[432bartman]

Bartley nightmare trip. My wife and I, and another couple who own a GD Reflection went to Paso Robles on Thursday the 1st. We stayed again at the Sun Country Cava RV resort, which is gorgeous. Had a great time. On Monday morning the 5th. we packed up. I went to raise the front of the Montana to help with emptying the black tank, and nothing happened when I hit the Lippert control button. I tried manual mode, and still nothing. I checked all the fuses, the voltage on my two 12V batteries, and all was perfect. Being a holiday, nothing was open, and I couldn't get an RV tech to respond. With the limited tools I had with me, I pulled the hydraulic pump motor out and it smelled burnt. I put it directly to 12V and it would not spin. Looking on my phone, I found a local RV dealership open (Sky River RV). I grabbed the burned out motor and we responded there. The staff was super nice, but told us the parts department was closed, due to the holiday. A staff member put me on the phone with a relative, who does RV repair, and he confirmed with me that my motor was burned out. My wife and I booked another night at the resort, and my wife had to book a substitute teacher to take her 4th grade class on Tuesday. Tuesday morning came and we went back to Sky River RV's to order a new motor. We learned there were only 6 of these Lippert motors in California and the soonest we could get one was the next day (Wednesday). We ordered the motor ($1,755.42). My wife and I went back, booked another night and she got another substitute for Wed. Wednesday morning came, and we got the call the motor had come in. Picked up the new motor, I tested it to 12V and it spun (Yayyy). I installed the motor and hit the button.........nothing. By this time, I'm ready to burn my Montana to the ground. I contacted Sky River RV and they put me in touch with a mobile RV tech (Great Dane RV) operated by the owner (Lynn Stokes). By this time on Wednesday it's about 3 pm. I called Lynn, who was just getting ready to crack a beer and go in the pool. Lynn dropped everything and responded to help us out. Lynn arrived and asked about the new motor and if I had spun it. I said yes. What I didn't realize, is what he really was asking is if I spun the motor with it in the pump, which I didn't. Lynn quickly realized the pump solenoid was burned out. Together we responded to Sky River RV and picked up a new solenoid, which they had in stock ($176.98. We came back, Lynn put in the new solenoid, and we tried the unit. Upon hitting the Lippert control, the new motor started smoking (Not Good). Lynn then put his cordless drill on top of the motor to spin the motor and pump together and nothing happened. The pump was completely broken and frozen up. This is what caused the original motor and solenoid to burn out. Lynn then said we need a new pump and it comes together as a complete unit (pump/motor/solenoid) It's now late Wednesday afternoon. Looking on my phone (left the laptop at home....never again), I found a rebuilt 7 quart Lippert pump assembly from Etrailer. I called Etrailer and ordered the new pump ($1,644.86). My wife and I booked another night, and she got another substitute. Friday morning came and the new pump arrived at Lynn's home by 0930. Lynn responded, installed the pump and wellahh.........it worked. Anika and I made it home Friday evening by 7 pm. With or without the trailer we had to be home, because we had a family funeral to attend on Saturday morning. All in all, this was an expensive nightmare, but we made the most of it and enjoyed our additional time together. I can not say enough good things about Sky River RV and Lynn Stokes. We made new friends with them and by the way, Sky River RV carries a great selection of new Montanas and other trailers. If any of you ever have a pump failure, by the complete unit. The unit comes already assembled (pump/motor & solenoid) all mounted on a painted steel plate. I asked if the system needs to be bled, and Lynn told me "No" and that the system is designed to automatically bleed the air out of the system. I'm hoping to recoup some of my funds, through my warranty with Easy Care. A claim with them has already started. Not counting food for the additional days, or the 4 days my wife had to burn for days off, this little nightmare for parts, labor and RV resort cost us $4,500.00. Happy RV'n everyone.