2016 Chateau 31L

[pstandiford]

We have ordered a Chateau 31L. Unfortunately, the delivery is expected to be about 10 weeks (around July 10). Going to be a long wait. Just a bit concerned about some of the negatives on this forum. We have had new TT, new 5th wheel and a used motor home and have had some problems with all of them. Most issues I was able to fix myself. With that said, I have seen several references to PDI lists but have not seen them posted on the forum. Are they readily available? Would be very interested in hearing from others with the 31L and your experiences with it and issues to look for during warranty period. Also, is it worth getting an extended warranty?

[Larry]

Originally Posted by pstandiford

We have ordered a Chateau 31L. Unfortunately, the delivery is expected to be about 10 weeks (around July 10). Going to be a long wait. Just a bit concerned about some of the negatives on this forum. We have had new TT, new 5th wheel and a used motor home and have had some problems with all of them. Most issues I was able to fix myself. With that said, I have seen several references to PDI lists but have not seen them posted on the forum. Are they readily available? Would be very interested in hearing from others with the 31L and your experiences with it and issues to look for during warranty period. Also, is it worth getting an extended warranty?

Congratulations and good luck.

Here's a link to a PDI list that may be of help. I found it here from a previous post. You can also search "PDI list" and may be able to come up with some others.

Doug's RV Checklist Page

[pstandiford]

Larry, Thank you for the quick reply. This PDI check list seems like a great place to start. I'll hunt for others also since I have 10 weeks to wait.

[sikoriko]

Congrats on the Chat 31. wow that is long. Dont let the negitive get the best of you. A motor home is like anything else just got to work out the bugs.

[pstandiford]

Originally Posted by sikoriko

Congrats on the Chat 31. wow that is long. Dont let the negitive get the best of you. A motor home is like anything else just got to work out the bugs.

We currently have a 38' Pace Arrow so this one is actually shorter.

[blw2]

congrats!
I agree... there are negatives but don't let them get you down.
We have liked our 31L so far. Still consider it the best model for us of those that i have seen. I have always said it doesn't look like much on paper, but the simple floor plan works well.

The TV is in a good location
lots of counter space
good long sofa (I wish we had the jackknife instead of the air mattress though)
DW likes that the bedroom is separated from the living space a bit.
I didn't like that the shower was not in the bathroom, but it actually isn't a bad layout at all.

Our toilet is up on a platform (tank under), and I didn't realize it until the 1st night, that it's too high.... I'm 5-10 and my feet don't touch the floor! Not a show stopper for weekend use, but not ideal.

The grey tank is too small in my opinion. 5 showers (4 girls w/ longish hair), even trying to conserve with navy showers, fills it up. I replaced the head with an oxygenics but haven't had a chance to see if that makes a difference.

Ended up replacing the accordian room divider at the bedroom with a curtain.... much better.

Keep an eye on your exterior lights. Unless they changed it for '16, they use a bad design for the tail lights. I recommend retightening periodically as the foam gasket compresses.... and when you see signs of moisture inside, open up to dry immediately.
Seems that the marker clearance lights also get moisture in them, but they don't seem to cause as much problem.

The drawer slides in the bedroom were not installed well.... 1 screw where 3 would have done nicely.... and they didn't support drawer filled with clothes (nothing heavy). I changed them out with heavier slides form lowe's

I found tons of little things.... loose screws and the like.... but nothing else major that comes to mind....

I made up a checklist
used a few from here as a basis
Library

I found most to be too long and complex, so i simplified
Stuff to bring
flashlight
battery tester
mirrors
ac outlet tester
multimeter
coax cable
notebook
uv thermometer


Things to check
Lights 12VDC
Lights AC
Battery - test with tester
battery charging on shore power
battery charging on genny

Water heater function
Water Heater Drain
All faucets hot and cold




Documentation
Title
MSRP Sheet
RV manuals
Engine Manuals
Appliance Manuals
Warranty Docs for appliances


Basically, I crawled under, over, through, and around everything..... including the roof and undercarriage
I filled up every tank and drained them
I used every system
turned on every tv
turned everything on, in every combination.

I think the dealer plans for something like an hour for the PDI, I took maybe 4 or 5, and still missed stuff.

I suggest scheduling the PDI for early in the day, not afternoon
and plan it early in the week, not friday or saturday in case the factory needs to be called.
make them address every issue before you finalize the paper
plan to stay in it the first night at a campground nearby, or at the dealer's lot would be even better
have a standing appointment in the service bay the following day to fix things you are sure to find once you start loading your stuff and using it.

PM me so I'll see it, if you ever want to discuss or brainstorm....

[JoandRandy]

Hi, We have the 2014 31L. Our last one was 2008 with one slide. We really liked the 2008 and lived in it for Jan-Feb in Florida every year. There was a captains chair we had removed and my dad build us a dresser so we had drawers and counter space. It worked. The 2014 has the bedroom slide so we have more clothes closets and drawers. (love it) And the counter space is awesome in the living room. Like blw2 said when you do your inspection pull out the drawers in the bedroom and see how many screws are in the brackets. While it's new it's easier to put screws in before they break so you don't have to replace them like we did. Not a hard job but you shouldn't have to do it. We don't have a problem with the small 6 gal hot water heater. We're usually taking showers in the campground and there is only two of us too. We're also not thrilled with the blow up mattress on the couch but thinking of putting in a different couch down the road. We love our unit and I'm sure you will too.

