Floor water damage

[oldfireguy57]

Purchased a new 2022 Torque 371 from the dealership at the end of March 2023 and on June 2 on our 2nd trip I noticed during setting up that the floor was sagging under where the refrigerator sits. What made me notice was the plastic trim that ties the side wall and floor together at the rear side panel was pushed down and had actually ripped. I contacted the dealership to set up an appointment to bring it in upon our return. After the trip, I started investigating why the flooring was sagging and the more I looked the more it appeared to be water damage. This puzzled me because, during the time I've owned it, it has not been in the rain till after I discovered the damage. This got me to look into the only thing in that area was the refrigerator and I couldn't see where the drain hose exited. I looked at the installation manual to first see where the drain hose was attached and then in the compartment and found it curled up in the corner. When I pulled it out I found the end tapped up but was still able to drip a little and the tag attached up high out of sight stated that basically the hose must be routed out of the compartment for proper drainage. So from the factory, it was not properly installed. I posted on the Facebook group for Torque owners and had a few replies basically good luck getting it covered under warranty and that some had the same thing happen to them and were not covered although more time had elapsed with both. I'm thinking I have had it only for two months so should be a no-brainer that this should be covered but am I wrong?

 

[cookie]

I'm thinking you may have a difficult time pleading your case to Heartland.
They may say that although your trailer was sold as new it is two years old. During that two years what happened at the dealership? Demo? Employee use? Who knows.
Hopefully your dealer will take care you. If not, be sure to contact Heartland yourself and explain the situation.
Oh, and that piece of tape at the end of the drain hose is something I've never seen used on RVs.

Peace
Dave

 

[oldfireguy57]

I had one owner on the FB group who said he had the same thing happen but only found it out almost a year into owning it and it had tape also. Maybe something they do to keep Debis out of the hose until its install.

 

[Bogie]

I'm thinking a bit differently. If you are the original registered purchaser, the Heartland Warranty should be in full effect and you should be covered. Take a look at the warranty statement in your manual. (Look in the tools section of this forum for the manual. Unfortunately latest is 2021, but that may be the most recent anyway.)

Regardless, if the drain hose is what caused the damage and was not vented properly and coiled up inside as you say, I would argue that it is absolutely a manufacturing defect!

Hope you took some pictures of the coiled up hose (non-vented hose).

 

[oldfireguy57]

Yes, I did take pictures and sent an email to the dealership along with a description of everything I found.

 

[sengli]

That stinks! I found my drain hose had got so brittle over its life that is was snapped off inside. These do go bad. Obviously it should have been vented outside the coach.

 

[Torque mess]

Purchased a new 2022 Torque 371 from the dealership at the end of March 2023 and on June 2 on our 2nd trip I noticed during setting up that the floor was sagging under where the refrigerator sits. What made me notice was the plastic trim that ties the side wall and floor together at the rear side panel was pushed down and had actually ripped. View attachment 68469I contacted the dealership to set up an appointment to bring it in upon our return. After the trip, I started investigating why the flooring was sagging and the more I looked the more it appeared to be water damage. This puzzled me because, during the time I've owned it, it has not been in the rain till after I discovered the damage. This got me to look into the only thing in that area was the refrigerator and I couldn't see where the drain hose exited. I looked at the installation manual to first see where the drain hose was attached and then in the compartment and found it curled up in the corner. View attachment 68470When I pulled it out I found the end tapped up but was still able to drip a little and the tag attached up high out of sight stated that basically the hose must be routed out of the compartment for proper drainage. View attachment 68471So from the factory, it was not properly installed. I posted on the Facebook group for Torque owners and had a few replies basically good luck getting it covered under warranty and that some had the same thing happen to them and were not covered although more time had elapsed with both. I'm thinking I have had it only for two months so should be a no-brainer that this should be covered but am I wrong?

Thanks so much for this. We also purchased a 2022 heartland torque 371 in March 2023. We brought it up to our seasonal site in June and all of a sudden lately occasionally, my husband has been hearing some dripping. After reading this, he went outside and took the back off of the refrigerator area and found exactly what you did. The drain hose was curled up with tape on the end. It’s even a warning sticker that it Hass to be on tape and fit outside. It looks like it’s a factory. They just stuck the unit in and didn’t follow any directions. We had the exact same type thing with our microwave. When the vent fan in the microwave was on, it was blowing through the cabinets. The facTory just installed it as it came and neglected to turn the fan as the instructions stated for interior venting.

your post saved us so much aggravation and possible issues with our unit. My understanding as far as the warranty is that it begins to run when you take ownership of the unit. It doesn’t matter how long it’s on the dealers lot.

 

[wdk450]

One of these:
( https://www.ebay.com/itm/1611540960.../uxE2U5mCHcq55SUJODd+UPCmg==|tkp:BFBM-q2Lztli )
is supposed to be installed on the end of the drain hose to keep insects from crawling into your refrigerator through the drain hose. The drain hose is supposed to be routed to the outside through the lower refrigerator outside vent, and shortened to a proper length. The corrugated hose is EXTREMELY AFFECTED BY UV SOLAR DETERIORATION and should be replaced by a vinyl tubing as needed.