Relating customer service experience...

[TxCowboy]

I guess this "residential fridge" issue really boils down to whether you plan to boondock or not.

In our case, we will not be boondocking with our large 5th wheel. We didn't buy it to even do that. (We could boondock by adding a 4KW or better generator since it is already prewired for it.) We bought it to have a luxury one bedroom apartment on the waterfront.

Our tagalong camper is made for boondocking short of having a pre-wired generator option. Camp stove, propane backup for water and fridge, larger fresh, grey, and black tanks, etc. We bought it for glamping.

First time RV buyers, if you're dropping tens of thousands of dollars for an RV, get smart on what you're buying before you buy it. If you have questions about something and you don't trust your dealer/salesperson, find other RVers and ask them. Just look at the forum here -- RVers love to help people!

[AbbaZabba]

I see both sides of this as I went through something similar.

The customer service person sucked. Don't know if that is their job, or they got to be the lucky person on the phone, but that experience as reported was crap. CR should own that.

Similar to the OP's battery issue, mine were not enough. When I purchased my TT, I made it very clear through a number of discussions with the dealer, I would not be on electrical hookups all the time. I fully blame the dealer for letting me leave the dealership with batteries that were insufficient and them subsequently saying "that battery isn't enough". "Well not sh!t Sherlock, thats why we discussed it at length and I purchased a genie." But only lasting 3 hrs after the conversation is BS. Don't know if the OP had the conversation like I did, but apparently it doesn't matter, they let you go out the door either way. Content to let you leave and take the issue down the road. Being a first time TT buyer, I didn't know to ask. But I do now...

[Dayle1]

After reading the OP's other thread it doesn't seem that he really wants useful info from forum members or at least acknowledge such. If he had purchased a generator back in Aug to power BOTH a/c's then there would be plenty of power for the refer while dry camping. In addition to CR, dealer and owner, the forums are the 4th part of the equation if used.

[dedmiston]

Originally Posted by AbbaZabba

I see both sides of this as I went through something similar.

The customer service person sucked. Don't know if that is their job, or they got to be the lucky person on the phone, but that experience as reported was crap. CR should own that.

Similar to the OP's battery issue, mine were not enough. When I purchased my TT, I made it very clear through a number of discussions with the dealer, I would not be on electrical hookups all the time. I fully blame the dealer for letting me leave the dealership with batteries that were insufficient and them subsequently saying "that battery isn't enough". "Well not sh!t Sherlock, thats why we discussed it at length and I purchased a genie." But only lasting 3 hrs after the conversation is BS. Don't know if the OP had the conversation like I did, but apparently it doesn't matter, they let you go out the door either way. Content to let you leave and take the issue down the road. Being a first time TT buyer, I didn't know to ask. But I do now...

My experience is that dealers typically only send you out the door with enough battery capacity to operate the trailer brakes in case of disconnect. It isn't fair that they send us out the door usually with one battery that is a few years old and hasn't been maintained properly. The reality is that the responsibility falls to us as owners to at least replace that battery and more likely purchase two, four, or six batteries to fit our own needs.

Over the years I've upgraded from one 12v to two 12v, then two 6v, and then two pairs of 6v. Four batteries have been enough to keep us running while we dry camp, plus we run the gen for a few hours every day to top them off.

We're new owners of our larger Crossroads toy hauler and we're starting over from scratch. I know that the one sickly 12v battery that it shipped with isn't going to work for us when we're dry camping. I'll replace it with four 6v batteries as soon as I can.

I agree with everyone though that it's an insane dance we do with the dealers where they lie to us to make us believe we're fine with one battery when everyone should know better.

[woodwalker]

Yup another one that asks a question rants and raves and dissappears

[dedmiston]

Originally Posted by woodwalker

Yup another one that asks a question rants and raves and dissappears

Yes. It's ironic that his first post last summer was asking about generators.

http://www.crossroadsowners.com/foru...r-s-10243.html

[CopperKev]

You know this why I typically hate forums. You "regulars" read a post and then turn it into your own agenda. If you read my posts, they were simply advising of an issue that concerned me. My fridge died on a trip from Disneyland to the Bay Area. You RV expert posers took that and turned it into a huge topic for your own purpose. I never said that I wanted to "boondock" or be out for weeks or months at a time without shore power. I do have a 7k watt generator that will power my batteries if needed. What I was hoping was to tap the RV community and see if others were experiencing similar problems. I wasn't aware that I had to comment or respond to every yahoo that chimed in. Rather then be a resource, this forum has become clique-y, like a bunch of adolescent girls.
I will continue to read the forum from time to time, my investment owes me that. However I will not ask anymore questions therefore allowing Woodwalker and Dedmiston and others to berate and belittle other inquisitive owners. Shame on you guys.

