Starting to have second thoughts on about my Jayco.

[Todd7176]

In December 2012 we purchased a new Jayco 5er. We loved it. In February 2013 our problems began. We were camping when we noticed a bad stinch coming from the underside of the camper. Upon returning home I took it in to CW to have it checked out. It's was a cracked tank. They replaced it no problem. In November 2013 I notice a crack in the caulking on the top of the camper. I was told it would not be covered due to that is prevented maintaince. $630 later that has been repaired. Now I notice both tanks are empty. I take it back into CW to have them check for leaks. I was told it does not have one and I was charged for them testing it and to refill my tanks. I get it home and check to make sure everything is working properly and now I am not getting gas inside the camper. I called CW and spoke with their tech about it. They are saying that it sounds like the regulator is out. Now another trip to CW. Is this what I have to look forward to while owning a brand new Jayco?

[Jmooney]

Wondering if your state ( of purchase ) has lemon laws

[Locky66]

Sorry to hear about your bad luck on your 5th wheel. The Crack in the caulking issue could have been poor craftsmanship on Jaycos part or the caulk itself could have been bad from the caulk manufacturer. As for the cracked tank and bad regulator. These are not made by Jayco and are used by most RV manufacturers so Jayco is not to blame. The regulator prob!em should have been caught by the service department at CW. So Jayco should probably have the least complaints in this situation.

[Ladywendolyn]

A lot of times after the tanks are replaced there is an air lock in the line and it can take a while to bleed the air out. Perhaps you are aware of this, but just in case you are not, I thought I would mention it.

[Yamerhammer]

The propane tank has an excess flow valve on it and will not let propane flow if you turn it on too fast. I see you have a 2012 rv. It may have a regulator that has a window on it so you can see if it is getting gas(green) or not(red). Maybe the rv dealer opened the propane and the excess flow valve has the bottle shut off. The hose fitting may not be screwed into the tank all the way preventing the the tank to be able to flow propane to your appliances. I would check these things first before taking it back to the dealer. Good luck

[troutslayer]

Sorry to hear about your problems. However, don't give up the ship just yet
I have been a member on another forum because of my previously owned RV and there are many more complaints of cracked holding tanks there than what I have heard on the Jayco forum. I saw a video on how these tanks are made (not at Jayco) and am amazed that there are not more tank leaks. It seems to be a rather antiquated manufacturing process to me. Thanks goodness for the two year warranty. I have had the propane problem as well and it stems back to opening the tank valve too quickly. When it happens to me, I shut off the valve, disconnect the hose and let it sit for 30 minutes then reconnect the hose. Make sure the connection is tight and v e r y s l o w l y turn on the gas. As for the caulking issue, I have also heard this one on several forums and it seems no rv manufacturer covers this so I make it a yearly maintenance item.
Good luck and I hope it works out for you. We are extremely pleased with our Jayco and the responses we have had from Jayco themselves. The only other advise I could give would be to find another Jayco servicing dealer other than Camping World. Some of their outlets don't know...well maybe I should just say, you can do better

[3'senough]

Sorry your having the issues you have. I am on my second 5'er in the last 4 years and have to say that overall the Jayco response has been second to none on handling any issues that I have had. The caulking is the responsibility of the owner and stated in the OM for guidance and regularity of checks. Dicor self leveling caulk is inexpensive and is what you can use to seal up any future cracks on the membrane caulking. The outer walls are different.

I too had a propane regulator failure in my 2011 unit and it was replaced under warranty 18 months after purchase as a result. My unit would not switch to the inside tank. Since you think there is a leak somewhere you might buy a bottle of leak check in your local HW store and brush it on the connections. This will help you widdle it down to a possible culprit in the system, if there is a leak. Another check is the pilot on the oven. Is it possible that you left it on from the last trip? I did this once!!! Never again! All the above information is also key to getting flow right, especially the air out of your entire system was depleted. It can take a while before all the air gets out of a long 5'er system.

As for the overall manufacturing, I would say look at the entire unit on the whole. Jayco specific manufacturing, like trim, door hanging, cabinetry work and the entire finished product. The appliances, tanks and mechanical features are all vendor goods that they have little control over. You have 2 years to work out the kinks and Jayco has stood up on a few things for me that probably would have gone into a fight with another manufacturer. They even went beyond 2 years on something for me which was huge I thought.

[exjay1]

You have to keep up on these prevent maint things (like caulking, seals etc) even when new to make these RVs last as long as possible. I agree any other probs I'd start looking for a actual Jayco dealer for svc for anything else or addl troubleshooting on an issue that CW cant figure out. I've found CW's labor rates are a bit high.

[Todd7176]

Thanks for all the feedback. Here's an update. I took it in to CW today. They checked it out and came up with the gas lines that connect the tanks to the regulators were not letting gas pass through them. They replaced them under warranty. They also ran a test to make sure that the system was working properly and not leaking. Hopefully this is the end of my problems for a while.

[clutch]

One thing we have learned is that when you have something fixed have the guy that fixed it show you that it works. Look for a good dealer, CW is always looking for new help. One doesn't have to be an expert to be hired as a tech.