New list of broken items (184BH)

xkuzme1 · 07-06-2013, 07:15 AM

My 184BH just had its birthday on July 3. The birthday present that I gave it (family too) was to take it down to Branson, Table Rock State Park #177. It's been a great trip so far and we are leaving to go back to Kansas City tomorrow.

In the duration of our 5 day trip I have a new list of squaks (aviation term for broken items).

1) The microwave quit working (again). That's right... It'll have to be replaced for the second time.

2) Water leak from the Holding tank. Not too happy about that one because it renders showers and toilets insignificant.

3) Table for the dinette is warping. No matter if I store it up, down, or even upside down as I did this winter to help with the cupping effect. This should not be happening to a 1 year old camper.

4) the DC outlet that I use to plug our iPhones in at night have stated cycling on and off completely at random.

5) 2/3 LED in the water / power management panel is not working. This will be the third time that Ill try to get this fixed. It shows 1/3 and full just fine. It's just that 2/3 light not working. It always seems to work at the dealership.

Lastly as a little birthday present, Jayco called me back about inquiring about getting my 5000btu AC upgraded to an 8000 btu AC under warrantee (because obviously the 5000 is insufficient) and they said NO.
I politely reminded than that at 38 years old I have owned 2 campers and I will most likely be buying a few more in my lifetime. It would be unwise to alienate me as a prospective consumer at such a young age. They under-engineered the camper... Fix it. NOPE. For sake of argument I asked them the price of the parts to do it myself when the warrantee runs out. They want $590 for the AC alone! I can get the SAME exact unit from Home Depot for $150.

I still love my camper, but I am slightly less than thrilled with Jayco right now. Things that are breaking on my camper this early on should not be what is normally heavy wear items such as: bed, water, microwave.

Rant over... I've got 1 day left and some alarm clock meat (bacon) to cook!

By the way... Here is the good stuff!!!

1) Both my 5 and 6 yearly olds learned to ride their bikes without training wheels yesterday! Huge moment and so much fun!

2) The (4) bike rack mount that I mounted to the back bumper of the camper has help up flawlessly.

3) The fan that I installed behind the fridge has improved the cooling of the fridge so much that I actually had to turn it down to about 3.

4) The Coleman lantern "tacky lights" that operate off of batteries is so much nicer than stringing up the old electric ones!

X

exjay1 · 07-06-2013, 10:13 AM

Bummer about their response on the AC unit.

mwebber78 · 07-06-2013, 10:34 AM

Sounds like the excellent customer service I had when I called their technical assistance helpline only to be told I need to take it to a dealer. I had the defective part, part number, and ability to fix it (defective electronic door entry latch). This isn't the Jayco I remember from my first popup 8 years ago - they would bend over backwards to help....

Mister Twister · 07-06-2013, 10:56 AM

Sorry to hear about your issues. Workmanship on these trailers has sure changed over the years. I can't believe what I have seen when looking over these new trailers. The Jayco seemed to be way better than some of the others we looked at. Especially the Layton Retros they looked like kids put them together and they were asking more for them than what I paid for this Jayco.

2edgesword · 07-06-2013, 12:30 PM

Sorry to hear about the issues.

I would definitely think about working these issues through the dealer. They are the first point of contact, they are the ones you will be buying a new trailer from and if like most they sell supplies would be more concerned about repeat business.

3firetrucks · 07-06-2013, 03:00 PM

Sorry to hear about the problems...I really like the 184...I still stop to take a look at them when I see one. Can I ask how you installed your 4 bike rack on the back?

xkuzme1 · 07-06-2013, 04:10 PM

About the bike rack... I ordered the add a hitch to the back bumper and I got a light duty 4 bicycle rack. I've been checking the bumper welds every 50 miles and I've had no evidence of cracking bending or warping yet. My intention is to beef up the bumper after the warrantee is up. Honestly with as many warrantee claims as this thing is having, I'm afraid to do anything to it.

X

PugMom · 07-06-2013, 04:40 PM

WOW--after reading some of the recent posts---I guess I'm kinda glad hail took out my one year old 184bh and that the Jayco offices discouraged me from buying a 184bh from any dealer but my local one (because I would not be serviced as fast as "regular" customers.). Went with a completely different brand-----

xkuzme1 · 07-06-2013, 05:42 PM

I'm still ok with my camper, but I am worried about another year from now when my camper is out of warrantee.

As of an hour ago my microwave suddenly came back on. I'm wondering if it didn't overheat because of my lousy air conditioner. I read a little more about it on the Internet and I guess there is a thermocoupler that can overheat and turn it all the way off until it fully cools down.

I'll be stopping by the rv dealership on my way home to check and measure the size of the new 8000 btu AC. I'm gonna do that mod myself in another year.

dave940 · 07-08-2013, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xkuzme1

2) Water leak from the Holding tank. Not too happy about that one because it renders showers and toilets insignificant.

X

Do you know the source of the leak? Sounds like it may be a problem like mine, if you're lucky. Whenever we filled the tank, I ran water into the fill spout until it flowed back. If you were on a slope (instead of level) that allowed water to remain in the spout and hose (above the normal tank level), water would leak out of the hose connecting the external fill spout and the water tank. For some reason (no doubt, cost) Jayco chose to use a cheap spiral wire-reinforced vinyl hose instead of a rubber hose with a smooth walled inner diameter. This meant that despite how hard you tried to tighten the band clamps on the hose, water could still leak around the fittings inside the hose... not much water while filling, but a lot more if you were in a situation where you could overfill your tank and cap it off. I noticed this on one of our first camping trips two years ago and replaced the hose on the site. Sorry, I have no pictures and our son is currently using the camper. Might want to check this out, you will need to move a cushion and lift a piece of seat paneling inside the camper to see it.

You may also like: