List of failed parts from my 400 after 2.5 years (edited)

jimcenname

I've owned and lived in my 2019 T@B400 for two and one half years. In that time I've replaced the following items, listed in order of failure. (edited to separate maintenance from premature failures and add photos)

1. Fridge fan (rear of fridge, after just a few months of use) Others on the forum have had this issue. I wanted a better fan so I did this at my expense.

2. Bathroom fan (replaced with fantastic fan) Many others on this forum have had this issue. I paid nuCamp to install better fan.

3. Maxxair fan motor & circuit board (within a week of installation by nuCamp after-factory, Maxxair provided replacement parts on warranty)

4. Water pump (twice, Pentair/Shurflo provided one pump on warranty)

5. Cool cat AC (whole unit, due to rust, Dometic did this on warranty)

6. Alde glycol convert to Rhomar (a couple of months after a Century flush) due to Alde system corrosion, at my expense.

Maintenance issues:
7. Kitchen faucet started leaking (the factory faucet isn't maintainable so I replaced it with one from Lowes)

8. Shower hot water valve started leaking (I tried Home Depot, Lowes and Ace for a replacement before contacting the dealer and nuCamp. They referred me to a supplier in Washington, Fisheries Supply, who BTW has great customer service. The valve took about a month to get)
9. Shower curtain lasted long, probably due to my use of soft water. Dealer/nuCamp shipped replacement quickly, with tax and shipping it was $150, ouch.

Rusted Coolcat AC covered by warranty:


Swollen Alde hose, looks like it's remedied with Rhomar switch:

qhumberd

Not too bad when I compare what I have replaced or repaired at home in the same time period

Water heater
kitchen faucet valve replaced
maintenance of our 2 HVAC units 
repaired roof shingles
replaced washing machine 

I can imagine that my cost list is way above yours.

Our T@Bs are actually a pretty good deal. Makes me want to try full time.

Dutch061

It is also important to note that Jim uses his camper 24 x 7, 365 days a year. When this is added in, it is not much at all. #7 is routine maintenance, and doesn't count in my opinion. 

But opinions are like belly buttons, some have more lint than others.....


Brad

jimcenname

@Dutch061. Good point about using the t@b full time. But, I put the glycol on the list because just a few months before I had done the Century fluid maintenance in the Alde, then due to a post on this forum, I noticed my glycol hoses were swelling, probably due to corrosion. nuCamp told me to immediately change to Rhomar, which i did. So I did two glycol exchanges within a few months of each other. It appears the Rhomar has arrested the corrosion, I am monitoring the glycol hoses and they appear to be unchanged since the Rhomar installation. $400 service twice within a year. BTW, Airstream did the Rhomar change for it's customers for free. 

Horigan

On the other end of the spectrum, our 2019 T@b 400 has only had one failure, a failed Fantastic Fan.  This was after doing the PWM mod, so it could have been that.  Replaced it with a newer 4 speed Fantastic Fan with low current draw.  We use our T@b about 20 days a year.

peterjoce400

Many of those items have failed in our 2019 as well( owned since 08/2018).  Everyone with the Maxaire 7500 should be aware of the circuit board failures (green light of death), and the bathroom fan (Dometic) is sadly of very poor quality although a nice design. We also had the water pump fail and recently did the Rhomar thing.  What I am wondering about is your Kool Kat rusting.  I hadn't seen reference to this before and how did you come across the problem?  I haven't even changed the filter yet and found an old Delaney video showing how to do that.   

jimcenname

.  What I am wondering about is your Kool Kat rusting. 

Saw rust staining the trim on the outside under the coolcat vent. Removed the vent saw all the rust inside.

Denny16

We have a late 2018:(built in Jan 2018) TaB 400, which shortly after its original purchase went from SoCa to Burning Man, across the desert, on dirt roads.  Then to NorCal for coastal camping, racking up around 3500 miles of travel in its first two years.  The only issues were:
 1. A water leak from the outside 120VAC outlet
 2. Factory recall/replacement of the Green Core top floor layer with Azdel,sub floor added between the Green Core and new top Infinity Marine floor covering replacing the old one that had buckled.
 3. Plugging the hole in the floor where the water tank filler and suction pipes come into the TaB under the wardrobe locker, which allowed a lot,of,dust into this area and the Alde compartment during the desert trip and  subsequent dirt road journeys.

