2013+ Bunkhouse Owners Thread!

[silver27]

Yay, congrats, Pharmgeek!
Feel free to keep the observations and comments coming in this thread - I think it is helpful to have bunk model info consolidated.

As for upper bunk access, right now we give a boost to our 6yo (or put my foot on the lower bed board and let him use my knee as a stepstool). We have a rock wall climbing hold that we'll be installing on that closet wall by the bunk opening next time we camp, and we're hoping that will be enough to let him get in and out on his own.

[PharmGeek]

my 3 year old already loves it up there...he slept there saturday night....

before he fell asleep he was poking his head from up there looking back at us smiling and giggling...good stuff.

the upper bunk is now apparently formally reserved He slept through the night no problems...the rails up there are tall enough at his age very little risk of him falling and IF he did (big if, very very doubtful) - he would land on lower bunk.

What an excellent idea of mounting something to help them climb up.

the main queen bed for us has proven comfortable as is...although for a touch of added warmth I think I will buy a cheap foam topper. slept quite well....I know plenty of folks on this forum discussed the inadequacy of this bed..we are age 30 so we may not be the best reference, but it was comfortable for us...not as comfortable as our home mattress but just fine...

definitely this macerator toilet is worth NOTING - its quite a neat toilet though in use so far...LED lights do in fact flicker when flushing - IggyWalker's does the exact same thing...hold the empty button down for solid 4-5 seconds for proper results...wife had some backwash of stuff with too hasty of operation of the buttons...manual says "hold for 5 full seconds"...results after doing this were consistently excellent so far....likely that dealer will not know about this macerator....I was given the ice trick advice...but NO ice down that toilet folks...

Just one passing thing that was cheesy - that door latch for the bathroom door...oh my, what a POS - plastic hardware...really...well, it aint bad as long as you are gentle with it...I simply would not try and close it without helping it when closing...great thing about this mechanism, is that for my 3 year old he cannot get in...don't want him in there to press hot water buttons, flush buttons, etc...so far he only fiddles with LED light switches - slowly I am getting him to quit that....so this mechanism for this reason I am thankful for...in part

Blinds are cheesy - really really soft tin metal type material that bends and creases very easily - why not use a plastic type that are much more indestructible?...just a matter of time before these get some real abuse...for now I am pulling them up...but not something I will stress at all...I simply cannot imagine these surviving 2 small kids that are as energetic as my kids

Love the storage - will be interesting to see how packing for a trip goes...

Take care you all...good night.

[PharmGeek]

also, I very successfully used this trick with suspenders on standard queen sheets on the bed...cheap fix...no extra cost...used what we already had...make sure and get suspenders that come apart not sewn together.

HOW TO: Make a Fitted Sheet fit an RV Mattress - YouTube

[m.hony]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

my 3 year old already loves it up there...he slept there saturday night.... before he fell asleep he was poking his head from up there looking back at us smiling and giggling...good stuff. the upper bunk is now apparently formally reserved He slept through the night no problems...the rails up there are tall enough at his age very little risk of him falling and IF he did (big if, very very doubtful) - he would land on lower bunk. What an excellent idea of mounting something to help them climb up. the main queen bed for us has proven comfortable as is...although for a touch of added warmth I think I will buy a cheap foam topper. slept quite well....I know plenty of folks on this forum discussed the inadequacy of this bed..we are age 30 so we may not be the best reference, but it was comfortable for us...not as comfortable as our home mattress but just fine... definitely this macerator toilet is worth NOTING - its quite a neat toilet though in use so far...LED lights do in fact flicker when flushing - IggyWalker's does the exact same thing...hold the empty button down for solid 4-5 seconds for proper results...wife had some backwash of stuff with too hasty of operation of the buttons...manual says "hold for 5 full seconds"...results after doing this were consistently excellent so far....likely that dealer will not know about this macerator....I was given the ice trick advice...but NO ice down that toilet folks... Just one passing thing that was cheesy - that door latch for the bathroom door...oh my, what a POS - plastic hardware...really...well, it aint bad as long as you are gentle with it...I simply would not try and close it without helping it when closing...great thing about this mechanism, is that for my 3 year old he cannot get in...don't want him in there to press hot water buttons, flush buttons, etc...so far he only fiddles with LED light switches - slowly I am getting him to quit that....so this mechanism for this reason I am thankful for...in part Blinds are cheesy - really really soft tin metal type material that bends and creases very easily - why not use a plastic type that are much more indestructible?...just a matter of time before these get some real abuse...for now I am pulling them up...but not something I will stress at all...I simply cannot imagine these surviving 2 small kids that are as energetic as my kids Love the storage - will be interesting to see how packing for a trip goes... Take care you all...good night.

