Think you're having a bad day? I bet these people have you beat?So I was setting up my travel trailer last night and as I was hooking everything up a young guy comes up to me and says "excuse me sir, I'm having a problem and was wondering if you could help me?" I said sure, what's up? He said he was new to RVing and he was having a problem as water was coming out of his toilet. I said what? He said "water was overflowing out of his toilet."I thought he was yanking my chain until I looked about 4 spaces down the road and sure enough, gallons of water was pouring out of the underbelly of this brand new class C!!! I went into panic mode and screamed at him to turn the water off NOW. We both ran over to his MH and he turned the water off.Black water ( read, sewer water for you new RVers) continued to pour out of this new MH. I nelt down and found the black water valve and I opened it and out came a lot of water into the sewer drain.I explained that he left the black water sprayer on and did not open the black water drain valve and that filled up the black tank until it was so full it overflowed into the MH. I gave this guy a little more advice and I walked off numb. I wanted to cry I felt so bad for this young family. He explained to me he just wanted to have the perfect vacation for his family and now it was ruined.The lesson of the day is if you are new to RVing and don't know your systems please learn before you go out on an outing. Small mistakes can turn into big problems.

Save that one for part of the next Chevy Chase Vacation movie?

He didn't have enough sense to turn the water off before he went looking for help? He may be destined for more problems in the future.

gbopp wrote:He didn't have enough sense to turn the water off before he went looking for help? He may be destined for more problems in the future.Ya, I thought the same thing. But after talking to the guy he was just lost on the whole thing. He just didn't put 2 and 2 together.I don't "think" it was a rental unit from some of the things he said and their were no markings on the MH that I saw.I felt super bad for the guy. He was trying hard for a good RV experience but it didn't work out that way because of a small mistake. And in his defense it was a small mistake. :(

He is not the first person to make this mistake and he won't be the last.Common sense doesn't seem very common anymore.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:And in his defense it was a small mistake. :(The radio operator on the Titanic made a small mistake by not sending the message about icebergs to the bridge. Stuff happens. :S

Small mistakes can make big problems | Good Sam Community

23 Replies

ZINGERLITE
Explorer
Aug 31, 2020
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
gbopp wrote:
He didn't have enough sense to turn the water off before he went looking for help?
He may be destined for more problems in the future.

Ya, I thought the same thing. But after talking to the guy he was just lost on the whole thing. He just didn't put 2 and 2 together.

I don't "think" it was a rental unit from some of the things he said and their were no markings on the MH that I saw.

I felt super bad for the guy. He was trying hard for a good RV experience but it didn't work out that way because of a small mistake. And in his defense it was a small mistake. :(

Thats why you rent as a rookie lol. make the mistakes on someone elses camper and your good to go when you buy your own!
Lyuluck
Explorer
Aug 31, 2020
You are wright,learning before RV outside trip is important
kellem
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
Don't want to see anyone harmed or RV destroyed but had to laugh on a recent camping trip with the wife.

Inexperienced couple backed into site beside us, assuming here.
It was an unlevel site front to back so the rear bumper of trailer was off the ground 2 feet or more, no big deal once the trailer is unhooked.

Well they decided to leave tow vehicle hooked up all weekend with rear stabilizers extended yet off the ground considerably as well as rear step.

Wife asked why they are doing that ?
Usually have an answer for everything but simply couldn't come up with one.
ken56
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
I know an experienced RVer who made a similar mistake. He hooks up to the spigot with a wye and then hooks up his city supply with one hose and then he connects the tank flush with another. He had finished setting up camp and they decided to go into town and left, what he neglected to notice is the shutoff on the wye was open to the tank flush. When they returned they had a flood and black water coming out the roof vent. S**t happens to the best of us, we tend to get complacent because of all that experience we have.

We were camped at a nice CG and a young couple pull into the site next to us a couple days after we had arrived. I watched discretely as he tried to unhook from the ball and was having trouble so I feigned needing something from my truck and went there and he noticed me outside so he actually asked me for help which I had hoped he would do. I didn't want to embarrass the guy by barging in. He explained he had borrowed the trailer and really didn't have any experience and did not know how the hitch latch worked so I said "are you ready for this?" lifted it up and pulled it back and the ball dropped out of the coupler...that simple. He laughed and we had a good conversation and I told him not to hesitate to ask me if he needed help with anything else. They had a nice stay.
mgirardo
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
He was trying very hard to make a great vacation for his family.

There's no reason they can't still have a great vacation. Years from now, they certainly will enjoy talking about how dad ruined the brand new RV by overflowing the toilet because he hooked up the fresh water hose to the wrong port.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

Much like the movie RV his heart was in the right place.

Not to nit pick, but that's a bad comparison. The father in RV was deceiving his family, because he was to much of a wuss to stand up to his boss when his boss cancelled his vacation and he was too afraid to tell his family that his boss cancelled his vacation. He told his family he wanted to spend more time with them with a road trip, when in reality, he needed the time to still work while sending them on little excursions as they drove across the country to make it to a meeting. Still a great movie, but his intentions where not to give his family a great vacation. That's what he told them, but that wasn't the real reason.

-Michael
kellem
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
Couple of months back, someone on this very forum reported sewage running down the exterior walls of trailer.

Same scenario except path of least resistance was roof vent.

The interior spillage would not only ruin a vacation but ruin the RV.

I can't help but to display some empathy here as I could only imagine.
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Aug 29, 2020
As Albert Einstein said:
The big difference between stupidity and genius is that there is no limit to stupidity.

As a corollary, there seen to be no amount of attention that people cannot pay.

I was very kind of those rendering assistance to the victims to do so.

Matt
Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Aug 29, 2020
schlep1967 wrote:
Hopefully it was truly "brand new" and the toilet hadn't been christened yet. Send him out to buy a shop vac and dry it up. Then some bleach water clean up.

Unfortunately my nose told me that was not the case.

This couple was super nice and it made me very sad that this happened. He was trying very hard to make a great vacation for his family. Much like the movie RV his heart was in the right place.

They were very great full for the small advice I gave them.

I hope it works out for the best for them.
BarabooBob
Explorer III
Aug 29, 2020
We were camping in Yellowstone years ago. A young couple with brand new everything,- brand new tent, (not seam sealed) brand new sleeping bags, brand new hiking boots, brand new everything.
As the guy tried to light his brand new Coleman LP stove. He opened the valve on the stove, lit the match and held it above the burner. Of course LP is heavier than air so the stove filled up with fumes and flowed out. When he lowered the match enough to get to the fumes, he had a huge fireball. He panicked and used a towel to fan the flames. I ran over and simple closed the lid on the stove and snuffed out the fire. I turned off the fuel and simply asked him to get the directions for the stove and I watched him light is correctly.
Later that night, the same guy was unpacking his brand new propane lantern. His wife was talking to him and pointing to me. He kept shaking his head and continued to put the lantern together. The wife came over and asked me if I would help him. I spent about a half hour going over most of their equipment and told him a very important thing. When the wife tells you to ask for help, ask for help.
The next morning, he came over again to ask that I watch him light his stove. His wife was very happy with him.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 28, 2020
And that is why I try to teach my boys as much as possible about things that men should know. I think they're behind the curve, but based on many of their friends, they're the handiest kid in their group.
Did ya go back and help the feller clean up the next morning?
Tell him poo isn't poisonous. Clean 'er up and get back to vacationing!