-15-2008, 08:20 AM

We have taken our first two weekend trips in the SilverLining. We went to agility trials with our dogs, so it was not really the type of camping that you do when exploring interesting places, but it was great!

The first weekend we had water and electric hookup, so we did use the water tank and pump, but we tested it out at home a bit while flushing out the antifreeze. During that process, my husband accidently ran some of the antifreeze through the filter at the sink for a minute or two. Now I am not sure if we should trust that water filter anymore. We used bottled water that we refill from home for our drinking water, (and for the dogs of course!).

We really felt very comfortable, and love the floor plan. It has a nice amount of floor space which is very important with two big dogs. I hear they have discontinued the SS floor plan, so I am very glad we got this when we did.

One issue we found is that the sensor seems to be off for the black water tank. It reads full when we have only put one gallon of water and the chemical down the toilet.

We also had a flood before the second weekend out. We did not have water at that show site, so when filling the tank, it overflowed a little before my husband shut off the hose, but that ended up putting a large amount of water into the trailer, leaking out by the sink. I called the dealer, and our salesperson was helped us to identify where to look for a problem, but we did not find any loose connections. We will have to be very careful when filling the tank.

A few other minor issues, like a missing bracket on the stove vent, and the fantastic fan does not always want to open, but overall we are very pleased. Missing silicon cushions on some of the cabinets, which we took care of.

As far as the leak we had during the rain over the winter, it has not happened again, and we have not had the trailer back to the dealer yet to check it out. I wanted to get a few weekends of use in, so that we could find out if there are any other issues to be corrected.

I would also like to mount another towel bar, but we are afraid to drill into the bathroom door, as it is so thin. The one towel bar is in the shower, and it would be good to have another on the inside of the door. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have been looking for something similar to what is in the shower, but glue on, instead of screw in.

We will be going to another agility trial this weekend, and I will try to take a few pictures and post them.

Diane