Plans for pickup in Sumas, WA on Memorial Day

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by kavm

Which of the roof vents are OK to be open while raining (or with a possibility of rain):
-Max fan vent - This is the main possibility that we want to check. Also, if OK, can max fan itself be on when raining?
-Bathroom vent - Also, whether it is OK for the fan to be on.
-Roof vent near the stove / wash basin. Likely not.

-MaxxFan - designed to be able to be open in the rain with fan on or off. I would advise against having it on intake during rain to avoid the potential of dragging in moisture. Easy to ensure it is exhausting with a piece of tissue. It needs makeup air so an awning window open or a slider cracked that is under the awning is a good idea. We have sliders with the old WindowMaxx vents but they are discontinued unfortunately.
-Bathroom vent - the Ventline Vanair fan is not designed to be used in the rain. Might be ok in a light, non-driving rain but best to keep it closed in rain. The fan motor is right in the airstream and not protected from moisture. In fact Ventline says “Not for use above tubs, showers or range cooking surfaces“ which is in conflict with the location this is used in an Escape.
-The rooftop opening where an A/C would typically go is not designed to be open in the rain. Some RV owners furnish aftermarket vent covers for these openings but doesn’t seem too popular on Escapes because A/C’s are usually there or they have the Maxxfan.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

-MaxxFan - designed to be able to be open in the rain with fan on or off. I would advise against having it on intake during rain to avoid the potential of dragging in moisture. Easy to ensure it is exhausting with a piece of tissue. It needs makeup air so an awning window open or a slider cracked that is under the awning is a good idea. We have sliders with the old WindowMaxx vents but they are discontinued unfortunately.
-Bathroom vent - the Ventline Vanair fan is not designed to be used in the rain. Might be ok in a light, non-driving rain but best to keep it closed in rain. The fan motor is right in the airstream and not protected from moisture. In fact Ventline says “Not for use above tubs, showers or range cooking surfaces“ which is in conflict with the location this is used in an Escape.
-The rooftop opening where an A/C would typically go is not designed to be open in the rain. Some RV owners furnish aftermarket vent covers for these openings but doesn’t seem too popular on Escapes because A/C’s are usually there or they have the Maxxfan.

Thanks a ton, Dave! This helps a lot!

The test for checking whether it is on exhaust mode helped us confirm that ours is on exhaust mode. So, we now have it running.

It is also very helpful to know that the bathroom vent needs to be closed in rain. I had earlier imagined that the water will only come into the bathroom. Thanks to your post, we now got that.

Many thanks! We are making process - small steps at a time - with a lot of help from the forum members!

[Craiger]

Boy you're getting relaxed into this whole thing of RVing aren't you. Hooking up in the rain and choosing the right park to go to. Beginning to sound like an old pro. I'm just happy the two of you are enjoying yourself and you're having a good time there.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Craiger

Boy you're getting relaxed into this whole thing of RVing aren't you. Hooking up in the rain and choosing the right park to go to. Beginning to sound like an old pro. I'm just happy the two of you are enjoying yourself and you're having a good time there.

Thank you,Craig! Appreciate your encouragement!

[kavm]

We were in Jedediah Smith SP until yesterday - a wonderful campground and state park but no internet access. Got to our current campground yesterday but were exhausted by the long drive. Hence the radio silence… Here is the update on my trip:

• At the time of my last update, we had made it to the Cannon Beach RV resort campground. We had a nice stay there. It was great to have some connectivity, laundry machines, etc. We had a very nice hiking around Cannon Beach area (Ecola State Park).
• Had a longish drive (335 miles on 101) to Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park near Crescent City, CA.
• Jedediah Smith is, of course a wonderful state park. We had very nice campsite but very difficult for me to get into. Again relied on the kindness of strangers to park. Aside from that, really really loved the park and the hiking we did there - Boy Scout, Grove of the Titans and River Edge trails.
• We met a fellow forum member and fellow Escape 5.0 owner Ross and Maureen (rmitch) there. It was such a pleasure to meet them. They were very generous in showing very thoughtful modifications they have made to their Escape 5.0. We took pictures. More than anything else, it gave us a lot of encouragement - and pleasure to meet like-minded fellow owners!
• From Jedediah Smith / Crescent City - we drove to Clio, CA (in Sierra mountains). The drive was very long and tiring(388 miles - most on the windy mountain roads). This was just one spot I had picked as we head back home. Staying in Clio River’s Edge RV park (commercial but very nice park). During the day - we did a section of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) to Deer Lake. Wonderful hike indeed.
• Tomorrow we head to FS Thomas Canyon campground near Elko, NV. Another 380 miles journey but this one is predominantly on I-80, so boring but less tiring. After one night there, we get home on Sunday.

