New Owner 2015 3605

[Peakbagger]

Hello,
We just picked up our v3605 last week ( it is a fall 2014, 2015 model). 2 days later we took it out or a 2 night 3 day trip to the mountains.
First of all let me say that i am very pleased with how this trailer is pulling. i was a bit worried about the stress and chucking that towing may cause, but it was a piece of cake.
I installed a BD3 AirRide Hitch from trailer saver/Henley Manu. so perhaps that makes a big difference, not sure as this is my first 5th wheel/toyhauler. i pulled a 30 ft bumper pull jayflight before this.
Anyway i'm happy with the pull, we have lots of mountains and corners and dirt roads and pulling over 500 miles and through multiple towns during my first outing was easy.

We did have a good 'learning' weekend though. As the first night the batteries died with the furnace on by 10pm. We froze the rest of the night. My dealer installed 2 12v batteries and said they were fully charged (which the panel indicator agreed with). Regardless, the gen won't start with dead batteries and it was about 32 outside.
I jumped started the gen the next morning and ran it off and on throughout the day and decided to just leave it on and head to bed that night. (this is something i don't like to do and never did with our last trailer, we used battery to run furnace and lights at night and charged the batteries back up the next morning with a 2k portable) so about 2:30am i hear the generator go off on its own. Crap. get up, check the panel-no battery power what so ever.
go back to bed, by 6am it is freezing in-side again. i get up and jump the generator again, and run it all day until we leave at 3pm. It never shut off on its own again, still not sure why it did in the middle of the night.
I'm checking into an array of trojan t105's and doing lots of good research on bat power.
Most everything else worked just fine in the trailer...we loved it.
fresh water tank would only fill 1/2 full, and the 2" heat vents to the bedroom and garage are stupid small and flow almost no air. i can fix the one to the master bed, but the one to the garage would be a pain.

No other issues. Slides worked great off of generator power ( i will always level first)
i pulled the unit into the dealer when we got home and they said they would check out those few issues and have it ready for me to pick up in 3 days (in time for the weekend).
So im happy with that service too. Bretz RV.
One thought i had was setting up more of a starting battery for the generator as a reserve. i would have to figure out a way to keep it float charged but i think i found something that might work for that: Battery Chargers | Auxiliary Battery Charger | Xantrex
Let me know what you think..?
Thanks for any ideas on furnace use on batteries...as we camp in the mountains usually. so do i need to get used to running the gen all night, or should a couple batteries get me through the night? upgrade to 2 6v T105's, or 4 6v T105's?
I would say we are pretty heavy users..just the fact there are 2 adults and 4 kids...
but when on batteries non of the fun stuff works anyway (tv's, dvd, electrical outlets) so it's just furnace, lights, fridge, and water pump once in awhile.
Thoughts.
Colby

[Soccerloco]

We use our unit a bunch. First thing I did was to convert to two interstate golf cart heavy 6 volt duty batteries. We can run heater all night with no problem and have plenty of power left over to do whatever. Well worth the investment. Heater flow into our bedroom is poor but typically leave bedroom door open and keeps bedroom area pleasant for sleeping.
Filling fresh water is best done at a slower rate to allow air to escape thru the vent.

Ours tows well. Just made a trip yesterday over the Sierra to south of San Jose, California. Man those California roads are so bad it's unbelievable. I would much rather travel on dirt roads in Nevada!!!

You are lucky to be in Montana
Cheers

[RVNevada]

Bill
I could have told you about Hwy 5 and 99, I guess you took 580 west and its real bad till you get over the hill LOL Hope all your stuff in the garage survived….Have a good trip
Rich

[Soccerloco]

Oh my god altamont pass is beyond description in every way. Yesterday just east of 580 680 junction traffic came to a screeching halt as I am braking an econo car pulls right front of me, he really hits brakes and now I am in full brake application. So hard locked trailer brakes but truck and trailer remained perfectly straight. Yow!! Going down 680 to San Jose big divots out of concrete surface, bridge transitions whoa very bad. Normally when going to Morgan hill I go down 5 to 151 west Pacheco pass. All I know is ill never go that way again. What's wrong with people and government in California. Traveling on Cali roads will ultimately break your equipment. I travel all over the west. Rural roads freeways etc. California is really a mess just about everywhere we go. Wow!!!!!!

