Adventures With Our Lance 1685 Travel Trailer

On the road again

2010-06-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

After a little more than a month of not being out in our trailer, we're in it again for a trip. Upon getting setup last night I noticed that there was a bad seal between the hose and the part where it connects to the trailer. I'm going to try and see about fixing that today.

We bought a large mat to go under the awning outside as well as a picnic table cover and bench covers. It's made it nice having a clean surface to eat from.

Still wanting to get a bike rack for the trailer tongue, but they're a bit out of our price range right now for accessories.

We'll post some photos up in the next couple weeks as we're traveling around.

Fridge problem again

2010-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I mentioned a few posts back that the fridge had gone on the blink again.

The symptoms are that the unit will only operate on electric, not on gas. Sometimes if you run out of propane you will need to cycle the switch from AUTO to OFF and then to GAS, then possibly between OFF and GAS several times if necessary to cycle the gas back into the line and into the appliance. Unfortunately for us, this doesn't solve our problem no matter how many times we do it.

The trailer was taken to the service center / dealer who inspected the Norcold fridge and told us that the computer chip board or whatever it is, is broken and must be replaced.

This is the second time this has happened. According to the service center I went to, Norcold fridge's are notorious for having end-user issues.

If this happens again I will be contacting Lance and Norcold to have this unit replaced with something that works.

Would I do it again? 5 month review...

2010-02-24T10:58:00.000-08:00

We ordered our Lance 1685 in September of 2009 and picked it up October 1, 2009. We really appreciated the opportunity to make the most out of a beautiful end of Autumn and a mild winter. Since purchase we have been out in the rain, wind, snow and deep freeze conditions. After all, we were excited to have our new trailer, and we figured that if we could survive camping in those conditions we'd have a blast in anything else.

Part 1. The downsides

Turns out snow and deep freeze isn't too bad.

In a deep freeze we were out for a week in it and went through both propane tanks in 4 days! I know they're small tanks, but that's quick!

A regional sales rep for Lance told me that the windows were all double pane or something that were made to withstand the cold and different than standard trailer windows. Not so. The windows sweat a lot. They are standard windows as far as I can tell.

When the front window cover and blinds are up it feels like the window is wide open with the amount of cold air that comes through that space.

A slide out tray in the front storage area is something that I would have definitely ordered, but didn't know it was an option. On my last blog Cactustravels posted a comment saying that they ordered the slideout tray and it takes up too much space for their needs.

I didn't order the TV or radio because I wanted to install my own from local stereo shop, etc. I still have the indoor and outdoor speakers installed in here, and I think their wires are hidden within one part of the Overhead (OH) Cabinets above the sink.

I am still very happy with the 1685 except with the Norcold fridge. Already had the microchip crack twice now. Haven't taken it back in to be fixed for the second time and since we have it plugged in to power all the time except when traveling, and don't keep food in it when not in use it's no urgent matter. I will replace it a second time in the near future, BUT, I don't want to have to replace it a third time! Warranty apparently doesn't cover labor costs?

Also, the bed being up against three sides of the trailer, I am still concerned about mold eventually taking form from moisture buildup. We have done our best to keep it dry, haven't bought a dry-z-air or similar yet, but probably will.

I feel like the dining area is too high to reach without a step stool. Something like that would be useful.

The shower area, and next to the sink cabinet is not completely caulked Like along the bottom edge of the shower between the shower pan and the surround is not caulked. The edge between the shower pan and the cabinet is not caulked. I wish the shower arrangement was different but can't see how it could be.

I wish that the entire bottom of the trailer including the black and gray water tanks was enclosed as a standard option and that tank heating pads was included as an option from the factory.

Two batteries should come standard not one. And though the battery bracket spans the width of the triangle in the front, there is only room for one battery. My local Lance dealer repair facility said that they would have to fabricate a whole new battery bracket!

The automatic awning doesn't have the ability to have a screen room. That's a bummer. But it's super easy to put out the awning!

Finally, in this day and age why are trailer companies still installing ugly, inefficient lighting fixtures. Lance could improve the look, styling and energy efficiency of their trailers by installing LED lighting, and putting those LED's in more stylish fixtures around the trailer. These tired old light fixtures have been around too long.

Well, those are just some of the negative things I've experienced with the trailer.

Part 2: The upside: If I had to make the purchase again I would!

Having this size of a trailer is really pretty great. We can pull into regular parking lots, take up a few spaces at the end of a row somewhere and be just fine. In all but the tightest of parking lots we do just fine. I can't imagine having something larger. For two of us traveling it is perfect. The space is really usable, and we dance around each other while moving about, but way better than without a slide-out.

