Tags
RV Camping, RV Life, RV tech tip, RV Tips, RV travel, RV Water Heater, tech tip, tips, Travel Safety, Travel Tips
In the third part of this multi-part series on RV inspection and maintenance, we will discuss the RV water heater. These articles provide tips on performing annual inspections and simple maintenance only. These pro-active steps should help mitigate unexpected component failures.
When it comes time to inspect your water heater, it is a good opportunity to check for water leaks around the appliance, as there are several valves and connections that could leak or fail. With the water pump on or city water connected, look for leaks, drips, standing water or stains around the water heater, especially the rear where the connections are. Before winterizing, inspect the P&T valve (shown at the left) for proper operation by ensuring that the lever can be easily lifted with no binding. Check for excessive dripping from the valve, although some intermittent dripping is normal. If the P&T valve drips continuously, have your water heater checked by an RV Repair center.
If your RV has winterization bypass valves installed, ensure they are in the proper orientation for the desired operational mode. For instance, if your unit is winterized, make sure the valves are fully in the “bypass” position. Similarly, for normal operation, ensure the valves are completely rotated to the appropriate orientation. It is common for RV owners to fire up their water heaters, only to have lukewarm or cold water at the taps. This is almost always caused by a failure to fully open/close the bypass valves after winterization.
Inspect the front of the water heater for debris, insects, spider webs, etc. As with other propane appliances, insects like to make a home in the various tubes and orifices of the water heater.
Ignite the gas burner to make sure the heater lights properly and stays lit. If not, you need to have the water heater serviced.
Finally, inspect the drain plug. If you have a water heater with a steel tank, such as a Suburban, the drain plug will be integrated with a sacrificial anode rod. This rod gets attacked by the ions in the water, which prevents them from attacking the steel tank. Remove the anode rod and replace it if it is more than 70% worn. When replacing the anode rod, be sure to use Teflon tape (PTFE) on the threads to help seal them and make the rod easier to remove next season. If you have a water heater with an aluminum tank, such as an Atwood, it will have a simple drain plug. It is extremely important that you do not replace the plastic plug with a metal one. Using a metal plug that is not the same metal or alloy as the tank plug threads can result in a condition known as Galvanic Corrosion. This causes the metal interface, in this case, the threads to corrode, resulting in the plug being extremely difficult to remove. Stick with the plastic plug, and if the wrench flats start to round, purchase a new water heater plug. Camco makes an inexpensive replacement.
About the Author:
Steve Froese, an avid RV owner, traveler, and Coach-Net member since 2013, is the principal of “A Word to the Wise Technical Communications”, a published RV author, certified RV technician, and licensed Professional Engineer. He frequently collaborates with the “RV Doctor”, Gary Bunzer, and has worked with the RVIA/RVDA as a technical and training writer and consultant. Professionally, he works as a quality engineer and musician. Watch for more of Steve’s work in upcoming Coach-Net publications.
Ray M. ~ “We’ve had a service plan with Coach-Net with 2 different RVs and we’re so glad we do. Twice in less than a month we’ve called with tire issues. Both times your representative helped us to get back on the road in a short amount of time. Thank you from two happy campers.”
In this second segment of a 
Locate the combustion chamber exhaust and intake tubes on the outside of the RV as shown in the photo. These can be identified as the familiar chrome double-tube fixture. On some furnaces, the tubes are integrated into an external furnace access panel and on others, the tube assembly is directly mounted to the RV sidewall. For the former configuration, the furnace components can be easily accessed by removing this exterior panel. For the latter, the components must be accessed from inside the RV by removing a panel from the furnace itself. Fortunately, there is no reason to access the furnace internals unless there is a component failure. If the combustion chamber develops a crack or hole, Carbon Monoxide (CO) can escape into the living areas of the coach instead of being vented to the outside through the exhaust port, which is an extremely dangerous situation. This is why it’s important to have a working CO detector in the coach.
RVs are tiny spaces. This fact can make it difficult to find places to store things. To add to the problem, there is very little drawer space, making it nearly impossible to find suitable places to keep smaller items and clothing.
Safety pins, paper clips, and rubber bands are all things you likely use from time to time. However, it is also likely that you often have trouble finding them when you need them most.
Equally as useful—but perhaps a bit more difficult to install—are the small under-table drawers found at many RV supply stores. These little drawers are typically made of plastic, are run on tracks, and are made to hold items such as remote controls, pens, and pads of paper. Because they are under the table, they are easy to reach but don’t get in the way of other activities.
