Three Questions - New X-213

[jimmoore13]

Brand new X-213 (rear king bed slide - front bunks with bunk "garage").

About to install 400 watt Renology solar kit. Two questions:

Dealer said the roof is 3/8" plywood over the rafters. If so, I could use the Renology-supplied 3/16" self-drilling lags to attach. Can anyone confirm the thickness of this plywood? Also, I'd hate to shoot a screw into something important like a wire. Is the wiring "loose" between the rafters...sort of laying on the ceiling? Or is it fastened to the rafters near the roof sheathing?

Rig is pre-wired for solar with a gland on the roof and a label to identify the location of the charge controller inside on the bathroom wall. Has anyone used this wiring? If so what gauge is the wire from the gland to the "battery"? (#10 AWG would be adequate if I were to install the panels in series/parallel.) Where does this wire connect? Does it parallel into the battery wire going to the converter, or does it connect elsewhere? I'm prepared to rewire the whole thing straight to the battery if the factory setup isn't adequate, but I'd love to use the factory if it's done well.

And then, I wonder if there's something I should know before I start the project...such as how do I access the wire in the gland, and how do I access the wire that should be behind the spot on the bathroom wall where I'm supposed to mount the charge controller.

Does anyone gave a good contact at Jayco who can provide counsel on such matters? I had someone at Rockwood Forest River who was wonderful...always pointed me in the right direction. I can take pot luck, but getting a really good connection might never happen.

Anyone have experience with this rig and any tips about things to watch for?

For example, I always boondock and travel wet...with a full fresh tank. Should I drop the underbelly and reinforce the tank or did Jayco do a good job of supporting the tank?

We have the "arctic package" (or whatever it's called) but I noticed that the black and grey dumps are exposed, and so is the fresh tank drain valve.

I might just remove the little convenience hose and valve that bring the fresh tank drain near the edge of the frame and replace with a valve straight out of the tank. I'm able to crawl under to operate. I could even add a weather flap to cover the drain to help protect it.

But the black/grey dumps are very vulnerable to freezing.
I'M PRESUMING I COULD SPLIT A GALLON OF RV ANTIFREEZE into the black and grey tanks (prior to use), and the antifreeze would go down to the dump valves to protect them. Does anyone have experience with this? Is half a gallon each enough?

We don't camp in freezing weather often but as graduates from a PopUp (see my photo in Lost Park Wilderness) to a hard side, we might be tempted to extend our season. That photo was from a trip in March in freakishly warm weather, but we still had a light freeze overnight...skim of ice on dog water bowls.

Any other "watch out for this or that" tips you can offer?

We can't wait for our maiden voyage in early spring.

Photos of our favorite destinations below...featuring the old PUP.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[Nathan S.]

The wiring in my 5th wheel was 30A 10 gauge. It was run from the roof to the charge controller location. Where the sticker location is, in my model it was in the hallway. Then the wiring was run from that same location back up into the roof and up to the battery box. Yours being a trailer it might be run through the floor. I have 455w of panels on top of my unit. The wiring you have should be 30a and say so on the sticker. It is more than adequate to handle your 400w of panels.

[pbois34]

I can’t help you the the solar but can tell u about the freshwater tank of the X213. I took a three week adventure this past summer and boondocked a bit w full tanks. Post trip inspections revealed that the freshwater tank was actually rubbing on the axle while traveling. This spring I will try and fix prior to my next adventure

[Nathan S.]

I can’t help you with the winterization question cause in SoCal, don’t need to do it. But as far as running wet. I only run with the fresh tank a 1/3 full. The manual and a lot of posts say not to do it. I’ve “read” of a lot of problems with running full. And it all depends on your model. I’m assuming you are doing all your weight calculations etc. IMO you being a boondocker, I would get under there and reinforce the tank supports. Fresh, grey and black. Then you have piece of mind. I’m one that doesn’t try to cut corners when it comes to safety and always try to eliminate something to worry about. We have too many other things to pay attention too. Plus you don’t want to be headed out on a bumpy road and leave a pile of turds for the next guy. That might be me ��

[Imagequeen]

We are on our maiden voyage and had trouble moving the rear pop out to the extended position. It always seemed to stop short. Used muscle power to assist. This was in very cold weather. We had the car hooked up and running so battery power was at peak. Do you have problems moving the pop out under battery power?

[feather in the wind]

Mine will struggle on battery power. I try hard to avoid having to.

[LeMoeCND]

With our 2013 x213 we found a similar issue to the point we kept blowing out the in line 30Amp DC fuse found on the battery. After a few checks, I found that the gauge of wire used on the TT can handle 40 Amps safely. To all please check the wiring before you decide to up the fuse. The fuse stop popping but it seemed there was not enough push to get it all the way. In my case, I found that the amount of stuff (weight) on the slide and how it was distributed prevented or assisted a successful extension and retraction of the push out. Hope this helps.

[jimmoore13]

We have opened and closed the slide a number of times, but always connected to shore power (15 amps) and always at above freezing temps...probably 40 degrees or more. We do have all the bedding stacked on the bed, but we have not loaded the cabinets on the rear wall.

[Imagequeen]

Have found a limit switch mounted on a plywood L shape in middle of compartment. It stops the movement of the rear slide out by 2-3 inches. Once the sensors touch it stops the outward movement and the lights go out in the trailer. (Don’t know if the lights turning off let the operator know that the slide out is at its maximum Extention.) when we first moved the slide out it made a thump, thump, noise and the dealer told us that’s when we stop extending. I don’t know what has changed but how does everyone know their slide out is fully extended. By noise, thump, thump, or the lights turning off. Please also let me know if your wood moulding around the entrance into the love nest is touching the inner wall of the trailer.

[LeMoeCND]

I was also surprised that the moulding is not flush against the wall. Curious, I investigated and found that our unit (2013 x213) has a hard stop incorporated into the rails. No amount of pushing will make it go any further. I know if I’m full out when it goes “thump thump thump”. I can also visually check the stops.