Our first real camping experience

Spruce1

Just got home from our first real camping experience  (just an overnighter) with T@B.  Here are our observations:  The “white noise” from the Fantastic fan and the ventilation with the windows cracked open was very nice. The overnight temp was 58 degrees which made for comfortable sleeping weather.  We love how well insulated the T@B is for sound too.  There is a lot of activity at night around our lake but with the fan whirling away and the insulation it was very quiet in the T@B.

One minor issue that others have mentioned on the forum is that the blue display from the Jensen system is very bright at night.  We addressed this issue when we got back home by putting a 2.5 inch by 3.5 inch piece of window tint over the display to tone it down. 

 The only other issue we had is that the Norcold inexplicably stopped running on LP after 20 hours of flawless performance. I know that we didn’t run out of LP because I was able to boil water on the cooktop after the Norcold shut down.  After about 10 to 15 minutes of repeatedly going through the starting procedures the fridge fired back up and continued working well until we switched to 12-volt after breaking camp 6 hours later.  All n’ all a great little excursion and we look forward to our next outing.  Dave and Donna

 

Nomad

Hmmmm - Could it be an overheating fridge situation that shut it down?
I feel the frige enclosure captures way too much heat and needs an exhaust fan.

jkjenn

Spruce1, the fridge issue could be several things:

• Did you have strong battery left? Even on LP, the fridge requires battery to run the fan.
• Sometimes the wind can blow out the flame.
• What was your altitude?
• Were you completely level?
• Could be a faulty part or unit.

Spruce1

 Thanks Jenn and PXLated for the suggestions.  The battery is brand new.  I haven't checked it's condition but I assume it's good.  I'll check it tomorrow. It was charging on the TV while traveling to the campsite. Altitude was approximately 900 feet above sea level.  Yes, we were completely level.  I used to 2 different levels to check the side-to-side, and front-to-back.  It was windy out on the plains of western Minnesota. It does seem to generate a good deal of heat. The vent below and the vents out the side were clear.  We did notice a "clicking" sound coming from the fridge. It was especially noticeable while standing near the vents in the front of the T@B.  The "clicking" sound, of course went away after it started back up.

Nomad

Were you hooked into shore power or running on battery? If battery, do you have a little battery monitor that plugs into one of the 12v cigarette lighter plugs? If on battery, both the fridge and the Alde will shut down hence Jenn's question.

Curious as to where in MN you were? Very familiar with MN, spent most of my life there.

Spruce1

Hi PXLated: Our T@B was connected to shore power while running the fridge on LP.  We were at my parent's lake place in Lake Lillian, MN. About 20 minutes south of Willmar.

Nomad

Well, that eliminates the low voltage option.
Lake Lillian - Never camped or been on the lake but have been by it and always notice because I had an Aunt Lillian :-) ... And drove Highway 7 out west 3-4 times a year - Cosmos, Lake Lillian, Bloomkest...

jkjenn

The fact that it fired right back up for you and that it was windy leads me to believe that the flame blew out.

Rad

Someone here clued me in regarding the Jensen after I commented about it.  It can be dimmed dramatically using the settings.  

Spruce1

Thanks Rad, Jenn, and PXLated.  I'll watch the fridge for how the wind affects the fridge flame. Glad to learn it's not a low voltage issue.  I figured out how to dim the light on the Jensen too!

mawebb

On the Jensen unit in the 2015 T@B there are up and down arrows for brightness, just to the right of the power button. The lowest setting (0) is off. I am not sure of the capabilities of the units on earlier models.

skwhee

We were able to completely dim the screen on the Jensen in our 2014 T@B. The directions are in the owner's manual. Not as easy as the newer model but certainly worth the effort to look it up.