2017 Jayflight SLX 212QBW

jaycojay · 11-09-2016, 05:51 AM

Saturday morning we made the 3 1/2 hour trek to our dealer to pick up our new SLX, well what should have been 3.5 was longer because the GPS got lost! We did arrive a bit early, so we waited as it was still in detailing. Did all the paperwork, they checked over our trade (spotless), and when they were finished, they pulled it out, we hooked up, and we were on our way ( did not need a walkaround..... been there, done that). Since Mother Nature has been so kind to SW Ontario, we decided to spend a nite at Pinery Provincial Park, one of the only places in SWO that is still open after Oct31st. This way we could check it out, since we bought it sight unseen. To say the least, we are impressed with this trailer. We did trade in a SLX, the 195RB , which by the way, is a great trailer too, a really good Couples Trailer. The 212 is the smallest of the 8' wide SLX, the 195 the largest 7' wide model. The 7 foot models are designed for those who are in the market of a lightweight inexpensive RV. They are actually built on their pop-up frames, keeping weight/cost down. Thats not a bad thing, as our 195 was a very solid trailer, and the queen island bed is a bonus in a RV that size.... we just wanted a little bit more space, and since i benefit from working @ a Chevrolet Dealer, towing is not an issue. So, heres what we found, this 212 also has a queen island bed, bit the extra foot is nice. The higher (8") ceiling height will benefit taller individuals, but us it really didn't matter. What it did add was a light switch on the wall in the bathroom, not just pushing the light on the ceiling. What we did gain is a couch, and an oven and 3 burner to 2 burner stove. Great, now we have a place to put the loaf of bed (oven). The larger fridge/freezer is the bonus for us, lots of storage, although the 195 had tons of storage too. Outside is where u see the difference, the 212 is larger, height and width. What i like is the domed roof on the larger SLX, we will like the 16' awning as compared to the 10'. The bigger guy rides on the Jayflight I beam frame, and i did notice a more solid feel when walking inside. The new LED lights are nice, but lets see what happens when one burns out. The LED porch light is incredibly bright, to the point i had to shut it off because the couple in the site next to us were in a tent, and it was shining on them, and thats in a Provincial Park, where sites are large and your neighbour is not close. Finally, a first for us, and we we suprised, when i turned the outside light on, i noticed the stairs lit up.... yes, the SLX has a LED stairs light...wow, i had to call the wife over and say...." hey look, a light!" So, sorry for being long winded, but have to say, the SLX line of Jayflights is really a good bang for your buck, it may lack the flash and flair of the Jayflight, but it has all the nice touches you need....7 or 8 foot, they both do their job right!

jkorman · 11-09-2016, 02:51 PM

JaycoJay,

We upgraded a year ago from a 184BH to the 212 QBW, The upgrades that convinced us were more room, larger fridge, sink in the bathroom, but the real nice upgrade is the size of the tanks: water, 20gal -> 40 gal. Grey, 15 gal -> 39 gal. black, 9 gal -> 39 gal. The three burner stove with oven, power awning are nice too. Now I just wish it had a shallow slide to give us a little more room.

Jeff

jaycojay · 11-10-2016, 05:40 AM

Now i just need to find a way to blend the dinette and sofa into one extra bed if needed. There is no possible way an average sized adult can sleep on the sofa ..... spring time project, along with replacing the thin plywood on the queen bed with a thicker plywood, and add the support wall underneath.... adding much needed support to the bed and seperating the inside storage to the outside storage. I will hinge the bed at the support wall instead of in the front, this way when you lift the bed to get at something, you are not lifting the entire bed, only the inside storage area. I'm still deciding if i am going to add a seperation wall between the left and right storage doors down center of bed. The wife likes the idea of having cooking utensils, coffee maker , toaster etc easy to get to, as we spend most of our day, including cooking and eating, outdoors. She can have the door side, i will use the road side for my items. We havn't decided. Plus, the plywood i take off the bed i will use on the dinette seats ....there is some awefully thin wood used there.

firerescue712 · 11-10-2016, 06:20 PM

WE bought our 212QBW 2 months ago. I am tall, so the bed came up short. I ripped out the bed support, extended the bed 6 inches in length, placed 2.4 supports (four of them) and 3/4 inch plywood for the mattress to lay upon. The bed is rock solid. The length is perfect. And....I made the front storage compartment a the same size. This allowed underbed storage between the bed foot support and the storage area wall. We placed drawered plastic storage containers under the bed on both sides. On one side, we left room for a clothes basket. We carry extra shoes under there as well. Wife LOVES the extra storage. It was simple, relatively cheap, and only took about 2 hours from start to finish.

