Cascade RV Center's Blog

We have been very busy!!

cascaderv — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 15:24:04 +0000

We understand that the right RV setup is key to your enjoyment of the great outdoors… Whether you’re traveling on the open road or going on a family outing selecting the right RV is very important.

We now have a great selection of New RV’s for you to choose from, come by and see these great RV’s in person today. All of our RV Inventory is listed on our website, it is up-to-date and offers full color photos, floor plans, features, specifications, & much more. We also have a great selection of Pre-Owned RV’s for you to look at. Come by and see us today.

We have been scouring the RV Industry looking for the best manufactures that offer the most diverse floor plans and features available. We are proud to announce we have found these three to start with.

It doesn’t matter whether your outdoor enjoyment includes traveling across the country, weekend getaways, winter vacations, or simply tailgating at your favorite sporting event, we are confident that we have the travel trailer or fifth wheel perfectly suited for your needs.

Introduced in 1988, Dutchmen changed the RV industry by being the first brand to offer premium features as standard equipment at an affordable price. That tradition continues today. All Dutchmen travel trailers are loaded with standard features at an incredible value.

Life knows no boundaries when you’re experiencing all it has to offer in a Salem travel trailer or fifth wheel. With today’s most popular options, the Salem may be constructed to meet even the most discriminate buyer’s requirements without succumbing to price extravagancy.

In 1996, Forest River founder Peter Liegl had a vision. He foresaw an RV company dedicated to helping people experience the joy of the outdoors by building better recreational vehicles. Continually growing, Forest River operates multiple manufacturing facilities throughout the mid-west and west coast.

For a number of years, the founders of Heartland had worked together in the RV industry for other manufacturers. During those years, we developed camaraderie and discovered each of us had a different, yet complimentary, area of expertise. Amongst ourselves, we had the head of engineering, head of sales and a head of marketing and advertising. After more than a decade of working together, we discovered a shared confidence that we could build, market and sell recreational vehicles as well or better than many of the companies that we had experienced first hand.

In the Fall of 2003, we got serious about redefining RV manufacturing. Partnering with Brian Brady, former President and partner at Damon Corporation, allowed the genesis of Heartland Recreational Vehicles. After a tremendous effort in market research and product studies, it was decided that Heartland’s first product would be a high end 5th wheel.

Remember… All Trails lead to Cascade RV Center.

April Showers bring May Flowers?

cascaderv — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:40:58 +0000

It’s that time of year again to inspect your exterior seals on your RV, sealant maintenance in crucial to the longevity of your investment. Water damage can drastically reduce the resale cost of your vehicle as well as be very expensive to repair the damage caused be extended water leaks.

Simple sealant inspections should be preformed seasonally, that means four times a year. Today we will focus on cap seals and Butyl or “putty tape”. Cap seals are sealants applied to horizontal surfaces to protect the underlying butyl. This sealant is typically 100% Silicone or sometimes a non-leveling lap sealant. Occasionally vertical surfaces have a cap seal, this varies from RV to RV depending on construction and the moldings used on that RV. Butyl is a sealant tape used to create a waterproof barrier and is applied between the sidewall and the accessory.

When inspecting your RV you are looking for voids or separations in the cap sealants. Inspect your sidewall moldings, windows, doors and accessories. As the RV ages you will see butyl that is creeping out from behind the windows, doors, or moldings. Address these issues now! Don’t wait, just do it. Below are some sample photos I’ve taken of some of these issues.

Properly address your potential leaks… Remove all the sealants used to create the cap seal, failure to do so will create adhesion problems for your new sealant. Remove all the exposed butyl tape carefully, try not to damage you RV when doing this. Using razor blades and knives are not recommended. Remember if you are unsure about performing this operation take it to a professional, it will save you money down the road. Clean and prep the surfaces with a mild solvent, make sure to use the correct solvent! Contact your RV dealer for recommendations if you are unsure what to use.

Use only 100% silicone or a non-leveling lap sealant. (It will usually say Window & Door, or Exterior Sealant. Don’t use bathroom tub and tile sealants! They don’t work properly.) Make sure the sealant you use is flexible! Don’t over apply your sealant, a little goes a long way and looks better. When applying your new sealant make sure to cover the entire horizontal edge of the item your sealing. This creates a water shed and will keep water from breaking down your butyl.