We are enjoying the camper. The two issues I had mentioned remain an issue:

• My inability to make significant progress in backing the camper. We are going to practice for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes tomorrow on the way. At the point, I get the concept - but have difficulty executing it in real time.
  
  We will practice and also look int getting some instructions. Any ideas on that will be welcome. I am wondering if I should just advertise in the help wanted section of the local newspaper.
• The fresh water level issue remains unresolved. It did not help that I was not able to respond to Dustin’s instructions while in Jedediah Smith. Doesn’t look like we are any closer to getting the level value other than 0.

[Bobbie54]

Did you check to see if there was any trailer-driving school near your home? I've heard good things about the one here.

I wonder if there are any driving video games that include backing a trailer? It's such an important skill for some of us! My brother-in-law, who owns boats, is making a small trailer so his grandson can drag it behind his little self-propelled car and learn to back. George is two! I think Ken is looking towards the day he can have George back the boat trailer for him.

At the park I'm at- and many- the loops go counterclockwise, with slanted spots to back into. It appears ideal- you just pull ahead enough and then back. But the problem is that it is very difficult to get an angle where you can see the driver's side of the trailer as you back. So I have more trouble there than I would if it was all set up clockwise. (Inside spots, when they have them, are easier if the loop is counterclockwise.)

[davidmurphy02]

One thing we have found very helpful in backing is to have a couple of inexpensive little walkie-talkies, usually called FRS (family radio service) radios now. The least expensive ones available work fine for backing up when you're never more than a very short distance away. With my wife standing behind the trailer she can give me guidance on spots I can't see, let me know if my line is good, watch for tree branches, etc. and I can hear her easily. So much easier than trying to shout out an open window or look for hand signals in the mirrors.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by Bobbie54

Did you check to see if there was any trailer-driving school near your home? I've heard good things about the one here.

I wonder if there are any driving video games that include backing a trailer? It's such an important skill for some of us! My brother-in-law, who owns boats, is making a small trailer so his grandson can drag it behind his little self-propelled car and learn to back. George is two! I think Ken is looking towards the day he can have George back the boat trailer for him.

At the park I'm at- and many- the loops go counterclockwise, with slanted spots to back into. It appears ideal- you just pull ahead enough and then back. But the problem is that it is very difficult to get an angle where you can see the driver's side of the trailer as you back. So I have more trouble there than I would if it was all set up clockwise. (Inside spots, when they have them, are easier if the loop is counterclockwise.)

Thank you, Bobby!

So far, we have not been able to locate anything. There is a RV Driving School on internet with roving instructors. The price is not cheap - between $800-900. So, need to be sure that we will get the value from it. I have not dismissed the idea but have not signed up either.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by davidmurphy02

One thing we have found very helpful in backing is to have a couple of inexpensive little walkie-talkies, usually called FRS (family radio service) radios now. The least expensive ones available work fine for backing up when you're never more than a very short distance away. With my wife standing behind the trailer she can give me guidance on spots I can't see, let me know if my line is good, watch for tree branches, etc. and I can hear her easily. So much easier than trying to shout out an open window or look for hand signals in the mirrors.

Thank you, David! We do have the radios, but could get better at using them.

At the moment, both the driver and spotter are equally clueless about the task We are, however, getting better...

[kavm]

We reached home yesterday. I will write a couple of posts - one to complete the travelogue, and the other with observations. This one is to complete the travelogue.

