Advmoto18
Senior Member
First and foremost, this is NOT A POST OR THREAD INTENDED TO FLAME FWC! PLEASE do not interpret it as such. We consider Tom (former owner) a friend and would never publicly besmirch Tom or FWC.
There have been several threads in the past that have discussed installed component failures in FWCs.
We are in week 6 of a 3 month trip out west in our 2015 Hawk and have had a few problems that were difficult to fix due to warranty issues and warranty service center backlogs; ability to properly troubleshoot and ultimately, procure parts.
Living long term in a slide-in camper can pose additional hardships on components perhaps not designed or built into the camper. Perhaps the need for FWC (and other manufacturers) to rely on "RV" components is the underlying issue. Many "RV" components do not hold up to "off road" travel as we have learned the past 5 weeks.
In all fairness, we have driven across 250+ miles of wash board roads, hundreds of miles of dirt and gravel roads and about 100 miles of "Moderate+" and ~ 25 "Difficult" jeep trails.
My truck has performed flawlessly.
My Hawk, well, has been in need of constant attention.
Problems encountered.
1. Hot water heater circuit board failure with 11 days remaining in warranty. FWC does not warrant the hot water heater. You must contact Atwood. Atwood customer service was excellent. Finding a warranty service center that had less then a 21 day maintenance backlog...impossible. I didn't know where we'd be tomorrow let alone 21 days from now! I ended up purchasing a replacement board from Amazon and had it shipped to a friend's house. The water heater is simplistic in design and there are really only 2 internal components that are likely to fail, the TSTAT and the circuit board. Replacing the TSTAT will set you back about $15 on the road while the board is very expensive unless purchased through Amazon where it will still set you back about $110.
2. LP/CO sensor failure. This is the second sensor to fail in 22 months. Another Atwood product covered by the 2 year warranty. Again, the service center backlog problem. I ended up throwing the problem unit in the trash. I bought a 9V battery powered First Alert CO sensor at Lowes; CO is my real concern...the odorless killer. I also bought a $2 gray outlet plate at Lowes to cover up the hole. I currently do not have a LP sensor. I'm not too concerned as we don't need the heater and I turn the LP off every night. I still need to address the LP sensor issue at some point.
3. Dometic refrigerator door seal has been an issue since Day 7. The seal is a REAL problem and nuisance now-days. The seal will not stay attached to the bottom edge of the door, it keeps coming off. I am a vocal critic of side loading refrigerators in off-road campers. Open the door, all the cold air falls out. Running a side-load frig on battery power with solar recharging is not optimum in the least, even worse if no solar! FWC, PLEASE consider designing a recessed/pull-out, locking shelf for top loading frig/freezers such as ARB or Engle.
4. A short in the left side, external, LED light. Brought the entire side LED light system down. Each side should have a dedicated switch inside the camper. Same for the external LED down lights.
5. We have had several water system tubing/hose leaks. If you drive off-road, check all accessible water system fasteners as often as you check the turnbuckles! Like every night after driving over wash board roads or jeep trials!
6. Screens. The screens are insufficient keeping out "no-see-ems" We thought this was only going to be an issue for NC/SC coastal areas. But, we found thousands of tiny flying bugs in Canyonlands NP that flew right thought the screens. Fortunately, they wanted to be near the LED lights and not us!
Overall, we continue to be very happy with our Hawk and the ability to venture far off-tarmac it affords us. Many issues we have encountered are a result of components selected by FWC as available options. Frankly, I do not believe offered "RV" grade components are worthy of "off-roading" experiences. FWC needs to look to dedicated off-road component suppliers for our campers.
There have been several threads in the past that have discussed installed component failures in FWCs.
We are in week 6 of a 3 month trip out west in our 2015 Hawk and have had a few problems that were difficult to fix due to warranty issues and warranty service center backlogs; ability to properly troubleshoot and ultimately, procure parts.
Living long term in a slide-in camper can pose additional hardships on components perhaps not designed or built into the camper. Perhaps the need for FWC (and other manufacturers) to rely on "RV" components is the underlying issue. Many "RV" components do not hold up to "off road" travel as we have learned the past 5 weeks.
In all fairness, we have driven across 250+ miles of wash board roads, hundreds of miles of dirt and gravel roads and about 100 miles of "Moderate+" and ~ 25 "Difficult" jeep trails.
My truck has performed flawlessly.
My Hawk, well, has been in need of constant attention.
Problems encountered.
1. Hot water heater circuit board failure with 11 days remaining in warranty. FWC does not warrant the hot water heater. You must contact Atwood. Atwood customer service was excellent. Finding a warranty service center that had less then a 21 day maintenance backlog...impossible. I didn't know where we'd be tomorrow let alone 21 days from now! I ended up purchasing a replacement board from Amazon and had it shipped to a friend's house. The water heater is simplistic in design and there are really only 2 internal components that are likely to fail, the TSTAT and the circuit board. Replacing the TSTAT will set you back about $15 on the road while the board is very expensive unless purchased through Amazon where it will still set you back about $110.
2. LP/CO sensor failure. This is the second sensor to fail in 22 months. Another Atwood product covered by the 2 year warranty. Again, the service center backlog problem. I ended up throwing the problem unit in the trash. I bought a 9V battery powered First Alert CO sensor at Lowes; CO is my real concern...the odorless killer. I also bought a $2 gray outlet plate at Lowes to cover up the hole. I currently do not have a LP sensor. I'm not too concerned as we don't need the heater and I turn the LP off every night. I still need to address the LP sensor issue at some point.
3. Dometic refrigerator door seal has been an issue since Day 7. The seal is a REAL problem and nuisance now-days. The seal will not stay attached to the bottom edge of the door, it keeps coming off. I am a vocal critic of side loading refrigerators in off-road campers. Open the door, all the cold air falls out. Running a side-load frig on battery power with solar recharging is not optimum in the least, even worse if no solar! FWC, PLEASE consider designing a recessed/pull-out, locking shelf for top loading frig/freezers such as ARB or Engle.
4. A short in the left side, external, LED light. Brought the entire side LED light system down. Each side should have a dedicated switch inside the camper. Same for the external LED down lights.
5. We have had several water system tubing/hose leaks. If you drive off-road, check all accessible water system fasteners as often as you check the turnbuckles! Like every night after driving over wash board roads or jeep trials!
6. Screens. The screens are insufficient keeping out "no-see-ems" We thought this was only going to be an issue for NC/SC coastal areas. But, we found thousands of tiny flying bugs in Canyonlands NP that flew right thought the screens. Fortunately, they wanted to be near the LED lights and not us!
Overall, we continue to be very happy with our Hawk and the ability to venture far off-tarmac it affords us. Many issues we have encountered are a result of components selected by FWC as available options. Frankly, I do not believe offered "RV" grade components are worthy of "off-roading" experiences. FWC needs to look to dedicated off-road component suppliers for our campers.
