Marsha - I think we are all waiting for you to tell us what exactly you are having difficulty with. One more thing that I can add to what I have already written. Your new Roadtrek should have come with a quick connect hose adapter already on the city water intake. Just push the bottom up and the piece that connects to the hose comes off. Screw that to your hose and then connecting the hose is just a matter of pushing that end into the connector while holding the locking ring down and then once on give the locking ring a little pull down and the hose should be connected.
It also helps to buy a little plastic folding step - sold in many stores including Walmart that you can sit on in front of the storage compartment and the opening next to that where the connections are made - it makes it easier than bending over to pull out the electric cord and connect the hose.
The plug on the electric cord should sit in the little cup in the wall between the storage compartment and the opening that has the water connection and outside shower. It is likely that your Roadtrek was not delivered to you that way, so getting it into that cup through the flexible plastic fins is a bit tough the first time. Once there - just leave it there. Close the cap on the outside of that wall and it seals in your storage compartment and protects the plug. Then when hooking up - open both doors - the storage compartment and the access door (the door nearest the back of the van). Open the cap on what everyone calls the "mouse hole" and you can reach in and pull the plug out a short way. Then put a hand on the cord inside the storage compartment and another hand on the cord coming out with the plug in the access area and pull and push using both hands. The cord will come out easiest this way and you put it back in when you are done the same way. The only time this is difficult is if it is cold outside.
Again, tell us what you are having problems with so we can narrow our suggestions down.
I did an article a few weeks ago on my site, linked below, on hooking up the Roadtrek. Take a look - there are photos and explanations there.
Our RT came with a 30 amp extension cord. When out for the day we just toss it in back and hook up through the mouse hole to the already connected 30 amp cord when back at the CG. The extension cord goes under rhe back seat when the trip is through. We never use the water hookup as we are usually on the road during the day - just fill the tanks as needed. And with the macerator we don't need to dump daily - again, only as needed.
Steve & Bev
2005 Roadtrek 210
Tess, our new Sheltie Pup!
Babe the Calico Cat
1775 wrote: Marsha - I think we are all waiting for you to tell us what exactly you are having difficulty with. One more thing that I can add to what I have already written. Your new Roadtrek should have come with a quick connect hose adapter already on the city water intake. Just push the bottom up and the piece that connects to the hose comes off. Screw that to your hose and then connecting the hose is just a matter of pushing that end into the connector while holding the locking ring down and then once on give the locking ring a little pull down and the hose should be connected.
It also helps to buy a little plastic folding step - sold in many stores including Walmart that you can sit on in front of the storage compartment and the opening next to that where the connections are made - it makes it easier than bending over to pull out the electric cord and connect the hose.
The plug on the electric cord should sit in the little cup in the wall between the storage compartment and the opening that has the water connection and outside shower. It is likely that your Roadtrek was not delivered to you that way, so getting it into that cup through the flexible plastic fins is a bit tough the first time. Once there - just leave it there. Close the cap on the outside of that wall and it seals in your storage compartment and protects the plug. Then when hooking up - open both doors - the storage compartment and the access door (the door nearest the back of the van). Open the cap on what everyone calls the "mouse hole" and you can reach in and pull the plug out a short way. Then put a hand on the cord inside the storage compartment and another hand on the cord coming out with the plug in the access area and pull and push using both hands. The cord will come out easiest this way and you put it back in when you are done the same way. The only time this is difficult is if it is cold outside.
Again, tell us what you are having problems with so we can narrow our suggestions down.
I did an article a few weeks ago on my site, linked below, on hooking up the Roadtrek. Take a look - there are photos and explanations there.
I camped with Marsha for two days when she picked up the RV. The hose connection is difficult to reach as you are down to within about 10 inches of the ground and it is not easy to screw the connections together. The box that contained the accessories did not contain a quick connect which is what we decided would cure the problem. There were other items missing and she will contact the dealer about them...A spare ignition key, for example.
Yes the power cord can be run through the hole and then left there. I advised her not to leave it dangling out of the hole because eventually it will work it's way out and get under the tire that is about 16 inches from the hole. Wouldn't that be nice at 60 miles an hour.
I have never dealt with a Macerator system prior to this time. For openers on the model Roadtrek 170 you can't close the side panel door when the Macerator is connected. Poor design that will only really bother you when high winds come up at the campground.
It's a bit of a mystery to know when your tanks are empty while holding the power switch inside the drivers door. We listened and there was a change of sound after a while and we decided that's when the Macerator has pushed everything out, however the hose still contained a fair amount of liquid. By pulling the hose end out of the campground sewer hole I was able to determine when the hose was empty.
The tank level indicators are located inside the RV so there's no way to tell if they are empty without shutting off the Macerator pump and going inside.
As long as you have to leave the compartment door open for the sewer hose you might just as well run the power cord next to the sewer hose rather than fishing it through the small hole.
The Roadtrek 170 seems to be well designed and very well built. The hookups are somewhat challenging but once the quick connect is added that will help the water situation. Keep in mind we are both retired and getting up and down is not as much fun as it used to be.
