Motor Aid performance - problem or normal?

[John Mo]

I don't expect boiling hot water from the Motor Aid system, but after 4 hours on the road with some pretty steep grades thrown in, I expect it to be noticeably warmer than what comes from the cold tap. Am I expecting too much or do I have a problem with mine? It's a 2009 Sightseer 35J.

Thanks,
John

 

[maverickbbd]

You are certainly not asking too much.  Mine would have enough hot water for a shower under those conditions.

 

[John Canfield]

Hey Tom - welcome!

We are usually on the road from two to six hours when we travel, and there is always hot water available.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

You should have boiling hot water....VERY HOT.  Four hours is plenty enough time for the hot antifreeze to flow through the water heater to heat up the water.

And FYI...the motoraid only comes with the gas chassis, and not the DP's.....just FYI. 

 

[John Canfield]

And FYI...the motoraid only comes with the gas chassis, and not the DP's.....just FYI.   

Mark - our heater is propane, electric, or engine heat exchanger.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

It's my understanding that the MotorAid is a brand name appliance which heats the water via circulating the hot coolant through tubes in the water heater, AND is a auxilary air heater for the motorhome with a two speed fan switch placed on the dash, so it serves two purposes.  When driving and operating the MotorAid's air heating, the hot air comes out the floor furnace vents via a magnetized flap in the heating duct.  

It's one of the few plusses to having a gas coach over a DP.   

 

[John Mo]

It's my understanding that the MotorAid is a brand name appliance which heats the water via circulating the hot coolant through tubes in the water heater, AND is a auxilary air heater for the motorhome with a two speed fan switch placed on the dash, so it serves two purposes.  When driving and operating the MotorAid's air heating, the hot air comes out the floor furnace vents via a magnetized flap in the heating duct.  

It's one of the few plusses to having a gas coach over a DP.   

I heard a funny sound in the back one time on our long trip this summer. It sounded like an electric motor and I couldn't believe it was the fuel pump I might be hearing, but it was in the right area for it to be that. It turned out to be the coach heat. The switch on the dash had been bumped. Not sure if it was putting out heat or not, though.

It sounds like I have another item for the list when I take my new coach back to the dealer to get all of those "new coach" bugs looked into.

 

[FrontrangeRVer]

John Mo, the Sightseers will have the hot air come out a dryer vent ducted directly across from the MotorAid electric motor....usually from under the bed.  The Voyages and Adventurers will have the hot air directly injected into the floor furnace vents via the magnetized flap in the metal floor duct.  Your air heat operation will be from the dash switch, but the water heater heating is automatic during driving.

 

[mrschwarz]

And FYI...the motoraid only comes with the gas chassis, and not the DP's.....just FYI.   

My diesel Meridian has the Motoraid water heater, but not the coach heater. Too bad . . . I actually used the coach heater.

 

[John Canfield]

... AND is a auxilary air heater for the motorhome with a two speed fan switch placed on the dash, so it serves two purposes.

Oh - right - nope - don't have one of those 

 

[Indy Itasca]

Not to be condescending but 1. are you sure you have the Motor aid option? My understanding is that it is an add on in the Sightseer / Sunova not standard.  2. I assume you have hot water from your hot water heater, other wise check your winter hot water bypass.  3. I guess you can verify the factory hooked it up. On mine there is an access panel under the kitchen sink. You can see the back of the hot water heater and the two lines that come from the engine. On mine they are rubber hoses about 3/4 inch. 

 

[John Mo]

Not to be condescending but 1. are you sure you have the Motor aid option? My understanding is that it is an add on in the Sightseer / Sunova not standard.  2. I assume you have hot water from your hot water heater, other wise check your winter hot water bypass.  3. I guess you can verify the factory hooked it up. On mine there is an access panel under the kitchen sink. You can see the back of the hot water heater and the two lines that come from the engine. On mine they are rubber hoses about 3/4 inch. 

1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. That's warranty work. I'll let my dealer handle it.

I don't mean to be snarky, but I have a list of issues that I'm heading to the dealer with that's a bit longer that what I think I should have on a brand new coach. And this is after I've been through one significant issue where Winnebago was less than helpful and another issue that required me to do the labor. I don't mind to swap a part and do what I can, but it's a brand new motorhome. I just expect things to be right. There will be plenty of little things for me to fix on my own when the warranty is gone.

 

[John Canfield]

I just expect things to be right.

A little thread drift here  ..

Our Horizon is our very first RV.  I did quite a bit of research in our due diligence purchase process and from reading various RV forums I realized that having problems with a brand new unit was fairly common.  It's all about expectations - I didn't expect to have a unit with no problems, and I wasn't disappointed.  Virtually all of our issues were fairly minor.  We used our coach for a few months and just added to the punch list and took it to the factory and had everything dealt with at one time.

Since then, we have had a few things pop up here and there, but the first factory visit (after using the coach for a few months) was instrumental in reducing our frustration.

 

[John Mo]

John, yeah, I know. I've followed RV forums long enough to know that RVs come with some bugs to work out. On the one hand, I know that's just the way it is. On the other, it's a little frustrating to spend the money we do on new equipment and then be expected to pop over to Forest City IA for repairs. In my case, that's just not an option anyway. For me it takes planning and 3 or 4 hours just to get my Winnie to my nearest dealer, but I expect that will improve when I finally get my toad rigged.

Fortunately we've only been plagued with little stuff. One of my slides ate a seal, but the slide still works. Motor aid seems to be missing in action, but the propane and 110 both work. The inverter only works when I hold my mouth just right, but I can usually get it going with some coaxing. The microwave seems to need a 5-minute break for every 3 or 4 minutes that it runs, but it does run for the first 3 or 4 minutes.

I got caught in a classic "Winnie blames Ford, Ford blames Winnie" loop early on and it's left me a little jaded.

 

[John Canfield]

I got caught in a classic "Winnie blames Ford, Ford blames Winnie" loop early on and it's left me a little jaded.

That can be really, really frustrating.  Dealing with weird and intermittent problems is especially frustrating.  I understand your pain