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Warranty Repairs on Cameo F35SB3
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For delivery details: Click Here
For changes made after purchase: Click Here |
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| June 5, 2007: I'm going to use this page to detail the repairs that are made to the Cameo which I consider to be "Warranty Repairs". The Cameo has a two "everything" warranty with a 5 year chassis warranty. I truly hope that I never have to actually deliver the Cameo for repairs but it may happen. Most of the repairs, I plan to do myself but most RV owners would probably return their RV to the shop for repairs under warranty. This first repair seems silly but I consider it something an owner would return to the shop. At the bottom of the shower door is a drip tray and vinyl squeegee to keep water in the shower pan rather than dripping onto the bathroom floor. It was attached with some sort of contact cement. We took delivery of the Cameo on April 18, and exactly one month later, the tray fell onto the bathroom floor. Keep in mind that we are full time RV people, so at least two showers per day in this bathroom. |
| At first, I reinstalled the drip tray using double-backed tape. But that lasted only one day before it fell onto the floor again. I own a pop-rivet pliers, so I bought 1/8 inch aluminum (so they won't rust) rivets, drilled (5)1/8" holes through the shower door and tray. I then installed the rivets which held the tray nicely to the door. The tray won't be falling off now. I also sealed the top of the tray where it meets the door to be sure no water seeps between the tray and door. I think it looks professional. I hope all the needed repairs are this easy. |
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July 6, 2007: On June 6, Gwen sent me an email at work to let me know the furnace had stopped working. The furnace fan would come on for 20 seconds then turn off ... no heat. I called Suburban to get some help and advice of how to use their warranty. The lady I talked with was very rude and basically |
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| did not want to talk to me. She referred me to their Website for authorized repair stations. I called the nearest one and was told they were so busy they were NOT accepting new customers. They gave me a referral of a mobile RV repair. When I called him, he moaned and groaned about having to travel to Howard Prairie Resort. In the mean time, I found A2Z mobile repair working on a motor home just 100 yards from me. He said he would fix the furnace and order a replacement circuit board. I didn't hear from him in three weeks so called him twice. He didn't return my calls so I went on a search again. I found Berry's Mobile R.V. Repair. Travis Berry is the owner and repair person (541-621-0759-check my July 27 entry below before calling this guy! ). Travis already had a replacement part and said he would fix it today. He arrived and began work immediately to remove the circuit board. It actually came out easily. |
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Travis showed me how all the manufacturers order low quality circuit boards hoping they will last for the 1 year warranty period, then after they fail, it's MY problem not theirs. He installed a board from Dinosaur Electronics which are far better quality. I had already heard of them for replacement circuit boards of other RV equipment such as the refrigerator. |
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After the installation, the furnace was still not working so the problem was likely the high limit sensor located in the rear of the furnace. The high limit sensor will shut off the furnace if it gets too hot. Travis had to crawl into a pretty tight spot to get behind the furnace. He took the photo to the left of the sensor. As it turns out, a wire was loose on the sensor. Once it was tightened, the furnace worked. |
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| This whole process took about 2 hours. Travis was going to put the old circuit board back into the furnace but I decided to keep the Dinosaur Electronics board to be sure the furnace did not fail when we really needed it. The total bill went like this: $100 for travel time to the resort and back, 1.5 hours of labor at $70 per hour so, $105, finally, $146 for the Dinosaur Electronics circuit board for a total of $351. Here's how I feel about paying $351 to find a loose wire. Yes, had I known it was a loose wire and where to look for the loose wire, I could have fixed it. But there is no way I could have discovered this on my own. I can however, do this sometime in the future if it is ever needed again now that I've seen it done the first time. As for the $100 travel fee, Travis lives in White City, about 55 miles and 4,000 feet below the resort. I think I got a bargain, since $100 is much less than $70 per hour for travel. Had I connected to the trailer and pulled it to him, it would have taken all day and I would have burned more than $100 in diesel to bring him the furnace. I think keeping the Dinosaur Electronics board was the right thing to do. I did learn that Travis charged about $25 more for the board than what I could have ordered from some of the retail location links found at the Dinosaur Electronics site. I did get $25 worth of information from Travis concerning preventative maintenance. I plan to send the bill to Josh, the warranty person at Wager's Trailer Sales to learn if Carriage will help with any portion of the bill. Finally, yes, I would call Travis back for another repair if needed. He knows what he is doing. (See my re-evaluation of Travis below after his repair failed) |
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| July 27, 2007: About two weeks ago, we used our furnace during a cold spell. It lasted only two hours before quitting. I called Travis but he has not returned my calls. So much for my recommendation of Berry's Mobile RV Repair. Anyway, I decided that the likely problem was the high limit sensor, so I climbed in a routed a wire around the sensor. |
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Unfortunately, the lights did not return to the circuit board. Of course, I checked the fuse before doing anything.