For the dinette/love seat bed. Why not a sheet of 3/4" plywood? Store it in the tow vehicle. It can be in two pieces that can be connected together inside the trailer.

We love our trailer. Now, we need a better tow vehicle so we can start venturing around the country.

jaycojay · 11-10-2016, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firerescue712

WE bought our 212QBW 2 months ago. I am tall, so the bed came up short. I ripped out the bed support, extended the bed 6 inches in length, placed 2.4 supports (four of them) and 3/4 inch plywood for the mattress to lay upon. The bed is rock solid. The length is perfect. And....I made the front storage compartment a the same size. This allowed underbed storage between the bed foot support and the storage area wall. We placed drawered plastic storage containers under the bed on both sides. On one side, we left room for a clothes basket. We carry extra shoes under there as well. Wife LOVES the extra storage. It was simple, relatively cheap, and only took about 2 hours from start to finish.

For the dinette/love seat bed. Why not a sheet of 3/4" plywood? Store it in the tow vehicle. It can be in two pieces that can be connected together inside the trailer.

We love our trailer. Now, we need a better tow vehicle so we can start venturing around the country.

Any pictures?

firerescue712 · 11-10-2016, 07:28 PM

I'll try to get some tomorrow. We used old quilts at the headboard so we could shift the mattress to the foot. The pillows sit on the quilts. I cannot tell any difference between them and the mattress as far as the pillow area.

C Holt · 11-10-2016, 09:16 PM

Hi guys, I'm not trying to jack your thread, but since you all have a 212QBW, I was wondering if you have had an issue with your outdoor shower... I have a 2016. I tried to use it on our trip and found that the way the black flexible hose is attached to the faucet fixture, causes the hose to be crimped and not allow water to flow to the shower head. Has anyone else had this issue, and if so, how did you correct it? Thanks for your time..

firerescue712 · 11-10-2016, 10:02 PM

I had the same issue with my outdoor shower. I went to Home Depot and bought a 1/2" 90 with females on both ends. I placed this on the plastic threads coming from the faucet. I then used a 1/2" nipple connected to this 90. Since the outdoor shower hose had been crimped and was not repairable, I used the line from our shower. We replaced the factory shower head with a better one. BIG DIFFERENCE!

Another issue....the shower curtain is fabric. Water will permeate is when you are showering. This allows water to run outside the shower. We noticed water between the sink and tub. We replaced the shower curtain and track with an RV curved shower curtain rod. Now, we can use any shower curtain of our choosing. We have yet to camped with this setup, but has to be better than the original fabric curtain. We also installed a splash guard between the tub and the shower to catch any water that may try to run out.

C Holt · 11-10-2016, 10:21 PM

It makes you wonder why Jayco would let these trailers go out the door like that. But, if that is the only issue we find, we will be ok! Another member did a similar thing on his outdoor shower, except he attached a quick connect for a garden hose to a 90 degree fitting. He said the lackluster outdoor shower head was about worthless anyway. Now he can use a spray nozzle for many more purposes like cleaning fish and game, or just rinsing things off. I guess he just stores the hose along with his other trailer gear. I thought it was a good idea.

