1/2 Time Oven

[Rex & Mary]

We have the 1/2 time oven by Apollo. Yesterday the button you push to unlatch the door stuck in the "in" position. A little love tap with my fist resulted in the mechanism behind the button falling apart? Now the door won't open, anybody "been there & fixed that?"

[rvfirefighter]

I am on my number 5 Apollo. I had all kinds of problems with the first two, then they sent me some replacements that were used and supposedly refurbished. They had dents and grease inside. My dealer replaced with a new one when I was in P.C. Fla. for some other repairs.
Hope you have better luck.

[beliveauj]

Having gone through five ovens myself two with the latch problem.The latch has two plastic hooks on the back and one of them breaks and it will no longer open.I took one apart and didn't see how it could be fixed.We make sure we use two fingers when opening and are very careful when we shut the door.

[Gene Chaltry]

We are on our # 3 Apollo. The first one wouldn't let us close the door with the latch broke. The second one broke with the door closed and we couldn't open it. Thank goodness they were under warranty. Has anyone found a microwave / Half time oven that will fit in the opening?

[Lstierw]

Have had no problems yet, but thanks so much for the info...we will open it very softly............Les

[Charlie]

Our oven has jumped out of the tracks twice. The last time I removed the oven to see what the problem is and found the cabinet is not square. At the factory they attempted to secure it with two 1/8" pieces of scrap trim as shims and they had vibrated out leaving about 1/4" gap on the upper left corner of the cabinet.

They had a good idea but did not secure the shims. I secured the shims with a screw into the top of the cabinet and think that I will not have the problem of the oven jumping the tracks as it fits tight on the tracks now. Replaced the plastic cover and the shims are not visable.

[campbud]

So far ours has been ok...but I will watch opening and shutting now..I never gave it a thought before.

[Rex & Mary]

Has anyone replaced their 1/2 time oven or convection/microwave oven? Looks like there are a few different brands available, the Tappen 1.1 cubic foot oven would fit the opening? If you've made this switch I appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

[jrgwdenner]

Rex & Mary, if I remember correctly, firetrucker had replaced his micro or convection oven. You might give him a PM.

[firetrucker]

I replaced my Apollo with a Panasonic 1.2 cu ft microwave with inverter technology. It fit the opening almost perfectly, but I had to build a new standoff that raises the unit off the bottom of the cabinet because the dimensions of the feet are slightly different (not a big job).

The inverter technology reduces the maximum current that is used as the power level is lowered. That makes it a lot easier on your generator and lets you run more things when you use the microwave.

Bob

[dsprik]

Bob, where did you get that Panasonic from?

[Gene Chaltry]

Bob, Where did you get it and what model is it?

[firetrucker]

It is the Panasonic T695SF (stainless face with black accents...looks nice) 1.2 cu ft, 1300W. Dimensions are (WxHxD) 20 3/8 x 11 7/8 x 15 15/16. I had to position it to one side of the plastic frame (hardly noticeable)so the door would open without interference. I got it at ABT electronics on the Internet. Their current price is $118, with free shipping. No complaints, and they shipped it right away.

I think I saw a model at Costco recently that would work, too, but I don't remember any particulars...worth a check.

Bob

[thook]

Our door latch also failed. Couldn't get the door open and there was a full plate of food in the microwave. Not wanting to smell it a few days later I finally forced the door open. The 5er is sitting at the dealers now waiting for a new microwave.

[RADHAZJOE]

Same problem. Ended up with new oven, but sometimes unplugging oven releases the door. I checked into this and found that their is a safety relay that sometimes hangs up. However, it is usually a broken plastic part.

[dsprik]

Sounds like we may be looking at a possible recall here...

[Gypsy]

I just experienced the same problem. Heated a cup of water for tea (thankfully not smelly food ) and couldn't open the door. I felt something crack when I pushed in the button to open the latch. A friend helped me take everything apart to find the problem, and I couldn't believe the design of this mechanism. I'm not an engineer, but I think I could have done a better job. The part that broke is made of plastic, and a lot of pressure is put on one little point to achieve the latch release. Very poor design...