The awning wand is difficult to remove once the awning is retracted. She will have the dealer look at that problem.
2004 Monaco La Palma 36DBD
Workhorse W22 8.1 Gas Allison 1000, 7.1 mpg
2000 LEXUS RX300 FWD 22MPG 4020 LBS
US Gear Brakes
Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
I camped with Marsha for two days when she picked up the RV. The hose connection is difficult to reach as you are down to within about 10 inches of the ground and it is not easy to screw the connections together. The box that contained the accessories did not contain a quick connect which is what we decided would cure the problem. There were other items missing and she will contact the dealer about them...A spare ignition key, for example.
Yes the power cord can be run through the hole and then left there. I advised her not to leave it dangling out of the hole because eventually it will work it's way out and get under the tire that is about 16 inches from the hole. Wouldn't that be nice at 60 miles an hour.
I have never dealt with a Macerator system prior to this time. For openers on the model Roadtrek 170 you can't close the side panel door when the Macerator is connected. Poor design that will only really bother you when high winds come up at the campground.
It's a bit of a mystery to know when your tanks are empty while holding the power switch inside the drivers door. We listened and there was a change of sound after a while and we decided that's when the Macerator has pushed everything out, however the hose still contained a fair amount of liquid. By pulling the hose end out of the campground sewer hole I was able to determine when the hose was empty.
The tank level indicators are located inside the RV so there's no way to tell if they are empty without shutting off the Macerator pump and going inside.
As long as you have to leave the compartment door open for the sewer hose you might just as well run the power cord next to the sewer hose rather than fishing it through the small hole.
The Roadtrek 170 seems to be well designed and very well built. The hookups are somewhat challenging but once the quick connect is added that will help the water situation. Keep in mind we are both retired and getting up and down is not as much fun as it used to be.
The awning wand is difficult to remove once the awning is retracted. She will have the dealer look at that problem.
Good to hear the specifics. Our quick connect was already screwed onto the city water inlet. These are easy to purchase at either an RV store or any garden store (Home Depot, Walmart, or Lowes) and cost a few dollars. It makes connecting the water hose much easier as you do not have to try to screw the end of the hose on under the van but it is just a quick push on.
Again, as I suggested, get one of the little plastic folding step stools - they are sold in Walmart for about $7. I can't bend down either and this makes it a lot easier to do anything close to the ground without the need to bend.
The mouse hole has a cap on the outside - close that cap over the plug that sits in the back of the hole and the plug and cord should never come out while driving - we have gone almost 9,000 miles with the plug in this way. Of course, you never leave it dangling out - it does fit inside the mouse hole with the cap closed and the cap snaps shut.
The macerator is NOT connected any time other than when you need it. It is much easier to have one person hold it over the dump hole and watch the water flow out, while the other person stands at the button. You are right, it is hard to tell by the noise it makes even though this is what RT tells you to do. That macerator hose and nozzle should stay in its locked compartment all of the time that the tanks are not being actively dumped. There is no point to having it connected any other time. It will not continually drain your grey tank as a gravity slinky hose will. It only works when the button is pushed. So you are never leaving the compartment open. It remains closed until the actual dumping. The macerator system is not easy for one person to use. You would then have to connect the rubber donut that RT includes with a larger rubber donut that you can get at an RV supply (and Walmart) and then put the nozzle of the macerator into that, insert that into the campground sewer hole, and then go back to the button and push it - and then you must rely upon the noise. Dump the black tank first, leave the handle out and then dump the grey tank. It is better to err on the still more in the tank side than run the macerator to the point that it runs dry because that will burn out the macerator motor. And don't dump the tanks until they are both 2/3 full - we add water to both tanks if we need to dump sooner. And after dumping the black tank, put one gallon of water back into the black tank through the toilet to prevent the tank from drying out.
The tank level indicators are very unreliable and will not always tell you that any tank is empty - and often tell you they are full when they are not. This seems common to all RV indicators.
I ordered my Roadtrek without an awning so I can't help with the rod. But anything you find that is not right - go back to the dealer and let their service department make it right. There were a number of things wrong with my Roadtrek that we found on delivery and then after that as well - all have been taken care of by dealer service (for us with a 200 mile each way trip to get it done).
And you should have two complete sets of keys including ignition keys and two remotes. The dealer needs to find you the missing ignition key or pay for Chevy to make you one. We did get an emergency spare key made at a Chevy dealer parts counter - and it was surprisingly not ridiculous in cost - as some of these keys can be.
Again, check out my site because I have written a lot about using the Roadtrek.
One thing that folks may find helps the hookup/door situation is that Roadtrek usually doesn't have the lift supports on the doors positioned so the doors open all the way that the hinge will allow. On our 07 C190P I was able to get them to go quite a bit further open by drilling out the rivets, repositioning the supports, drilling new holes, and then using screws and nuts on the lift supports. I can now actually see into the compartments while standing, and the bending to hookup is much reduced.
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