Aluminum Camper Forum

We have a 2014 21BHS. Due to circumstances beyond our control, it has sat for roughly a year, plugged into shore power. That entire time the Dometic refrigerator worked perfectly. But a few days ago we relocated it to a different part of our property to prep it for a week-long camping trip. Plugged it back in and now the fridge is not cooling. Camper seems level. Tried it on propane and I can hear the propane fire up and run, but still no cooling. There's a pile of yellow sawdust-like material in the right rear corner of the lower access area, and Facebook friends say that indicates a refrigerant leak.

Is this something that can be repaired? Or is replacement likely necessary. Thanks in advance.

Sorry for the delay responding.

Thanks for the input. The next night it worked pretty well, occasionally taking a couple tries to ignite the furnace.

Silly question: where does one go to find the burner for the furnace? If it's like the A/C and the water heater, it may just need cleaning - and looking for wasp nests!

Been ages since I've visited this forum - sorry, but life gets in the way sometimes.

We just set up our 21BHS at a cousin's house to help take care of her. I decided it was time to upgrade the original thermostat with a digital one and settled on a Honeywell TH1100DV. Installation was simple, but first cold night - last night - it started out fine, cycling on and off to hold 70°F. But then it stopped doing so, allowing the temp to drop to 62° and never coming back on. Turning it off and then back on and we had heat, but twice more it did the same thing. Not good on a cold night. My theory is that if the furnace fails to light, which it sometimes does, the thermostat gives up and doesn't try again. The manual has various settings - I haven't messed with them, so they should still be at default settings. Has anyone else had this problem, and are there any settings I should mess with? Thanks.

Hi! Apologies - I have not been frequenting this forum, what with a whole bunch of other interests.

(As an aside, a fellow using the handle "Sandroad" on a forum devoted to the Honda Clarity knew me from this site, and alerted me to this post!)

We have not been officially camping in a couple of years. Our CampLite has been serving duty as a "construction trailer" as we built a hangar home in Lenoir City, TN, now complete. You can see Campy in the fenced yard to the upper right:



Where in Florida are you? We need to make a trip down very soon, sans Campy, and might be able to touch base. Beyond that we'd love to plan some camping trips in the spring.

Dogs (Chowder, Willie and Halo) are fine, though we lost Jake 2 years ago in April.

As an aside, our Lenoir City, TN digs are just about 3 miles off I-75, just south of the I-75 I-40 split west of Knoxville. We have city water and 50A service in a fenced RV yard if anyone needs a port in a storm, or just a place to overnight. Best bet is FastEddieB@mac.com to be sure we're there - were about 50/50 there and our N GA home.

Just now, for the first time, I noticed that our awning is wearing through all along where it meets the trailer. 2014 21BHS stored outside almost exclusively. How common is this, and is there a fix short of replacement?

As data points, 21BHS with Dometic fridge...

In 94º to 96º daytime temps near Knoxville, TN, fridge temps can creep up to the high 40's during the day, but the freezer seems to stay below freezing. Overnight, temps drop down to mid-to-low 30's to start the day. This is all parked in partial shade, and running on 120v.

What a stupid setup.

Again, our 2014 21BHS is serving duty as a stationary construction trailer. As such, the black water tank rarely gets dumped. But we do take showers there and as mentioned before periodically just dump the grey water on the ground. With the new setup we'd be forced to make far more frequent trips to the dump station, which is kind of a hassle. 

Dumb. 

What a hassle. Good luck with that.

Our 2014 21BHS is plumbed correctly. But that leads to a question...

I've always considered "grey water" to be pretty benign. Our trailer has been pretty much in one location for a year. In that year and periodic stays we've twice made trips to a nearby dump station to get rid of the black water.

But I periodically just open the grey water valve and let it drain by where the trailer sits, in my case into gravel. Of course, it would be rude to do it in a public campground, but this is my own property.

For the most part, it's just soapy water from the sink and shower, right? It can smell a little musty, but next rain will take care of that. Or am I missing something?

Late to the party, but on our 2014 21BHS the "CABLE/ANT" switch was either wired backwards or labeled backwards.

Once fixed, the "ANT" position works well enough near population centers.

Quote from: Chappy133 on March 04, 2018, 03:47:28 PM
Good chance that is your clearance light leaking in.  Silicone applied at the light may solve this leak.

Will definitely check that out - thanks!

Quote from: DavidM on March 03, 2018, 02:41:10 PM
Cabinets- If you like wood facings then it is fine. The wood will never get wet in any case.

As a single data point, we noticed a slow drip in a heavy rain from the cabinet alongside the bed in our 21BHS. So wet wood facings are not completely out of the realm of possibility.

If we ever needed to replace "Campy", we would look for an earlier model or another brand. Not that the newer ones are bad, but more on general principle.

Quote from: ADR on March 01, 2018, 03:07:19 PM
ADDED IN EDIT-  found where I got the small/short molly bolts-   a kit of 40 at HarborFreight- it has 10 of the size I used for under $5 for the whole kit.

Thanks! On my Harbor Freight shopping list!

My 21BHS certainly had/has a few rough edges. One was the box that the TV hooks up to just falling off the ceiling:



The installer had completely missed any structure when installing the screws. Pretty careless.

Excellent!

Thanks for the link.

Quote from: djsamuel on February 16, 2018, 08:40:15 PM
I have the same model as Fast Eddie in my 2013 21BHS. No fan in my installation.

Weird.

Quote from: MitchB on February 16, 2018, 05:04:09 PM
Couple questions, first, which fridge model are we talking about? Second, is the outside fan standard?  I don't recall seeing one on mine.

Here's my data plate:



I think the fan was stock, and that it's somewhere above the fridge, accessible from the upper outdoor access panel.