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Storing rv in desert heat

AnnieCobey
Explorer
Explorer
Iโ€™m leaving my fifth wheel set up in an rv park for the summer months Any tips on what I should do to before I leave. I wonโ€™t be returning until late fall. Also can I leave food or drinks in the rv or should I get rid of them. Any advice would be great as this is my first year doing this
20 REPLIES 20

tazwing
Explorer
Explorer
joshuajim wrote:
tazwing wrote:
We always use milk jugs but put each one in a disposable aluminum turkey roaster.


Wouldnโ€™t it be easier to just fill the turkey roasters with water?


Probably, but the narrow mouth jugs release the moisture slower than the roasters. We also put a large garbage can in the bathtub and fill it about halfway, that's just my husband doing overkill though.

Elizabeth24
Explorer
Explorer
Lots of great advice,be especially careful with leaving cleaning products, bleach explodes and eats flooring. Know that the hard way!
We would leave several 7 gallon water containers full with the lids off and when we would return in the fall they were 3/4 empty.

Never really had problems with mice but sand would get in no matter how
we sealed everything up.

joshuajim
Explorer II
Explorer II
tazwing wrote:
We always use milk jugs but put each one in a disposable aluminum turkey roaster.


Wouldnโ€™t it be easier to just fill the turkey roasters with water?
RVing since 1995.

tazwing
Explorer
Explorer
We always use milk jugs but put each one in a disposable aluminum turkey roaster.

timmac
Explorer
Explorer
I would never store my RV outside in the southwest summers, besides the extreme heat our sun intensity on a scale of 1 to 10 is 12..


I would at least invest in a RV cover to keep the sun off the RV and will help keep it cooler inside, even if the shade cover got ripped in our many winds we have here.

Here is how I store my RV in Vegas.


doxiemom11
Explorer II
Explorer II
The silver sun screen stuff works very well - we used on in our windshield of the motorhome for the summer in N Mex. If it were me, I would put that inside all windows and vents as it will help keep the interior cooler. Ours was heavier duty with an insulating material between 2 sheets of the silver stuff. Well worth the extra cost over the cheap ones everyone has for their cars.

moisheh
Explorer
Explorer
Never leave anything elastic. Of course do not leave any food. Especially anything that would attract bugs or mice. Dirty clothing will never become clean. Detergent bottles will explode. Spices loose their oomph.

Moisheh

bobsallyh
Explorer II
Explorer II
gbopp, we are also from PA., lived there 50 plus years before going fulltime in 2003. The desert presents things we never heard of or thought about until fall of 2003. If somebody would have told us we would become desert rats back then, I would have told them they full of mud!

bobsallyh
Explorer II
Explorer II
We have had and seen the bottoms of milk jugs deteriorate and slowly let the water leak onto the floor. Haven't had it happen if jugs are placed in sinks. So I don't know if chemicals or what in carpeting or linoleum cause some kind of breakdown.
Something else I missed , was make sure you remove the battery from any smoke detectors. They have a bad habit of draining over the summer and then emit a slight beep telling you the battery needs changed. This slight beep is real PITA if a close neighbor returns to the park before you.

AnnieCobey
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for all the information

gbopp
Explorer
Explorer
bobsallyh wrote:
DO NOT use milk jugs.

I'm in Pennsylvania so I don't have to be too concerned about the heat.
I'm curious, why no milk jugs? Are they too small or does the heat melt them, etc.?

joshuajim
Explorer II
Explorer II
I live in the Mojave at 3500 MSL, not the coolest place in summer and the solar intensity is high at this elevation. Iโ€™ve stored my trailers uncovered for the last 23 years with no special preparation. Other than some fading of decals nothing damaging has happened.

Iโ€™m seeing a lot of solutions in search of a problem.
RVing since 1995.

Dick_B
Explorer
Explorer
Sunshield tarp with silver side up.
Dick_B
2003 SunnyBrook 27FKS
2011 3/4 T Chevrolet Suburban
Equal-i-zer Hitch
One wife, two electric bikes (both Currie Tech Path+ models)

azdryheat
Explorer
Explorer
I can speak for my trailer left in the AZ summer sun for over 4 years. The graphics on the front cap fried. The so-called leather upholstery in the living room started separating from the backing material. RV's do not like the summer heat. I had it covered but the winds tore the cover to shreds. Make that two covers.
2013 Chevy 3500HD CC dually
2014 Voltage 3600 toy hauler
2019 RZR 1000XP TRE