3124KS Shakedown Cruise - Success

We finally got our new rig dirty this weekend. Vastly more comfortable than our old Class B - no comparison. This was a serious Florida summer, no shade adventure. Happy to report the AC did the trick nicely.

Good surprises and discoveries: bed was comfortable, we both agree; acres of windows to brighten things up; comfortable eating at the sofa table with board inserted; storage was more than adequate, esp using the TV for some stuff; toilet should last us 4-5 days per charge, easy. Shower is actually usable, and the recirculating toilet gave us no trouble. And yes, it attracted a small crowd as I set it up. Most common work used: "amazing."

Towing was very easy. Backing in was challenging but successful. I agreed with my wife on some simple hand signals, stay within mirror view etc. It went ok until she started vigorously waving her open hand back and forth in front of her face. Confused, I stopped the SUV, got out, and walked over to her. She was still slapping the air. Oh, yeah.. Florida summer mosquitos.

Issues: battery reads full, but does not supply power to the tongue jack; we had electric this trip but I'll have to see what's up. Connections are good. I wondered about the inline fuse, but if dead why would the battery test meter under the sink read full? Did lots of cranking. Refrigerator - got it lit but it wouldn't hold a flame. Thermocoupler?

The improvement over our Class B is dramatic. We are going to love this experience. Just booked a 5 nighter at Fort Wilderness.

Glad to hear your first trip was enjoyable, that's great!
Backing the TM up is a challenge, my DH does it pretty well most of the time and I'm the designated hand signaller, but my 12 year old likes to jump in and give some "advice" as well with his own made up hand movements, so I'm sure we give our camping neighbors a humorous show at times.

I am not proficient at all on most electrical/battery issues, but I'm learning more than I ever thought I would on this site. You'll get good advice about the issue you are having from others here, such as Texas Camper's response.

Continue enjoying your TM!

At the end of our fits season the fridge refused to run for more than a few hours on propane. There is a service bulletin for the Norcold fridge to fix that. Mine was free because it was still under warranty.

This is a service bulletin, not a recall.

Rich,
Most tongue jacks have their own dedicated fuse between the battery and the head of the jack. If that blew, you would still have normal DC power to the unit and still charge the battery from shore power or the Tow Vehicle.

Did the jack work at all? If it did while on shore power but not while you disconnected the culprit would be the battery itself or it's in line fuse. It is possible the battery was over discharged or has internal shorts. As Texas Camper pointed out if hooked up to shore power the converter is putting about 13.6V DC on the bus and that will light up all 4 lights. When you are unplugged from shore power, turn on a small DC load, like a light, and then push the test button.

Bill

[Joe]

Two possible reasons for the tongue jack not working: A poor ground to the chassis. You will see that there is only one wire to the jack. The other connection is through the bolts that hold the jack to the chassis. If you have a swing-away tongue, follow Leon's advice about installing a separate wire from the main chassis to the tongue.
The other reason for the jack not working is the fuse, as Bill said. In the wire going to the jack there is a yellow 'connector' which contains a fuse. On one of my first outings, I stepped on something and accidentally pulled the connector apart. Luckily I didn't lose the fuse.