Anyway, I called the manufacturer today (use 800-772-7262 for units installed in RVs, not the number listed on the last page of the manual--that's for home-installed units). Talked with Tammy who immediately said she'd send out a new part at no charge. Mine is no longer under warranty - the Montana was built and bought in Sept 2004 although an '05 model. But Tammy didn't hesitate. The shipment will include instructions for installing. When I asked if they'd had lots of failures of this part, she said the new part is made of nylon, not plastic which breaks easily. (I think the answer to that question was "Yes" )

I don't know if a recall is possible dsprik, but I suspect a lot of others will have similar problems if your oven was built with the plastic part.

[mobilrvn]

Last week the convection part of our 1/2 Time died. From this thread, I won't try to have it fixed. More lowest bidder crap from Keystone!

[Montana_1240]

Sorry for seeming to be venting about someone’s valid venting. But I thought another opinion wouldn't hurt. “Devil’s advocate,” don’t ya know….

I'm wondering how much more we'd want to pay for a Montana to have it equipped with appliances or parts that never fail. I also wonder if there is such a beast.

In particular, since I've had microwave ovens of several brands over the years that have all ended up at the dump, does anyone know of a brand that doesn't break?

With all the units sold by Keystone, equipped pretty much the same, is there a statistician out there who can determine the actual percentage of failures, using the limited number of Montana owners posting on this site, and the number of unhappy end users of a typical appliance that eventually dies?

It's a pain that the spaces created in our "houses" were created for a particular brand. And to replace them with another brand would forever alter the look of the "house." But really. Does the realistically slim number of failures mean that Keystone somehow made a bad choice?

Personally, and even with my own repeated problems with Keystone's choice of Toshiba living room TVs and Quest home theater systems in mind, I tend to doubt that I could actually make any other choice that'd guarantee me of perpetual problem-free service from anything in my Monty.

We deserve a chance to be "squeaky wheels." But let's try to keep it real, and understand that a few problems does not equate to an overall bad choice by the maker of a product we chose to purchase for a myriad of reasons.

Having heard of the possible impending failure, I'm leery of my Apollo's door latch, now. But having heard about how Apollo's come through with a better-made replacement for the few original parts that do break, I'll reserve my true whining for a time when Apollo refuses to even discuss a problem with me after a reasonable period of use.

Perhaps I’d be letting a genie out of the bottle, and would have to suffer through an unending litany of happy end users who simply want to post about all the things they’ve been satisfied with in their Monties, over the years. There just might not be enough disk space on the MOC server for such a job.

But it might just keep things in perspective

Steve

[richfaa]

Mr critical here has to agree with Gyro..I think I said before that if Montana built a camper the way I thought it should be built using the materials I think they should use it would cost @ 250K and weigh @ 30K. Although our Sealand toilet does not leak yet I have called the company and they are sending a repair kit.. although our potty room door latch has not failed yet I am installing a better door latch and although the 1/2 time oven door has not failed I have called the company and they are sending a new part.We have sealed the underbelly, Caulked holes/drafts/sealed the the shower, tightened hinge screws. Threw away the mattress and got a good one. Pulled out the entertainment center and made it work the way I want it to work and we have only had the 3400 a little over a month. Other than the mattress I have maybe 100.00 invested in tie wraps, Gorilla tape, Caulk, external antenna booster, etc. (and about 3K in my labor) This is not a excuse for Keystone and the Rv industry..They should be ashamed of themselves for the poor workmanship issues and we should be ashamed of ourselves for allowing them to continue to do it. The rv industry is all about quantity and when that is the case quality suffers.

I continue to be diplomatically critical not only here but with E mail and calls to Keystone. If more RV owners did that it might make a difference.