Cirrus owners opinions

[madvetos]

Interested in your opinion of build quality and radiant heat. Thanks for any insight

[Travels_with_Yo]

Is there a specific winterization ritual for the Cirrus heating system ? Little Guy debuted the system in the T@B teardrop trailers and there was some confusion for owners on the T@B forum apparently.

[Indiecognito]

I've had my Cirrus 920 for a few weeks now and I love it. It's my first TC so I can't offer any comparisons. I considered the 820 but I cook a lot and wanted the rangetop and extra pantry space of the 920.
Happy to answer any questions about the 920 that I can!

[JimK-NY]

I am curious about the heating system. I would guess it uses much less electric than the standard forced air system. It seems like it would take much longer to heat up the camper. I would be concerned about warming up the shower area. We tend to blast the heat when taking a shower and then let the temperature drop again. I would guess that would not work well with radiant heat.

[abolderimage]

I would like to learn more about carrying the 820 on a long bed truck. I have been waiting on the 920 but don't want the extra weight or the higher purchase cost. So the 820 would be a better fit for me. This past weekend I visited the nearby Lance dealer to look at the 650 (I really like this size) but several guys there cautioned against a short bed camper on a long bed truck for safety, insurance and warranty concerns. Another concern, my truck has a Happy Jack tie down system. I'm assuming in order to tie down the front of a short bed camper l would need to rig a chain or something to extend the front tie downs to the front truck anchorage points assuming I go with a short bed camper. I have a commercial 2004 F350 regular cab SRW 5.4 gas truck rated at 4400 pounds but for my camping needs the Cirrus 820 or the Lance 650 would be a better fit (size, Acrylic window system and a non wood structure being the determanents ). I have done the math and both CGs would be forward of the rear axle. Any help with this purchase decision would be appreciated.

[Scalcote]

Mikecloud....


I too have a longbed. While it looks a little odd having the 2 ft gap between camper and bed, it makes an easy place to store firewood and other things that you don't want in truck or camper. I just built a box to take up space between bed and camper and have had no issues. Was looking at getting some kind of storage box like this.

http://iconicmetalgear.com/products/pickup-truck-accessories/drop-in-aluminum-commercial-truck-cap/

Just have the front portion for secure weather proof storage.

While I said firewood, when you travel to different parts far from home its not good to transport bugs to areas where they don't normally live.
But that's a different conversation.

[mikecloud]

Thank you so much for taking the time to share. You may be the only person to have had campers from both companies, so the feedback is very appreciated!

[Scalcote]

Well I'll try to list differences and what we like between them.
On our 9.6s the screen door was traditional one, we didn't like having to open little door to move latch to open. On cirrus the screen door is an accordion style in which we like better.
The windows on our year 9.6s were a little small and there was very little ambient light coming in. Cirrus with its fold up windows let in a huge amount of light and air. The cab over window let's you see out front of camper, makes it feel a lot roomier. If you had all 4 side windows, front one and door open feels gazebo like.
Shower in 9.6s is on the smaller size, cirrus much roomier. As well as fold down sink and mirror.
The dinette in cirrus is mounted to side and is very stable. CL is a single metal leg so it is a little wobbly.
Fridge is a fridge.
Both ranges seem functional but wife found it easier to light it in cirrus.
Condensation is almost non existent in cirrus.
There was a bucket load of storage in CL but we had no use for it. Maybe we hadn't tried to actually live in it long enough. We haven't had an issue with storage yet in cirrus.
Both we never had an issue with outlets.
Wife was on shorter side (4'11 1/2) she had a tough time getting into bed in CL.
Gaining entry into CL was trickier as bumper is tall and only a single step. So you're stuck coming up with something else to use to bridge gap. Cirrus came standard with torklift glowstep and fold out handle. We both like that feature.
Both beds were comfortable but we like cirrus better with froli system.
Cirrus has drawers and our model year CL had none. Drawers good (caveman grunt).
We like the outside lights, one on left side, one on rear and two under the awning on right side with a switch right inside door. As well the light strip over the door also controlled by switch in same location as others. I would've liked them to have a more yellowish color to it as these are bright white. If the over door strip ever goes out I'd like to try using a different color. Red/green/blue?
That's all we can come up with. If you have a specific request....just ask.