C Holt · 11-10-2016, 10:28 PM

By the way, I live one county south of you, and suspect you purchased from Mashburns as i did. I started to just take it back to them to fix, but really didn't want to hook it up and drag it there to sit till they got around to it. Thanks for your input, and keep us updated on any other problems or ideas you come up with!

firerescue712 · 11-11-2016, 02:25 PM

Howdy neighbor. Yes, I bought from Mashburns. Bought a fifth wheel in 2000 from them. Excellent service and good deals. Parts are a bit pricey, though. Here are the pics of the outside shower....

firerescue712 · 11-11-2016, 02:35 PM

Here is the bed mod pics.

firerescue712 · 11-11-2016, 02:37 PM

Shower mods - curved curtain rod, shower curtain (cheap), and splash guard.

firerescue712 · 11-11-2016, 02:39 PM

In the bed mod, there is a brown receptacle. I added it with a pigtail in the front storage compartment. The 120 volt receptacles in the trailer are on one circuit. They are tied to the bathroom GFCI. This additional outlet will be plugged into the 15-amp receptacle on the power pedestal. It will be used for running an electric radiator heater, or other high amp draws that would overload the normal circuit usage.

C Holt · 11-11-2016, 06:24 PM

I appreciate the pics! I've got to do something with this outdoor shower, and you've given me some idea of where to start.
Just winterized for the first time, and am hoping I did it properly. At least anti-freeze came out of everything. Feeling pretty good about it. Used two gallons for the lines, and am getting one more gallon to just pour into all the drains p-traps. Did some major on-line research that gave some good ideas that the book didn't tell about. Anyway, great talking with ya, and I will let you know what I can come up with. Thanks!

jaycojay · 11-12-2016, 03:42 AM

If you used 2 gallons of antifreeze, u are doing fine. Winterizing is actually a very simple process once you have done it once or twice. Purchase a fitting that goes on the city water hookup, open all low drain point valves and all faucets, including outdoor shower, and using a compressor, blow out the lines. Make sure you have pulled the hotwater tank plug out also, and open that venting lever on it. The one thing i have found, on your last trip with the unit, open up the low drain point valves prior to leaving the campground, while the hotwater tank is still warm and has pressure....sure helps to drain that tank. Speaking of hot water tanks, make sure you close the in / out valves on it and open the bypass valve ( may be a reason why you used 2 gallons). Once you see more water anywhere, and hear just air, close the low drains, close all taps, insert hose in a/freeze and open one tap at a time till u see pink, including the toilet. Than add some for the drains.... to think people pay someone good money to do this! Oh, and don't forget depression ..... it sets in knowing she's gonna be sitting there for the winter

C Holt · 11-12-2016, 03:01 PM

Well, I did everything like you said, except that I didn't blow the lines out prior to introducing the anti-freeze. I did by-pass the hot water tank and removed plug, as well as opened all faucets before opening both low point drains. After all water drained out, I closed them back off and introduced the anti-freeze. Everything had pink coming out, so I hope I'm good. I even burped city water hookup and made sure it had pink coming out. Both black and gray tanks are dry except for the antifreeze that went through the drains, as well as what I flushed through the toilet. I saw that it was recommended to make sure there is at least some antifreeze in the tanks to keep the seals of the valves from drying out. The only thing that Im not sure about is the hot and cold lines between the hot water tank and the the bypass valve. Hope the water ran out of those when I drained the tank because they wouldn't have got the antifreeze in them. Thanks a bunch for y'all's help and advise.

jaycojay · 11-12-2016, 08:48 PM

No big deal if there was any water left in the two lines..... will just go into bottom of hot water tank. What i have done in the past (anal), i stuck a small tube in hot water tank and syphoned out the remaining water in the hw tank

C Holt · 11-12-2016, 10:24 PM

Oh man, you sound just like me. I brood over this camper more than I ever have our house! My next pre-winter project has got to be getting up on the roof to clean and treat it. One thing I've been told over and over again is that the roof holds the key to the longevity of your camper. This brings me to a whole other topic if anyone has the time to explain the procedure. Spick and Span with a sponge mop, then treat with recommended roof treatment is what I've been told. Also to inspect everything that has Dicor for cracks and add if necessary. Is that about the jist of it?

jaycojay · 11-13-2016, 06:42 AM

What is really nice on the 8' wide SLX is the domed roof, not allowing any water to sit on top. Give the roof a good looking over .... looking especially for any caulking that is dried up and cracking. I use dishsoap n water to clean, but i'm sure there is much better stuff on the market to use. As for sealing the rubber roof, a few Jaycos back i purchased a gallon of rubber roof sealer from Home Depot for the specific material Jayco was using at the time.... it was much cheaper than getting something from an RV dealer.... and it just rolls on.

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