We had a free day today. What's that? Yeah, we're retired, so every day is a free day, right? I don't know how we had time to work - seems there is always stuff to keep us busy.
Joan suggested we go out to the driveway to "try some things" in the RoadTrek. Being a guy, I was all for "trying things." Apparently, that meant: setting up the Lagun table in the cab and rear seating positions. This table moves in a bunch of different rotations, and we've never tried it in the forward position with the driver and passenger seats rotated. It works.
We then moved it to the aft position, where we have used it on the only multi-day trip we've taken in the past 6 months (Is that right? No wonder I have itchy feet!). It works there, too.
We were ready to put it back in storage, when Joan said to me, "Did you see these orange wires hanging out from the top of the door (the large sliding door on the side)?" I went to look. It's the wiring for the FireFly System, the touch screen panel that controls almost everything in the van.
"Well, that's not good."
A short discussion about dealing with it now or putting it off for another day. A unanimous decision to address it now.
Turns out the problem isn't the wiring - there is a molded vinyl piece that goes above that sliding door on the inside of the van; the touch screen for the FireFly is mounted into that 5' long trim piece. Under that is the roll-up screen that drops down to cover that large opening. There are 10 screws holding that large roll up screen (and privacy screen) under the trim piece, along with some adhesive. Not one single screw was into the metal frame of the van - it is amazing to me that the whole screen, trim piece, and the FireFly screen and wiring didn't come crashing down!
I'm guessing RoadTrek spent about 20 minutes doing that job incorrectly. With the two of us working together, we put another hour and a half into securing it properly (not including the discussion of the best way to approach this mini-project). The toughest part was pushing that roll-up screen into place and holding it and the trim piece while drilling pilot holes to secure it all with stainless steel screws. There were a couple "scratch marks" where the short screws RoadTrek used touched the metal frame on the van, but none of them were into the metal.
As I worked my way from the rear side of the door opening to the front, being careful of the FireFly wiring, it became clear that the trim piece wasn't into anything solid on the forward side. There is a decorative cover over a square bit screw that should attach to something. It didn't. Didn't attach to anything, that is. There is a piece of textured wood across the cab section that this screw should have gone into. I changed the angle of the screw so it could get a bite into that wood. I was hoping the angle didn't prevent that decorative cover from fitting on the trim around the head of the screw... it snapped into place nicely when I was done with it...
You can see that little trim cap on the far left of the photo about 2/3 of the way up. That screen is the FireFly system. If that whole section had come down, it would have likely taken out the FireFly controller, which would have made every system in the van non-functional. If you think I am a bit miffed about this, you would be right.
Moving on, RoadTrek isn't the only van maker that uses this FireFly system - other van and motorhome makers use it, too. It controls all lighting (or each individual light), the air conditioning, the heat, the water heater, the water pump, extending and retracting the awning the lithium batteries, the 3000w inverter, and lets you know levels on holding tanks and propane. So, yeah, literally everything in the van. From what I read online, the FireFly system has been reliable. One of the things I liked about the Chase 50 model when we were looking is the fact that it has a second FireFly touch screen controller in the rear of the van (yes, that panel feels solid and secure). Also, it comes with an app that you can put on your iPhone that duplicates all those controls on your phone.
In the grand scheme of things, this RoadTrek hasn't seen a lot of use. I hope to change that. I would consider this situation still part of the "shake down" that every owner of a new RV has to deal with. I'm glad that we were able to fix this ourselves - we know it is a solid solution. And the dealer where we bought this is no longer a RoadTrek dealer. There is now another RoadTrek dealer in the far east side of Phoenix, but we have no relationship with them. One day we'll get over that way, just to visit with them. For about 3 1/2 months of the 6 we've owned the van, the closest dealer was in Las Vegas. There are a lot of interconnected systems in this van (and most others).
I still think RoadTrek makes a good Class B. I'm guessing the install of the roll-up screen and window shade is one of the last things to be done in the build process... "Let the new guy do that - it's no big deal." ;-)
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