Disappointed new owner

Hi everyone. My wife and I have our first ever trailer, 2012 Big Country 38' 5th wheel. We were very excited when we first got it and now we wonder if we made a mistake buying something from Heartland.

The longer we have it, the more we find wrong and the more I have to fix. Easy at first, a screen would fall out here and there, pantry shelves were falling down when in motion, loose locks, little things. Until I discovered the water leaks (now I read here about all the problems I'm in for, great).

I took it in to the dealer on the 1st leak in the basement (under warranty at La Mesa RV), They said they pressure tested it and found no leaks. This is a total crock on their part. Leaked worse the next time we took it out. I will never go back there again. I still have 5 months left on my warranty.

I tracked it down to loose connections behind the shower valves. I thought we were out of the woods but no, the basement was still wet. I won't trust La Mesa RV ever again so I pulled the wall off myself and found 4 more connections not even hand tightened. Still not out of the woods, the "T" connections are leaking (seeping). Not sure where to go with this one. Clamps on plastic pipes are stainless and hard to remove to replace. But do I want to use those again?

I'm a pretty handy guy and I guess I'm in for a total piping makeover in the basement. I saw a post where someone had already did this and cannot find it, they posted 4 pictures and I would like to see them again so I can get some ideas. Any help there would be appreciated.

** DELETED ** Heartland Bashing - against forum rules - jbeletti

I want us to be excited about our trailer but this really puts a damper on it. It shouldn't be this way.

Thank you all, I have much to learn.

Joe and Sherry

Before you start tearing apart the plumbing, try crimping the stainless steel cinch rings a bit tighter. You can use a pair of end nippers for this, so you don't have to run out and buy a special PEX tool. If that doesn't work, then you'll want to replace them along with the plastic fittings (use brass). You don't necessarily need PEX tools, but they will make the job easier. And either type of PEX clamp may leak if it's not put on correctly.

As far as the connections at the faucets, they can come loose just vibrating down the road. Not desireable, but it happens. Best to check each time you set up camp.

Hi Joe and Sherry,

Sorry to hear about your recurring water leaks. Please contact Heartland Customer Service directly at 877-262-8032. See if they can direct you to another service facility to go over coach issues.

Jim Beletti
Director of Owners Interests

Hello Joe and Sherry,

Sorry to hear about your concerns - I hope you are able to distinquish between Heartland and the dealer who is a franchise on their own, and may or may not be as concerned with your satisfaction as Heartland has demonstrated in its customer service. Hopefully others will also help alleviate your concerns.

On the plumbing - the cinch connections (stainless rings) I too have had some come loose. It is great you are handy and can tackle some of this yourself. I purchased a PEX cinch tool and have replaced the plastic "T's" with metal and new cinch rings. I would not re-use the old rings. In a pinch you can re-cinch the existing ring with a tool to see if it just needs to be tightened a bit more. These are tools that need to be calibrated every once and a while, and a new tool may cinch it down better.

Hope this helps.

Brian

EDIT: Sorry I am a slow typer - apologies on repeating some of your suggestions John

La Mesa RV, in Davis, CA I believe. You are not far from camping world in Roseville, not the one in Rocklin just down the road. The Rocklin store is where you want to purchase items from though, good discounts for Good Sam members. They sell heartland and have done good work on my Prowler under warranty and an insurance claim on the roof. You can call them at 916-772-1155. Their service department is very friendly, responsive and have gotten the job done correctly first I tell them about it. Now I will say this, they will not go out of their way to look for additional problems but if they come across it they will take care of it.

My apologies for the Heartland QC department bashing. I got pretty worked up the more I wrote about (and thought about) the water issue.
Thank you everyone for your replies. As far getting this repaired under warranty, I think I probably voided this part of it by working on it myself. Can't hurt to try though.
I've already tried re-cinching the clamps tighter, it didn't help.
I'm gonna take a deep breath, step back and see how I'll fix this. I didn't know about using brass fittings. That and some new cinch clamps might do it. I may go with compression fittings.
Thank you all again.

I'm actually in San Diego, thank you Jack and Evelyn.

Try Giant RV in Temecula, shouldn't be to bad of a drive. Great company to deal with. They are a Heartland dealer.

Since this is your first camper, I would not be happy either--but water leaks do happen and it doesn't matter what brand you buy. I would not re-use the PEX clamps. You can buy the the fittings that you can slip the PEX into and they lock, no tools required. One more piece of advice, check the nuts on the bottom of your sink strainer bowls, they may be loose along with drain line fittings. Things move when going down the road. The more you camp,the better you will get at knowing what stuff to check and how often. I am on camper #7( from different manufacturers) and Heartland makes a good unit. Enjoy the new Big Country-- you made a good choice!

As a first time camper owner let me advise you that there are many things in the RV that can and will happen. Keep in mind the 5th wheel is like putting wheels on your house and driving down the road. Things bounce around and vibrate loose. It is not unusual at all for drawers to come open, shelves to move and things to fall. You must be sure to secure everything you can and Velcro will become your friend. We have found it is best if one takes care of the inside (wife does) and one takes care of the outside (I do). Then we check each others preparations and then recheck our own. Reverse the process for setting up. As we leave a campground or home we are asking each other questions like 'did you put the antenna down?' and are the steps up, and is the Television secure, etc etc, After doing this 100 times it becomes second nature. Also keep in mind when getting warranty work done you do not have to use your selling dealer but warranty work needs to be approved by Heartland. So you can use a non-Heartland dealer if it is pre-approved, even a mobile repair one. If in doubt contact Heartland Customer Service. Sometime it may help to have a mobile repair guy come to you where you are set up to see the problem first hand rather than try and recreate it at a dealer. Good Luck with resolving you issues.

