Maiden Voyage w/new Pinnacle....Norcold=Notcold

[BR_Bo_]

My intent was to go for a shakedown trip for a weekend prior to Spring Break, alas, we never had the opportunity.

Anyway...plugged the camper in to shorepower next to the house and all was well until about 45 minutes prior to departure. My wife said "the refrigerator is making a beeping noise". So I paused silently for a moment and then went into inaction. The message on the screen was "LiOP". Anybody have that one? I have done a few searches but not seen much on this or the Woodall's forum. It means a high-temp limit switch has tripped and you need to have it serviced by a dealer, because it no longer works. A few phone calls were made and we decided to press on to Zion Nat'l park which is aboout 150 miles from Vegas. The next day, the local RV guy tells me that I can bypass that switch by unplugging two wires from a little black box on the outside access panel and connecting them together. Used a spare 20 amp fuse from the truck and it worked like a charm.

Other than the fridge, we were pleased. Fit and finish seemed great. I don't remember the dealer telling me about the idiot switch on the outside access panel to the electric water heater, but a neighbor clued me in on that.

I installed a pair of Firestone Air Bags on my 2012 Ram 3500 DRW that same weekend. One thing that bothers me is the bed rail clearance when hitched to the truck. There isn't much - maybe 5.5-6". The trailer looks fairly level. I started with 50# of pressure initially and then reduced it to about 25 psi. It looks like the trailer is set to the highest bracket hole back by the axles. Not sure if I could lower the MOrryde pin box or if I would want to. Any opinions? The attached pic is before the air bag install.

Any experience with the Norcold problem? The mfg lady I spoke to said it could be tripped by outside air temp or poor ventilation. Let's see....I live in vegas. Shouldn't be too hot this summer. Norcold authorized a service call from a mobile RV guy. Emailed him all the info and the replacement part is ordered. Hopefully it should minimal hassle having come out to replace it.

Cheers,
Rich

[rwilley]

I've never had problems with any fridg I've owned but I can tell you that I only have about 4 1/2 inches clearance between bed and 5th W and the dealer said it was fine. They would like 6 inches so unless you are going up and down mounds then you're good. I also had to find out about the HW switch on my own too. Good luck on the fridg.

[Larry G.]

When we picked our new 5ver last month the dealer adjusted the pin box down a notch and the hitch up a notch....have about 6" now.

[Terry]

Glad you are getting your fridge problem worked out. Odd to have that problem out of the gate as I would have expected it to have been checked by the dealer prior to delivery. Guess it is possible it happened since pickup, but not likely.

[jal0710]

One of our friends bought a new fifth-wheel last summer, North Trail, but had a similar problem. The fridge would work on propane, but not ac. Had to take it to a non-dealer to get it fixed. Hope yours gets taken care of quickly.

[BR_Bo_]

The camper was plugged in for 2-3 days before the switch tripped - just bad timing I guess. My fear is that this will be a reoccurring issue. The quick fix was easy, but we turned off the fridge at night just in case it was a no kidding issue.

Different topic. I just put on a new Expedition cover a few hours ago. The fit is OK, but we'll see how it holds up once the winds pick up.

[Terry]

Well the good news is part issues like this at the very beginning usually don't reoccur in the same part. You have the "infant mortality" factor where if parts are going to fail, they will usually do it when they are new......

I bet you have many happy years to come.....

[BR_Bo_]

Thanks Terry - I certainly hope so. Our old Open Road travel trailer served us well, and hopefully this camper will do the same. Thanks for the link - used it to complete my sig.

[Rob_Fla]

Similar with what happened to us when the water heater stopped working in the first week of use.

Dealer replaced the electric side thermostat, on the water heater, problem solved.

Now that we have been fulltiming in ours for over 5 months now, no new problems, all appliances working fine.

[Panhead]

I have heard of people installing a thermostatically controlled exhaust fan on the inside of the upper vent cover on units where the fridge is on a slide out. Supposed to help with air circulation in the compartment behind the fridge.

Steve