New 2018 25BH Owners

[warjayco]

We went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Jayfeather 25BH last Friday, this is our first RV. Our shake down was a 4 hr (7 hr return) trip to the gulf coast for the weekend. We had a blast! The drive in traffic on I-65 was interesting (semis and heavy traffic), but we eventually made it back home safely. Gas milage was 7.5mpg... Did I mention our TT has a very flat front on it...

Couple of things:
1. I had to adjust the sway control a couple of times before it was dialed in, it looks like I will have to do that everytime that we load up. No way to set the adjustments. Eaz-Lift 48058 Elite Weight Distributing Hitch Kit - 1,000#
2. Linoleum flooring is not glued down in front of the refrigerator...
3. Awning support is sticking when extending
4. Blew a fuse at the battery cutoff...make for an interesting first setup... :-)

We are already planning our next trip. I do want to run it by some CAT scales to get the weights in the next week. I'll post number here.

[SouthCo]

Congrats on your first camper. The fuse you blew, is it the one that affects the jack? Over extending or over retracting the jack can cause it to blow. Jut a heads up...

[warjayco]

It was the 30 amp in the green fuse holder by the battery. I didn't have any power from the battery for anything. We camped at full hookup site so I was able to power the jack from shore power and get unhitched. We are very fortunate that we have some great neighbors that are also RV owners, so they stopped by when we got back home and identified the issue. Not sure why the fuse blew, but I didn't even get a chance to operate the jack on battery power until my neighbor swapped the fuse out.

[warjayco]

So we have another issue...the aft awning arm doesnt want to extend without assistance...

[Murff]

Warranty work!

Murff

[jkaras7]

Congratulations on the new Jayco Jayfeather 25BH and welcome to the forum. We had a similar issue with the aft arm not wanting to extend when deploying the awning until we pulled on it. Got up on a ladder and with a can of compressed air blew out all the joints of the extending arms. This seems to clear out whatever was causing the aft arm to hand up.

[Battalion31]

Just got the same trailer and I also blew the same fuse, weird, I'm carrying a second battery in the truck bed, Every thing else seemed to work ok so far

[warjayco]

Originally Posted by Battalion31

Just got the same trailer and I also blew the same fuse, weird, I'm carrying a second battery in the truck bed, Every thing else seemed to work ok so far

My neighbor has a Whitehawk and he says that he had the same problem. He said that he just disconnects the battery when not using the TT to prevent blowing a fuse.

[AKGperson]

Originally Posted by warjayco

My neighbor has a Whitehawk and he says that he had the same problem. He said that he just disconnects the battery when not using the TT to prevent blowing a fuse.

We have the White Hawk 25BHS and the only time I blew that fuse was when I retracted the tongue jack too far up.

I now carry a full range of fuses.

Ken

[sennister]

Not sure if this is an issue to check out on the 2018 but several of us with the 2017 had an issue with the lock on the outdoor kitchen door. The thumb latches are fine but the arm on the key lock is too short. If you turn the thumb latches to open and with the key lock still in the locked position try and open the door. With mine I would pop it open with a pinky curl. So not much effort at all. The locking arm was catching the inner lip by maybe 1/8". The dealer swapped it out for me during PDI because I caught it there. So if you are going in for warranty work and you have this issue then get it addressed. As I mentioned, several of us had this issue in the 2017 model year and it seemed to have started when they started offering the Keyed Alike feature which wasn't available in the 2016.

On the fuse, that is very common to pop it if you over extend the jack. We have been through two of them. I also noticed the last campsite we were at that there was one on the ground that was blown and it wasn't from me. So very common. I keep a pack of spares but I noticed that if you have your Tow Vehicle hooked up which should provide 30-40A to the camper as part of the 7 pin connector, that it will power the jack even with this fuse blown. While you were able to connect to shore power, if you were dry camping you may not have that option. Lets say you are trying to unhook the camper and the generator is in the back of the truck but you can't open the tailgate with the camper attached. Also unless you have an extension cable the power cord won't reach to inside the truck. That would me you would have to bust out the emergency jack handle if you didn't have a fuse or know that you can power it with the truck.

