First trip/ couple of things left to figure out

[xea]

Ok not sure if this is in the right place or not but we just got back from our first trip! We had a lot of fun and everything seemed to work good. There are a few bugs which is why I am placing this post in this forum.

First we have a small leak,I am sure it is coming in the front slide on the drivers side. The place where the rubber gasket going down verticly meets the rubber gasket going horizontaly under the slide seems to let a small amount of water in. I was wondering if I need to replace the seal or is there something I can do?

There are two buttons on our moniter panel, one is for the water pump but I can't find reference to the other one anywhere. It is directly beside the waterpump button and it is labeled htr.

The last thing was I couldn't light our hotwater tank, I didn't need it for this trip so I didn't try very hard but does anyone have some tips?

We have a 04 3685FL

Tina

[carlson]

Tina,
Keep an on the area wher the water is coming in.
You want to take some lubricat/cleaner like 303 and wipe the gaskets.
On the second red button next to wht water pump.
That is your gas side on/off for your hot water heater.
Hope this helps

[Dano]

xea, The button thats marked (htr) is the hotwater heater, And it should light by its self when you turn on that button. As far as leaks, you might go see your dealer.

[Merv]

Hi Tina,
that second switch on your monitor panel that is labeled "htr" is the electronic ignition for the water heater. if you switch it on that will light the pilot on the water heater automatically. You may notice a little red dot light come on between the two switches on the monitor panel. This should go out after about 15 to 30 seconds or when the pilot lights. You may also hear the heater light.
be sure not to light the water heater unless there is water in it.
Merv

[xea]

lol no wonder I couldn't get the hot water heater to work. The manual talked about a switch and there is one behind the vent grate so I was turning that on and off wondering why it didn't work. Thanks for all the quick replys

Tina

[Merv]

Hi again Tina,
That switch behind the vent grate is for turning the water heater on when you have electricity. If you want to use the water heater when the camper is plugged in to an outlet, you can use either the propane,the switch on the monitor panel or electricity, the switch behind the vent grate.
Merv

[sreigle]

Actually, there's no pilot light on the water heater. But the electronic ignition does light off the gas when it needs lighting. Just wanted to clarify that so nobody thinks a pilot is burning propane all the time that switch is on. Good information.

On the leak, in the back of my mind is a nagging thought that we had some discussion about water getting in at that corner on that model but I do not remember for sure. I think the fix was to put something in there to redirect the water to the outside rather than replacing seals. Hopefully someone with a better memory will come along.

[xea]

Cool I didn't know it was both electric and gas, thats nice. Yes I didn't mean the pilot light but the flame for heating the water up, good clearification thanks.

[Joyce H]

xea, That is what this forum is all about. I always tell other Montana owners we meet while traveling, "it is like having a very good owners manual right at your finger tips". When you have any problem or question there is usually another member here who has had the same and is willing to share from experience.

[JH Sechelt]

Xea,
Don't know if you bought your unit new from a dealer or not, if you did , they should have made sure you knew how all this stuff works. If not this is the right place to learn.
Make sure you don't turn the water heater on ( with electricity )if there is no water in the the heater, The Elec heater element would only last about 1 second, and then you would be replacing the heating element.

J & D

[Montana Sky]

I love that you post a question on here and within a hour you will have 5-10+ answers. Sure beats pulling that owners manual out and try to find the right answer. Dont think we could find a better group than the MOC.

[VanMan]

xea, we use our water heater on electric almost exclusively! We use the breaker in the breaker box as an electric on/off switch. We will use the propane feature whenever we're not hooked to "shore power" at a campground. We do very little "boondocking" or "dry camping" without electric hookups, so this is usually for Lunch stops or rest breaks along the way. We will use BOTH electric and propane (the "htr" switch on the monitor AND the breaker switch) anytime we want hot water "quick recovery" - like if we need to take back-to-back showers.