There are no good window treatments for RV's. The Airstream curtains in a track are the best I've seen, but far from perfect- they fasten to one another with a small flimsy piece of Velcro that feels like it is going to tear away when you pull the curtains apart.
Basically the mini blinds and day-night shades are just terrible. As the strings break I will discard the blinds/day-night shades and have nothing. When the curtains rot I will replace them. Those curtains are part of the Classic vintage vibe. The blinds/shades are modern junk.
It foes seem best to travel with the blinds up- less damage from them swinging around.
Eventually the strings on day-night shades break leaving you to tie them up however you can for privacy.

[PharmGeek]

so far the blinds have survived....its some kind of miracle lol

we are off on our first "long trip" in a bit more than a month....REALLY excited..

I will have a weekend trip locally in a few weeks too with my son, my brother and his son...will be a great time....the bunkhouse is going to be great for such weekend fun with some other family to camp with us as well...

Also, I have a guy only weekend planned for the last week of may...taking 2 other friends down in south alabama to an ATV/Jeep off road property called "boggs and boulders"...one buddy has a nice trail rated jeep and a couple family members with side by side polaris vehicles....will be a weekend to remember....or at least remember parts of it

My kids love going often to just watch movies in the trailer in the back yard....we watched peter pan today out there...both kids stay entertained and the weather is so perfect right now for chilling out there with the overhead fant. fan on...hey, if I cant be camping in the AS, we are going to get some use out of it

I need to figure out a ladder for my son to climb to top bunk....he can climb down to bottom bed on his own now, but cannot get up on his own, so repeated demands for helping him get up there are part of the fun being in there right now....

[silver27]

So here's what we did for top-bunk access:



It worked quite well, but our top-bunker is 7. Not sure if it would give enough of a boost to a 3yo.

Oh, and I pulled out all the mini-blinds and replaced them with magnatized curtains and we're very happy with the functionality. I might do another post with details on that...

[PharmGeek]

Yes please !! That was brilliant btw!

So far my cheesy (yet I find "ok") blinds have not been thrashed by kiddos

[silver27]

Ok, here it is:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f516...ns-119078.html

[PharmGeek]

Very cool!!

What happens when a kid grabs them and falls while keeping grip?

Same goes for blinds but I keep them up when kids are around them

[silver27]

Hah - that, I cannot answer for you! I guess it depends on which fails first - the plastic clips that hold the blinds in place, or the kid's grip. The rods are much lighter than the miniblinds, so less likely to cause a concussion if they land on the faller's head, at least...

You're making me glad I never had to babyproof a trailer...

[silver27]

PharmGeek - do your tank sensors work? Neither our gray nor black sensors seem to register much of anything, which makes me a bit apprehensive about dry camping.

[Landrum]

If you do a search on tank sensors you will find lots of complaints. They don't work. Don't trust them.

[PharmGeek]

I have not fully tested yet - I'll let you know after our next trip in 2 weeks

I'll do due diligence to check in detail

[switz]

On our 25FB, we did a freshwater test of the black and gray water tank "meters". With the water column up to the knife gate valve in the toilet, we were not 3/4 full. The water was up into the shower before it registered 7/8 full. Had the dealer calibrate the system under warranty and it was close to accurate for the balance of the time we used the unit.

We have yet to test the new trailer's reporting system.