On the awning, I have noticed mine catch briefly next to the kitchen. It doesn't do it all the time. Maybe 40% but once it pops out past the stored position it is fine. Also note on the awning that there are pins you can push in and slide the arm to a different position to tilt the awning if it is raining. It took me a few camping trips before I noticed it did that. It is on both sides but I normally will lower the back one so it drains back by the kitchen rather than the front door.

I saw some photos of a 2018 and it looks like they changed the graphics package on the outside a bit from 2017. Not much else looked different though.

Some modifications we went with:

Hand bar on the screen door. Makes it easier to close it and you can hang a towel there to dry.

Progressive Industries 30A EMS installed under the back bunk next to water heater with remote display in outdoor kitchen

Deleted the mouse hole and have a twist lock outside outlet for the power cord.

A Frame Shelf for generator. I have to cut it down as it is way to high.

Battery cut off switch installed in the lid of the battery box.

I want to add some of those motion activated LED lights in some of the storage areas.

[Adanick2]

Hey there, new member here with a '17 25bh and mine has blown the same fuse only it was when pulling the slide in. Took it back to the dealer and of course they couldn't get it to do it. Said they ran it in and out 10 times and couldn't make it blow. One thing i noticed is that when the slide gets to the point of being all the way in, it wont slip that clutch or whatever it is like it does when it's all the way out, makes me think it's drawing too much current therefore popping the fuse. Does anyone know if there is an adjustment to make that clutch thing slip a little easier? Service manager at the dealer didn't even know.

[warjayco]

Originally Posted by sennister

Not sure if this is an issue to check out on the 2018 but several of us with the 2017 had an issue with the lock on the outdoor kitchen door. The thumb latches are fine but the arm on the key lock is too short. If you turn the thumb latches to open and with the key lock still in the locked position try and open the door. With mine I would pop it open with a pinky curl. So not much effort at all. The locking arm was catching the inner lip by maybe 1/8". The dealer swapped it out for me during PDI because I caught it there. So if you are going in for warranty work and you have this issue then get it addressed. As I mentioned, several of us had this issue in the 2017 model year and it seemed to have started when they started offering the Keyed Alike feature which wasn't available in the 2016.

On the fuse, that is very common to pop it if you over extend the jack. We have been through two of them. I also noticed the last campsite we were at that there was one on the ground that was blown and it wasn't from me. So very common. I keep a pack of spares but I noticed that if you have your Tow Vehicle hooked up which should provide 30-40A to the camper as part of the 7 pin connector, that it will power the jack even with this fuse blown. While you were able to connect to shore power, if you were dry camping you may not have that option. Lets say you are trying to unhook the camper and the generator is in the back of the truck but you can't open the tailgate with the camper attached. Also unless you have an extension cable the power cord won't reach to inside the truck. That would me you would have to bust out the emergency jack handle if you didn't have a fuse or know that you can power it with the truck.

On the awning, I have noticed mine catch briefly next to the kitchen. It doesn't do it all the time. Maybe 40% but once it pops out past the stored position it is fine. Also note on the awning that there are pins you can push in and slide the arm to a different position to tilt the awning if it is raining. It took me a few camping trips before I noticed it did that. It is on both sides but I normally will lower the back one so it drains back by the kitchen rather than the front door.

I saw some photos of a 2018 and it looks like they changed the graphics package on the outside a bit from 2017. Not much else looked different though.

Some modifications we went with:

Hand bar on the screen door. Makes it easier to close it and you can hang a towel there to dry.

Progressive Industries 30A EMS installed under the back bunk next to water heater with remote display in outdoor kitchen

Deleted the mouse hole and have a twist lock outside outlet for the power cord.

A Frame Shelf for generator. I have to cut it down as it is way to high.

Battery cut off switch installed in the lid of the battery box.

I want to add some of those motion activated LED lights in some of the storage areas.

The outside kitchen door is good. Spoke with a very nice rep with camco (Eaz Lift) regarding my hitch setup. I didn't think that it was setup correctly and it seems as though my suspicions were confirmed. I need to do a little tweaking of the hitch tilt angle and procure some longer grade 70 chains (suggestions anyone? I struck out at Home Depot and Lowes today). Awning deployed tonight...maybe a good sign.
We were looking at a 2017 25BH but it sold before we could make an offer on it. Some changes that we liked in the 2018:
-Lighter wood colors (we liked this)
-prewired for rear camera
-LED lights on front of camper (the paint on our switch is already flaking off )
-black pleated night shades
- one thing I don't like is the faux front cap stickers...mine may be coming off very soon. Very unJayco like...Thor influence? I hope not.