Blocks, Blocks, Blocks… Never enough blocks!!

cascaderv — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:28:05 +0000

Are you tired of always carring blocks with you? It seems you never have enough blocks or they get muddy and cruddy.

No more bending down or stacking up blocks. The Flip automatically adds 6″ to your jack as it extends. Swings back into towing position automatically as the jack retracts!

Watch the videos and see for yourself!!

Dometic Recall Do you own a Dometic Refrigerator?

cascaderv — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:49:22 +0000

This is what the back of your Refrigerator should look like

Dometic has a recall out for select Americana/AMES/AES 2-way refrigerators models; RM2652, RM2662, RM2852, RM2862, RM3662, RM3862, & NDR1062. This recall effects about 375,000 refrigerators.

If you are unsure if the recall has been done, look at the back of your refrigerator, if it doesn’t look like the one in the photo please call us and we will get you fixed up.

Recalls are no cost to the consumer, so what do you have to loose?

Recall Campaign 06E-076 & 08E-032 Information.

RV Batteries won’t hold a charge?

cascaderv — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:06:15 +0000

Lately we have been getting a lot of RV’s in with battery issues. One of the biggest issues is corrosion, this is typically from over charging. Inspecting you RV batteries frequently is very important, most RV batteries are wet cell batteries, and the water level in the cells is very important! Check your water level at least 4 times a year, if they are low add distilled water.

Visible bulging at the terminals and the case happen when batteries are not maintained properly. Have your RV technician charge and perform a hydrometer test and load test to check the integrity of your batteries, properly maintained batteries will last years.

If you have an onboard inverter/charger like the Heart Interface Freedom or Xantrex (just to throw out a couple of names). Have your RV technician check the charge rate to the batteries, we have found several inverter/chargers charge the batteries at a very high rate (14.5 volts or more). This can be destructive to your batteries, especially if you don’t use your batteries a lot.

If you leave your RV plugged in for long periods of time leave a light on inside, this serves two purposes, one it uses power from your batteries while they are receiving a consistent charge, and two it may scare away thieves, thinking there may be someone inside.

Old metal roof? Fix it or Replace it?

cascaderv — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:06:50 +0000

Got an older RV? Tired of spending $200.00 to $300.00 a year to fix the water leaks? Want to have a rubber roof installed but afraid it’s to expensive? Here is a 1970′s camper we installed a rubber roof on, for under $800.00 this solved the customers constant water leak issues. Now they can enjoy their RV worry free for a few more years.

Old Camper, new roof

Inspecting your RV roof, before the leaks happen

cascaderv — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:48:48 +0000

How often do you inspect your roof? What do you look for? What do you do if you have a problem? These are just a few of the questions I get asked every day. You should inspect your roof and all seals a least 4 times a year (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) As the weather changes so do your seals, they will expand and contract with the weather. You are looking for visable cracks in the seal (see picture) or voids in the seal (see picture) this is very common. Have these issues taken care of as soon as possible, water leaks cause lots of damage very fast, and can be very costly to have fixed later than sooner. If you are doing the work your self contact your local RV parts store (like mine) for the right sealant material for the job. Don’t go to the hardware store and just get the cheapest sealant, RV sealant is flexable and is made for RV roofs in general.

Leak at the skylight

Voids in the sealant

RV Service & Parts – Now Open

cascaderv — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:16:36 +0000

Well finally our RV Service, Parts & Accessories store is now. Hundreds of parts & accessories in stock, and warehouse deliveries twice a day means, If we don’t have it can get it. We have the lowest labor rate $89.00, and have daily specials, like winterizations $59.95. Roof Reseals from $279.00 We do all types of RV Service like:

Roof Leak Repairs
Winterizations
Insurance Estimates
Appliance Repairs
Roof Replacements
Restoration Services
Safety Inspections
Bearing Packs

Plus tons more, just call us.

Check us out at Oodle

cascaderv — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:01:49 +0000

Here is a list of some stuff on Oodle

We love Craigslist !!

cascaderv — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:41:03 +0000

Check out all of our specials on craigslist.

Craigslist Adds