[PharmGeek]

I was surprised when I first saw the indicator panel.....I had before purchase watched a great youtube channel about "how to calibrate..." - but then saw no such feature to allow me to do this....

HOW TO: Calibrate RV Tank Monitors - YouTube

[PharmGeek]

Ps - so far I can only confirm that my monitor for grey water does not seem to work - it's empty and reads full...

[silver27]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

Ps - so far I can only confirm that my monitor for grey water does not seem to work - it's empty and reads full...

why am I not surprised....

I found some calibration instructions for the monitors, but it sounds like a huge hassle (and waste of water). Did you see they're getting rid of the miniblinds AND using a new monitoring system in the new ones? Hah.

[PharmGeek]

*shaking my head*

[PharmGeek]

Also - watch out folks - this is worth checking into day 1

The overhead storage doors - they are screwed on to hardware hinges with 3 screws - had one side of a door rip out of that hinge (not when flopped out aggressively either) - I re screwed it and it is holding ok but after surveying all other hinge screws some are tight and others are loose as if over tightened perhaps with an drill (that's my guess)

Folks - find those loose ones - go ahead and do some wood for and what not

[GAStreamin]

Originally Posted by silver27

We are back from our first real trip in our 2014 FC Bunkhouse, and figured we should share our observations and issues while they're still fresh in our minds... Please feel free to add your own observations/comments/questions!

Overall, we love the layout of the trailer, and it feels so much more functional for our family than the 27FB. We did miss the pano window over the dinette this trip - would have had a lovely ocean view - but not enough to regret the trade.

Here's an area by area breakdown:

Bathroom

• The lack of storage is completely ridiculous. We’re trying to figure out what sort of small shelves to mount to the wall by the shower.
• The toilet in this trailer is much more robust than the one in our 2012. Also appreciate the solid ceramic seat vs. the old plastic one with crevices. The macerator makes the lights throughout the trailer flash a bit, though.
• The faucet is very small and close to the sink bowl. Would like to replace this.
• The sliding shower door is interesting.
• Not sure I would have placed the towel bar inside the shower...

Kitchen

• The fuse in our hood blew early on in the trip. Apparently we need to get a fuse with a slightly higher capacity.
• Forma paper towel holder fits nicely inside the pantry door. We also put a Forma over-the-cabinet-door hand towel holder on the cabinet under the sink. Forma Wingo Wallmount Paper Towel Holder
• We’ve had multiple drawers come off their tracks and land on the floor while towing. We upgraded a bunch of the cabinet latches to 10lb ones, which seems to be helping.
• Would be really nice to have a counter extension over the couch area.
• The faucet pull out sprayer is… better than nothing, but I wish it was an integrated spray head on the faucet. Might be replacing this…

Bunks

• Our 6yo cannot climb into the bunk without a boost. We are going to install a climbing hold for him to use to get up there before our next trip
• We swapped the double for a twin and layed down 4 Flor carpet tiles between the bed and the bathroom wall. The kids like having this as a walkway/place to set stuff/etc.

Living Area

• Our door bolt is pretty tough to use. We tried some silicone spray, but it feels like an alignment issue.
• Not really sold on the mini-blinds. We've had a few fly off while traveling. We had pull down shades in our previous Airstream - neither is perfect. Going to try making some curtains…
• One of the springs on the cabinet that holds the entertainment stuff seems too tight. The screws have pulled out of the door front 2x now.
• Ikea Pluggis bins fit well in the overhead compartments.
• The thermostat in our International had an outdoor temp reading option, but this new one does not. Weird.

Bedroom

• The little cubbies by the bed are nice, but we haven’t figured out how to make the wardrobes useful yet. I think little tap lights in them would help.
• What I wouldn't give for drawers in here...

Outdoor

• the compartment above the hitch has alignment issues and can be very difficult to open/close.
• The claw piece of the awning arm broke when closing. This part is apparently designed to break to prevent more damage. Will have to be more careful about the awning arm placement when closing.
• We switched from 800lb bars to 600lb bars for our weight distributing hitch and it seems to have made the ride a bit smoother.

What Ikea Pluggis bins did you use?