[Fordzilla]

xea, we have the same trailer and had the same leaks you are describing. Our dealer ended up caulking around the bottom seal where the water that was running down the vertical seal was running back under the very bottom corner just a little bit. They pulled the bottom seal off and caulked under it on the very edge to keep it from running back under the corner. You may want to look at that and maybe do the same. We have had no leaks since. Hope you enjoy your 3685. I know we really love the layout for our family.

[sreigle]

Xea, that switch behind the grate is for the electric side of the water heater. It should heat the water just fine by itself. If yours isn't, perhaps a breaker is turned off (check the breaker panel inside the coach). If the breaker is ok, then maybe someone turned on the electric side when there was no water in the heater or not enough to cover the heating element. That will fry the element in a few seconds.

I noticed VanMan uses the electric side exclusively. We use the propane side exclusively. On newer rigs (late 2003 and later) I would think using the electric side would be fine. Also, any model year in warmer weather. For our older electrical system that tends to pop breakers easily, we had too much trouble with breakers popping in cold weather when we had electric heaters going so we shut off the electric side and run only the propane side now. Plus, in colder weather the electric side did not by itself get the water hot enough for us. The propane side does. For awhile we ran both but still had the breaker problem.

You can run both electric and propane for a faster recovery time. That's nice when multiple people want to take showers one after the other. On your newer model you should be able to run both propane and electric or either one by itself and be just fine.

[xea]

JH we inherited our fiver so there was no dealer and no owner left to tell us how to work anything

The electric side of the water heater probably works fine, I didn't give it enough chance to heat up, I couldn't hear anything happening or see a flame so I didn't let it run for fear of hurting something.

Ford I think I understand what you are saying and I am sure it is the same problem but if I calk behind the seal won't it just start leaking when the water builds up a little more, I guess I don't understand how it prevents the water from getting in the camper. The seal actually kinda seems to make a cup for the drips to run into since it is instaled so that the bottom of the seal is sealed lol.

Wow that was confusing!

Tina

[Fordzilla]

Ours would run down the vertical seal until it got to the bottom of that seal and it was on the outside of the horizontal seal that runs underneath the slide out. But the horizontal seal didn't seam long enough and it would run down so fast that some water would run underneath the very corner where the horizontal seal didn't go all the way to the edge. So what the dealer did was pull up the seal across the bottom a little bit and shoot a little caulking into the corner where the plastic guides that holds the seal in place meets the vertical part of the framework around the slide out. Then pushed the seal back on and let it all dry a few hours.

Gees, I think I am even confusing myself. I will be getting the trailer out of storage soon and will take pictures and send them to you with a shot of what I am trying to say.

[xea]

I understand Ford, the problem is ours vertical seal is on the inside of our horizontal seal so water runs down the vertical seal fine then it gets to the horizontal seal and some just keeps running down the vertical seal into the "cup" the horizontal seal creats. I do think whe have a little corner spot not covered as well where the horizontal seal doesn't go all the way to the end, I can see how silicone will seal that. I would love pictures though just to make sure I understand.

If anyone else has the front living room could you tell me if the vertical seal on the front slides is behind the horizontal or the other way around. I wonder if that is our problem, that our seals are backwards.

Thanks Tina

[Karl]

Just a tongue in cheek comment after reading VANMAN's post (quouting partially)

"We will use BOTH electric and propane (the "htr" switch on the monitor AND the breaker switch) anytime we want hot water "quick recovery" - like if we need to take back-to-back showers."

Hmmm..."back-to-back showers"! Sounds fun, but where did you get a Monty with room enough for the two of you??? ('')

[Fordzilla]

xea, I bet that is most of your problem. I would try and get it on the outside of the bottom seal. If it doesn't keep raining I may look into getting the trailer out tomorrow. But with all the rain we have had I am afraid the yard is a little soft and I don't want to tear it all up moving the trailer thru it just yet.

[xea]

Ford don't rush getting your fiver out, we have the slides in right now and it doesn't leak that way, it only leaks when the slides are out. Thanks for everyones help and funny comments :P

Tina