The fridge size is great for this size of trailer. No problem for us having all the room we need for food.

The sink size has been good for this size of trailer. Still, I wonder if they couldn't put in a double-basin sink and eliminate the counter space between the oven and the current sink. With sink covers you can gain your counter space back and having a double-basin sink would be helpful in this tiny space. For our purposes we think this would work better, but I guess we'd have to try it out to see if it really is better.

We have done some aftermarket modifications in the cabinets (you can see that post here) that have improved the usability of the cabinets for our purposes.

We want to put sliding drawers in the under-the-seat dining area cabinets. I believe that since traditional cabinet sliders only come in smaller sizes than the length of the entire under-seat cabinet that a divider will need to be built to prevent other items stored in the area from interfering with the drawers we will build in. The items in the divided area will only be accessible by lifting out the cushions from the dining seats and lifting the cushion-support boards out. These items are only accessible this way now, so there is no loss of functionality, only improvement in accessibility!

We may build some kind of barrier to prevent odor from coming into the trailer from the slide-out storage area which also is part of the under-the-seat dining storage. We store our Sewer Solution in a tupperware in here, also our water hose and other outdoor supplies. Ordinarily there is only slight odor from this compartment when opening from the outside, or once cushions have been lifted off to access from the interior of the trailer. Since we really don't have a need to access these things from inside, the odor is really not a big deal. I do think when it's warmer out the odor will be a problem, so I am looking for ways to mitigate that, and seal off that one compartment completely from the interior. We currently use baking soda which helps to reduce some of the odor.

Towing is a breeze with this trailer! Even though I tow with plenty of power for this little trailer I still take it easy in the slow lane most of the time, relax and enjoy my adventure. I'm not a power camper that races to the campsite, sets everything up, pounds a half-rack, runs the quads into the ground, and races home. I tend to enjoy my camping a little more than that wanting to be relaxed rather than being in a constant state of anxiety. That's what the work week is for.

All in all I'm happy with this trailer so far, even with the little things here and there that could be improved.

Anything you want to hear?

2010-02-22T10:07:00.001-08:00

Let me know if there's anything you want to know about the Lance trailer if you're interested in purchasing one or have one on the way.

Bicycles & Rooftops

2010-01-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

Don't go trying to walk around on the roof of your new Lance Trailer. I spoke with a customer service rep from Lance today who informed me that their roofs are not strong enough to support a human on them; you would "fall through".

Well, I'm not looking to fall through the roof of my RV, that would probably not be covered under any warranty, but I wanted to know how to clean the roof of my trailer. I was instructed that the best way is to use a portable ladder and a long scrub brush.

In the event that the air conditioner housing needs to be replaced or something like that, I was told to put a board across the entire trailer. I don't know how that will distribute the weight so I won't fall through, but...

So much for bringing bicycles around on the back during camping trips. Hmm. Well, how will I get them around now?

A rooftop carrier for the Tow Vehicle?

This sounds like a challenge.

Ecobee Internet Enabled Programmable Thermostat

2010-01-21T22:30:00.001-08:00

I want to install this in my Lance 1685.

Over the top for an RV? Yes.

Impractical? Maybe.

Possible to install in an RV? Don't know.

The truth is, this thing is pretty awesome for a living space, and for someone who lives in an RV, what's not to love?

It operates on 120V 50/60Hz to 12Vdc 1A;

Full 7 day programming

Just imagine for a moment,... you've turned off the heat in your trailer to save on propane. Wow, you are thinking about the environment, good for you. You're also being cost efficient. Smart.

On the drive back to your RV you notice it's been cold for a while and it would be nice to have a warm RV to climb into.

Ahem,... so just pull out your iPhone or iPod connected to wifi (or MyFi through Verizon or Sprint), pull up the ecobee application, tell it to turn on and BAM! the heat in your trailer has been turned on.

Now, let's imaging a new scenario. You really try to enjoy the times you spend in your RV, and enjoying life is high on your priority list right? Well, we all know how life is, and then BAM! something happens and you're rushed out of your RV and left the heat on high. Well, it's possible you're really draining your propane now, and I don't know about you, but I don't feel comfortable leaving my propane on very high when I'm gone.

You get the picture.

This seems pretty cool. Maybe it's too much for an RV, but it seems fun.

Hand Sanitizer Station Added to Bathroom

2010-01-21T21:51:00.000-08:00

I like a sanitary environment and hand sanitizer is one of those things that comes in handy. Sometimes hand washing isn't necessary so hand sanitizer comes to the rescue. Other times hand sanitizer can still be a good addition to washing hands.

