Couple of problems with 2005 3255RL - Montana Owners Club

mazeeff · 10-04-2004, 02:25 AM

Picked up our new 2005 Montana 3255RL over the weekend. The dealership (Sherrard RV) in Oklahoma was great. They have a KOA campground, and let us stay for two days to sort things out, and dedicated a tech to us for the weekend. We found no problems until we packed up to leave on Sunday, and the dealership was closed.

1. When I went to close the slides, I noticed that there was hydraulic fluid in the tray below the pump. The fluid level was about half full. I read the achives, and it looks like a common problem. Slides worked fine, and I mopped up the spilled fluid. Are failed pumps common?

2. When I went to use the black tank flush, I noticed water leaking from the underbelly. No leaks coming from the vacummne breaker under the rear sink, so the leak must be between the flush input, and the black tank. Any ideas.

3. Our unit came with the Duotherm A/C with the remote control. It seems that the termostat is off by about 10 degrees, too high. For example, I needed to input 90 to get 80 degree heat, and 80 to get 70 degree A/C. We tried a different remote, and it did the same. I'm guessing that the wall unit may have an adjustment inside. Anyone with the same problem?

Overall, we are trilled will the trailer. We are moving up from a 27" Keystone Sprinter, and the improvments are massive. The quality of the Montana is impressive compared to the Sprinter. If I can get these small issues resolved, I'll be a happy camper!

Montana_2136 · 10-04-2004, 07:47 AM

Hello Mike,
We just got our 2005 3400 and have been in it know about 45 days we also found some hydraulic fluid near the pump and the reservoir was about one-have full could not find any leaks at the pump but it did seem to have been dripping fluid from the control valves for the slides?
As far as the heater we have the same model and also have noticed that the thermostat is off by 10 degrees in both heat and cooling have not been able to find out if there is some way of correcting this as of yet!
Good luck, Oscar

Go Pokes · 10-04-2004, 08:08 AM

Contgratulations on your new unit. I know you will be glad you got the second AC. One just wont's cool the unit in OK and TX. We also purchased from Sherrard's and found them to be wonderful to work with -- both the sales and service departments.

mazeeff · 10-04-2004, 08:18 AM

Thanks folks. Oscar. It is good to hear that you see the same 10 degree problem. They must have a issue with calibration on these units. I am going to dissasemble my wall unit this weekend to see whether or not there is an adjustment inside. I could not find any information on this remote thermostat on the web. Even the Dometic web site had nothing! I'll report what I find. I'll also keep an eye on the hydraulic fluid. I agree on the fine sales and service with Sherrard. It was one of the easiest big ticket purchases I have ever made. They even had all the Texas paperwork I needed to register the trailer in Texas. The service was top notch as well. When I arrived on Friday, they had the unit set up in the KOA campgraound, and had run the utilities for six hours straight. They even ran the furnance for four hours to get rid of the new furnace stink! Their pricing was also $7K less than any other place we checked in Texas. Highly recommend them.

FredG · 10-04-2004, 11:38 AM

I remember the Dometic rep answered a question about the remote thermostat calibration issue. A couple of recommendations he had was to make sure there is no furniture near the wall thermostat that is blocking airflow and to move the remote control.

We don't have the remote control, but evidently, some remotes also have a sensor and if there is no airflow because it is sitting in a drawer or on a desk, then it can affect heating/cooling. Also, some models have an option to change the temperature sensor from the wall unit to the remote unit, he recommended to try both and see if it helps.

Broome101 · 10-08-2004, 03:16 AM

We are on our madien voyage with our 2005 3685FL it also has new remote control for AC/Furnace. Last night it got down to about 42 degrees hear in NC and we could for the life of us get the darn thing to adjust the temp correct. Put it on 72 degrees next thing I know it's 82 degrees inside and we are roasting during the night. The directions have what's called auto change mode which it says you set to certain temp it it will switch between AC/Heat when needed to mainttain cetain temp. NOT SO! Also the I Feel mode we couldn't get it to work correct as well, but all and all we figured to adjust it mannually and it seemed to work OK then.

mazeeff · 10-09-2004, 02:13 AM

I'm starting to get a handle on the new A/C remote. I think we are seeing two problems.

1. The main unit seems to be calibration, even if you do not use the remote. For example, the manual indicates that pushing the "cooling" button will run the A/C to 74 degrees. Ours runs to 64 degrees in this mode. It is consistently low by 10 degrees. Likewise, if you push the "heat" button, it is suppose to heat to 68 degrees. Ours will only heat to 58 degrees. Again, it is low by 10 degrees. I will open up the main unit to determine if there is a calbration inside!

2. The remote seems to get out-of-sync with the main unit. For example, if you increase temp on the remote from 75 to 76 degrees in heat mode, the main unit should receive the signal (indicated by a beep), and increase its' temp by one degree. Both the remote and the main unit should now be at 76 degrees. I have noticed, that if the main unit does not receive the signal (indicated by no beep), then the remote and the main unit are now off by 1 degree. Over time the remote and main unit can be off by a large error. I tried a test where I covered up the remotes IR led, and step it up/down by 1 degree. Doing this, I was able to re-sync the remote and main unit to the same temp.

I am still trying to figure out the "I feel" function. If it worked, it would solve the problem. So far, I am not impressed with this product. I am considering just replacing the main unit with a digital hunter thermostat without remote!

Broome101 · 10-09-2004, 09:38 AM

Can you do that with this set up. Does it haev same wires? Let me know I might do same thing, we too are not impressed with the remote unit.

mazeeff · 10-09-2004, 01:20 PM

I'm thinking the wire interface is identical. That would make sense. The wall unit is nothing more than a thermostat with a remote control. The ceiling unit looks just like a normal Duotherm unit. I won't be at the trailer for a couple of weeks, but I'll fill everyone in on what I discover. I'm also going to call Keystone to see if there is a recall on these, or at least a calibration.

mazeeff · 10-11-2004, 06:44 AM

Talked to Ketstone this morning about the remote A/C problem. They were clueless. They had no idea whether or not the wall unit had a calibration. They said I should read teh manual! The manual we recieved with the remote A/C, leaves a lot to be desired! There answer was to work the issue with the service department of the dealership I purchased from. I talked to the service manager at the dealership, and he indicated that you should be able to simply replace the remote control wall unit with a standard thermostat. I'm going to replace mine with a digital Hunter unit from Walmart ($20). I'll follow the instructions at;

http://www.rverscorner.com/articles/hunterstat.htm

I did this mod on my Keystone Sprinter, and it worked great.

Broome101 · 10-11-2004, 02:04 PM

Let me know if it works OK.

sreigle · 10-11-2004, 09:19 PM

We also replaced our older wall thermostat with the Hunter. It has an adjustable temperature swing. It no longer gets too cold or too hot before the ac or furnace turns on or off. Much better.

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