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checklist, newbie, RV checklist, RV hookups, RV Life, RV Newbie, RV Tips, RV travel
For the first couple of years of RVing it seemed I learned something new every time I pulled into a campground and hook up. Often times it was not the most enjoyable experience but a good lesson learned. Over the years, experienced RVers develop a mental “checklist” of items to inspect, clean, and prepare for when hooking up at a campground. One tip for beginners; Ask the campground host if they provide assistance for beginners.
Here is the list of thirteen campground hookup essentials everyone should follow:
Choose a site that best fits your needs if possible
You may want the patio side away from the glaring sun in the afternoon, or you may want to see a beautiful sunset. North facing campsites will have the sun warming the patio early in the morning. The closer you are to the bathroom, shower and laundromat, the more traffic and noise you will have. If you need WiFi, check with the campground host to see if the signal is strong enough to get to the site they have given you.
Inspect the site
Before entering the site, stop and get out to inspect the site for low hanging limbs, obstacles that would get in the way of a slide room, broken glass or other sharp items on the pad, and line of site for a satellite dish.
If the site is a tight fit to back into with a trailer, use the “S” method
As you approach the site, turn the wheel slightly to the left, then the right, and back to the left. This will create a zig zag with the truck and trailer and leaves the trailer angled towards the pad and the truck angled for an easy back up.
If traveling with pets, check the slab for engine fluids such as antifreeze, oil, or transmission fluid
These are all hazardous for pets and you might want to pick another site? Also, check to see where the neighbor’s generator exhaust is pointed! You don’t want carbon monoxide from the exhaust going to your pet area, or even your patio/bedroom.
If you are camping in extreme heat, check to see what side the refrigerator will be parked on during the heat of the day. Your refrigerator will run more efficient if it’s not in direct sunlight in the hot afternoon.
Pull into the camp site
Chock the wheels and unhook the trailer/towed vehicle.
RV Leveling
Level the rig before extending the sliderooms. A level coach means a level chassis which means a solid and flush sidewall for the room to extend out!
Sanitize
Sanitize the water faucet, dump station and picnic table with ½ cup bleach in a gallon of water. Fecal coli and other pathogens can form on exposed fixtures and a simple spray and wipe down will provide a sanitized environment.
Water pressure
Check the water pressure before connecting. Most campgrounds use a well system with pump and could have 60 psi or more which will flood your rig. Most experienced RVers use a pressure regulator set to the pressure their system can handle and an inline filter like the one available from Shurflo/Pentek. Make sure you use an approved drinking water hose for the supply and store it away from the drain hose equipment. I like to add a quick disconnect to the hose and the city water fill connection. Make sure the valve is set to city water, not “fill tank” if you rig has this feature.
Water quality
It is also a good idea to check water quality with either a digital water quality tester from Intellitec, or the more advanced test kit from Filter Mate available at most home improvement stores.
Dump Hose
Connect your dump hose to the dump station if applicable but leave the valves closed. Open valves let odors into the rig and worse, allow liquid to drain out and solids to stay in the tank and pyramid!
Electrical supply
Check the electrical supply at the campground before plugging in. With all circuits off, plug in a digital monitor or analog to the source you will be using. You may need a 30/15 amp adapter. Turn on the circuit for your source and make sure the power is between 112-volts -130-volts. Anything less or more is unacceptable. Also check for proper wiring with the digital monitor or a GFCI tester. It’s a good idea to use a surge protector such as the Surge Guard from TRC which monitors the amp draw, voltage, and shuts the system down during low or high voltage.
Propane Tank
Open your propane tank slowly! There is an excess flow valve designed into the POL valve connected to the tank and opening it fast with shut down the valve until pressure subsides which can be several minutes. Check the stove and oven before opening the valve to make sure they are not on.
To ensure you have easy access to this handy checklist, feel free to download, print, and share with your RVing friends.
About the author:
Dave Solberg: Managing Editor, RV Repair Club
For the last 25 years, Dave has conducted RV maintenance and safety seminars, developed dealer and owner training programs, written RV safety and handyman articles, authored an RV handbook reference guide and logged over 100,000 miles on the road in an RV.
RV Repair Club is your go-to online resource for enthusiasts who want quality RV maintenance, repair, and upgrade information – a community where passionate RVers can come together to gather knowledge and share their experiences.
Learn more about RV Repair Club.
David P. ~ “I had to use the Coach-Net system for a coach jack problem. Pat helped me resolved the issue. He was very helpful and I was able to continue my journey. This was the first time I had to use it and it worked out great. When time to renew, I most definitely will. Thanks again for the help.”
As I alluded to above, one important rule is never to encroach on another camper’s site. Entering another person’s site without being invited is basically trespassing on somebody else’s property. Always use roadways, sidewalks, or empty sites when traversing through an RV park.
I recently wrote an
If you have purchased a large motorhome, fifth-wheel, or travel trailer, I highly recommend you enroll in an RV driving course. These are routinely offered at RV shows and rallies across the country and the best ones are those taught by professional driving schools or special organizations. In a nutshell, always be aware of what is around your RV, so do a walk around before you drive away (this also helps make sure you haven’t left anything behind or hooked up), and always use a spotter, especially when backing up. Be sure both you and the spotter remember to look up as well, as there are often tree branches, building features, or other obstacles that may get damaged or damage your RV. Always maintain a line of sight with the spotter and use two-way radios if you have them.
