New Montana questions - Montana Owners Club

Montyman · 09-05-2008, 01:48 PM

We are in the process of purchasing a 2009 Montana 3400 RL. Can any one out there tell us of any problems we should be looking for and do the fireplaces on these units actually put out any heat?
Thanks,
Montyman

TLightning · 09-05-2008, 01:58 PM

No problems to speak of...we opted not to get the FP...got a couple of portable heaters instead. That way we have flexible heating options and lots of extra storage.

stiles watson · 09-05-2008, 01:59 PM

Yes, they do. You can have them be show only, but they have a heating element in them. It really knocks the morning chill in the unit.

mtheo · 09-05-2008, 03:04 PM

Fireplace is great for mild chill, when it gets cold we have a second electric heated.

sailer · 09-05-2008, 03:38 PM

The 09 don't heat like the 06 did ,, i get more heat off a candel ,,, sailer

Exnavydiver · 09-05-2008, 03:53 PM

We have the same rig Stiles has and the FP works great. We use a second when it gets really cool outside. Hardly used the furnace last winter even when it was 10 degrees outside other than to keep the basement from freezing... Dave and Betsy

bsmeaton · 09-05-2008, 03:58 PM

Just used it last night to kick up a 40 degree chill so I didn't have to listen to the furnace run.

Can't speak for the 09, but ours does fine. I have seen SOB brands that do a little better job circulating, but could not find the brand name.

Glenn and Lorraine · 09-06-2008, 01:01 AM

We don't have a 3400 but unless you like the ambiance of a burning fire, to me, it's a waste of storage space and big bucks. For the price of the fireplace you can buy a number of the smaller heaters and heat various parts of the trailer. A livingroom fireplace does nothing for the bed and bath on a cold morning. As for storage, I use that same area for my scanner/printer and a few other items.
If it's the ambiance you are looking for than buy it but if it's heating the rig than get some small inexpensive heaters.

Montyman · 09-06-2008, 01:11 AM

Thanks everyone for the fireplace comments. How about any ongoing problems with the Montanas. We are trading in a Hitchiker that has been really good to us.
Montyman

sunshineduo · 09-06-2008, 05:32 AM

Our unit is still a very new '09 and we've only managed about 3 weekend stays so far, but have noticed no major problems. Week 1 I found a water leak in the basement, but after crawling under the sinks and tightening some fairly loose drain fittings it's all dry now. I also found that a coule of circuit breakers were mis-labeled (AC and Water Heater, and a couple of room circuits) it all works, just got the wrong labels on the breakers. Also, in the "for-what-it's-worth" department, the installers did not pay much attention to polarity when wiring up the speakers for the surround sound. Not that it would matter a huge amount on the fatory system, but having all the "+"s and "-"s right on the speakers could make a little difference in sound quality (discovered this while mounting up new speakers).

At any rate, the fireplace works just fine and the controls seem pretty functional. I haven't looked into wiring up a themostat to it (I did so on our gas stoves in the old house) but that might be pretty handy. Our fireplace makes a very faint kind of rumbling-rolling-clunking sound and I don't know if this is normal from the light-drum turning, but have asked the dealer to look into it for us. Other than that, we've exercised everything and it all seems to work as advertised for us (the first burn of the furnace might chase you out of the coach and set off the smoke alarm

). We are quite pleased with the workmanship overall.

Gary & Robin

Exnavydiver · 09-06-2008, 05:53 AM

Gary, the fireplace already has a thermostat, it is the knob on the far left on ours. Ours is hard to hear but it throws a lot of heat... Dave

Delaine and Lindy · 09-06-2008, 06:22 AM

Our last 3 5th wheels have had the Fireplace, yes they do put out some heat I think around 15,00 watts which isn't very much but we used it in Colorado and Montana to knock down the chill. As for storage space, in most of our 5ers we have had plenty of storage space. As a matter of fact we have found the more storage the more stuff you haul around that you don't use. The ambiance along is work the money to us. We also do carry small heaters and do use them. Good Luck... GBY..

P.S. We are in the first RV park that we haven't seen a Montana, but there is a Everest here

.

P.S. Junior: There now is a Montana in the Tom Sawer RV park in West Memphis Ark.

JimF · 09-06-2008, 06:29 AM

I read that the new fireplace is rated at 600 watts, the older ones were 1500. We took ours out and use the space as we fulltime. We use a 1800 watt quartz tower in it's place. Works much better for heat in the winter. All in all our 3400RL has been fairly maintenance free, considering it's an RV and gets towed around a lot.

richfaa · 09-06-2008, 07:02 AM

The fireplace is as high price to pay for ambiance and not a lot of heat. It is a nice addition but we decided on the extra storage space as we spend a lot of time in the 3400.We also do our best to stay out of cold temps. But the FP does look nice.

bsmeaton · 09-06-2008, 07:21 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by richfaa

The fireplace is as high price to pay for ambiance and not a lot of heat.

hahahahaha - somehow the whole RV kind of fits into the extravagance category, so I guess I wasn't worried about whether or not the fireplace made sense or not. Had I stuck to logic or practicality, I would be driving a Honda with a tent tied to the roof

Dave Anderson · 09-06-2008, 09:34 AM

bsmeaton; Very well said!!! Even sitting out in the desert when the sun goes down, there is something elegent about a little fire in the fireplace,a great scotch, and alovely woman by your side(DWof course!).................Dave

simonsrf · 09-06-2008, 10:19 AM

.......or you can be cheap like me. Buy one and install it yourself for $297 from Lowes. Cheap ambiance.

In our model, the 7-1/2" of lost space was not an issue.

richfaa · 09-06-2008, 11:16 AM

Obviously none of you have a wife who is a "crafter" and a collector of "stuff" If there is a craft Helen does it. If there is a square foot of space to store something, every corner, every nook, every cranny Helen fills it. Every bit of our storage space is filled..even under the bed and under the under the bed. Ambience,,,rigghhtt..

mail2us · 09-06-2008, 02:08 PM

The Dimplex Optiflame Plug-in Fireplace is great. Some specs:
120v, 1500watts, 5200 BTU's and 12.5 Amps. It works great on our 3400 with no noise. It does heat mostly the living area/kitchen. I am the only one who drinks coffee, so...I get up and that area is just right while Judy lays-in for more heat. We prefer the ambience but we do not live in ours so that could be why.

Any real issues with our 2008 have not really happened (yet). Some minor electrical issues and kitchen sink plumbing. Had some difficulty with our slideouts working but with MOC help they're fine.

Read your manual and read the forum. You too will learn to know and love your 3400. It's really a nice model. Still learning! Dennis

Exnavydiver · 09-06-2008, 02:29 PM

Our 340 RLQ Big Sky came with the fireplace, it heats the living room and kitchen ok, but all that heat "wanders" up to the bedroom making it way to hot to sleep. So we shut it down about an hour before going to bed. We just shut off the heat and leave the fire going, it really makes it nice in the evening in the middle of winter. If it is below 20 outside we set the furnace to 50 and turn on a ceramic heater just enough to keep the bedroom above 60. The slides can really keep the heat down but we have used an electric blanket for years here in the frozen tundra. Saves a ton in propane.. Dave and Betsy

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