Greetings from a New Class A owner!

[ponytail_mom]

Hello Everyone,

Greetings! My name is Cristina and I am the super proud new owner of a Class A 2009 34' Safari Simba. I don't think I've ever adored a vehicle so much since my first car, a 1972 Ford Pinto.

I am so new at this I don't even know what questions to ask. The more I am learning about my RV the less I know. This is my first RV (inherited this beauty) and I couldn't be more excited.

I've signed up for a class on electrical systems, and have spent every waking moment in these forums. I really should feed my kids soon.

What might be your advise on the thing(s) to learn first?? The RV is still 'winterized' what steps do you take to un-winterize?

Cristina

[mfitz709]

Thanks Jerry for the Geo Method I will use it as mine needs a good cleaning..

[Executive45]

As a past president of a HOA, I'm a believer in open lines of communication. I would call the HOA president or board member and tell them you just got a new, to you, coach and would like to take a couple days to clean it and familiarize yourself with some of the "systems". Set a time limit of say three days. That way, IF they receive a complaint they can have a ready answer. You might also let your neighbors know the coach will only be there a short time. Having no conversation usually means people assume the worst...."doggone it, look honey our neighbor got one of those huge gas guzzling motor homes, AND they THINK they're going to leave it in front of their house"...get in the Prius and go complain....:W:W......Dennis

[jplante4]

On HOAs; it may be one of those "better to ask forgiveness that permission" things. I'm sure the intended purpose of the rules is not to prevent you from bringing your coach home to load it up for a trip, but instead to keep people from living in a motor home in the complex, turning into a "trailer park". There is most likely a time limit as to how long your coach can sit in a driveway. Some HOAs have a rule about motor homes/boats not being visible from the street, in which case one could drive it into the back yard behind a 6 foot fence. Check with your HOA.

[Tom_Barb]

Tom/Barb wrote:

ponytail mom wrote:
Hello again Everyone,

Now does anyone know how to get around the HOA? I really want to bring the beauty back to my subdivision for a few days 🙂

Cristina

The HOA's must' have a written rule, most have a time limit on parking. have you read them?

Our Kids live in a community with a HOA, we are not allowed to stay over 3 week days.

But you never know the HOA fines may be cheaper than the parking facilities you are at now. 🙂

[Tom_Barb]

ponytail mom wrote:
Hello again Everyone,

Now does anyone know how to get around the HOA? I really want to bring the beauty back to my subdivision for a few days 🙂

Cristina

The HOA's must've a written rule, most have a time limit on parking. have you read them?

Our Kids live in a community with a HOA, we are not allowed to stay over 3 week days.

But you never know the HOA fines may be cheaper than the parking facilities you are at now. 🙂

[Mr_Mark1]

Cristina, you will want to check in the outside electrical bay under the driver's area. That should be were all of the fuses are located. When you turn the key on to the accessory position or when the engine is running, all the diodes will light up which may indicate if a fuse is blown.

You might have to check some of the fuses visually.

The turning signal module plugs into a connector. I had to wrap a rubber-band around it to make sure it stayed secure in the connector (that may not be your problem). Every so often I would have to replace the rubber-band as it would break from age.

Good luck,
MM.

[ponytail_mom]

Hello again Everyone,

One of the things that amazes me about this forum, and RV people in general, is how enthusiastic and kind everyone is about the RV lifestyle!!

People are sooo nice and so willing to offer tips and suggestions!!

I'm still working out why my turn signals, car seats, and radio is not working, but after asking in these forums, I am armed with ideas and can't wait to get back to the RV this weekend to investigate!!

Now does anyone know how to get around the HOA? I really want to bring the beauty back to my subdivision for a few days 🙂

And thanks for the tip on state fair RV park! I didn't know Jordan Lake didn't have sewer hookups!!

Cristina

[wannavolunteerF]

OP, I am going to pipe in again and recommend you go to the State Fair Rv park for a couple of days. Jordan Lake is really nice, but you will NOT have sewer in your site. I would strongly suggest you go to a site with full hookups while you learn to dump and how long you can go on your holding tanks. You likely will not be able to go a week without dumping, and unless you have "tote" you will have to unhook and go dump at least once.

By staying where you have sewer connection, you can dump several times and rinse out if you need to without anyone waiting in line behind you. I will say having a line behind you waiting to dump can be intimidating when you are new.

The state fair RV park is perfectly safe and patrolled regularly. I stayed there for the week of Christmas, just myself and my 78 year old mother and I never felt unsafe.

[Gary_]

Reference your Black Water tank. You don't have to do much cleaning it out except rinsing it once in a while. Just do NOT hook up to a sewer and leave your BLACK TANK VALVE OPEN! Leave the valve closed until the black tank is about 3/4 full, and then open the valve. If you leave the black tank valve open all the liquids will run out and the solids will stay in the tank and then you WILL have problems. Also if you have some kind of a Black tank sprayer in it to clean it, DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE UNTIL YOU SHUT OFF THE WATER, or you may forget about it and it may run over inside your RV. Also when you flush your black tank and grey tank, pull the black tank handle first, then when that is done running out close that valve and pull the grey tank valve and that will clean out your sewer hose. Then when done add a couple of gallons of water to the black tank. Good Luck.

[Geocritter]

At this stage in my full time RV experience I basically use my RV as a base camp and use my Caravan and a small motorcycle as exploration vehicles. When I stop I usually stay for at least a month. Before I leave for my next location I empty my black water tank and put about 5-10 gallons of fresh water in it. The sloshing around while I'm relocating rinses out the tank so that it's ready for my next stop.

Steve

[jpmihalk]

Greetings and congrats on the new motorhome! Lots of great advice so far... and the obvious piece of advice that I have is have FUN with it!

[jplante4]

On cleaning the black tank

The Geo Method

[Mr_Mark1]

Cristina, a lot of the Monaco products (Safari was part of the Monaco line of motorhomes) have a back flush system built in. There should be a hose outlet in the wet-bay area for you to connect to and run fresh water through the black tank. The lever should let you switch from black to grey if it was like ours on our Monaco product.

I would fill the black tank with water a couple of times to give it a good clean out. If you want, you could squirt some dishwashing liquid into the toilet, flush it, then fill the black tank and let it sit overnight. There are more intense ways to clean out the tank but I would start with minor ways first. Using the coach will keep everything operating at it's best.

Good luck, have fun.
MM.

[ncrowley]

I would join the FMCA and go to a rally. They have lots of educational seminars at the FMCA rally that I think you would enjoy and get a lot of great information from.