Have been full-timing 3 years now and love it. When buying your RV consider this: Does it have a dishwasher? Does it have a washer? We are slugs and have no desire to wash dishes. We solved the problem by buying a Cyclone fifth wheel and our Kenmore portable dishwasher fits in nicely. (hooks up to sink and doubles as counter space). Also, we bought a portable, lightweight washer on Amazon (Costway) for $100. It washes everything except blankets. We hang the wash in the garage. In addition, we use a portable clothes line (Mrs. Peg) for sheets. We feel like we have all the goodies in our home and are not sacrificing a thing. And, if we had it to do all over again, we would buy used. Our 2015 Heartland Cyclone 4200 was the first year for the side porch and we were hooked. Also, it had a second bathroom in garage with tub (makes a great place for the cat box). So, alas we bought new. We hope this helps in buying an RV
bjoyce said
09:26 AM Jul 1, 2018
Do you have a water softener in your RV? Automatic dishwashers are the fastest thing to clog from hard water due to all the small holes and jets.
Lynn and Ed said
09:53 AM Jul 1, 2018
To Bill's point about hard water: We have a dishwasher, have historically used an external water softner, but also use a product by Finish in the dishwasher. We use regular dishwasher detergent as well as Finish's "Booster" product. I don't always find the booster product in the grocery store, so I typically order it via Amazon (Finish Hard Water Booster Powder, Lemon Sparkle, 14oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Z48F56/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_JEpoBbF3XKHYJ). The product also works great on hardware build up in the toilet (as soon as I notice the toilet seal is not working 100%, I use a little of the booster to clean the toilet ... issue addressed).
Bill and Linda said
03:46 PM Jul 2, 2018
bjoyce wrote:
Do you have a water softener in your RV? Automatic dishwashers are the fastest thing to clog from hard water due to all the small holes and jets.
X2 and the next two things to fail are the water valve in the toilet (depending on brand) and the check valves which can allow hot and cold water to mix. If you have an anode rod in the HW heater the residue from that anode rod can then get into the fresh water.
Water softeners in an RV really are a must-have more then some may realize. Damage to a lot of the plastic fittings can occur from the mineral in "hard" water. We test the water with test strips at each location and put in the softener more often then not.
Have been full-timing 3 years now and love it. When buying your RV consider this: Does it have a dishwasher? Does it have a washer? We are slugs and have no desire to wash dishes. We solved the problem by buying a Cyclone fifth wheel and our Kenmore portable dishwasher fits in nicely. (hooks up to sink and doubles as counter space). Also, we bought a portable, lightweight washer on Amazon (Costway) for $100. It washes everything except blankets. We hang the wash in the garage. In addition, we use a portable clothes line (Mrs. Peg) for sheets. We feel like we have all the goodies in our home and are not sacrificing a thing. And, if we had it to do all over again, we would buy used. Our 2015 Heartland Cyclone 4200 was the first year for the side porch and we were hooked. Also, it had a second bathroom in garage with tub (makes a great place for the cat box). So, alas we bought new. We hope this helps in buying an RV
X2 and the next two things to fail are the water valve in the toilet (depending on brand) and the check valves which can allow hot and cold water to mix. If you have an anode rod in the HW heater the residue from that anode rod can then get into the fresh water.
Water softeners in an RV really are a must-have more then some may realize. Damage to a lot of the plastic fittings can occur from the mineral in "hard" water. We test the water with test strips at each location and put in the softener more often then not.