SeaDawg

I've found I get a faster response by opening a service ticket. You can do that by clicking on the "home" button at the hamburger menu, then scroll to the bottom, and click on "service center"

Congratulations! I'm really happy for you.

Either your fridge has a lockout to not run on 12v unless you have the trailer connected, or, you have a glitch in the control board, and that's a warranty item. How far are you traveling? Cool the fridge down, load it up, add a couple frozen cold packs, and unless it's super hot, you're good for a few hours without the fridge running at all. Or, turn it to propane . Also, when you hook up the trailer, before you leave the driveway, see if the fridge runs on dc if the engine is running in your truck. Then, open a service ticket. Your fridge, even as second owner, is probably still under warranty with norcold. Worth the call to find out

Glad you were able to locate it . Have a great trip!

That looks great! I think you need to give yourself a HUGE pat on the back. And, enjoy an evening with your feet up. None of the really good adhesive sealants are easy-to-use, imo. Nor, do they store well. Short shelf life, even sealed with foil and refrigerated. Next time you need it, loctite marine can be ordered from Lowe's. They don't stock it on the shelf. We can get it at our local store within a day or three. With a fresh julian date.

I agree. $4 mat is great. Let us know how it works out.

In our 2008, its probably different, but still a pain, because it's a really big screen. I push up, twist a little, and down. Once you figure it out, you'll forget a bit til the next time you clean the screens and window. 14 seasons in, big screen is stiil not fun.

If it's running at all, its getting dc to the controls. So, the place to check, I guess, is dc to the cooling unit. Also, the control push button. On our dometic, this was an issue. (Eyebrow board.) Not sure which model norcold you have. Never had an issue with that. Til it died. And, we rarely, if ever tried to run on dc. Too much power loss for our batteries. We're one of that group that runs on propane . Or, used to be. Dc danfoss/secop compressor fridge runs fine, underway.

Thats nice. We just wirebrushed an repainted our propane shelf this year. Looks like you have plenty of ventilation. I might add a few drain holes, if I did this, for condensation.

That said, other us rv manufacturers build all electric units. Even fgrv Egg camper and Little Snoozy did it. Of course, they both went out of business. (Though Snoozy II is working again, with a new owners.) The biggest problem is the furnace, from my point if view. Carrying diesel, or having to hook up for electric to obtain heat, isn't appealing to most people. Everything else can be solved with enough solar, and enough lithium battery, imo.

I would say, that is the crux of the problem. I think Oliver chose Zamp solar, for example, for several reasons. Wide service network. Usa made. Quality. Ease of use. The choice of the noisy Dometic ac is based on availability, and serviceability, I'd suspect. No matter how great a component is, if there are no parts, no service network, and unreliable imported supply chain, a manufacturer would be taking a big risk. Those of us who mod with imported or rare units take that risk. But it's on us, and not holding up production.

Absolutely. Buy a quality stinky slinky.

The last few years, we've adopted loctite marine fast cure. Good adhesion, good elasticity, for both the boat and the trailer. So far, so good. And, it gets good ratings on Practical Sailor testing, which is why I first considered it. Polyether, not polyurethane, and compatible with fiberglass, polycarbonate, and most plastics. If the lens is acrylic, which I really suspect it is, you would want to avoid polyurethane.

I don't think the factory ever used butyl tape for the lens, Scubarx, because butyl requires some type of mechanical fastening in addition to the butyl. (In absence of a trim ring with fasteners, we added screws to our continuous seal of butyl.) I do recall the factory using the vhb tape that Celia encountered, and I agree, it's an ineffective way of fastening and sealing the lens. It's a great fastener, but it doesn't seal the window, making caulk your only line of defense. Resulting in the failures you described. Using a good marine sealant/adhesive should work fine. That's how some boat fixed, trimless ports are fastened. It provides a good seal, and a good adhesion. Even those have to be refreshed over time, though.

Btw, the older coleman cub was more quiet than today's dometic. Also, much smaller for smaller trailers. If you mostly camp at elevation/cool temps/ boondock, I'd let it go til more of the European and Australian units become readily available. We recently replaced our dometic with a houghton 9500 btu, mostly to make space on the roof for our solar panels. Since we run the ac only once or twice a year, to check it out, noise is irrelevant to us . But, I am not dismissing the issue. Most usa rv ac systems are really noisy. Fortunately for us, we've only used rv ac a few times, camping.

