General question about appliances

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
All right, so I am in a discovery mode with this new camper.

So far I am loving it!

I have a few general questions about appliances - since they are the same for any camper, I'll just throw them here - feel free to add your wisdom:

-Water heater. How warm is the water supposed to get? I believe the water heater has a built-in tank of 6 gallon (Atwood) Do I have to let it warm for a long-time before using it? Or should it be instantaneous/on-demand?

-Water pump. When I run the water pump, there is a sputter that keeps going. I thought it was supposed to happen only at the beginning when the pressure builds up but it keep going. Any clue why?

-Fridge. How is it supposed to run when I am driving? Of the 110V/12 converter or gas? I read that we are not supposed to drive with the gas on so I would assume electric but it did not cool down on the way down to Prescott. It works fine when hooked up to the external 110V. I am testing the gas now but that seems okay - the check light is off. The fridge is a Dometic RM2652.

-Fantastic Vent. It won't come on.
The knob that indicates 0-1-2-3 is sort of wiggly. I can actually turn the whole thing around. Is there anything there I am supposed to do?

I am going through the pages of literature I got with the camper right now...
 

Rhode Trip

Adventurer
I wouldn't go so far as to call it wisdom, but here's my experience
All right, so I am in a discovery mode with this new camper.

So far I am loving it!

I have a few general questions about appliances - since they are the same for any camper, I'll just throw them here - feel free to add your wisdom:

-Water heater. How warm is the water supposed to get? I believe the water heater has a built-in tank of 6 gallon (Atwood) Do I have to let it warm for a long-time before using it? Or should it be instantaneous/on-demand?
Takes 5 to 10 minutes from cold. You can hear it heating. Stays warm for several hours at least. We'll do something like flick it on as we eat to warm for dishes, then take showers, then shut it off till we need it againOn second thought, I often keep water in mine all winter...when I do, I leave the water heater on all the time to keep it from freezing

-Water pump. When I run the water pump, there is a sputter that keeps going. I thought it was supposed to happen only at the beginning when the pressure builds up but it keep going. Any clue why?
Mine makes noise when ever you're running the water

-Fridge. How is it supposed to run when I am driving? Of the 110V/12 converter or gas? I read that we are not supposed to drive with the gas on so I would assume electric but it did not cool down on the way down to Prescott. It works fine when hooked up to the external 110V. I am testing the gas now but that seems okay - the check light is off. The fridge is a Dometic RM2652. I run mine 24/7 on propane except when I'm plugged in to 110. Never have run it on 12 volt. My truck is diesel and my fuel fill is on the opposite side of the truck, so I've never worried about it. Some people have trouble with the flame blowing out, I never have.

-Fantastic Vent. It won't come on.
The knob that indicates 0-1-2-3 is sort of wiggly. I can actually turn the whole thing around. Is there anything there I am supposed to do? Sounds like your first repair

I am going through the pages of literature I got with the camper right now...
 

HMR

Rendezvous Conspiracy
-Fantastic Vent. It won't come on.
The knob that indicates 0-1-2-3 is sort of wiggly. I can actually turn the whole thing around. Is there anything there I am supposed to do?
Is the vent in the open position when you turn the knob? Most (all?) of these fans automatically shut off with the vent closed.
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
We have a 1999 Bigfoot C25 10.6.

You should be able to hear the water heater running. Unless Bigfoot moved it, it's under one side of the dinette. Obviously there are variables (ambient temp, etc.), but 10-15 minutes from cold to fully heated when you first turn it on is about right. After that it will cycle on every once in while and run for a few minutes. I leave the water heater on when I am away from the camper.

In general, the water pump should only run while you have a faucet open. Every once in a while even with all the faucets closed our water pump will cycle on briefly and then shut off again. I've always assumed there is some minor pressure drop in the system over time, but haven't ever investigated that in depth. For this reason, you may want to flip the water pump off at night while you are sleeping. I usually shut the pump off if we're going to be away from the camper for a while. If a leak developed, I don't want it pumping my water tank dry.

Bigfoot (and I think most camper OEMs) moved away from 3-way fridges (propane/120 VAC/12 VDC) in the late '90's. I know our '99 Bigfoot only has a 2-way fridge (propane/120 VAC). I have driven the camper with the fridge on in propane mode and never had a problem. I've also driven with it off, and it the fridge seems to be well enough insulated that I've never had a problem with things getting too warm.
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
thanks guys.

The water heater does work - I opened up the cover outside and see the flame. I guess I just need to leave it on a bit longer before taking a shower...it is also pretty cold here in Prescott right now.

Still no luck with the fantastic fan. The fuse is good and the vent is open.

The fridge seems to be working fine on gas, although it definitively feel colder when on 120V. I guess that's too be expected.


