Pre-check for New Airstream Interstate

[amirm]

Originally Posted by Haasman

Of course a new Airstream is going to have a warranty....

We found the service center personnel to be very attentive and interested in solving any problems we had.

So far that is the impression I get.

Here's one check that escaped everyone: .... pull the sink nozzle all the way out, like you would do when showering. Ours pulled out 2 ft. Kind of bummer for the first night in our new rig. (The flexible water line was caught by something behind the vanity).

I ran into this when I was testing one of the AS trailers. I did not think to check it with the Interstate and now will do that . Thanks.

I will report back on what I find this afternoon. Hopefully it is a short list and we can start using it right away.

[amirm]

So I spent an entire afternoon at the dealership. Overall, the fit and finish well exceeded my expectation. I thought I would find a lot list of problems but I did not. Here are the issues that I saw:

1. The Flojet on-demand pump made a huge racket. Turning the shower caused the whole side of van to vibrate. Popped the access panel at floor level by the heater and the problem was obvious. It was not the pump! But rather, a length of Pex pipe that went to an elbow. The pipe was cut just a hair too long causing it to touch a metal part of the chassis. That in turn amplified the sound ten fold.

Was disappointed to see that they used the start-stop pump rather than the proportional one. I will probably replace it as I did on my boat 15 years ago.

2. The water heater is a disaster from fit and finish point of view. It is an ugly beast with the most flimsy metal lid on it. Any time you attempted to open it, it would scrape of the paint on the body of the van! Was doing the same on the one inside the showroom.

They suggested upgrading to a Truma heater but unfortunately the large bezel on these units would not fit in the same cut out of the Interstate. There unit itself slides into the same space but the plastic flange is 1 to 2 inches and there is no clearance in the body to allow it. THey are investigating a way to make this work. If anyone knows a solution here, would appreciate hearing about it.

3. The water pressure in the sink faucet was very low. When you first started it, you got nice flow but it would go to a trickle with the pump cycling on and off instead of increasing run time to keep up with pressure.

4. If you closed the main AC vent that is pushing air down, the left side of the AC would make a gurgling sound. Nothing major but a bit annoying now that I know about it.

I think that was it so I went ahead and signed the paperwork . Will take delivery Monday of next week. They will be doing their own inspection and make repairs/fixes.

Thanks to everyone's ideas and suggestion. Was good to be prepared to find nothing regardless .

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by amirm

1. The Flojet on-demand pump made a huge racket. Turning the shower caused the whole side of van to vibrate. Popped the access panel at floor level by the heater and the problem was obvious. It was not the pump! But rather, a length of Pex pipe that went to an elbow. The pipe was cut just a hair too long causing it to touch a metal part of the chassis. That in turn amplified the sound ten fold.

3. The water pressure in the sink faucet was very low. When you first started it, you got nice flow but it would go to a trickle with the pump cycling on and off instead of increasing run time to keep up with pressure.

I've found the water pump makes a lot more noise if there's even a small amount air in the pipework. It takes some persistence to get out all the air, by opening each of the faucets in turn and moving the handle from cold to hot to cold, etc. The noise comes from the pipes vibrating against things along their runs.

[amirm]

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

I've found the water pump makes a lot more noise if there's even a small amount air in the pipework. It takes some persistence to get out all the air, by opening each of the faucets in turn and moving the handle from cold to hot to cold, etc. The noise comes from the pipes vibrating against things along their runs.

That's good advice.

I am amazed though that these noisy pumps are still used. They don't even do much to contain their noise. And the compartment it was in was a disaster, full of runs of pipe and wire all going every which way. Organizing them and keeping the from each other would stop some of the transmission of noise. And would make the joints last longer.

[UKDUDE]

Originally Posted by amirm

That's good advice.

I am amazed though that these noisy pumps are still used. They don't even do much to contain their noise. And the compartment it was in was a disaster, full of runs of pipe and wire all going every which way. Organizing them and keeping the from each other would stop some of the transmission of noise. And would make the joints last longer.

It's cost and time saving: to tidy up the wires and pipework is very labor intensive and they can't spare the time during the production schedule. A trip to the factory will highlight the methods they use to build these things.

[Lily&Me]

Well, you found a couple of things that would have been annoying to discover later...that is a step ahead of most of us here!

Have a great time.


Maggie

[73shark]

Originally Posted by amirm

3. The water pressure in the sink faucet was very low. When you first started it, you got nice flow but it would go to a trickle with the pump cycling on and off instead of increasing run time to keep up with pressure.

4. If you closed the main AC vent that is pushing air down, the left side of the AC would make a gurgling sound. Nothing major but a bit annoying now that I know about it.

#3 indicates something is wrong especially if the lav faucet is normal.

#4 Surprised that you can hear anything if the A/C was on and fan on HI. I'd check the temperature drop across the evaporator. Dometic said it should be 21*F.

[GETRIDAONE]

The grille on the water heater was the first thing I fixed. I had the U shaped piece of black vinyl trim that fit perfect. I removed the two screws that held the top of the mounting frame in place, drilled the holes in the grille and put SS screws back in the same holes.
I have had no problem with the hot water heater. I was scared I would run out on my first shower but it worked great.