• From Clio, CA, we drove to Reno, NV, spent about 45 minutes in a parking lot getting better at backing. That helped a bit, but very modest improvements, if any.
• After Reno, we got on I-80. This was our first extended period of driving on the interstate. We found it so much easier after the curvy, winding roads - boring but less stressful.
• My wife did her first driving with the camper. We wanted to get her started in a less demanding situation - and it worked well.
• Our campground was Thomas Canyon campground near Elko, NV. Really nice setting and campground. It beat our expectations - and will be a place we will be returning to. We did a good hike there, though it was fairly late. We'd recommend this campground enthusiastically.
• Most important - we managed to park to camper perfectly and by ourselves! It was not a command performance - and had some lucky turns of the wheel where I did not know what I was doing, but this was a clear success. 1 out of 6 feels a lot better than 0 out of 5
• The following day - yesterday - we drove home to SLC. Again, my wife did half the driving, but it was otherwise uneventful. We did add the bleach to the fresh water tank when we filled it up in Elko. We will dump the water tomorrow.
• Really pleased and relieved with the trip- and happy with our Escape 5.0.

Today - we got the VIN inspection done and are headed to the DMV for the plates. We had the carpenter we use look at it to see if he can do some minor modifications for us.

The tentative plan is to drive the camper to the storage facility tomorrow evening. We will look to do another camping trip soon - but also have to deal with some busy period at work.

Questions:

• What does one do to turn the fridge off? I presume we need to turn it off and clean before parking in the storage facility.
• We will empty the fresh water tank. The gray and black tanks are already emptied. So, aside from these two items - is there anything else we need to be doing?

[cpaharley2008]

You should have a pair of grey strange looking pieces of plastic, these are your refer door opener keeping open option....they keep your doors open while not in use.

[Donna D.]

Stand all your cushions up on their narrow sides so they can air/dry out.

[kavm]

Thank you very much! These items have been added to the list.

[Mucram]

Thanks for a wonderful narrative kavm. Don’t beat yourself up on backing in. Just like hitching, sometimes the stars align. I just returned from ruby lake, Thomas canyon & lake billy Shaw. Lamoille is an incredible place even after the burn.

[kavm]

Now, the learnings, impressions, rights and wrongs - ours and those of others:

• Overall - we loved our initial experience with Escape 5.0. We had developed some apprehensions as we approached delivery. They dissipated quickly. We are far from completely relaxed around it but the trajectory is very clear. And, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip as we worked through our challenges. There is no doubt that we made the right decision in acquiring it.
• Having the backing of the the knowledgeable and helpful folks on this forum helped us immensely. So, thank you very very much!
• The overall build quality from Escape seems good.
• Everyone will have their plans for the initial usage and there are no rights and wrongs about it. But, we were happy with how our plan turned out and how much better prepared we are at the end out. 2 night stays, gradually increasing distances, alternating across full hookups, partial hookups, no hookups gave us a full range of experiences. If I were to do it again, I'd take longer return trip, try for longer stays and keep the driving distances below 300 miles per day. Unfortunately, our work commitments did not allow that. We are already looking forward to the time we do not have work commitments
• This is not a TV thread but we were very happy with our 2021 F150. Our truck has a very nice lane centering feature and that reduced the driving stress considerably.
• Love the Lagun table. It is definitely a big winner for us as it makes the dining area so much easier to maneuver in. I would recommend it enthusiastically.
• Nova Kool RFU9000 refrigerator. It's big, works very well. Very pleased.
• Dickinson Marine cooktop. A pleasure to cook on!
• Houser sink (custom) seems quite good.
• Lithium batteries (2) and solar panel worked well. They were almost always 100% charged - and I hope that was not a reading error on our part!
• Did not regret any of the option choices we made - lighting seemed well placed and sufficient; manual awning seemed OK though we have not used it.