[pstandiford]

Thanks for the feedback. I am taking all of the information from various sources and asking my DW to compile it into one list. From there we will go through and try to refine it to suit our needs. It is the floor plan that we liked. Looked at a lot of units and this seemed to meet our needs. I'll be glad when it finally gets here.

[pstandiford]

According to the dealer our new unit MAY be coming off the line this week. The time has really gone by quickly which is surprising. But I bet the next few weeks will drag.

[pstandiford]

We picked up the 2016 Thor Chateau 31L last Thursday. After the PDI we took it home and packed it up. Left Friday morning for an extended three day weekend. Spent quite a bit of time learning where everything is located. Found a few loose screws. Only major item at this point is the cable connection does not work. Have a Winegard Carryout and made sure it was working by hooking it directly to the TV (bypassing the internal cabling). But, it does not work when hooked up to the outside "cable" connector. Turned off the antenna power boost before hooking it up. Want to test continuity on the cable. Any suggestions on best way to test this?

[blw2]

my only thought to check continuity would be to jumper the conductor with the shield, then measure resistance at the other end....

I would start at the antenna booster to make sure everything is connected in there....

Otherwise, sorry, no ideas on what to check. I only just tested my catv input last weekend, and found that it worked after shutting off the antenna boost..... but these coaches are all different so no telling what your has....

Just today, I walked through a '15 model 31L that Camping World had sitting out as an open house.
Compared to mine this one was decked out.... all sorts of additional usb charging ports, a different radio in the dash, complete with HDMI jack panel mounted on the dash
It had the auto levelers that I wish i had, and some sort of entertainment control panel wall mounted in the bedroom.
It had the power mirrors and several other upgrades compared with my coach

Perhaps if you have a similar entertainment panel, you might find a setting or switch for your catv there....

The thing that really caught my eye was the single piece wrap around bunk nose cone that eliminates the edge seams that mine has..... i really like that!

A few cabinet changes that i didn't care for, and a few others that i did like.
All very little stuff they changed in the big picture, but the coaches can be quite different. Overall, I think they made it even better than mine.

[blw2]

enjoy your 31L!

[pstandiford]

Thanks for the reply. I am going to pull the antenna booster this evening (time permitting). I am hoping to find a 75 ohm end cap that are used on spliters that are not fully populated. Put that on the outside and should then measure 75 ohms across the other end. Hoping there was an easier way since I am having trouble locating the end cap. We have the USB charging ports. Has the HDMI jack on the radio but not sure yet what it is for since the instruction book either wasn't there or we lost it. I thought I saw it but later when I went to read it I couldn't find it. Downloaded a quick start but have not read it yet. The auto levelers are GREAT. They claim 90 seconds. I didn't believe it but so far it seems accurate from pushing the button to being level. The only entertainment control panel we have is a radio that has speakers in the bedroom and also on the door side of the coach. So far we are happy with it. Going back out this weekend since we still have to contend with that old four letter word "WORK".

[blw2]

Yeah, if you can't find a resistor termination cap, I think you could do just as well with a ball of aluminum foil making contact between the two conductors
or a penny taped to the end
or a jumper wire
etc....
then measure how far off zero ohms it is instead of 75 ohms

just make sure everything is powered down first!

[pstandiford]

I like the ball of aluminum foil idea. Is it safe to assume if I pull the cable off the antenna booster that there will be no power on the cable. Seems like it should run right from the cable connection on the outside of the coach directly to the antenna booster. Is that right?

[blw2]

sorry, i have no idea for sure.... I haven't had a need to open it up.
this isn't like my booster, but I'll bet it's similar to this one.
http://www.fishhousesupply.com/images/booster.pdf

[JoandRandy]

Good morning,
With our unit we haven't tried the outside cable connection. We had a directv system installed on the roof and with pushing the button it finds three satalites and done. With our older model the outside cable connection only worked with cable not our directv. We had a portable kind had to put the cable through the window to the TV. Next time were out I'll try it. Did the 2016 come with a spare tire? Ours didn't and we had levelers installed (love them) but now there isn't enough room under the RV to put the tire because of them. We put a spare tire holder onto our bumper and the metal piece that secures the bumper. We have had so much fun with finishing touches and little remodeling projects and fix it projects. Don't forget to check the drawers in the bedroom. You may need to add screws before you have to replace them. We love our unit. 2014

[pstandiford]

I have not looked to see if it has a spare tire but DW says there is one under the unit. Glad to hear you love your unit. Unfortunately, forums often contain a great deal of negative postings about issues. Always happy to see posts from happy campers. I asked the dealers for extra screws so that I could add to all the drawers but they didn't have any. They would have run to the hardware store and bought some but I told them not to. We previously had a 2000 Pace Arrow and the cable connection there worked for satellite as long as we had the antenna power booster off. I plan to do some more checking on the cable line this weekend. In fact, the CG we are going to be at this weekend has cable so we will find out if it works with cable.

[pstandiford]

Update: yes, we have a spare tire.
Also, we are at a campground this weekend that has cable. Everything on the TV worked. That would seem to mean that the internal cabling is good. I'm stumped now. Any suggestions?

[texasgirl]

Check your sleeper sofa and make sure the air mattress fits!