This week the Suburban water heater has stopped heating with gas. Only the electric part of the water heater works. I checked the jet which was not clogged. I also checked that propane was reaching the control valve. Apparently the control valve or the controller board has a problem. I've called another mobile repair guy to check both the furnace and the water heater. I am confident that my dealer would fix both these problems without charge however, the travel time to Salem would be one day each way and the diesel would be $200. |
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August 10, 2007: Russ Hammer from Hammer's On Site RV Repair Service (541-779-7165) showed up exactly at 10 am, the time we had scheduled. If you check above, you'll see the first repair on the furnace lasted only 2 hours before the furnace quit. In the previous repair, I had a new Dinosaur Electronic control board installed to insure I would have no further problems. As it turns out, that board only lasted 2 hours. It didn't take Russ long to learn that the control board was the problem. He installed a new control board and the furnace was repaired. Of course Dinosaur Electronics has a three year warranty so there was no charge for the new board and Russ only charged $25 labor plus a $75 trip charge which we had agreed on before |
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he made the trip to the resort. As for Travis, the first repairman, I don't think he can be blamed for the defective first board so we can only blame him for not returning my call after the furnace stopped working after his repair.
Next came the water heater. The hot water heater is not working on gas, it works only on electricity. I had already confirmed gas to the control value but no gas coming out of the value. I had already decided, it must be a defective valve or defective controller board which tells the valve to open. |
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Russ confirmed power from the controller board instructing the valve to open. So it is a defective valve. Russ did not have one. Here is where we were instructed to call Carriage Warranty department which we did but could only leave a voicemail. This was discouraging because we made sure we were making the call before closing time back east. So the clock is ticking. We have an Escapees rally planned for mid-September where we will have no power and must heat water using gas. |
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| September 6, 2007: I have finally received the final word from Carriage on the repair from Barry's RV Repair above. Carriage will not give anything toward that repair. Since no part failed and it was only a loose wire, they will not pay anything toward the labor charge. I have learned that one must follow Carriage protocol for any chance to get support with their warrantee. Their protocol is to have the serviceman call them first for repair approval after diagnosis. I'm not sure this protocol would have worked in this case since the diagnosis would have been a loose wire on the over-heat sensor. By the time he called Carriage, the repair would have been complete. Again, I would have expected no-charge from a Carriage dealer, but it was an expensive repair from an independent mobile repair service. As for Barry's RV repair, I would absolutely NOT call him for a repair. Not because he misdiagnosed the problem but because I believe he over-charged for the repair to begin with and would NOT return my calls when the control board he installed failed after two hours of use. Russ from Hammer's RV repair will be returning tomorrow to replace the failed water heater part, we'll see how Carriage has supported that repair. |
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| September 7, 2007: Russ, from Hammer's RV repair has returned to replace the defective control valve on the water heater. Carriage has supported this repair and Russ from day one. They referred Russ to Suburban, the water heater manufacturer. Suburban immediately shipped a replacement valve to Russ and paid him the labor charge to make the replacement. My warranty repairs are a partial success. As long as a part is defective, I can expect Carriage to pay for the part and labor for the repair but not the travel time for the mobile repairman. I would also expect a Carriage dealer to make any repair without charge as long as I take my Cameo to their service department but I don't have that experience yet. I would highly recommend Russ. He communicated with me many times during the repair process to let me know what progress was made. I would call him first for any repair. |
| October 14, 2007: The left handle of the kitchen faucet has been causing problems for quite some time. The handle is threaded into the base, and continuously comes loose and must be tightened. It was finally stripped and would not thread into the base. I used epoxy to secure the handle, which held for two days then it broke again. |