Challenges, issues, regrets -

• In our build - we added the newly available SeeLevel II option. What we got was a non-functioning freshwater tank level indicator. It has never worked (the reading has not gone above 0), which means it was never tested at the factory. That is quite disappointing. The prospect of getting it fixed look grim but spending a lot of unproductive time on trying to get it to function are a given. Dustin sent me a set of instructions but was not happy with the readings that resulted. Now, he believes that the problem is more serious and wants me to locate the freshwater sensors and cut some wires underneath of the camper. I told him that this is outside our capabilities and we need another alternative. So, this is an open problem and I suspect we will be spending a lot of fruitless hours on it. This reflects very poorly on the QA at the ETI end to us.
• After some back and forth - we added the rear trailer camera. It's OK but it was a mistake to add it. We will get it replaced with the camera that is integrated into the Ford system added. This is our own mistake.
• As I have been sharing, we underestimated the difficulty of backing the camper up. Not sure how much we could have planned about it but it remains a challenge for us. We are interested in getting instructions but not sure if it will come about.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by kavm

In our build - we added the newly available SeeLevel II option. What we got was a non-functioning freshwater tank level indicator. It has never worked (the reading has not gone above 0), which means it was never tested at the factory. That is quite disappointing. The prospect of getting it fixed look grim but spending a lot of unproductive time on trying to get it to function are a given. Dustin sent me a set of instructions but was not happy with the readings that resulted. Now, he believes that the problem is more serious and wants me to locate the freshwater sensors and cut some wires underneath of the camper. I told him that this is outside our capabilities and we need another alternative. So, this is an open problem and I suspect we will be spending a lot of fruitless hours on it. This reflects very poorly on the QA at the ETI end to us.

Do you have the underfloor foam? Solving this will be immensely more difficult if you do.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by rubicon327

Do you have the underfloor foam? Solving this will be immensely more difficult if you do.

Unfortunately yes.

[VictorPA]

We have also had issues with the grey tank sensors from the get go. (Took delivery about three months ago). We brought up to Dustin that there is no way that these were tested properly at the factory and with us too he has instructed us to do “testing” that is increasingly complex (currently we are supposed to short the wires together to see what the display shows but we have not had the chance/time to do this).Quite frustrating and reflects poorly on ETI quality control.

[kavm]

Originally Posted by VictorPA

We have also had issues with the grey tank sensors from the get go. (Took delivery about three months ago). We brought up to Dustin that there is no way that these were tested properly at the factory and with us too he has instructed us to do “testing” that is increasingly complex (currently we are supposed to short the wires together to see what the display shows but we have not had the chance/time to do this).Quite frustrating and reflects poorly on ETI quality control.

Yes. I told him we need an alternative. Cutting up wires underneath the camper is not in our wheelhouse... And, we anticipate the same issue as you: we have rented the storage space for camper 75 miles from home. So, it's not something we'd be tinkering with.

Our time is very constrained. I'd frankly be happy to pay from my pocket for someone to resolve the issue for us, but I am not even sure where / who that'd be. So, we are preparing ourselves for the high likelihood of needing to go without the fresh water tank level indicator. Sad but that's the sinking feeling I get based upon the exchange so far.

[Mike G]

I'd like to offer a few words about backing trailers. To begin with, always pull ahead farther than you think is necessary; the reason is, the trailer will always respond slowly at first as you try to gain angularity between it and the truck. But at some point the angular difference becomes great enough that it will be turning quickly. And soon afterward your 5th wheel will be pivoting much faster than your truck can turn, making straightening impossible. With some time and practice, you will locate that 'sweet spot' angle where the front wheels, turned all the way, do not increase or decrease the angular difference between truck and trailer but merely maintain it. When you come to recognize visually what that angular position is, you'll then start to anticipate it as you approach that angle while backing, and you'll be able to use it to your advantage.

Sometimes you will need a sharper angle to get into a site, so you will need to overshoot the 'sweet spot' angle on purpose long enough to get the trailer angled sufficiently. Then you just need to back it until it looks like you've put the trailer a little too far over to the inside of the angle... that's when you stop, turn your wheels, pull forward a little ways to straighten the trailer in the site (hopefully far enough to pass the 'sweet' angle, this time on the straighter side of it), then cramp the wheels back the other way and resume backing. At this point the truck will be catching up to the trailer, reducing the angle between them.

I hope that produces some sort of helpful mental image of the process.