Invest in a good quality sewer hose. Purchase one with a thick wall that won’t easily puncture or crush and comes with a threaded collar for RV park sewer connections. Also buy a hose support, as some states require the sewer hose be fully off the ground when hooked up. Remember to always dump the black water (toilet) before the gray water (sinks), and leave the valves closed except when dumping. Try to dump only when the tanks are at least 2/3 full to allow for good flow so all the solid waste is expelled.
This two-part series is targeted at those readers who are new to RVing. Part one will cover how to decide what kind of RV to buy, and next week’s article will focus on some basic RV functionality.
as Class A, B, and C motorhomes. Class A motorhomes are the bus-style vehicles that range from roughly 23 – 45 ft. in length. Class B and B-plus motorhomes are van conversions in both regular and wide-body styles. A Class C motorhome is shown at the photo to the left.
although this is starting to change with new floorplans being offered on some motorhomes. Class B vans are only suitable for two people, but are an efficient way to travel, mostly because they are highly maneuverable and easy to park. But you must be aware that they are small and spending too much time in them with your significant other can cause frayed nerves, even for the hardiest of relationships! Nevertheless, van conversions are becoming increasingly popular for couples, mostly due to the array of amenities available in them. They do include the same basic features that large fifth-wheels and motorhomes have, including microwave, bathroom, full kitchen, and even entertainment centers.
It’s no secret: RVers have a well-deserved reputation for being thrifty. Many say that’s why we take our homes on vacation; we’re too cheap to pay for hotel rooms! All kidding aside, I have to admit many RVers like me really do possess a flair for frugality. On rare occasions however, we surprise everyone, including ourselves, by opening our wallets to be a bit more comfortable. After doing so the inevitable question follows: “What took us so long?!” For example, here are three of the best RV upgrades we wish we did sooner:
Some RVers set up camp with all the accoutrements. Not us. We started full-timing in a 24′ fifth wheel with zero room for unnecessary gizmos like twinkly awning lights and telescoping flag poles. We refused to carry items we thought didn’t add much value to the RVing experience, like sewer hose supports and plastic leveling blocks. Living without a sewer hose riser has never been a problem and even sloped campsites never bothered us too much in our smaller rig. But since upgrading to a longer and wider fifth wheel, uneven ground is more annoying than ever. Our rig lacks hydraulic levelers, so last Christmas our practical-minded gift to one another was a $35 set of leveling blocks. After using the blocks from California to Texas, we’re on the level and loving it! Gone are the days of cabinet doors smacking us in the face whenever we open them, or worrying about damaging our refrigerator when we’re unevenly parked. All we have to do is actually remember to use those blocks and everyone’s a happy camper.
Like many RVers, we’ve had our share of costly brake issues. From burning out brakes in the Rockies to getting ripped off by bad mechanics, trailer brakes have been the bane of our full-timing existence – and our bank account. Finally after eight years and 140,000 miles, we opted for an electric over hydraulic disc brake conversion on our new-to-us rig.
Adequate solar electric power systems start with a careful energy audit of your power consumption. Better solar electric power systems end with your willingness to commit a little more money to the project. Our first system was woefully inadequate mainly because our small rig lacked battery storage space – but mostly because of our reluctance to spend more cash. For seven years the system barely met our needs as we limped along during cloudy days. When we finally upgraded to our 27′ fifth wheel, I eagerly surrendered a storage compartment for a bigger, better battery bank and inverter. Cutting the check wasn’t quite as easy but now we can enjoy camping luxuries like running the microwave and our vacuum – a must when you live with a German 
When I was younger, I acquired my commercial drivers license (CDL) and air-brake endorsement in order to put myself through university. I purchased my own tractor-trailer and went to work as an over-the-road truck driver. In order to earn my CDL I had to take extensive truck driver training and attend classroom instruction, including an exam, for the air-brake endorsement. Although not all states and provinces require an air-brake endorsement in order to attain a CDL, British Columbia does. The air-brake course provided much-needed education on a very important component of heavy vehicles. The reason I bring this up is because fifth-wheels, large motorhomes, and travel trailers are simply small versions of heavy trucks. Many owners of large RV’s have never had professional experience driving large vehicles, and some only drive their units for a short period each year.
Even the greenest RV newbie has a well-established relationship with the open road. By the time we get our first RV, most of us have carried a driver’s license in our wallet for decades. But this familiarity often works against us when we become RVers, making many of us lazy and reluctant to learn new rules of the road. Unfortunately this attitude puts us at risk of common newbie RVer mistakes, like overheated brakes and collisions with stationery objects. The good news is that you can avoid the hassle of these preventable RV repairs, by reviewing the Top 5 Rules of the Road for RV newbies.
If you’re like most RVers, your road tripping wanderlust probably began with epic cross-country road trips in passenger cars. And like most new RVers, you were probably surprised to find that taking an RV road trip is more physically and mentally taxing than a typical automobile road trip. Starting, stopping and navigating a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds more than a passenger car forces us to be more alert to road conditions, which is mentally exhausting at day’s end. Driving a rig also requires patience, because a 10-hour driving day in a passenger car is about the equivalent of a five hour day at the helm of a recreational vehicle. Tackling too much driving in one day leaves us physically exhausted and puts our safety (and that of our passengers) at risk. As RVers we must plan our routes and trips accordingly.
Passenger car drivers rarely consider the height or weight of their vehicle on the open road, but when you drive a home on wheels it’s critical to know the physical dimensions and capabilities of your rig. Those clearance signs at gas station overhangs and low bridges all take on new meaning when at the command of a RV. Everything from the tires on your wheels to the height of your air conditioner can mean the difference between an uneventful driving day or becoming a Darwin Award Recipient 