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Since the Carriage has a two year bumper to bumper warranty, I'm sure Carriage would have replaced the faucet, however, we wanted something nicer that what was original equipment. This week I have been corresponding with Gary about his pending purchase and discussed the medium |
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| to low quality of the faucets and other "surface" parts of the Cameo. The Cameo is in the $55,000 to $70,000 price range (at least in 2007) with Carri-lite the next step up at $85,000 to $100,000 and Carriage above that at about $125,000 plus. I know the Carri-lite comes with a nice single handle faucet and spray. We paid $154 for this Moen at Lowes and are very happy with it's operation. Much nicer than the original equipment. I just hope the lower quality items are only surface deep and as we replace them, we have a solid foundation to build on. I don't believe any other brand offers better equipment in this same price range. We are still very happy with the floor plan which was the main reason for the Cameo F35SB3 purchase. |
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| November 7, 2007: To summarize our warranty problems so far, we had a loose wire on the furnace which ended up costing us more than $400 in the long run because I upgraded the circuit board and Suburban would not pay anything to fix a loose wire. Suburban did, however, pay to replace the gas valve on the waterheater but would not pay the travel charge from the repair man so that was $75. I upgraded the broken kitchen faucet rather than have Carriage send us a replacement so that was $154. Currently, our Norcold model N1095 refrigerator is freezing everything in the refrigerator compartment. Norcold has given us an authorization number for repair but says we much have an authorized service center make the repair. There are two in southern Oregon. One is mobile and wants $125 just to come to the trailer and won't schedule us for three weeks. The other is an RV dealer and has given us a day in about three weeks. I have made the appointment to visit the RV dealer. I have also been working with Russ from Hammer's RV to get him "authorized", if that happens, we will invite Russ to make the repair and expect to pay his $75 service call. I'm not understanding why we are having so much trouble with the appliances, but hope the refrigerator repair is simple. |
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November 29, 2007: Weeks ago, our Norcold refrigerator began freezing items in the refrigerator compartment. Norcold immediately suggested it was the "thermister" but insisted that the refrigerator had to be seen by an authorized service center. Russ has not be authorized so I towed the trailer 30 minutes to the nearest service center rather than pay $125 to a mobile service man. In the last weeks I've received emails from readers suggesting the thermister is a $20 part and could be easily replaced. My thought was, "what if it turns out |
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to NOT be the thermister, then I must deal with the problem during our month long trip to New Mexico". The trailer sat at the service center the entire day. It seems everyone except the service man recognized the problem was the thermister. Apparently Norcold insists on a protocol of tests before they will provide this $20 part. Finally, at the end of the day, the service man announces that we need a new thermister but they have none in stock. They can have one by Friday. If you look at the photo, the thermister is attached to the wires leading to the connector. It is a simple matter to connect then install this part. I made arrangements to pick up the thermister on Saturday morning and install myself rather than return the trailer.
Norcold customer service STINKS! Proper customer service would have said during my first phone call, "I'm so sorry your model N1095 is freezing your vegetables. Tell me your location and I'll have a service representative there to make the repair within 24 hours with as little disruption of your day as possible." Does this sound unreal? I would have gotten this sort of customer service from Les Schwab Tire Co., Costco, even WalMart has better customer service and we are NOT discussing a 99 cent trinket. What would it have cost Norcold to take a WILD chance and send me the $20 thermister with installation instructions eight weeks ago? Norcold obvious sets profit before customer satisfaction. Let's hope their insistence on a day long evaluation of the thermister actually fixes the problem. |
| December 2, 2007: Today we found the switch to the dust-pan accessory to our central vacuum cleaner broken leaving the hose open. This accessory is situated along the floor. When brooming spills, no need to find a dust-pan, just flip the switch and vacuum the crumbs. Without closing this opening, the hose will not have enough suction for vacuuming. I've stuffed a rag into the opening to block the open. Without closing this opening, the hose will not have enough |
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suction for vacuuming. I've stuffed a rag into the opening to block the open hole and allow the rest of the central vacuum system to work.
