Shake down trip off to a bad start...

**huntr70** · 10-29-2019, 06:28 AM

Originally Posted by ChadandMel

Well...still not fixed. Had the wife run and grab some sharkbite fittings before she left yesterday as I was headed to work, so that I could fix it this morning, take a shower (finally), and get some sleep.

Well wouldn’t you know that GD switched from Pex to a rubber hose JUST FOR THE LOW LEVEL DRAINS!?!?!? WTF?? Sharkbite no worky!

So here I sit on Tuesday morning, not having had a shower (or running water) since Saturday night, waiting for the hardware store to open so I can go spend another $50-$75 bucks trying to fix a $2 part...

You’d think for what we all pay for these that they’d use a little better parts.

Rant over. For now.

What is the build date on your coach?

I just walked all my Solitude's on the lot, including a 3350RL-R with a build date of 9/19 , and they are all blue pex low point drains.

**ChadandMel** · 10-29-2019, 07:28 AM

Yep...that’s the one. Cheap blue and red plastic 1/4 turn valves? You can pull them apart and there are 4 o-rings going around the body of it and a teeny tiny one that fits in a grove on top. That little O-ring fell apart in my hand when I took it out. So that little .00001 cent O-ring has cost me over $200 and three evenings...

**boyscout** · 10-29-2019, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by ChadandMel

Well wouldn’t you know that GD switched from Pex to a rubber hose JUST FOR THE LOW LEVEL DRAINS!?!?!?

Sorry for your trouble, but this is not likely true.

In the utility area of your trailer you'll likely find other lengths of soft hose in your plumbing - mostly PEX but some soft hose - and those are infamous for blowing up after a few years. I've finally started the process of replacing it in our 16-month-old trailer and found a couple of places (the back of the water heater was one) where the soft hose was deformed and bulging from the fitting it was attached to. Another year or two (or less!) and water could have been spraying all over the electrical and furnace in the utility area.

**ChadandMel** · 10-29-2019, 08:49 AM

That’s all I saw down there. The majority was the real pex, other than the drain valves. As soon as I pressured it up and other fitting started dripping above it on the back of the nautilus so my next project will be redoing all of the fittings and cleaning it all up.

If the plumbing on my house was like this I’d kick the plumber in the nuts for sure...

Maybe they need to slow the assembly line down a tad. Maybe use a shop vac too before they close it all up. Ridiculous.

**boyscout** · 10-29-2019, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by ChadandMel

That’s all I saw down there. The majority was the real pex, other than the drain valves. As soon as I pressured it up and other fitting started dripping above it on the back of the nautilus so my next project will be redoing all of the fittings and cleaning it all up.

That's peculiar because trailers manufactured in the years before yours and in the years after yours definitely have soft hose in them. SOME soft hose, the "majority" is PEX as you say (and as I suggested previously).

For example, in our 2018 Solitude we have/had soft red hose from the water heater to a PEX T junction in the center of the trailer. From there more soft red hose went up to the bathroom sink while red PEX goes back to the kitchen sink. There are numerous lengths of blue soft hose behind the Nautilus panel, the two longest being to/from the pump but several others being used to do things more quickly/easily than cutting PEX to fit. In all the trailer has/had about 8-10 pieces of soft hose, and none of them are sticking out as the low-point drains (though I might have soft hose *feeding* the low-point drain valves; don't remember).

Originally Posted by ChadandMel

Maybe they need to slow the assembly line down a tad. Maybe use a shop vac too before they close it all up. Ridiculous.

Believe me, I'm with you. I've railed elsewhere here about my abominable experience with poor quality and poor dealer service. When I spent well over CDN$80K on this trailer I certainly didn't think I was buying a DIY project, in part because our 2017 Reflection was reasonably solid and well built. The 2018 Solitude has been a litany of troubles from large (replaced the fridge) to small (trim falling off) and most of it has been due to sloppiness and poor quality control at Grand Design and/or the dealer. PDI?!!! In the Grand Design world - manufacturer and dealer - it apparently stands for something different than what we expect.

So, we do the best we can. Welcome to the support group!

**Likes to tow** · 10-29-2019, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by ChadandMel

That’s all I saw down there. The majority was the real pex, other than the drain valves. As soon as I pressured it up and other fitting started dripping above it on the back of the nautilus so my next project will be redoing all of the fittings and cleaning it all up.

If the plumbing on my house was like this I’d kick the plumber in the nuts for sure...

Maybe they need to slow the assembly line down a tad. Maybe use a shop vac too before they close it all up. Ridiculous.

Another good point made.........we had sawdust all over the sofa each and every time we pulled it somewhere, for two years!! Never did find where it was coming from.

**CoChris** · 10-29-2019, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by Likes to tow

Another good point made.........we had sawdust all over the sofa each and every time we pulled it somewhere, for two years!! Never did find where it was coming from.

A/C, the A/C vents & ducts and the puck lights & speakers.

Out of site = out of mind for the factory

Chris

**ChadandMel** · 10-29-2019, 07:53 PM

Finally had a shower...YAY!!!

Mucho better.

After 3/4 timing for the better part of 10 years in travel trailers and 5th wheels, I would honestly be just fine never stepping foot in another camper for a very long time...but it has been a necessity for work.

Just super frustrating when 1. Something that should work, doesn’t, and 2. When you start tearing into a brand new trailer and seeing how shittily (yes that’s a word lol) these things are thrown together. Especially since we just spent so much on them.

If I didn’t need all the room I would have spent the money on an airstream.

**papermakermd** · 10-29-2019, 08:33 PM

I can agree with the problem with sawdust and other fragments. Everytime we pull our 2019 Reflection TT we have to clean it off the bed ,recliners and sofa. Our Tv just crapped out after our second time out. We found out the Tv warranty expired the same month we bought our TT. GD doesn't want to do anything about it. The manufacturer says the Tv is already out of warranty.

**ChadandMel** · 10-30-2019, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by papermakermd

I can agree with the problem with sawdust and other fragments. Everytime we pull our 2019 Reflection TT we have to clean it off the bed ,recliners and sofa. Our Tv just crapped out after our second time out. We found out the Tv warranty expired the same month we bought our TT. GD doesn't want to do anything about it. The manufacturer says the Tv is already out of warranty.

That sucks, but the TV’s are ******** in these things.

What’s funny is my 379 that got hit by lightning, they wanted $950 to replace the TLC TV in the living room.