Airstream Service Visit

Yesterday we worked from a few different locations including the Laughing Planet Cafe while we waited for our trailer to get serviced. Chad and Jake joined us for lunch.

SERVICES
– 27 point inspection
– activate 2nd inverter outlet next to TV
– pigtail for external solar (we just got a zamp portable bringing us to a total of 600 Watts!)

WARRANTY REPAIRS
– toilet valve broken
– electric jack has short in connection
– bathroom fan handle broken
– shower fan won’t turn on
– replace shower seal at bottom of door
– dinette window screen coming out of seal
– alarm in bedroom – we tried replacing battery but it wouldn’t stop beeping
– a few missing rivets
– flickering LED bathroom
– freshwater input has popped out

Sutton Service finished up with our trailer around 3:30pm and then we drove an hour and a half north to Champoeg State park, where we discovered that the seal in our toilet is broken. We REALLY don’t want to have to go back to get this fixed, but we kind of have to.

Dinner Last Night:
My Aunt Kitty gave me a package of amaranth, so I had to figure out what to make with it. I found a recipe for Amaranth Risotto with Portobello and Peas. I cut the recipe in half, followed the cooking directions on the amararanth package and substituted fresh asparagus for the frozen peas. It was just ok. I need to ask Kitty what she’s making with it.

2013 Cost of Camping:
We have 3 nights booked at Champoeg State Park for a total of $88.

50 nights paid camping (thru Thursday 6/6)
107 nights free camping
157 days this year
Total spent on camping this year: $1,059.08
Daily average cost of camping: $6.75

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17 Comments

  • Reply Pam Wright June 5, 2013 at 9:08 am

    Sorry to hear this. Hope all works out!

    • Reply Leigh June 5, 2013 at 9:23 am

      It’ll be fine, it’s just a pain to have to drive 3 hours round trip to get it fixed.

      Thanks for the support though!

  • Reply Roger June 5, 2013 at 9:44 am

    When we picked up our new trailer in January I made sure we only stayed 10 miles away. True to form we had to go back to get some tweaks done.

    Are some of your outlets, inverted or not, a double plug but not really? They look like a double but have one of the openings blocked off? Ours had many of them. During a service visit I had the dealer replace them ALL with true doubles. Much nicer.

    About the inverter. Ours was NOT plugged into the shore power, as it can be. This meant the ‘inverter’ plugs were only active when the inverter was on. By simply plugging in the inverter it will pass the 110 on to the ‘inverter’ plugs when on shore power. When on 12v you still have to push the inverter button but you don’t have to swap plugs.

    Just some info…

    Roger

    • Reply Leigh June 5, 2013 at 9:57 am

      Hi Roger,

      That’s what we did when we picked up our trailer. We stayed a week in Eugene and had it serviced at the end of the week. Usually they’re so good that after a service we’re good to go. Lesson learned!

      Yes, some of our double plugs only have a single available for use, so we had them change out the plate and activate the inverter outlet by the TV. There are still a few more singles that can be done.

      It sounds like you’re keeping your inverter on when you’re plugged in so you don’t have to switch plugs, am I reading that right?

      • Reply Roger June 5, 2013 at 10:28 am

        That is correct. Here is the exchange I had with a tech:

        ——————
        We have a new Airstream and the inverter is a WFCO 600 model. Your specs state something about a 110 passthrough? Would that mean that the outlets connected to that device would have 110 when attached to shore power? Please clarify.

        Thanks!

        john klocek
        Feb 14

        That is correct. Even if the inverter is in the invert mode and you plug your RV into shore it will default to shore power.
        —————-

        It will provide power to the inverters when on shore power (provided the inverter is plugged in) and the button off.

  • Reply Dave and Kelly June 5, 2013 at 9:50 am

    Why not visit Airstream NW in Portland?

    • Reply Leigh June 5, 2013 at 10:01 am

      Ah good thinking and only 30 minutes away. We got an appointment tomorrow morning!

  • Reply Bert Gildart June 5, 2013 at 9:50 am

    I broke the seal in our toilet reaching deep, deep into the bowl last winter, trying to retrieve a fork which was accidentally dropped. Cost to remove toilet and replace seal was over $100, so think the drive back worth it. And now I’m reminded that Janie and I must also get our two year check up, but will probably do so in MT rather than driving back to Suttons. Nothing at all against Suttons, just a time consideration. Good luck!

    • Reply Leigh June 6, 2013 at 9:56 am

      Hey Bert – didn’t you blog about this? Can you post the link? People are wondering how you could have dropped a fork in your toilet!

      • Reply Bert Gildart June 6, 2013 at 10:24 am

        DROPPED FORK: Unbeknownst to my dear wife Janie, there was a fork in the pan of dirty water used to wash our dishes. When she dumped the cloudy water into the toilet bowl, lo and behold, the fork went with it. I did post about the mishap, but didn’t like the picture (too graphic!!) used in the blog, so removed posting. Privately, I’ll provide more description about my hunt and peck search deep in the bowels of the bowl should anyone desire.

  • Reply Aunt Kitty June 5, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    Amaranth seemed like something you could work into one of your creative recipes. It’s nothing I’ve used before.

    • Reply Leigh June 5, 2013 at 2:14 pm

      There’s a good looking bread recipe on the package but it isn’t vegan. Maybe for later if we fall off the dairy wagon.

  • Reply Cheryl June 5, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    Strange that I’m not commenting in direct reply to your post, but I’m wondering about how commenter Bert Gilbert dropped a fork in his toilet… 😉

  • Reply Jolly April 6, 2014 at 7:40 am

    I am considering an Airstream purchase, but am dismayed by all the quality problems you’re having. Rivets popping out? MDF cabinetry, in a $100k MSRP trailer?
    Incorrectly wired plugs, in a metal trailer? Seriously? Wow.
    Are you happy with your trailer, and would you buy Airstream again?

    Thanks.

    • Reply Leigh April 6, 2014 at 8:55 am

      Hi Jolly, we’re definitely disappointed with the number of problems we’ve had. Losing rivets is quite minor and also very normal. Most Airstream owners eventually buy a rivet gun. I think you’re going to find quality problems with any mass produced trailer. We had near no problems with our 1963 custom renovation, so that might be a route you might want to consider. To answer your question, we love our trailer. If Airstream came out with an office edition we’d definitely consider trading in.

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