New to Thor, and to RVing as well

[thunderkid123]

Advice from another (not-so-much-now) newbie...if at all possible take that RV out for a test run before you HAVE to be in it full time! We purchased a new Challenger to do a cross country trek from South Carolina to California with plans to stay for a couple of months and then go back to the east coast. We discovered the second day of the trip that we had a major leak from under the shower pan. Things just got worse from there. We survived the trip but new RVs tend to have some kinks that need to be worked out. I hope that's not the case for you, but be prepared!!!
Good luck with everything!!!

[Lbatt]

Congratulations, Vinnie...and welcome to the "My Dealer Didn't Show Me Squat" club. We first timers (June of this year) got a 15 minute "here's this button, Here's that hose, Here's how you light the oven using a match" here's the grey tank and the black.

And that was about it. We bought in Utah and was driving to our home in CO, and one of the leveling jack hydraulic lines ruptured. On a Sunday, so could not call the dealer but did leave a message with the sales rep. Never got call back in several days....called again and he brushed us off and told us to call the dealer manager for this and any further problems. Wow.

Learn by reading this and many other RV forums out there... We've learned a lot. Ask some of the accessory and repair places about things.

We've found that some repair places do NOT do Motorhomes, only TT, others do Chassis repairs, but not the coach (living spaces, and accessories), And if you have warranty issues, good luck...seems that every item (fridge, Water heater, Stove/oven, A/C, etc. is supplied by a different mfg. and getting warranty work done is a ZOO.

Our selling dealer paid for some of the stuff that went bad up front (used Thor 27.2) but has now brushed us off completely.

Good luck with the learning process, and Especially:

Good Luck and a Great Decision to get out of California, such a beautiful state so destroyed with so many Rules, Regulations and TAXES on Every Thing and Every One. Smart Move!!!

[steveak]

We solved the problem by placing a small wine fridge in the forward passenger side cargo compartment. This one is powered by a compressor and holds 12 bottles. Works pretty good. It has maintained 55* temps in 110* California heat. Beware, it does not prevent the temperature of the wine from going as cold as the night time temps. The white plastic box you see in the bottom left is the sensing unit for a remote temperature gauge which sits in a cubby on the dash. Power outlet is in the bay behind this one so I ran an extension cord forward.

Steve

[VinnieSmith]

Thanks for all the information, and the support of getting out of CA- that's pretty much most of the reason we're leaving. After a couple nights sleeping in it, we're getting the hang of it, but now need to start depending on the plumbing more, as we just locked up our house for the final time.

Found the inverter and AGS controls, but wondering if those reset to off after it's been driven a bit. In our escape mode, we kinda stuffed the floor so now I can't get back to the panel to check it while it's briefly locked up on the street. We've been using a bit of the water into both tanks (more gray) but the fresh readout waffles between 67 and 33, and the waste tanks still both read zero. Need to find a place to dump and fill pretty soon.

Last newbie question- my wife doesn't want to use the RV toilet paper, and we haven't been to Costco to get the much-lauded Kirkland brand yet. So we just have regular soft paper for now. Will the typical chemical treatments break that down, or should we go the old sandwich bag method?

[fhenn]

we use septic tank paper

[Long & Winding road]

Originally Posted by VinnieSmith

Last newbie question- my wife doesn't want to use the RV toilet paper, and we haven't been to Costco to get the much-lauded Kirkland brand yet. So we just have regular soft paper for now. Will the typical chemical treatments break that down, or should we go the old sandwich bag method?

You can test any toliet paper but just soaking in water for like 15 minutes or 30 then agitate it a little. If it break up easy you should be fine. We use our TP sparringly and add lots of water to the black tank by using the bathroom sink more (it dumps into the black tank on our coach).

[VinnieSmith]

Oh, I'll have to check into that. Thanks!