We had this nice little cubby area between the door and the sink which was perfect for mounting this station. There isn't much wall depth, so using short screws was important. Luckily there are 5 screw placements in the dispenser, so that gave me enough stability to feel comfortable going for it and feeling that it will last.

DePHyze is the brand of this non-alcohol based, kills many germs on contact, and provides a "protective barrier" for 2 hours. Plus it doesn't dry your hands out like alcohol based sanitizers. We have several of the small ones for our tow vehicle, and ones we can take with us out and about.

Click here for a link to the portable hand sanitizers.

Click here for a link to the wall-mounted hand sanitizer.

Click Here for a link to the wall-mount sanitizer bottle.

Lower Right Closet Shoe Rack Shelf

2010-01-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

I decided to do some more organizing in the closets to improve their usability.

I used 20" (depth) Closetmaid shelving for this and had Lowe's cut it down to size for the width (21 1/2 to 21 3/4" width). I used the leftover Closetmaid ShelfTracks and ShelfTrack HangTrack from the Upper Left Closet storage system.

Below are links to the supplies needed in case you haven't visited the Upper Left Closet Organizing Shelf System Blog Post.

(Amazon.com)40" ClosetMaid ShelfTrack Mounting Bar. $9.99(Qty Needed:1) I used the extra piece from the other project mentioned above that I had cut with a hacksaw.

(Lowe's) ClosetMaid 20" wire shelving.(Qty Needed:1) You will need 1 shelf cut at 21 1/2" to 21 3/4". The 20" depth shelving leaves a litte more than 2 1/2" of room between the front of the shelf and the closet door. You will have lots of extra shelving material after this, but it's worth it to get the 20" shelving for this project! I have extra from my project but it's probably cheaper to buy from your local store than to have me ship you an extra piece of mine. I couldn't find a product link to the 20" shelving online except through ClosetMaid's page, which doesn't allow you to know how much it will cost.

(Lowe's) ClosetMaid 30" ShelfTrack. $5.23 (Qty Needed:2) These hang from the ShelfTrack Hang Mount; use two screws in each to mount to back wall.

(Amazon.com) ClosetMaid 20" ShelfTrack Locking Shelf Bracket.$5.62(Qty Needed:2)This was the single most expensive part of the whole thing, however I was HAPPY to spend the money on these brackets rather than the alternative of screwing in little tedious hanging things into the back wall up and down for each shelf, plus little support brackets on the side! The adjustable locking brackets were a no-brainer.

ClosetMaid Large and Small End Caps 84-Pack $3.29 (Qty Needed: 1) You will have extra from the other project if you do that, so you won't need to purchase them again for the shoe rack.

#10 x 1/2" Screws $5

Trash Can Drawer and More!

2010-01-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

Since doing the closet modification adding shelving, I have really been excited about doing this addition. I've been wanting to put this in and just hadn't had time to get around to it, but I have to say it turned out really well. I'm not an engineer or a carpenter but I built a frame that would sit inside the cabinet and create a new "wall" and floor for the drawers.

I had to build it to leave room in the front for the hot & cold water pipes running along the floor.

I even stained the plywood on the walls and the craft wood I used for building the drawers. I used Minwax 1/2 Pint Wood Finish Gunstock.

On the lower drawer for the trash I just created a frame with a front and back "lip" and then used the thin pieces of craftboard to fit in between those. I placed the L brackets up to the pieces of wood, drilled holes, then used my screw gun to screw pieces together.

Upper Left Closet Organizing Shelf System

2010-01-04T16:24:00.000-08:00

OK, we have just completed the ClosetMaid wire shelving system in the top left storage closet of the Lance 1685. It's beautiful! We used 16" (depth) Shelving with brackets from wall to wall purchased at Lowe's who cut the wire shelving to our measurements. I didn't have a bolt cutter to do it myself. Here are the supplies I used and the quantities needed:

(Amazon.com)40" ClosetMaid ShelfTrack Mounting Bar. $9.99(Qty Needed:1) I cut this down to size with a hacksaw.

(Lowe's) ClosetMaid 6'x 16" wire shelving.(Qty Needed:2) You will need 4 shelves each cut at 21 1/2". The 16" depth shelving leaves almost 2 1/2" of room between the front of the shelf and the closet door.

(Lowe's) ClosetMaid 30" ShelfTrack. $5.23 (Qty Needed:2) These hang from the ShelfTrack Hang Mount; use two screws in each to mount to back wall.

(Amazon.com) ClosetMaid 16" ShelfTrack Locking Shelf Bracket.$5.51(Qty Needed:8) This was the single most expensive part of the whole thing, however I was HAPPY to spend the money on these brackets rather than the alternative of screwing in little tedious hanging things into the back wall up and down for each shelf, plus little support brackets on the side! The adjustable locking brackets were a no-brainer.

