29ME Small but refined community

[Griswald One]

Good Day,

It was noted by JDSport in another thread that the 29ME community seems to be fairly small on the forum. So I thought I would create a quick post for those of us in the ME Club.

JD had asked how I liked mine.... We love camping in ours. We bought it as a transition from family camping to empty nester travelling. Our two teens are now 14 and 16. At this point they still come out with us on most trips but we know that is going to rapidly change. We find the ME is fantastic for two (+ Dog) and is good for four (+ Dog). Once we pass four I start to miss the old TT Bunkhouse but we have had eight in it over a weekend and survived. I am working on plans for a couple of "Boys" weekends this summer. We will see how it handles 6 grown men

We looked at three floor plans including the 29MV and the 31FK. In the end our decision came down to the kitchen/living space. We were coming from a TT with a huge kitchen, including an island, with double slides. Nothing out there in the C Class was going to match our old kitchen but the ME with it's double slides seemed to be the best option. On those trips where we surpass 4 people, that extra floor space is fantastic to have, particularily if the weather turns sour.

Storage is also fairly good on the ME. We liked that with the hallway closet design we could still access all of our clothing storage with all of the slides pulled in. Makes it much easier for packing up. The only thing you cannot access while travelling is the one cupboard under the kitchen sink.

There are a few things we would have liked to see. Finding a way to squeeze in a U-shaped banquet would have been nice, four adults at the kitchen table is cozy. A fold up extension for the kitchen counter, to the left of the sink, would create better space for food prep and dish washing. An actual door for the bedroom, although the the dual purpose bathroom door is a smart design idea. And a ladder solution would have been fantastic, I loose a lot of basement space carrying a folding ladder inside.

Look forward to hearing from other Members of the ME Club!

[JDSport]

That's an excellent summary of the ME. We are empty nesters, so its just the wife and I and a shi-poo. We moved from a Lance Truck camper that we loved but it was not suited for entertaining or bringing others along. Saw the ME in Jan at the Denver show and fell in love with the floor plan. The opposing slides in the living/kitchen area make for lots of space. Last Saturday evening, on our second outing, we had four couples and three dogs in our rig, during supper. Plenty of room. The wind was howling outside but she was steady. I love the huge storage area in the back but miss having a ladder. Don't get me started on the tankless water heater but overall we LOVE this rig.

[Jopopsy]

Just out of interest, what's the OCCC on your rigs? Given all the slides, I'm going to hazard a guess that these rigs don't have a very high capacity; which if you care about that means your target audience would be couples.

[JDSport]

Yeah the extra slide must make a difference. I will weigh her once I think its fully loaded, still buying stuff like said ladder Griswald mentioned above. Hopefully I'm not too far over when its all said and done.

[Jopopsy]

What's the yellow sticker in the driver door jamb telling you?

[JDSport]

No idea. Don't have access to it right now.

[Griswald One]

I also have no access right now, as it is sitting at the dealers while they conclude an unfortunately lengthy list of warranty issues. But another post on the forum suggests it is around 1400lbs.

I found a post on other forums that the 29MV has a CCC of about 1600lbs... So looks like you do loose about 200lbs to the extra slide.

[Jopopsy]

My 29MV actually has 2050 or so. I don't recall the exact number. The 2016 I was considering had 1950 or so, the one I have now has an extra 100 pounds. The 29MV I looked at 2 years ago had around 1620 or something like that.

I always find it fascinating how the weight swings from unit to unit, year to year.

[NewRV1977]

Originally Posted by Jopopsy

What's the yellow sticker in the driver door jamb telling you?

Presently we have a 2007 Pleasureway Plateau diesel. Getting about 24 to the gallon. Should i even worry about milage or concentrate on the upgrade? How is towing a car? Thanks

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by NewRV1977

Presently we have a 2007 Pleasureway Plateau diesel. Getting about 24 to the gallon. Should i even worry about milage or concentrate on the upgrade? How is towing a car? Thanks

I don't tow anything w/ my rig - sorry.

[JDSport]

I finally got around to figuring out my rig's weight carrying capacity. Total gear and people should not exceed 1,324lbs. Took her to the scales on our way out of town last Friday. Full of fuel, full fresh water tank, me and the wife, weighed in at 14,300lbs. GVWR for the vehicle is 14,500lbs. I'm close to max but don't anticipate it being a problem.

[bingwah1]

New to this group, just picked up our ME last month and now I'm running all the major appliances and ran into a issue with the instance hot water where it would not come on. 1st time putting water in the unit seeing as we live in CO and it is now just getting warm. But my question is anyone else having any issues with their hot water unit? And has any one dealt with getting warranty work done on their ME yet?

[JDSport]

My hot water heater worked the first two times out but last weekend the blower would come on but the burner was not lighting so it would just shut down and display an error code (E 1). Do you have the switch on the water heater turned on? My problem was with the proportional valve sticking so no gas was getting to the burner.

[Griswald One]

Welcome Bingwah1... I have had no complaints with the on demand water heater, but I think I am in the minority on JOF. But my warranty issues have been many and varied. I have had the alignment done twice, the slides re-aligned twice, the kitchen counter replaced, the sinks recaulked after a leak caused during the counter replacement and several other "minor" repairs.

Over the winter while my dealer was doing the other warranty work they discovered both my front pillars had cracks in them, so those were replaced as well. I am looking forward to picking her up this week and getting ready for the camping season.

[bingwah1]

Thanks for your comments.
Got my rig back today and the hot water heater was fixed by doing a reset of a switch that really is not very well defined in any document. I found only one YouTube video on thia but it shows where this switch is located very clearly. This I feel should be shared because it is such a pain to get into a dealer to do any work this h time of year.

[JDSport]

bingwah1, what year ME do you have? Mine is a '16 and I don't have a reset switch. The vid looks like the older model tankless water heater. Is yours a '16?

[Jopopsy]

Originally Posted by JDSport

I finally got around to figuring out my rig's weight carrying capacity. Total gear and people should not exceed 1,324lbs. Took her to the scales on our way out of town last Friday. Full of fuel, full fresh water tank, me and the wife, weighed in at 14,300lbs. GVWR for the vehicle is 14,500lbs. I'm close to max but don't anticipate it being a problem.

Wow, these things are pretty heavy off the line. I guess its all that cabinetry?

[Greyhawk 666]

Door sticker

[Griswald One]

Originally Posted by JDSport

bingwah1, what year ME do you have? Mine is a '16 and I don't have a reset switch. The vid looks like the older model tankless water heater. Is yours a '16?

My 2015 has the reset... I knew of it from other conversations on this Forum, and was glad I did while travelling in Tennessee last fall. Mine went out, and like bingwah1 noted, there does not seem to be any mention of it in the manual. I never would have found it on my own.

[JDSport]

Yeah I read about the reset button also and looked for something similar on mine but the third gen versions do not have them.