Not only am I a first time camper, I've never posted on a forum either. I realize I need to keep emotion out of my posts and stick to the topic at hand. With that in mind, my apologies to La Mesa RV. There are a number of items they have fixed in a professional manner. I was let down by the water leak issue. I am probably as much to blame by not taking it back in and being insistent. Be that as it may......
This is not the place to vent.
Thank you.

We had a major leak on our first trip out. We now have extra parts on board and occasionally check connections. We also have two small heaters that we can place underneath and a bunch of towels in case there is a problem on the road.

We acted quick and ended up with no water damage or mold.

As others have mentioned, we also now turn off the water when we are away from the unit for more than a few minutes.

I have to say we have had a number of problems since our purchase. We now only have one issue left to fix, and our stress level has went way down.

I wish you the best and hope you find a competent repair shop for future repairs.

Be aware to NOT over pressurize the PEX clamp system or you will have leaks. Don't go over 60 psi. Try 45-50 psi and see if you still have leaks. Use a quality WATTS regulator.

Hi
Welcome to the Heartland Family. When I decided to purchase My Heartland Key Largo The Bride and I traveled to many dealers including Giant RV in Ontario, CA. We were disappointed with this dealer due to the fact, The rig they showed us was missing parts as thou they were using it for a donor. We also researched the complaints filed with the BBB. We decided to drive 300 miles north an purchase from Manteca RV. We were impressed with the dealership as it was clean and the service department was huge. Since our purchase we have contacted them on numerous small issues and they have responded and took care of our needs even thou we are 300 miles away. Don't loose faith in Heartland, They are the best built 5th on the market. I can say this because I have been staying in mine for the past 4 months fulltime.
Take care,

birdistheword said:

Not only am I a first time camper, I've never posted on a forum either. I realize I need to keep emotion out of my posts and stick to the topic at hand. With that in mind, my apologies to La Mesa RV. There are a number of items they have fixed in a professional manner. I was let down by the water leak issue. I am probably as much to blame by not taking it back in and being insistent. Be that as it may......
This is not the place to vent.
Thank you.

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Thank you for cycling back and letting us know you are feeling a bit better about the situation.

Most of us have been in your same situation, with the same reaction at one time or another. Goes with most things in life.....

Glad you are able to use the forum to help you work through things - it is a great source of information for myself and I learn something from just about everyone in their posts......

Brian

Bird, their is Temecula RV off the 15 here in Temecula (of course) that is an authorized warrenty repair station for HL. They do good work and in a timely manner. BTW, to lighten to mood a little, come to our Socal rally on the 1st weekend in April and you can vent to us and we can help you work through the issues. We have all "been there-done that". Look on the portal page under events for more info.

crmfghtr said:

Hi
Welcome to the Heartland Family. When I decided to purchase My Heartland Key Largo The Bride and I traveled to many dealers including Giant RV in Ontario, CA. We were disappointed with this dealer due to the fact, The rig they showed us was missing parts

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Since Giant does not have a dealership in Ontario, I am wondering which location you visited?

Giant locations in Colton and Murrietta have always treated me well, through the sale and service phases of my dealings with them.
Thad, the sales manager in Colton, is a straight up guy and I recommend anyone purchasing at that location speak directly with him.

If you are able to, visit the Corona service location for Giant. Ask for Rick Baxter in service. He is a great guy and has told me he will go the extra mile for HOC members. Trace

My bad, it was the colton store (Which is near Ontario). When the bride and I went there we looked at a 2012 Landmark Mesa they had in stock last year, I opened a cabinet and it fell off in my hand, the hinges were missing. As we moved to the bath We observed the shower door was leaning against the back wall of the shower. The unit appeared as thou someone had been taking parts from it. The salesman stated that sometimes the units are left unlocked and the transient population takes up residence for the night. We also went to look at the Bighorn Front living room unit. When they drove us to where the units were, the slide units were touching the next rig. When you walked in one unit it was scratching the other. We didn't blame this on the salesman but found fault ultimately with the Sales Manager. If that is how they take care of a $100,000.00 Rig, we were not going to make ourselves victims. I'm glad you are happy with them, we were not impressed with the dealership at all.
Take Care,

After spending an obscene amount of time in the basement (again)putting my hands on every single fitting I could reach (again) and feeling/looking for more water leaks, I've eliminated all but the original section of leaky hot water piping.
Everything else is tight and dry.
I've got a repair plan and a shopping list for a couple of new "tees" and a few compression fittings.
One question, the guys at a local RV parts store are pretty insistent that I should replace all the soft piping (hose) with hard piping on the hot water side. They're pretty adamant the hose can't stand the pressure or the heat and is sure to burst. This stuff is all over the place behind the HW heater, looks reinforced and is rated at 150 PSI.
I don't see an issue.
Any input?

They're pretty adamant the hose can't stand the pressure or the heat and is sure to burst. This stuff is all over the place behind the HW heater, looks reinforced and is rated at 150 PSI.

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A lot of people seem to worry about those hoses, but I don't recall anyone actually reporting that one burst.

But the pressure statement is interesting. Did they mention the importance of a regulator? You've got to use a pressure regulator to keep the water pressure to a reasonable range. 40-50 psi ought to work well. High water pressure will definitely cause problems, including leaks.