March 13, 2008: The VacPan has been replaced. Wagers Trailer Sales (our dealer) and Carriage have stood behind the two year warranty and replaced it at no charge. The removal and installation was fairly easy if you have to do it yourself. If you own one of these, I
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| HIGHLY recommend you cycle the switch by hand rather than by foot. The design of the switch pivot point is very weak and can easily be broken. If you follow the link, you'll see it will normally cost $39 plus shipping to replace the VacPan. |
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| December 3, 2007: The thermister has arrive ... a weekend after it was promised. It simply plugs in .. easy installation. Now, we'll be watching it to learn if this fixes the problem. |
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February 8, 2008: We continue to struggle to get the central vacuum system to work for us. This was about a $400 option including a dealer discount. Carriage factory installed the Dirt Devil Model CV950 central vacuum. It seems to have good suction but the bags are very expensive, about $3 each, although we have learned to buy the Dirt Devil "C" bags and shorten them to fit. These bags are only $1 each. The sound the motor makes is a |
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| very loud, high pitch, whine. As reported above, the dust pan accessory switch broke and I have still not removed this attachment to send to the dealer to learn if they will replace it. The continuous problem we have had with this system from DAY ONE is with the ability of the system to pick up pet hair. The system came with the "Rug Rat" pictured to the right in the photo above. The Rug Rat has a brush rug beater which is driven by the the suction of the vacuum. The first Rug Rat lasted two weeks and was replaced by Dirt Devil. This second Rug Rat worked OK for about two weeks but is continually getting clogged and must be taken apart at least once each time we use it. I have doubts that it would work well even without pets. We finally decided to spend another $150 for the cordless, rechargeable, motorized power head pictured to the left of the Rug Rat above. We found it for $150 while InterVac (the manufacturer) wants $169. This means we have spent about $550 for this vacuum system hoping to get it to work as well as the $60 Bissell we gave up for this central system. If you are shopping for an RV central vacuum system, I think you should expect to have to spend the extra $150 for the battery powered head to get it to work, with or without pet hair. Also, I would choose the InterVac brand over the Dirt Devil just to reduce the noise, the InterVac is MUCH more quiet running with the same suction. Also, now you know, you are paying a huge premium to get a central vacuum system over the standard upright and the upright works better. |
| February 26, 2008: After returning from our trip to California a couple of weeks ago, I discovered the two wires leading to the brakes on the rear axle of the trailer to be severed. That means I was working with only 1/2 my trailer brakes during the trip. I must record this in my memory because I felt the brakes were not working as well as I had remembered but chalked it up to not having towed the trailer in a while and I was just not use to the tow experience. What I need to put into my memory is, if is seems different, check the brake wires. If the brake wires are OK, have the brake |
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| drums removed and checked. It was an easy repair with wire nuts and lots of duck tape. I plan to add more wire hangers too, to be sure the wires stay out of the way. These wires were pinched in half as if caught between the axle and frame. I would guess, between the ubolts and frame. I'll make sure the wires are routed around any pinch points. Hopefully the shocks I'm adding will help too. Click the photo to see a closeup of the wire break. |
| March 5, 2008: I got a surprise call today from Carriage, the manufacturer of the Cameo. It was the customer service department checking on some of the repairs we have made to the Cameo. It was a very cordial call which ended up with Carriage customer service asking for copies of my repair receipts and an agreement that the vacuum pan would be replaced at no charge. We talked about the furnace repair and the replacement of kitchen faucet. They wanted to make sure the refrigerator was repaired correctly on warranty. And the hot water heater was working properly which was also repaired on warranty. This was the kind of customer service I was expecting from Carriage and until today hadn't experienced. I was very pleased and hope sending copies of receipts for the faucet and furnace repair will result in some of these repairs being covered by warranty. |
| April 8, 2008: Today we received a surprise check from Carriage as a warranty refund for the replacement of the kitchen faucet and partial refund for the problem with the furnace. Although Carriage had supported us with the water heater problem and refrigerator problem, we previously had no support for the faucet or furnace. The check was for the amount of $251, very welcome and very supportive. This arrived after a follow up telephone conversation reported above on March 5. |
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