[mikecloud]

Scalcote wrote:
Last camper was a Camplite 9.6S.

I am super interested in hearing more of Scalcote's comparisons between the camplite and cirrus! As I am trying to decide between the two: camplite 8.6 or cirrus. I have a longbed so I'm not sure if it would be ok or I will need replace the longbed with an aluminum flatbed, making the cirrus even more expensive for me. I have to drive about 8 hours to see a cirrus, so I haven't done that yet. I'm willing to pay more for the cirrus if it's worth it.

[Scalcote]

Last camper was a Camplite 9.6S.

The only sound from heater is the low gurgling sound. Whatever type of pump it uses is dead silent!

A little bit of background on why we traded in the TC. It was our first one and not wanting to get one too small we went with that one. Everything inside always worked. For two people an insane amount of storage, we used less than half the storage available. I have a RAM 3500
W/Cummins engine SRW. Payload of truck is 4430 lbs or so. I had put Timbren's and swaybar but I still had a lot of sway. So the weight on TC sticker I'm saying is very optimistic. The Cirrus I have now feels like I'm driving a race car. I never had a problem with power but you can feel a huge difference. First time we got on interstate after picking up TC, wife noticed how fast we reached highway speed. So we basically traded it in because I wasn't exactly comfortable w/continued sway and the physical size both camper size and how much storage we had left over. We don't go camping to hang out in TC so having this size was overkill for us. Wetbath in Camplite was really small also. New one is really nice,fold down sink and the heater (muy bueno). One thing we learned about the heater is when you take shower the one gallon capacity runs out quick. Upon reading the Manual for it you have to adjust temp to high. Normally it's set at 120° but it's a simple touch of the pad to raise it to high mode which raises it to 149° for 30 minutes, which helps you save the hot water since you use less of it.

[trail-explorer]

Scalcote wrote:
Took us about 3 minutes looking at this one to make decision to trade in last one.

What brand/model was your last camper?

[towpro]

but besides the water sound, is the heater noiseless? I expect no fan sound, but do you here a circulation pump running?
I expect you still hear the gas burner, sort of like how you can hear a conventional gas hot water heater running correct?

[madvetos]

Scalcote wrote:
Fit and finish is top notch. Everything closes nice and firm. I like the latches for the cabinets. I'm wiring in an 1000w inverter now so I've got the bottom opened up, having a bunch of smaller panels makes it much easier to get to tanks. Panels are insulated too. Wife and I like the froli system and heat around bed. Last TC has a serious condensation problem, even with all windows cracked. It had aluminum framing inside and out. We both like this one ALOT better than last camper. Took us about 3 minutes looking at this one to make decision to trade in last one.

Now as far as noise from fluid, it's more like a slow drip coffee percolator. The reservoir is in the closet by rear door. I didn't even notice it at first, wasn't till wife called me in to ask what noise was. As we both stood there holding our breath.

Boy my wife would be the same. They should be on the inspection line, lol.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

[Scalcote]

Fit and finish is top notch. Everything closes nice and firm. I like the latches for the cabinets. I'm wiring in an 1000w inverter now so I've got the bottom opened up, having a bunch of smaller panels makes it much easier to get to tanks. Panels are insulated too. Wife and I like the froli system and heat around bed. Last TC has a serious condensation problem, even with all windows cracked. It had aluminum framing inside and out. We both like this one ALOT better than last camper. Took us about 3 minutes looking at this one to make decision to trade in last one.

Now as far as noise from fluid, it's more like a slow drip coffee percolator. The reservoir is in the closet by rear door. I didn't even notice it at first, wasn't till wife called me in to ask what noise was. As we both stood there holding our breath.

[madvetos]

Scalcote wrote:
I have an 820 and I like the heat more than a furnace. The heat comes from everywhere,under sink, dinette, shower, around bed, runs thru the basement(little radiators not just the lines) and on the way back to the reservoir heats outside storage. The first time you use it you'll smell the tubing but falls off quickly with each use. This is our second one and the wife was concerned with the sound coming from the closet as you can hear the fluid going back into reservoir.

How do you like the fit and finish (build quality) and is the noise of the fluid returning to the reservoir a problem I really like the idea of a quiet heating system.