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Old 10-30-2004, 06:13 AM   #8
sreigle
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Oceanside
Posts: 20,028
M.O.C. #20
Ksiceman, first of all, I went to grade school in Wichita and have relatives there yet.

I also agree with Carol and Al and the others. The best solution for the pump is to insulate pipes and the walls in the pump area and also under the pump itself, as others said. All four of our fivers have had noisy pumps. Or you can by a quiet one. What is it, WhisperQuiet or something like that?

I also agree with them on the tank gauges. None of them ever work for long. You can fill your black tank maybe half to 2/3 full and dump several bags of cubed ice in it, then drive it enough for the ice to scrub the walls and thus the sensors. Or you can replace the whole gauge unit with one with external sensors that supposedly work much better. Most of us just quit using the gauge. We've used ours enough to know how long before it needs dumping. Plus, when we're on the last day before dumping it will "plop" when flushing. Sounds gross but it's just the flush water. I assume it's reached the vent level when it does that. I usually then close the gray tank valves to accumulate some water in them then dump the next day.

On our first Montana, we had not enough heat in the bedroom. Our dealer looked at the distribution box under the step from downstairs to upstairs. He found a loose connection of a hose. Plus he found the one that would carry the most heat was going to the bathroom, not the bedroom, so he reversed those. You don't get a lot of heat upstairs anyhow in any one I've ever seen. We spend Nov/Dec in Kansas City area so we close the door between upstairs and downstairs and augment heat with a small electric heater. My aunt and uncle even used to do this in their Excel Noble Esquire, which is classified as a fulltimers' rig.

95% of all FW brands say they are not intended for fulltime living. The ones who identify themselves for that purpose are the high dollar rigs. But many of us are doing just fine fulltiming in Montanas and Mountaineers. We have to do some things like shrinkwrap the windows, like you did, but it's doable.

I also recommend you call (don't email) Keystone and talk to them with a concerned but calm demeanor. I don't know the number but you should be able to find it somewhere on their website at http://www.keystone-mountaineer.com .

Good luck. Please update us on your situation.

Just took a quick look. The number is (574) 535-2100. Don't see a toll-free number.
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