ClosetMaid Large and Small End Caps 84-Pack $3.29 (Qty Needed: 1)

#10 x 1/2" Screws $5

Total Cost for supplies: $95

Tools Needed: Hacksaw, Power and/or manual Screwdriver, smallish level

In the above links, the links will take you to Amazon.com or Lowe's depending on where I found the item cheaper at the time of writing this article.

Also, we purchased cedar liners for wire shelves to help absorb moisture and hoped it would prevent clothes from sliding when we take it on the move. It improves sliding a bit, but we are thinking to put rubber non-slip lining on top of the cedar planks.

Click here for Cedar Planks.

Lance Trailer Owners Group

2009-11-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

If you are interested in purchasing, have ordered, or already own a Lance Travel Trailer join this group to share your stories and get advice!

http://groups.google.com/group/lancetrailers

The kitchen

2009-11-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of our kitchen in the Lance 1685. AC powered Microwave on top, propane oven & stove, AC/Propane Norcold Fridge & freezer.

Queen Sized Memory Foam Bed!

2009-11-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

We ordered a PacBamboo Plus from Bed-In-A-Box in the Queen Size model. It's 13" thick of memory foam plus a plush bamboo thread topper. It's pretty nice and I'm really happy it fits perfectly in the space.

Small concerns.

1. Should I be worried about mold developing along the edges against the wall? The edges of the bed get quite cold being pressed against the walls and I am concerned of moisture getting trapped in there. We use the fantastic fan to get the moisture out, but have yet to purchase a dehumidifier.

It's here!

2009-10-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

We picked up our 1685 on October 1st. Since then we've been adventuring in it through rain, wind and sunshine. We ordered it without decals from the factory so that we can do custom vinyl later on.

We've made purchased a few things since getting it. I'll post reviews separately when I have a chance.

1. The Sewer Solution

2. Le Creuset Dutch Oven

3. Scanpan 10" Skillet

4. Equalizer 2 (E2) Hitch (already mentioned, but will post review later)

5. Leveling blocks (yellow lego like things)

6. Plastic Wheel Chocks

We've been learning about leveling the trailer, waking up at 2am to switch over the propane tank occasionally, rolling in the awning to make sure no flying tree branches puncture it while we're sleeping, and all kinds of other stuff.

Does anyone know of a system that would work better than having to go outside to switch over the tanks at 2am? We're thinking of planning ahead and re-filling the tanks every 4th day before it runs out after about 5 days. Not sure if that's really the best option.

The Norcold fridge has a cracked microchip board and is being replaced under warranty by a local repair shop today. That should fix the problem of the fridge not operating under gas power and only under AC power. We have stayed in this trailer about 23 of the past 26 days in state parks, campgrounds and friends driveways as we have been moving about attempting to do everything we normally do while adventuring with the trailer. It's been pretty fun.

Tomorrow!

2009-09-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

The trailer has arrived, except it has no seat cushions for the dinette. Apparently those were running behind schedule and will come later. We're driving to pick it up tomorrow morning.

Equalizer 2 (E2) Weight Distributing Anti Sway Hitch

2009-09-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

Though the trailer only weighs around 3500lbs, and my 5.4L V8 will pull no problem, I decided to go with the E2 10,000lb / 1,000lb tongue weight trunnion bar. I want to make sure I barely notice I'm pulling a trailer while driving down the road.

I haven't taken it out of the box yet, since the trailer is still 19 days out from rolling off the line. If anyone has any questions about it, or comments feel free to post them.

I have a class III hitch standard on my F-150 with tow package. The truck is max rated at 8,000lbs, and I won't be getting close to that with my Lance 1685.

Lance 1685 on order!

2009-09-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

We placed an order with Hill's Auto & RV in Yakima, WA for the Lance 1685 travel trailer. Travel trailers are a new thing for Lance Campers, but from all we've heard from those in the RV industry, Lance seems to make a quality camper. We actually have been in the 1685 and checked it out, and for a compact trailer, this one packs a punch! As far as small trailers go, this seems to be the best thing since the electric drain master? Sorry, I'm new to the RV thing, but heard those were cool?

We ordered the trailer with the following specifications / options:

3 Burner Range w/ Oven
Microwave
Gas/Electric/DSI Water Heater
Fantastic Vent
Chassis Mounted Spare tire
9,000 Low profile Air Conditioner
Front Rockguard Window
Slideout Cover
12' Power Awning
Water Heater Bypass Valve & Winterizing Valve

Daydreamer (brown) Interior

This trailer has a 3' slideout! It makes the interior of this compact trailer much bigger.