One other question - while the truck's engine is running (and the camper not hooked up), is the converter supposed to send power to the 120V outlet inside the camper? Mine does not, they only seem to work when I plug the camper.
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
One other question - while the truck's engine is running (and the camper not hooked up), is the converter supposed to send power to the 120V outlet inside the camper? Mine does not, they only seem to work when I plug the camper.

No, the only ways to get 120 inside are 1) Have the camper plugged in to shore power, or 2) Run the generator (assuming you have one).
 

pods8

Explorer
Still no luck with the fantastic fan. The fuse is good and the vent is open.

Make sure the push button switch that shuts the fan off when the lid is closed isn't stuck down. Folks have had that happen from time to time. If that is popping up then take off the cover and get your multimeter out (you do have a $10 multimeter right? ;)) and start checking where the power is and isn't:

1: Are you getting power in? If not then either your fuse supplying the fan is blow or you have a problem with the wiring.
2: If you're getting power in but not out of the switch then you have found something to repair.

ETC.
 

suntinez

Explorer
Looks like your questions got answered, but here's my experience.

1) My water heater (suburban) gets extremely hot in about 10 mins, even in cold weather, enough that you have to mix it with cold water or you'll get burned.

2) If the faucets are all closed and you hear the water pump still pumping - turn the pump off and hunt about to see if you have a leak. The back pressure is supposed to turn the pump off. If it's still pumping, the water is going somewhere!

I recently had this problem - the toilet feed line had frozen and broke in an inaccessible place, and the shurflo pump pumped about 20 gals of water into the bottom of the coach. It was a mess, took a bit to get it sorted out.

3) I run my fridge on propane all the time, even driving - it's much more efficient. Endless debate on the RV forums about this, but I've never had a problem.

Absorption fridges use a source of heat to drive the cooling process. On a 3-way this is either a flame or the product of a thermocouple with either DC or AC current running through it. The inside temp of mine (dometic) is highly dependent on external temperature unfortunately, but I know bigfoot uses a much better fridge than mine.

4) fantastic fan - sounds like one of the switches is bad. There's a little lever (cutoff switch) that pops up when the vent is open, maybe it's stuck? Or the plastic 0-1-2-3 knob isn't actually connecting to its switch. You can pull it off and try turning the switch with needle nose pliers.

5) 120VAC - Dave's right you only get it with a 120 source. I carry a small inverter to plug into the 12V outlet to charge my laptop when parked.

When I got my Tiger home, I went through all the appliances and wrote down all the manufacturer/model numbers in a spreadsheet. Even in the same model, RV manufacturers change components often.

Good luck.
 

TBRV

New member
Fridge on propane is fine when travelling, as long as you turn it off before fueling up. I have seen several units burn up this way. The fridge makes a great ignition source when refueling. On some truck & camper units the fridge pilot is only a couple of feet from the fuel fill.

These fridges are well insulated. I find if pre cooled with the food inside and you don't open the door, it will stay cold for hours while traveling.
 

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
thanks guys

the hot water works perfect now - the valve from the tank was partially close...
It is so nice to be able to take a hot shower after a day in the field testing vehicles...

I think the know/switch for the fantastic van is now defective. It was working when we bought it. I will need to take it apart.

the only remaining issue is the sputter from the water pump. Something is wrong somewhere, I don't think it should be doing that. I think there might be an air leak somewhere.
 

Redline

Likes to Drive and Ride
.........

the only remaining issue is the sputter from the water pump. Something is wrong somewhere, I don't think it should be doing that. I think there might be an air leak somewhere.

Assuming you have plenty of water in our fresh water tank, sounds like you may have air in your lines. Are your faucets sputtering only when a valve is open, or does the water pump run even when all facet valves are closed? If the latter, the only time I've experienced this is when there is not enough water in the tank.
 

Photomike

White Turtle Adventures & Photography
Your water pump works on the principle of pressure, it will run to build up to a certain pressure then shut off. If it runs when all the water is shut off then you are looking at a couple possible reasons;

1 - A leak in the lines
2 - The pump has one (or more) worn flappers that pump the water. The water is then leaking back when sitting and causing the pump to run. Can also be caused by debris around the flappers as well.
3 - Air lock at the pump, usually fixed by running pump

If it is #1 you want to fix ASAP. #2 can be worked around by shutting the pump off at the switch but you may find a failure happens if you do not replace. #3 should be resolved by running pump.

If it is sputtering when running (most of these pumps do a horrible job of pumping water at low flow rates, then either a restriction at the water inlet, flappers worn or sucking air. If you want a nice even flow add a accumulation tank.
 
Last edited:

Christian P.

Expedition Leader
Staff member
It only sputters when running (faucet on). Never otherwise.

I had the impression that these Bigfoot had an accumulation tank but I may be wrong. I'll have to check the manual again.
 

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