Introduce Yourself: Newbies

We too are from PA - about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh. What part of PA are you from?

Hope you enjoy your new R-pod and have many safe camping trips in the future.

If you bought new, and you didn't buy/haven't heard of Forest Rivers' second year of warranty coverage, have a look for it in the documentation that came with your trailer. Its very inexpensive and you may find it to be worthwhile. You only have 10 days from the date of purchase to buy the extended warranty (although Forest River have been known to make exceptions), so have a look now.
Winterize your trailer before the first hard freeze. Don't assume that its been done, nor think that you can get away without doing it.
Check your lug bolts and tire pressures regularly (as often as before every trip). Seriously. Trailer lug bolts mysteriously loosen far more often than a car tire's. And use a proper torque wrench (you'll need one capable of 100 ft-lbs).
During the first month of camping (which I assume will be in the spring), bring a notebook with you to mark down any fit & finish issues you have with the trailer. You'll likely have some - it may be sticky windows, a misaligned drawer, a few loose/missing screws and some missing trim. Please don't let this little stuff frustrate you; it happens with all travel trailers. Just expect to find it, and expect to return to your dealer to have them fix it under warranty.

Well, let me confuse you a bit more...

The white switch inside the trailer is for propane operation of the water heater. The breaker-style switch, accessed from outside and located on the water heater itself, is for electric operation of the water heater (It reads "On" when flipped to the on position).

Technically, both electric and propane may be turned on at the same time, if you'd like.

Many people tend to leave the outside electric in the on position and use the breaker on the fusebox (located inside the trailer) to turn on/off electric the water heater.

Personally, I just use propane. It heats up quickly, is easy to turn on/off, and it uses very little propane. Of course, I can fill a propane tank at the Costco down the street from my house for $12, so I tend not to be miserly with the gas.

One caution: before turning on electricity, make sure you've filled the water heater tank with water. Its very easy to forget and burn out the electric element. Run the hot tap inside until the air/sputtering has stopped and you get a steady flow of water.

If you bought new, and you didn't buy/haven't heard of Forest Rivers' second year of warranty coverage, have a look for it in the documentation that came with your trailer. ...
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Good info! I found no such form in the docs that came with our trailer. Thankfully, the sales rep at Couch's emailed me a copy. Just hope I got it sent in to FR in time (was outside the 10 day limit).

Thanks for the reminder! Big smile