Well, since I bought it in January '06, I've accumulated nearly 8,000 miles on StaRV II.

I seem to have a fondness for defective/worn-out A/C compressors. The first locked up and broke the serpentine belt. This last trip included a visit to Carl Flack. Enroute, the roof air went spastic.

After a fairly arduous hill climb, (the Breakway made it with no problems - hot, but not overheated), a few miles later all the enunciator lights came on (just like a broken belt). I parked it (again a flat off-road spot appeared fortuitously). The built-up heat boiled off most of the coolant; the belt wasn't broken, but I wasn't sure what the matter was. Suspecting the new A/C compressor, I disconnected it and refilled the cooling system from the filtered drinking water tap.

1.5 hours later, the A/C clutch disconnected, I was ont the road, and there were no further issues.

Awaiting the cool-down of the engine, I took the roof air control board off to visually inspect for scorches, etc. What I found was the ribbon cable had a couple of broken wires at the control board.

After rolling into the Carl Flack RV Park, I was offered his steady hand, a decent wire stripper, and a better soldering iron for the small PC board connections. The repairs worked fine, and the roof air is back on line (and ran perfectly in the 106F temps in central NE).

During a three-day outbound stop at my sister's, I regenerated the coolant with new DexCool, and replaced the thermostat (sometimes high heat injures them - and it was worthwhile, as the temp recovery after a long grade is much better than the one that was in there).

So I'm delighted with the 28' Breakaway - despite its stubby wheelbase, it handles extraordinarily well (Spartan Chassis) and the GM 6.5L TD/4L80E drivetrain isn't all that bad (although the transmission is busy, its efforts are seamless). The Mag-HyTec pan on the A/T certainly improved the heat dissipation. Next comes the high-capacity water pump and dual thermostat mod, which I didn't have time to install before this three-week trip.

So, 8K miles later and only one major item of unscheduled maintenance (aviator talk for "crapping out"), I'm delighted with the coach and Conrad Bennett's (the prior owner) attention to caring for it.

Ha, what did I say....Ha

Rusty I am glad StaRV II is a hit because we have you around here and you are definately a hit..

Dave, I couldn't agree with you more on this. Rusty is not only 'a hit', but a real blessing for us less knowledgable Barth owners.
thank you Rusty, and the other helpful members too.
geoffrey

Thank you for the kind comments! :footshufflingembrassedgremlin:

My background in marine and fuels/lubricants engineering pretty much impels me to find out how things are set up and to be somewhat (OK, fanatically) conscientiously involved in preventive maintenance and sensible upgrades to an already well-executed "rig" : pokefunatdavebowersaboutrig/custommotorcoachgremlin:

Which is why I carry a spare alternator, A/C compressor (for its pulley), belts, hoses, and a full tool kit on the road.

But the main reason I share my experiences and knowledge is that I've copyrighted my stupid mistakes. No one is allowed to repeat them without paying me royalties...

Again, I thank you for your kindnesses...