That is it.  We changed the Alde fluid after 2.5 years, with Century a few months before the switch to Rhomar.  No issues with the Alde or convector connections so far.  Alde was run during the past winter while we had the TaB in our yard for the winter.  Previous winter was spent in the shop having the floor replaced (no 2.). Warranty service from nüCamp was grand, and they even replaced the front window which had the internal scratch issue (a minor cosmetic issue).  Previous owner kept the TaB in a barn during the winter, when not going to the desert, so Alde was not used much, only during damp cold damp days in the Pacific Northwest whilst camping.
 Cheers 

jimcenname

@Denny16 The soft floor issue with the Azdel floor is a new issue for me. Were they able to get under the cabinets, bed and shower with the new floor and get the floor covering back with no seams or trim? Also, good point about the water filler access hole, I see light through that hole. Good idea to plug it. 

Denny16

Jim, the floor issue was only on the 2018 Tab 400s built between Nov 2017 to Jan 2018, when Greencore was used for the top layer instead of Azdel, which was in short supply during this time frame.  You 2019 has an Azdel top layer on it, and should not have this problem.  The issue was not a soft floor as such, but the Greencore did not bond with the Infinity flooring covering, allowing it to separate and buckle up off the Greencore layer.  This was only an issue in the walkway area between the shower/washroom and the galley area and between the dinette seats.

The 2018/2019 TaB floors are a composite layer Construction with a Greencore base, followed by a rubber membrane or sealer layer, with Azdel bonded on top.  Then the rear bunk area framing is built on top the Azdel top layer, and fastened in place.  See photo below of the rear area on a 2018/2019 TaB400 under construction:

This is what the rear area looks like under the wood false floor.  Note the water and power lines go from driver’s side to pax side to galley area cabinets under this rear floor area.  The dark gray is the Azdel top floor layer, no Infinity flooring cover here.

If you look under your driver’s side rear bunk compartment where the Alde is you will see the dark gray or black Azdel floor layer.  The Infinity flooring stopped at the front of the rear bunk under just behind the plywood panel.  You can see the edge of the Infinity flooring coming out from under this divider panel in the photo above.

The finished top layer of Infinity deck covering (this is a marine grade deck and cabin sole covering material, and is completely waterproof and stain resistant) goes from the front to the bunk front partition panel only.  Infinity Flooring has a soft feel to it when walked on as it has a slight padded backing under it.  It is designed to be walked on barefoot or with soft deck shoes, not hard sole street shoes.  We go stocking or barefoot inside the TaB, and like this soft feel.  The composite floor it self is not soft.

The repair was to remove the Infinity converting between the galley cabinets (the face frames were removed, as was the galley curved sink lower cabinet, and the front trim on the wardrobe snd washroom front was removed to allow the new flooring to go under the now exposed Greencore layer, a sealing structural waterproof layer is glued down, followed by a new piece of Azdel cut to fit between the cabinets was glued on top, then a new piece of Infinity flooring is glued back down with its edges tapered ( feathered) to fit the edge,of the flooring under the cabinets.  The cabinet frames are put back in place on top this splice as was the galley sink cabinet.

This is he finished repair after everything is put back:

There isn’t any practical way to get the new Azdel layer and Infinity floor covering  under all the cabinets or wardrobe/washroom area, and isn’t really necessary, as this area is not exposed or walked on, and remains undamaged.
The problem was only in the area where it was walked on.

jimcenname

@Denny16 Soft isn't a perfect explanation of my floor issue. It's more like a hole. I feel the black/grey top layer gave way, maybe tore, and now the foam core is compressing under my frequent footsteps. Either Austin or Aaron explained that part of my floor will be cut through and removed and a special kind of structural water proof board will be installed in the traffic area. Thanks for your recap.

DenisP

@jimcenname NuCamp replaced the floor in my March 2018 400 after the floor started getting soft in front of galley/bathroom/dinette. The Tab came out great and the floor continues to be solid. A bonus has been they were able to change the infinity flooring to a better match to the 400’s color palate. The flooring is more gray than the original which was more yellow. 

Once again NuCamp came through and made the 680mile trip to Sugarcreek worth the trip. 

jimcenname

@DenisP good to know. I look forward to a new floor covering too.