[jonthefireman]

Originally Posted by Peakbagger

Hello,
We just picked up our v3605 last week ( it is a fall 2014, 2015 model). 2 days later we took it out or a 2 night 3 day trip to the mountains.
First of all let me say that i am very pleased with how this trailer is pulling. i was a bit worried about the stress and chucking that towing may cause, but it was a piece of cake.
I installed a BD3 AirRide Hitch from trailer saver/Henley Manu. so perhaps that makes a big difference, not sure as this is my first 5th wheel/toyhauler. i pulled a 30 ft bumper pull jayflight before this.
Anyway i'm happy with the pull, we have lots of mountains and corners and dirt roads and pulling over 500 miles and through multiple towns during my first outing was easy.

We did have a good 'learning' weekend though. As the first night the batteries died with the furnace on by 10pm. We froze the rest of the night. My dealer installed 2 12v batteries and said they were fully charged (which the panel indicator agreed with). Regardless, the gen won't start with dead batteries and it was about 32 outside.
I jumped started the gen the next morning and ran it off and on throughout the day and decided to just leave it on and head to bed that night. (this is something i don't like to do and never did with our last trailer, we used battery to run furnace and lights at night and charged the batteries back up the next morning with a 2k portable) so about 2:30am i hear the generator go off on its own. Crap. get up, check the panel-no battery power what so ever.
go back to bed, by 6am it is freezing in-side again. i get up and jump the generator again, and run it all day until we leave at 3pm. It never shut off on its own again, still not sure why it did in the middle of the night.
I'm checking into an array of trojan t105's and doing lots of good research on bat power.
Most everything else worked just fine in the trailer...we loved it.
fresh water tank would only fill 1/2 full, and the 2" heat vents to the bedroom and garage are stupid small and flow almost no air. i can fix the one to the master bed, but the one to the garage would be a pain.

No other issues. Slides worked great off of generator power ( i will always level first)
i pulled the unit into the dealer when we got home and they said they would check out those few issues and have it ready for me to pick up in 3 days (in time for the weekend).
So im happy with that service too. Bretz RV.
One thought i had was setting up more of a starting battery for the generator as a reserve. i would have to figure out a way to keep it float charged but i think i found something that might work for that: Battery Chargers | Auxiliary Battery Charger | Xantrex
Let me know what you think..?
Thanks for any ideas on furnace use on batteries...as we camp in the mountains usually. so do i need to get used to running the gen all night, or should a couple batteries get me through the night? upgrade to 2 6v T105's, or 4 6v T105's?
I would say we are pretty heavy users..just the fact there are 2 adults and 4 kids...
but when on batteries non of the fun stuff works anyway (tv's, dvd, electrical outlets) so it's just furnace, lights, fridge, and water pump once in awhile.
Thoughts.
Colby

Please don't take this wrong, cause I've done this myself. Did you ensure your master battery disconnect switch is turned on?? If it's in the OFF posistion, the generator will start, and most everything will work UNTIL you run out of battery juice! At that point, everything, to include the generator is DEAD in the water! I've had to jump my generator off too, and then realize that I had not actually turned the disconnect ON! Point being, when the disconnect is OFF the battery charger is not getting power hence the generator is not recharging the batteries. There is no way your furnance should run dead overnight if you start off with 2 fully charged 12V batteries. I've run my furnance, and A/C all night on battery power before shutting the generator off when we go to bed.

Just an observation, if this doesn't apply then I suggest you might have another issue.