Maintenance Reminder for Full-Timers

[firedude]

Well with the new year here I thought I'd throw out some good 'ol maintenance reminders which basically apply to most RV types. Some apply even more as we live in our RV's. I may go over board (it must be the firefighter in me:) ) but my trailer still looks and performs like the day I picked it up. Feel free to chime in and ad your own as I am only covering a few items that come to mind and my situation. Above all read your manuals and follow the maintenance guidelines in them. I've seen many who "use and abuse" and never do any maintenance and it's not pretty......

Water Heater Tanks...
Don't forget to change the Anode Rod (if you have one). Most Suburban water heater tanks have them. I do mine twice a year and just did it. Boy was I surprised (again) at all the crud that came out of the hot water tank when I flushed it. I'm sure doing this sure extends the life of the tank.

Water Fittings...
Check all your water fittings. They will and can come loose over time and by checking them and tightening them you'll avoid a "flood". It happened to me last year. I even crawl in the basement, pull the wall where a lot of the water fittings reside and check those. That's where I had my leak and luckily caught it before it became a major problem.

TV Antenna....
For those with the Winegard bat wing type antenna. I had developed a small leak down the shaft at the crank handle. Who ever reads the manual and care instruction for these? I didn't lol. It calls for a little silicone spray down the shaft every 6 months or so to keep the rubber o-ring/seal from drying out and preventing these type leaks! Nothing worse than a water leak over your bed lol!

House Batteries...
Should be checked often fopr proper water level in the cells. This prolongs the life of the battery(s) and will insure a proper charge and juice i those things when you need them!

Refer and Hot Water Exterior Compartments...
Check and keep these ares clean and clear of debris for proper operation. Bug, Bees and all kinds of things like to get in there and make a mess.

Tires!...
At least once a month check your tire pressure! Nothing worse than to have your sidewalls cracking because of low air pressure. The host I replaced here had a bad situation. He was here almost a year and never checked his tiires. They were half flat and sidewalls cracked to the point I'd be afraid to pull the trailer any distance. The tread was brand new but the tires were shot! Tire covers help to and prevent damage from the suns ultra violet rays and other weather components. CHECK THOSE LUG NUTS for proper torque. Losing a wheel goi ng down a highway can be costly to say the least.

Slide Seals...
I treat my slide seals with a protectant (Dicor) at least twice a year. It also contains a UV protection. This keeps them from drying out and cracking. Mine still look brand new thank goodness after 2 years.

Rubber Roof...
There are lots of good threads on here regarding this. You should at leat inspect your roof every 3 months or so. It should be cleaned and inspected for any areas where the sealant has deteriorated. Water is the #1 enemy to RV's! Be sure to check around ALL vents (hidden areas) A/C' units, TV Antennas and any other place there is a seal. It saved me. During one inspection I found a problem with my roof which was repaired by Keystone right away. Had I not caught this it would have been a worse situation down the road.

Misc Lubrications...
Don't forget to lube those areas and things you don't think of often. Awning rollers and Stabilizers come to mid as well as anything else that needs lubrication. Locks and entry steps also. It keeps things free and helps with corrosion control.

A/C Unit...
If you are not traveling and stationary for any length of time you might want to cover your A/C unit. This prevents UV damage to the covers, keeps unwanted debris out of the unit and in some cases can prevent damage during a storm. Also if your A/C unit has filters, inspect them and replace as needed.

RV Exterior...
Keep it cleaned and waxed! Makes for a happier RV. Also consider using a UV protection on the graphics such as 303 or ProtectAll. It does work. Mine still look new after 2 years.

Camp Host....
Always be kind to your camp hosts. Be sure and give them lots of goodies, smiles and pies especially. Oh and don't knock on their door for firewood at 2 am! A well maintained camp host goes a long ways.. :B:B:B

Moderators...
Always be kind to your Moderator. Remember they are always looking out for your best interest!:B:)

[ctate01]

Thanks for the info. We are full-time as of September 15. We sold everything and really do not know what we are doing. Carol & Lance

[Don_M_]

Coming from a newbie, Checking the wiring for lose connectors, harness, bulbs. No fun about finding lose, broken or shorted wire for your water pump when you need it the most! A dab of electrical grease helps in preventing corrosion in the connectors and bulbs

[hershey]

amazed and confused wrote:
Hi Firedud,
snip
With an Atwood water heater you have a plastic drain plug from the factory. This really needs to be changed to either a brass plug or an anode rod(must be an Atwood rod-Suburban won't fit) snip

You will void your Atwood warantee if you attempt to use an anode rod in it. Got this straight from the horses mouth at Atwood.

[firedude]

I personally am a good example here today. CHECK THOSE WATER CONNECTIONS periodically! The line that goes on my black tank Quickie Flush popped off today where the hoseclamp holds it on. When I installed it it was tight! Water was running in my basement unregulated for maybe two minutes at the most and probably a minuted. I heard it pop and ran to the water connection and shut off the water totally to the flusher.

I figure maybe 2-4 gal of water at most as it all happenned so fast. Even so I'll have to drop the belly pan and make sure all; the water is gone and replace the R-11 insulation bats I had put down there as I am sure they got wet. I drilled some holes in the plastic belly pan at the lowest points to be sure all water than could, would drain out. Doesn't look like any major damage at this point.

Bottom line here? I waited too long to recheck my water ffittings and make sure they were tight! Check them often and make it routine., It will save you alot of greif and time!

