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Old 07-31-2007, 12:02 PM   #1
Journeyon
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FORMALDEHYDE SCARE

My wife and I are ordering our new 3400rl this week. We became a little concerned when we were reading all these articals about
formaldehyde in materials used in all RV's in the cabinet material.
We e mailed Keystone about our concern and didn't expect a reply. To our suprise, a high official with Keystone called us at home. He reassured us that there is much less of this material in RV's than in our house. He said in new trailers to run the fans and open vents to help get the irriating smell out. He was very professional and detailed in his explanation. I still did some more checking and found out he was right. We have a lot of wood products in our house and there is also formaldehyde in those materials.
It's nice to know that they were concerned enough to call us. I know it's P R control to a point, but they still made the effort.
We have trailer shopped a lot and their response just reconfirmed why we went with a Keystone trailer and we are looking forward to our Monty. Just thought this deserved to be shared with everyone.
Happy camping from Journeyon!!
 
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Old 07-31-2007, 12:59 PM   #2
boylanag
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Welcome to the MOC forum, Journeyon. We are enjoying our 2nd Montana and are pleased to see that you got such a nice response to your concern. This sort of service is why we purchased our second Montana without shopping other brands.
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Old 07-31-2007, 01:37 PM   #3
bsmeaton
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Welcome to the forum Journeyon!

Good info, and glad they responded to you so quickly. Unfortunately formaldehyde shows up in a lot of household products. Who would of thought you get a warning on decking wood to wash your hands after handling and wear a mask when cutting because of the formaldehyde permeated into it.
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Old 07-31-2007, 01:54 PM   #4
judyuk
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Welcome Journeyon,
Glad to hear you got a response from Keystone. I also contacted them and was referred to Charles Wade, the west coast rep. He apparently didn't want to get involved with this issue so instead bailed on me by referring me back to the dealer. I was disappointed in Charles's lack of reply and hope he's reading this forum ( and I'm pretty sure he does). I definitely plan on bringing this subject up with him the next time I see him at an RV show.
Get your answer ready, Charles!

Judy
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Old 07-31-2007, 03:44 PM   #5
bncinwv
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Having an asthmatic wife, I can understand your concerns about formaldehyde. Our solution has been to buy the display models that our dealer takes to shows (they air them out for us). See if your dealer will air the unit out for you when it arrives if it sits there for a day or two (it can help tremendously, ours even went above and beyond and put the unit inside for a couple of days with doors, vents, windows all open before our PDI to make sure that as much of the odor was dissipated.) It worked, because DW never had a problem. The hottest days are when you will notice the smell and it can actually burn your eyes if they are sensitive. Some new units do not present the NEW odor as much as others for reasons that are beyond me. There are methods to minimize the odors for the first few weeks that other more experienced MOCers can share with you....and welcome to the most helpful, informative forum that you can ever possibly need.
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:33 PM   #6
OntMont
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Formaldehyde, for all its bad press, is a very common chemical in industry, particularly plastics. The formaldehyde is used as a raw material, and almost all of it gets converted into the plastic material, but a little remains free and gets released over time through a process that is know as off-gassing. It is certainly not unique to RVs, most new or renovated buildings suffer from off-gassing, and a period of ventilation is the best cure. I used to work with tanker truck loads of the stuff, and it is surly one of the most irritating chemicals that I ever encountered in my career in chemical processing industries.
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Old 07-31-2007, 04:38 PM   #7
Trailer Trash 2
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I find it interesting how some RV when new have a lot of Formaldehyde smell when the unit has been cloced up for a while, and some dont have the odor, in this case our Montana did not have that Formaldehyde order at all.

OPPS! Forgot my manners sorry.
A belated welcome to the MOC.

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Old 08-01-2007, 02:14 AM   #8
Mudchief
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We also have not had that smell with either of our new Montana's.
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Old 08-01-2007, 03:05 AM   #9
Glenn and Lorraine
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First of all Welcome Journeyon to the MOC Family.

Think about it!
This whole formaldehyde thing has been blown way out of proportion and the MEDIA, as usual, is just jumping on it.
The current scare came from all the thousands of travel trailers built for FEMA after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These trailers were thrown together in a very short time frame in order to fill the needs of those left homeless after these storms. The manufacturers didn't have time to air these rigs out as they had to get them out to the needy.
They had the same problems after hurricane Charlie hit Punta Gorda, FL a few years ago but for whatever reason the MEDIA missed that one. Guess there was more important BAD news happening elsewhere.
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Old 08-09-2007, 05:15 PM   #10
skbstone
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First of all, Welcome to the forum.

We had our 3400RL special ordered and it came off the line the end of March. We absolutly love it. We have it placed on a leased lake lot and use it every weekend. Yes, formaldehyde is in our homes, however the gases also get more concentrated in a closed up camper that reaches 104 degrees inside. I always get inside, and real quick, turn my fan-tasic fan on, open up windows and go back outside. My eyes water it gets so bad. After about 15 minutes I can go back inside and turn on the AC to cool things down. After that initial airing out. We enjoy our Monty and are sad when Sunday night rolls around when we have to pack up and can't wait for the next weekend to arrive.

Not trying to scare anyone, but the problem does exist. Just remember to Air it out and it will dissipate. I believe next season ours will be fine.

Sharon
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Old 08-12-2007, 07:10 AM   #11
Wifeofdano
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We were at Shipps in Chattanooga one day looking at 5vers, and one we went into, as soon as I got over to the kitchen area, my eyes were burning and watering so bad. I said something about it to the salesman. He just looked at me (his eyes were watering too) and said that he didn't notice anything! I said You've got to be kidding me! He acted like I was crazy. I think I pretty much told him he was lying. Anyway, we ended up in Ringgold and found our Montana, which has had a tiny bit of that a couple of times when it has been closed up for awhile. Don't notice it anymore. Airing it out is the key. I used to work in a plastics molding factory, there was one blue plastic that had formaldehyde in it and it was awfull. Wonder what purpose it serves.

P.S. Welcome to the MOC family!!

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