PDA

View Full Version : On the Road Again!


Mikey
08-19-2008, 01:33 PM
Sorry I haven't been 'here' for a while. Maureen and I have been spending lots of time getting all the stuff fixed. Here's the 'run down.'

Fridge fixed! Yes! Tom Peck suggested I call Al McGuire at Dometic - great guy. He had me do a few things - nothing seemed to help - temps went from 60 to 30 and back and forth - so he said he would ship a new cooling unit, and thermostat to anywhere I wanted. Just had to find someone who would do the work.

Grey water tank fixed! Kent and Tom from DRV help make those arrangements.

It all took a bit longer than we thought. The fridge took more time - they removed it from the rig, replaced the whole back cooling system. They ran it for a day on the shop floor, then reinstalled it in the Suite.

Grey water tank replacement was VERY scarey! They had to remove the old tank through the basement. That meant removing a lot of stuff - furnace, central vac, inverter, water pump - you know all that stuff on top of the tank. Then the guys in the shop at CanAm put in the new tank and replace everything. Guess what - everything works! Took some 18 hours to replace tank! The old tank had a small hole. Great patch on the belly pan, and all new insulation too!

Shawn from CanAm was teriffic - he made sure all the parts were available before starting the job. He warned us that repaires might take a long time - but he kept us aware of progress. In the end we were able to be on our way on Friday afternoon. We had been warned that repairs might not be completed until the next Monday. AND CanAm also found time to fix a few of those minor problems that we all seem to experience.

Everybody got in the act - DRV supplied the replacement tank at no charge (yes we were beyond the warranty period). The tank manufacturer agreed to pay for some of the labour. CanAm was going to "eat" any addition hours. I suggested we should also contact the company with our extended warranty coverage. Even though repairs had already started, Shawn convinced them to pay for some of the extra hours, AND got us some dollars for motel and living expenses.

It's been very frustrating, BUT everybody did their best, and in the end, we're back on the road again. And what my Dad said so many times is still very true, "You get a lot more bees with honey, than you do with vinegar!"

A special thanks goes to our fantastic hosts in London, Ron and Sandy. They opened their home to all of us (including Percy). Ron even let me play golf with his group!

See you down the road - we're planning to be in Mesa (ViewPoint) for about 3 months starting in November.

billr
08-20-2008, 02:40 PM
Hi Mike and Maureen,

So glad to hear you have sorted out all your repairs! Great that the guys at Can Am were able to fix you up.

Hope your travels are safe and fun!

Cheers,
Bill

Diesel-Gypsy
08-20-2008, 04:57 PM
Mike, you have the patience of Jobe...I think...
It has taken a long time to get that fridge working, and I feel you have taught me a lesson in perseverence (sp?).

WE are all happy for you, especially Ron & Sandy...LOL!! :lol:
Just kidding!

Good luck on the trip south, keep the blog updated fella.

Rick

bstark
08-20-2008, 08:59 PM
Wow, Mikey, you and Maureen sure have patience! That's what these forums need though is a post detailing how GOOD a dealer's experience you've had. That is so rare it maybe should be a "Sticky" at the top for everyone to read when we are all depressed from those "other" experiences that seem to be the norm.

I just replaced the heater element in our fridge today and tested it. Within 3 hours I had the cabinet down to 37 degrees while the freezer was at -10 degrees. The tuning procedure I used was to unplug the thermistor and observe the resistance over those 3 hours and it went from 4.3 (Volt/ohm meter set to the 200K ohm setting) while warm to 9.4 when it reached the 37 degrees and at that point I plugged it back in and the heater element shut off as it should. I waited and took a few more resistance readings and when the cabinet warmed up a degree or two the resistance dropped to 7.8 and the element came on as it should. Wheeew! Perhaps we're good for another year now?

Safe travels you two.