Use Scotch Command Strips to attach plastic file holders to the insides of cabinet doors. These nifty little storage boxes can be used to hold papers, boxes of foil and baggies, or anything else that fits. Just be sure to keep it lightweight in case the Command Strips fail during a particularly bumpy ride.
Everyone is excited, we’re going CAMPING!!! Let’s get the rig ready for the big trip, bring it to the driveway, cool down the refrigerator and pack up all our stuff. We all do this, but most of us don’t know the precautions that should be taken before we just plug the unit in and stuff it full of goodies.
According to the American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA, and yes there is actually an association!), there are over 3,000 different mosquito species throughout the world, however, only 175 have been found in the United States currently.
Most mosquitoes can smell our breath! They have receptors that can detect Carbon Dioxide which we exhale as well as certain chemicals or smells in our sweet, skin lotion, and even perfume. Once they find where we are, they use heat sensors to find the warm areas of our skin caused by the best blood flow.
Most commercial mosquito sprays contain DEET and other chemicals which are still being researched continually for their effects on our skin and health in general. There are some brands that are DEET-free and use lemon eucalyptus such as the Cutter’s Brand plus the internet is full of recipes for homemade and natural deterrents, here are a few from 
Finally, you can try a commercial bug repellent machine. 
We are well into the summer travel season, and although my family and I enjoy RV travel year-round, summer is arguably the most enjoyable. Many RVers that are not fulltimers likely do most or all of their camping in the spring and summer months. Here are some tips and ideas for summer weather RVing.
Just to review, we started the 
Always wear your seatbelt and make sure it is adjusted properly! The seatbelt performs two functions in a motorhome – crash protection and stability in the seat. Most motorhome seats are fairly high pedestals and a quick lane change or dropping a front tire off the shoulder can create a momentum shift that can actually throw a driver off the seat!
If you missed 
The most important question to ask yourself when buying an RV is how much can you afford? Be sure to factor in any trade-in and consider whether you will be financing. If you are purchasing an RV from a private seller, a trade-in is likely not an option, and financing may not be either. Sit down with your partner and determine honestly how much you are able to spend on an RV. Consider buying a used RV, but if you do so, be sure to have it properly inspected by a person knowledgeable in RV inspection. Used RVs can be a real value, but not if there are serious deficiencies that are very expensive to repair, the most notable one being water damage.
Sticks-and-bricks homes can absorb some neglect over the years, but not RVs. Whether you own a motorhome or towable like I do, ignoring strange sounds, odd smells and unusual moisture can be dangerous or even deadly. Your goal as a proud RV owner is to solve minor problems before they become major RV catastrophes. Pay close attention to these lessons my spouse and I learned and you’ll keep your RV – and your life – out of harm’s way.
Last month when the weather became warm enough for us to run our RV air conditioner, I noticed an unusual electrical smell. Exhausted from running errands, we simply said “Well that’s weird.” Then we turned off the air conditioner, opened the windows and forgot about it. Little did we know the danger lurking inside our home.
One hot, sunny July afternoon as the Arizona sun baked my brain, I forgot to tell my handy husband about moisture in our RV basement. The next day, a neighbor knocked on our door and said “Hey there’s water coming out of your basement!” Jim dug around and noticed that a plumbing connector had loosened in transit. Eventually, the compartment dried out but sadly, my failure to point out the problem resulted in permanently damaged fiberglass siding.
Although there are several unique driving and towing tips when comparing driving a motorhome with a “toad” and driving a truck pulling a trailer, there are many generic tips and tricks that pertain to both. For the past 10 years I’ve conducted driving seminars throughout the country and not only do I get new owners or people looking to buy for the first time, but I am amazed at the number of seasoned veterans I get to attend the class. And they all say the same thing; “I learned some new things and did not realize some of the changes in road use laws”!
One of the most important components in driving is negotiating the right hand turn. It’s easier to make a left hand turn as you have open real estate, the right hand turn has the curb and obstacles in the way. So you will need to understand how your rig cuts with the back wheels and how your trailer tracks behind your truck. Typically bumper towed trailers track or follow the tow vehicle closer than 5th wheels and motorhomes. You need to know how far into the turn you have to go to safely make the corner. City streets are typically 12’ wide so find a parking lot at a large church during the week or a Junior College on the weekends and place cones at 12’ and then make a corner with more. Practice making the corner and soon you will find how far to go before starting the turn.