[dedmiston]

Originally Posted by CopperKev

You know this why I typically hate forums. You "regulars" read a post and then turn it into your own agenda. If you read my posts, they were simply advising of an issue that concerned me. My fridge died on a trip from Disneyland to the Bay Area. You RV expert posers took that and turned it into a huge topic for your own purpose. I never said that I wanted to "boondock" or be out for weeks or months at a time without shore power. I do have a 7k watt generator that will power my batteries if needed. What I was hoping was to tap the RV community and see if others were experiencing similar problems. I wasn't aware that I had to comment or respond to every yahoo that chimed in. Rather then be a resource, this forum has become clique-y, like a bunch of adolescent girls.
I will continue to read the forum from time to time, my investment owes me that. However I will not ask anymore questions therefore allowing Woodwalker and Dedmiston and others to berate and belittle other inquisitive owners. Shame on you guys.

If you look back at your previous posts, you'll see that a lot of the info you provided here was missing. It's tough to address a concern without the details.

I'm sorry you got your feathers ruffled and I'm sorry if any of my posts contributed to that.

Your original post mentioned dry camping, which is often synonymous with boondocking.

As for cliques and old timers, I'm a new guy here too. I've found everyone to be helpful and their responses are thoughtful. I've also found that the quality of their responses improves with the quality of info that I provide in my questions. It's a two-way street.

Anyway, I hope you resolve your power issues. It's a shame when you invest so much in equipment like this and things don't go smoothly. Hopefully you find a solution that works for you.

[Dayle1]

Originally Posted by CopperKev

You know this why I typically hate forums. You "regulars" read a post and then turn it into your own agenda. If you read my posts, they were simply advising of an issue that concerned me. My fridge died on a trip from Disneyland to the Bay Area. You RV expert posers took that and turned it into a huge topic for your own purpose. I never said that I wanted to "boondock" or be out for weeks or months at a time without shore power. I do have a 7k watt generator that will power my batteries if needed. What I was hoping was to tap the RV community and see if others were experiencing similar problems. I wasn't aware that I had to comment or respond to every yahoo that chimed in. Rather then be a resource, this forum has become clique-y, like a bunch of adolescent girls.
I will continue to read the forum from time to time, my investment owes me that. However I will not ask anymore questions therefore allowing Woodwalker and Dedmiston and others to berate and belittle other inquisitive owners. Shame on you guys.

We all have different levels of experience and perspective and even understanding of a problem. Sometimes the way a question is phrased doesn't allow the best feedback because others can't 'see' the problem as well as the OP. So, you get the most information thru followup conversations. You can ignore anyone you consider a yahoo but certainly someone posted something that was useful to you. Yet it is unlikely that the info was so precise that further conversation would not have been more beneficial. So, feedback to other posters is the best way to actually get the most help possible.

To repeat, there are many RVers with residential refers and they travel across this country every day. Some have the same brand you have with the same inverter and batteries. If you have a 12V feed from the truck, and you left Disneyland with fully charged batteries, the few hour drive to the Bay Area should not have caused a problem. Finally, most of the 'RV expert posers' actually do have plenty of knowledge that can be helpful. But help doesn't come free, it takes some effort to communicate.

[johnboytoo]

I will never have an rv fridge again - threw away too much food too many times in 'high end' rv's when it couldn't keep it cold enough.

our redwood had a res fridge and 3 batteries, one dedicated to the fridge,
even though it would take days to get the redwood cool in summer, the fridge did alright

Our current rv can keep the fridge cold for a very long time...
it's a matter of batteries, inverters, and judicious use of the power...
now we do have a solar panel that helps a lot and will probably add another 160w panel at least just because my wife is high maintenance and doesn't WANT to scrimp.

good luck on your resolution...

I'd suggest 4 t-105's or t-125's and the proper inverter for them... and consider a portable solar panel to keep them topped up.

I will say we have a solar panel

[CopperKev]

Great information JBT. Thanks for the response.

[woodwalker]

Originally Posted by CopperKev

You know this why I typically hate forums. You "regulars" read a post and then turn it into your own agenda. If you read my posts, they were simply advising of an issue that concerned me. My fridge died on a trip from Disneyland to the Bay Area. You RV expert posers took that and turned it into a huge topic for your own purpose. I never said that I wanted to "boondock" or be out for weeks or months at a time without shore power. I do have a 7k watt generator that will power my batteries if needed. What I was hoping was to tap the RV community and see if others were experiencing similar problems. I wasn't aware that I had to comment or respond to every yahoo that chimed in. Rather then be a resource, this forum has become clique-y, like a bunch of adolescent girls.
I will continue to read the forum from time to time, my investment owes me that. However I will not ask anymore questions therefore allowing Woodwalker and Dedmiston and others to berate and belittle other inquisitive owners. Shame on you guys.

I know I hate this to. I also hate people that ask a question on post 8 and does not respond until post 27 and do not aknowledge anyone trying to help. Besides that you must be very thin skinned if someone saying another one that asks questions and dissapeared bothers you.

[CopperKev]

Sorry, I didn't know the "Woodwalker response time rule". You should make that more clear on your "RV Bully Forum"
By the way, it's not that I'm thinned skinned, I'm just not used to dealing with A**holes.

[markandkim]

You can go now!

[CopperKev]

Ahh now I get it, a retired navy man. I understand there will be a convention of bully's pulling the wings off butterflies and kicking puppies this weekend. Have a great time.

[woodwalker]

ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW

[CopperKev]

Good one.

[Lloyd]

I think this thread has served all the usefulness it can.