First trip - Event Date: 07 Jun 2013 - 09 Jun 2013

Here's a little story about my first outing with 'Cutie-Pod'.

I had a 7-pin connector and brake controller installed the day before and took the TV and trailer out to the local Costco after hours to set the controller and get comfortable with backing up (thinking about the tight camp site entrances). For other first time RV owners, this is a great tip!

The next day I left with a buddy on the inaugural journey. We pulled in to the nearest gas station to fill up and I didn't approach the entrance at an angle so ended up scraping the back end of the trailer. Looks like I took a bit of the underlay off  where I touched so I'll have to figure out how to patch that up.

Otherwise a comfortable 90 minute road trip to the campground. The road had some dips that made the trailer bounce a bit but it seems no worse for wear and everything in the trailer survived. Managed to back up into my space on my first attempt (with the guidance of my buddy).

Followed the many tips and posts on the forum and had the Pod all set in under 15 minutes.  It took us a little longer to figure out how to switch the fridge from battery to propane. By chance I tried resetting the power with the fridge set to propane and that initiated the pilot light; after that it was all good.

Had a strange thing happen on day two. I had been turning the water pump and water heater on and off as I needed it (thinking about battery conservation(. As the day progressed and I saw we still had plenty of battery I turned on the pump and heater and kept it on. After a while I hear water gushing out of the side of the RV and see water (clearly under pressure) coming out of the city water intake. It was the fresh water and the tank emptied. We found what looks like some sort of spring and piece of plastic on the ground afterwards which might be part of the pressure valve? I spoke to a couple of RV'ers at the waste station and I don't think I did anything wrong by leaving the pump and heater on so I'm assuming I had some sort of failure with the water system. 

Any thoughts on what might have happened based on the symptoms? I'll post a pic of the piece I found on the ground later.

Otherwise it was all good. Actually it was great! Hopefully my two incidents won't be too costly to address. Can't wait for the next outing!

tank flush input.  As long as your dump hose is in place and your black water valve is open, you can run

fresh water into and out of the tank until you're satisfied it has been well purged.

For the black tank, as I'm packing up the trailer before pulling out of the campground, I'll run water into the toilet and fill it to at least the 2/3rds mark.  A well positioned soap/shampoo bottle in the corner will keep the toilet flush pushed in.  As tech said, the volume of water will help completely empty the tank.  Also, after visiting the dump station, I'll fill the toilet with water, add some toilet treatment and flush (leaving it in the black tank).  The sloshing water/chemicals will work on the sludge as you drive down the road to your next stop.

BTW: your black tank gauge WILL gum-up and constantly read full.  Don't worry about it.  Don't spend endless hours with a spray wand down the toilet trying to clean them off.  Just live with it.  It'll take two people over 10 days to fill your black tank.