[warjayco]

Also, the 2018 apparently put on a bit of weight...my yellow sticker says 5714lbs dry... a couple of hundred pounds heavier than the 2017s that we looked at. We are maxed at with our setup. If I had realized that the 2018 was a couple hundred pounds heavier than last year we may have had to purchase something else.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by warjayco

The outside kitchen door is good. Spoke with a very nice rep with camco (Eaz Lift) regarding my hitch setup. I didn't think that it was setup correctly and it seems as though my suspicions were confirmed. I need to do a little tweaking of the hitch tilt angle and procure some longer grade 70 chains (suggestions anyone? I struck out at Home Depot and Lowes today). Awning deployed tonight...maybe a good sign.
We were looking at a 2017 25BH but it sold before we could make an offer on it. Some changes that we liked in the 2018:
-Lighter wood colors (we liked this)
-prewired for rear camera
-LED lights on front of camper (the paint on our switch is already flaking off )
-black pleated night shades
- one thing I don't like is the faux front cap stickers...mine may be coming off very soon. Very unJayco like...Thor influence? I hope not.

The 2017 saw a lot of changes. For instance, I have seen 3 different tail lights on different campers. The ones built later in 2017 had l full LEDs outside. Early ones didn't. Mine has a build date in Nov 2017 so full LED inside and out. Maybe you are talking a different LED light that was added though. Prewired for camera. I did notice some different color packages inside. Not sure on the night shades. I don't think they are black.

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[warjayco]

2018 Features and Enhancements:

[sennister]

Originally Posted by warjayco

2018 Features and Enhancements:

Keep in mind that is across the entire Jay Feather line. Some of those things may have been introduced mid 2017. Colors are new. It looks like you might have Goodyear tires. Wish I had that. It also mentioned lights in outdoor kitchen. We don't have any out there. Just the awning LED.

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[jonathanhduncan]

I just bought a 2017 25BH. We are taking it out for the first time next weekend. Does the 2018 come with a battery cut off switch? I installed one for my 2017 model. I moved the slide up and down a couple time with no issue. Only extended the awing a couple time with no issue.

Is the manual slide system the same? I don't know which i have and how to use it if my electric one doesn't work. Can anyone help me?

Thanks.

[sennister]

Originally Posted by jonathanhduncan

I just bought a 2017 25BH. We are taking it out for the first time next weekend. Does the 2018 come with a battery cut off switch? I installed one for my 2017 model. I moved the slide up and down a couple time with no issue. Only extended the awing a couple time with no issue.

Is the manual slide system the same? I don't know which i have and how to use it if my electric one doesn't work. Can anyone help me?

Thanks.

I had the same question on the slide when I did my PDI. If I am camping, run the slide out and can't get it in, then what. I would start by checking fuses. I carry a set of automotive blade fuses. From there if you don't have power hook the camper up to your tow vehicle and try it. If all else fails they pointed out to me where there is a large nut on the mechanism under the slide that can be turned by wrench to bring it in. You won't be able to turn it by hand but a large wrench, pipe wrench or some other tool should be able to do it.

I doubt the 2018 came with a battery cut off. I have a 2017 and added it. My install was very much like the video below except I mounted it on one of the angles of the battery box cover not pointing straight up like they did. I still need to add a dumby cord to it though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZYKZqEX6ys

[jonathanhduncan]

The thread started with a fuse being blown at the battery cutoff by warjayco.

Here is what is under my slide. I don't if it is suppose to be turned clockwise or counterclockwise to be retracted. Or if there is a extra step to preform before turning it.

[warjayco]

Tomorrow should be fun...readjusting the WD hitch and a trip to the CAT scales. Our hitch angle is at 3 degrees while the eazlift rep said it should be at 7.I'll recheck hitch to make sure that im level too. Tongue weight check as well. Let's see how it tows afterwards...