I've been doing this for a lot of years but a couple of weeks ago I made two newbie mistakes on the same weekend. 1-Got all hooked up and couldn't get hot water. Result, make sure you switch the winterizing valves back before you burn up the heating element. Yep, I did.2-For a while the water was off at our campground so I was just going to use the pump. It never would prime and start pumping. Result, make sure you open the valve to the tank if you want to get water out.So, for your own sanity don't make the mistakes I did.

Also try not do get too old 'cause that stuff will start happening more often.

Oh...I'll have to try that "valve" thing...:) We've had 5 different trailers and never could get the hot water to work......:SHeck, I make "newbie mistakes" every time we go out. Yesterday, I noticed the grab handle was still out as we were rolling down the inter state.

downtheroad wrote:Yesterday, I noticed the grab handle was still out as we were rolling down the inter state.That is just a spoiler so that the rig looks more race worthy!

Neal B, your advise comes a couple weeks late for me! I've been camping and RVing most of my life and just a couple weeks ago I fired up my water heater on bypass. I burned up the electric element almost immediately. But.... to make it worse...I still thought I had water in the tank, so an hour later I flipped on the gas. It fired just fine and I forgot about it. An hour later I checked the faucet.... still cold.Then it hit me... THE BYPASS! Well, I also ruined the gas heater also! Took it back to my dealer this week to fix it. Turns out the thermostat (on the water heater, not the one on the wall) is bad. Chances are, even with the tank full of water, the thermostat would have gone ka-put anyway. It's just both events happened at the same time. Sheesh!Well ... here's one more for you.I got the camper ready to take to my dealer for the water heater repair (not knowing it was the thermostat yet). So I checked everything out in the camper before leaving home. No WATER PUMP! Dead! Ka-Put! OMG! Have I gone completely senile? I was so devastated. It worked just a few days earlier at the camp ground. Is this related to the water heater problem? I had no clue. Absolutely could not get the pump to come on. All my tanks were empty. The pump will always turn on to initially begin pumping water, that bit of air always get's sucked out, then begins pumping water. But NO. Nothing. Dead.I asked my dealer -repair guy to look at the pump also (thinking to myself ... NOW this is gonna cost me!Well, when he called back and said it was just the thermostat on the water heater and he was replacing the electric element, I asked about the water pump.He said ... It's working just fine! No problem. I said, "WHAT??????!!!!!" What's going on then?He said, the water lines were already pressurized. The technician just turned the faucet on and the pump started immediately! OH DUH! Only, I used a slightly different "D" word!

Remind me not to get old. Oh, wait... too late! ;)

Newbie mistake...... | Good Sam Community

DutchmenSport
Explorer
May 17, 2016
Got my camper back from the dealer this morning. All is working well again. I filled the water tank and made sure the water heater was off bypass. Gas and electric both working. So now I'm all ready for the next brain fart! Hope it's another 30 years before it happens again!
RwaSmith
Explorer
May 17, 2016
DRKMinWA wrote:
My last one was pulling in, leveling side to side and then proceeded to bring the tongue jack down to release the hitch from the ball. Sure glad I remembered to leave the safety chains hooked up since I forgot to place the chocks! No injuries or damage to truck or trailer. My ego has mostly recovered.

I did the exact same thing last year. Scared the POOP out of me.
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
May 17, 2016
nineoaks2004 wrote:
At my age I just roll with the punches and use my check off lists (If I remember)

You know, I've got to add the water heater to my setup check list, if I can find the file on the hdd.
DRKMinWA
Explorer
May 17, 2016
My last one was pulling in, leveling side to side and then proceeded to bring the tongue jack down to release the hitch from the ball. Sure glad I remembered to leave the safety chains hooked up since I forgot to place the chocks! No injuries or damage to truck or trailer. My ego has mostly recovered.
Neal_B_
Explorer II
May 17, 2016
This has been hilarious! It makes me happy to know that I'm not the only one with senior moments.
fireman41
Explorer
May 17, 2016
TucsonJim wrote:
downtheroad wrote:
Yesterday, I noticed the grab handle was still out as we were rolling down the inter state.

That is just a spoiler so that the rig looks more race worthy!

X-wing fighter mode.
hawkeye-08
Explorer III
May 17, 2016
Sold our old trailer to my wife's brother. His wife called one night wanting help to get the hot water going. She could hear the burner so thought all was good.

The husband called a few nights later and asked the same. We went over it several times. He said he was good. Next day when taking a shower, I thought of them not changing the valves when they dewinterized it. Texted him info, he did face plant... he knew he was forgetting something under the sink but could not remember what it was... he never said if they got hot water or not.
YnotTurbo
Explorer
May 17, 2016
I think we all make mistakes... no matter how long we have been rving...I was cracking up,,, because a few years ago I burned up our electric heating element at the campground too...
bobndot
Explorer II
May 16, 2016
It adds to the full rv'ing experience . Add me to the list.

Look at the majority of people who responded.
Senior members have Senior moments. :)
rrev
Explorer
May 16, 2016
TucsonJim wrote:
downtheroad wrote:
Yesterday, I noticed the grab handle was still out as we were rolling down the inter state.

That is just a spoiler so that the rig looks more race worthy!

Good, because I've done it three times already with our new trailer. Old one was small and didn't fold.

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