We used a heat gun, in the attic, and a metal putty knife. One inside, one outside . We didn't want to heat, or chip too much , as the fiberglass is not that thick at the edge. We took our time. Since ours is a much older trailer, you may never see this. The application has evolved over the years . I hope not, at least. We could see blobs of brown epoxy stain. Hope you don't . A heat gun, in the attic, on low, was very helpful. You don't want to take it too high, and mess up the fiberglass Sherry

As an aside, ive said it before. I truly wish Oliver would adopt an applied light. The third tail light has been an issue for over a decade, requiring maintenance and care . It's certainly not impossible, but could be easier. In my opinion. Sherry

A new lens cost us something like $30. It was a pain to remove, with the spots of epoxy. Ours already had hairline surface cracks, so we ordered a new one before we began (Remember, our trailer is now 14 years old.) Like you, we're not newbies. We could have cut a new lens ourselves, but thought it easier to order. I don't love the "new" typeface, but, its ok . The lens was a perfect fit in our 2008

It's all good. I just don't want people to use 5200 indiscriminately. It's a bear to remove, from personal experience. My evening tonight. Get out, and camp. And, enjoy your new trailer.

@Erika E, not criticizing your decision, its just not one id l would recommend. You'll likely get 3 to five years. Maybe more.. Depending on how you travel/hull flex. I just think 5200 is not the best choice, and lots of people look at these posts for years to come . My reasoning is the lack of elasticity in 5200. And its incredible bonding, which we've personally experienced, even when the stuff cracks and leaks. It is really really difficult to remove

In theory, it's quite possible. Especially, with lithium. This week, we're running two fridges on solar, only, as a friend brought his thermoelectric fridge to camp with us. It's been slim, with only two agm 105 ah batteries in our 2008 legacy I, but we manage. We unplug the thermoelectric at night, as we did, camping in iceland with a thermoelectric cooler. (It's a beer cooler, and it's not hot here. We park it in the shade at night, and it's still 40 in the morning. ) Add up the amp hours. Add 100 per cent extra to solar for expected charge. Carry a really small genset for a string of crappy days Pretty sure we could do it . I'd carry an outdoor gas/butane or propane burner, for cooking. The big gas hog is the furnace. If you pack good sleeping bags or bedding, you won't need as much heat. 12v heat is a mystery to me. I doubt it's worthwhile.

3m 5200 is a powerful adhesive, and very, very difficult to remove in the future. It will require expensive solvents, and mechanical methods, and probably heat, as well. 3m 5200 is really meant for permanent bond, but doesn't flex as well as some other products so not as great as a sealant. We use it very, very selectively on the boat. Have never used it in the trailer . There are other strong products I'd recommend, that are more easily removed when it eventually fails, like Loctite Marine rapid dry. Even 3m 4000 uv, maybe, but I don't know about the compatibility with the lens material.

You have been very, very busy! Nicely done! I especially like the shower head holder for the outside shower. Very useful.

Back to Claudia's third tail light lens question. In our 2008, the lens was attached directly to the fiberglass with some type of tough marine adhesive sealant, I'm guessing probably 3m 4200. We were able to remove that with a heat gun on low, from the inside, and a putty knife, working carefully. Unfortunately, a couple spots were held in place with a dab of epoxy, which was much tougher. Yours is likely held in 3m4200, or something like that. I know you've seen my thread on what we did, using butyl and stainless screws, but that's an experiment in progress. If you can get the lens out in one piece, (we couldn't, because of the dabs of epoxy), you'll want to clean it and the surrounding fiberglass thoroughly, and apply and seal with a compatible marine adhesive sealant. If we had gone that route, my choice would have been loctite marine fast cure, or Dow 795 (dowsil), as they're compatible with fiberglass, polycarbonate, and most plastics/acrylics, and easier to deal with and remove later than silicon or polyurethane. I don’t know if the lens is polycarbonate or acrylic, so I'd want a sealant compatible with both.

The ac is noisy, but shouldn't be any more noisy than the (probably) same ac installed in your previous Casita. Might want to check the flange bolts, to make sure the upper unit is properly tightened in. Check that the shroud isn't loose and rattling, also.