Tony

[bestos]

firedude, This response is a little late but I have the same problems with my 2000 Wilderness GLX 32.5 slides. Had it into the dealer 8 times and the Fleetwood Service Center in Longview, Texas 6 times. They did the same thing with our slides (just keep putting more stuff around the slides). Still not right. I have to use the travel bars to force the slides in and when out we have stuff rags around to seal out the wind. Fleetwood said they would cover the problem until it was fixed, but I got tired of spending all my time and paying for motel rooms while they TRIED to fix it. Never buy a Fleetwood again and would trade this off but I can't get any money out of it. Bob

[firedude]

Anne,
Thanks for the great maintenance tip! That was great.

Yes I was a firefighter. I retired 2 years ago as a Fire Captain following a 33 year career.:)

Tony

[FullTimin_Wanna]

Something that we recently had a problem with, (but thinking it was more than this, we paid almost $100.00 to find out that) a mud-dobber (type of wasp that makes it's nest with mud) had made its nest right up next to the fan on the Heat Pump, under the cover. Fan couldn't turn. We thought it was the fan motor...should have looked ourself, and will the next time. So that is something to add...take off the covers of your air conditioner units and check for nests and junk accumulating in them. Also check out all your hose connections and make sure they aren't leaking. Some people have water spraying all over the place when they hook up and all they need is a new washer thingy! :B I'm coping and pasteing this to Word and going to print it out for hubby to use. Thanks for starting this Firedude. My new son-in-law to be (April 2nd, 2005) is a firefighter and Medic. Where were you a firefighter? Take care, Anne
FullTiming Class of 05 - Quartsite Jan. 06!

[SHORTSTAYERS]

also one more thing you might want to do is to install a external water filter (very inexpensive at lowes) and change the water filter at regular intervals to help keep from getting crud into your fresh water system..

[slideout]

Good one Firedude.... about the Hot Water Heaters! We had to replace our Atwood right after the Warranty was one month over! DO put a Atwood anode in yours, if you have a Atwood! It says right on the box, the new one came in... "no anode needed" yeah, right! I called Atwood, and they said" if you put a anode rod in it, the Warranty wil be VOID & that they don't need one because they have a special coating on the inside to protect against corrosion on the aluminum tank." Yes, life is a "live and learn" situation and a costly one. Now, I have just replaced our burned out anode rod (after 6 months) and flushed it out..... should be Ok for a while. Hard water areas beware! Happy traveling.

[Randy___Kathy]

Finally remembered to get the right socket for the w/h plug from storage today. (1-1/16") Sat down to read new posts here and thought I'd better flush the w/h tank. Was pleasently surprised to find an anode rod already installed in our Suburban 10 gal. w/h. Was shocked to see the condition of said rod after only 9 months of living in the 5er. Next stop to CW to get a new sacrificial (?) anode.
A reminder to you guys- Turn off the heating source to the w/h, then run a faucet until the water cools off. After flushing the w/h, turn the water back on and remember to run a couple of faucets to remove the air from the system. Also do the toilet. Failure to do so will result in the wife person opening a faucet (or flushing the toilet) and jumping out of her shorts when the faucet explodes with a burst of air.
Thanks, FireDude for the reminders.
Randy

[audreyh1]

Well - after Jodi's swirling toilet post I had to come here and re-read the maintenance post.

You know - our water pressure isn't what it used to be

Not fulltimers yet - but we have been very good about draining the hot water tank and rinsing it out. This was originally to preserve the anode. But I think it also really helped avoid the "sulfur" smell you can sometimes get from a hot water heater.

Now the new DP will have the "hydro-hot" system and thus no hot water tank, but I guess it must have it's own maintenance issues....

Above all, I suppose when you get a new RV you have to read ALL you manuals and write down all the teeny little maintenance requirements and suggestions (even though they are often buried in the text) and try to put them in some logical time order so you don't miss anything. Whew!!!

Audrey

[firedude]

Ah yes good old rust!

Well I recently looked at all the screws on the exterior of my 5'er. The ones that hold molding and trim on as well as other things. I noticed most were rusting pretty bad. Here I have this 5'er that still looks like it came off the showroom floor and all these "red" screws lol. Looked pretty bad. I even had a few campers mention it so the firedude went to work.

The screws the manufacturers use ar metal. Yep good old rust magnets. I went down to good old ACE Hardware and bought all new screws but this time Stainless Steel as they won't rust. I took a large piece styrofoam block from packing stuff I had and stuck all the screws into the block. I then painted them white with a good gloss paint. let them set a couple days to dry/cure and then replaced all my "red" screws. Looks so much better now.

Cost me maybe $25 all together and of course some time to replace them but well worth it.To me anyway. Just another tid bit.:)

[firedude]

Thanks Joe! Great idea! I did that last week LOL! Took me a while to realize it and sat out in the 'ol lawn chair and it hit me.:) I agree the problem worsens by using the electrical heating element however depending on the water source you can also get in trouble. A good example was a water tanker we had in the fire dept. The water and all the stuff in it finally ate through the wall of the tank (in several places) and the tank had to be replaced. That tank was not heated. Depending on the condition of the water and the minerals it contains you can get the same thing. Now a device like a anode rod is put in the tank every six months to help slow the process and keep all the bad elements in check. Water consition varies from place to place but in some places can be pretty "hard" stuff and given the type of tanks we use on our rv's it wouldn't take long for the damage to be done.

[PhotoJoe1]

Another tid bit I forgot to mention in the original post is water pressure regulators. This especially applies to full-timers sincve the wate connection is used most year round.............
Tony

Hey Tony, maybe it would be a good ideal to put the water sediment filter in front of the water pressure regulator. I think that would keep the water pressure requlator free of the qulk that would clog it up. The stuff that build up in the hot water heater is mainly from using it with the electric heating element.

PhotoJoe

[BillyP]

THanks for the reminder!