Leaving RV for a few days while travelling

[Osborn3s]

We are meeting up with friends in Phoenix area and will leave MH for a few days to take side trip. Will RV parks allow us to that? Any input would be appreciated. Newbie

[Blaster_Man]

In addition to setting the generator, fix it like you would when leaving your stick house. I place three timers around, setting lights and a radio to come on and off. Give it a lived in look.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

jerseyjim wrote:
Most parks (snowbird parks) forbid the running of a generator at all. We've left our MH on site for some multi-day (overnite) trips in our toad....never a problem, either with the coach or the park. Simply turned off the water...but left the pedestal electric on....should we have had a power failure, the fridge would automatically switch to "gas" (propane) and then switch back to electric when power is restored. No need for any a/c Jan-March in the Phoenix area anyway.

Do you ask for a discounted rate for those days, or some other recompense for the days you're absent? Might be a discounted rate for just storing your coach on-site, is what I'm wondering about here...

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Passin Thru wrote:
Airport parking.

Since 9 11, this might be a problem though. Best call and shop/plan ahead to leave an RV at any airport parking lot.

[Passin_Thru]

Airport parking.

[GTN_and_Catz]

One thing to keep in mind - especially in the SW this time of year - are flash floods. Some RV parks are susceptible to them and they have to be able to vacate everyone with little advance notice.
I know the OP said the Phoenix area but other areas such as San Antonio, Austin and the Texas Hill Country come to mind.
Point being - check with the office and let them know.

[jerseyjim]

Most parks (snowbird parks) forbid the running of a generator at all. We've left our MH on site for some multi-day (overnite) trips in our toad....never a problem, either with the coach or the park. Simply turned off the water...but left the pedestal electric on....should we have had a power failure, the fridge would automatically switch to "gas" (propane) and then switch back to electric when power is restored. No need for any a/c Jan-March in the Phoenix area anyway.

[daveB110]

Are we really worried about how to air condition the empty RV in Phoenix at this time of the year? Things like leaving your rig get a lot simpler if you have solar panels that will keep your batteries up, run your refrigeration (not AC) if you feel you'll be away a week or two. Should we leave ours' for a week or two, I'd disconnect from water and shore power (unless there was a possibility of freezing weather) and shut down systems that could be a problem, including the fridge if that's at all feasible. Disconnecting the water is a good idea. Saw a fifth wheel and its tow truck burn to the ground once; folks went off to church, but had a water leak from their hot water tank. Someone thought the water should not be leaking out, turned it off outside while the tank was set to run. Not sure why the system wouldn't shut itself down, but when the folks got back they had lost everything. The major collection took place in the RV Park for them, not at church.

[Mike_I]

bfast54 wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:
We have also done that several times. We left the motorhome at Yellowstone at the Grizzly RV park and drove to Jackson Hole, staying in a Hotel to tour the area.

If you store your coach, make sure that your generator is set to come on in case you lose power at the RV park.

Good luck,
MM.

What happens when the park loses power at 3am and your generator comes on and you aren't there to turn it off?

Then it RUNS.....Just like its Supposed to do.......S.M.H.:S

Exactly. Don't know what the big deal is. Lost our electric at a camp ground most of the night ne time. Lots of generators running. Not going to swealter on a hot humid night when you can use your AC with a generator

[bfast54]

msmith1199 wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:
We have also done that several times. We left the motorhome at Yellowstone at the Grizzly RV park and drove to Jackson Hole, staying in a Hotel to tour the area.

If you store your coach, make sure that your generator is set to come on in case you lose power at the RV park.

Good luck,
MM.

What happens when the park loses power at 3am and your generator comes on and you aren't there to turn it off?

Then it RUNS.....Just like its Supposed to do.......S.M.H.:S

[Mr_Mark1]

A small plus that I enjoy is that I can connect to the coach with my I-phone. I can set the air condtiioning/heat as needed. I can check the water level and holding tanks. I can also turn lights on and off (inside or outside).... turn on TV's, etc.

I can start the generator, check the incoming current, check all batteries and the inverters. It does give me peace of mind knowing that I can connect with the coach and control most functions.

MM.

[jdealcpa]

We leave our MH in private parks frequently. Sometimes for 2-3 weeks. As several have suggested, we turn water off, set a/c to high setting etc.. Depending on length of time absent we may leave slides out. We tell manager and, if available, security we are leaving. Never had a problem. I don't care for storage in CG, too much activity and rarely electric. We follow rules in COE & BLM CGs and don't plan any side trips. Fortunately we have not had to make any unplanned side trips.

[holstein13]

msmith1199 wrote:
What happens when the park loses power at 3am and your generator comes on and you aren't there to turn it off?

My autostart has a setting for quiet hours. It will not come on during quiet hours. If that's a concern, I'd set the tolerances lower on the auto start A/C, heat and generator. Hopefully, the battery would survive until quite hours are over.

[Skid_Row_Joe]

Mr.Mark wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:
We have also done that several times. We left the motorhome at Yellowstone at the Grizzly RV park and drove to Jackson Hole, staying in a Hotel to tour the area.

If you store your coach, make sure that your generator is set to come on in case you lose power at the RV park.

Good luck,
MM.

What happens when the park loses power at 3am and your generator comes on and you aren't there to turn it off?

On our previous coach (which is the one we were in), it would kick in to battery power until the batteries got low, then the genny would kick in recharging the batteries then turn off once charged fully.

On the new coach, I have two options. I can set the genny to come on immediately when power is lost then it will turn off once city power is restored. Or, I can set the genny to come on when the batteries reach a certain point to recharge. That cycle will continue until the power is restored.

The batteries would last quite a while running just the fridge and other small demands. When leaving the coach, I would turn off the electric water tank.

The new coach has a very quiet generator as it's in a 'hush box'.

MM.

What is the discounted per day rate when leaving your unit, basically in-storage there? Or, wondering is there a discounted rate available at RV parks, in general when storing a unit for days/weeks on your spot?

[John_Joey]

Two Jayhawks wrote:
We have done it several times and it never occurred to me it would be a problem for the CG. If I owned a CG and I had customers that were paying full price and (I assume) turned water off and HVAC off or low what would be the problem?

FWIW,

A few years ago my Mother passed away in a nursing home while we were on the road west of Ft. Worth in a COE park. I needed to get home ASAP for the funeral. Went up to the office and told them the story and how I was going to fly out of Dallas and leave the rig for a few days.

I was told that COE rules were all rigs had to have someone there at all times. This was to keep the park from taking on that "run down" look. What was the real kicker was after I told her my story thinking she would make an exception she said "Sorry, I can not lie for you, but maybe my husband might." I didn't want her to "lie" for me so we moved on and left the rig at another park, and flew home for the funeral.