Heat or Furnace
The Furnace fan won’t turn on:
Check the 12V power… do the ceiling lights work? Does the patio light work? If not, the problem may lie with the battery or converter and not necessarily the heater. If the lights do work but the heater is not getting power check the heater fuse (remove the heater faceplate/grate (by removing the two screws that hold the grate to the heater) and look for a red wire with a fuse holder in-line–check the fuse in the fuse holder).
When you know the heater is getting power but still won’t turn on, check the thermostat. Sometimes the slider that turns the heater off pushes the power contact clock-wise away from its correct position (instead of pushing the contact up and away from its “on position”).
In this case, the heater turns off as expected but the next time you try to turn the heater on, nothing happens.
The white triangular plastic (attached to the control slider) is touching the metal contact that turns the furnace on.
Hot Water
Most water heaters have separate thermostats for Electric and LP Gas modes and the two modes are pretty much independent of each other. If one does not work for some reason, usually the other will still be functional, so try switching it over and see if that works.
If all else fails you can always boil up some water on the stove for dishes or washing. That’s what I do because my hot water heater is broken and I need to replace it.
Air Conditioning
The air conditioner will only work if you have electricity hooked up, and not just any electricity you will need 30amp, some airconditioners will run with the normal 15amp but you won’t be able to turn anything else on at all. If you have a 4000 watt generator or above it should fine work while that’s running.
Electricity
Anything electrical is managed by the breaker panel so be sure to check there first and see if a breaker blew. As for tampering with the wires I would not recommend you try that unless you are well versed in electrical circuitry, especially if you have a brand new RV, mind you if it was brand new you would just take it to the dealer and they would fix it.
I don’t have that luxury as mine is an old RV, which also makes it easier to work on as there isn’t all that new fangled computer stuff in mine.
If it’s just a light that won’t turn on then make sure you check and see if it’s just the bulb that’s burnt out, you should always keep a supply of these handy.
Your Holding Tanks
The black tank is the toilet tank and you must keep an eye on this as if it gets overfull it will start coming back up into your toilet, which is never something you want to deal with or smell….yuck. If you are getting a really bad smell from your black tank, then:
- You didn’t put enough Toilet Deodorizer in it.
- It’s too full.
- You didn’t keep some water in the bowl, this will keep the fumes from coming back up into the cabin part of the RV.
Some RV builders like to bore BIG holes to put little pipes through. The 2″ vent pipe could be passing through a hole much larger out the top of the RV so nothing is preventing the sewer gas from rolling down the wide gap between roof and vent pipe, making for a swell stink entry into the coach. You can use caulk to fill in the gap around the vent pipe on the roof or you could stuff something in around the pipe if you didn’t have any caulking handy.
So here’s a few quick tips:
- Make sure your toilet seal does seal. Clean or replace as needed.
- Make sure your roof isn’t open to venting unwelcome odors into the coach. And make sure the vents aren’t clogged with bird’s nests or other debris.
- Don’t dump your tank unless it’s nearly full. You need a full “head” of pressure to flush them nasty solids away. Waiting until the tank is at least three-quarters full is a good rule of thumb.
Dumping Tanks
This is the nasty part of RVing, but it has to be done and done properly. So find your local Dumping Station and pull up along side until your dump pipe is in line with the hole. Put on your gloves, get out your trusty sewer hose and hook it up to the RV and put the other end down into the dump station hole make sure it’s in the hole as the force of the rush could send it scooting out and that would not be in your best interest.
Always open the Black Tank first and let it totally drain, depending on whether you have a backflush system or not, this would be the time to hook the city water up to the backflush and flush out the black tank and let it run until its empty again, Close the black tank valve and open the gray tank valve and let it all out.
Once finished draining then close all valves, undo sewer hose from fitting on dump pipe and using the water hose at the dumpstation thoroughly rinse out your sewer hose and spray down the concrete around the dump hole and shut its little lid. And your done !! Yahooo its over!! Until next time.
Cleaning up for Parking
Ok, you made it home so now its time to clean up the RV and get it ready for the next trip.
Clean out the fridge as you will be turning it off, wipe it down and leave the door ajar a little.
Clean up the bathroom area and make sure you leave a little water in the toilet bowl so none of those lovely smells leach out into the cabin while its parked.
Turn off the propane.
Winterizing
Ok, last but not least you have found where you are going to store your RV for the winter, and now it needs to be readied for the cold. You can pay the RV dealership to do this $$$$ or you can do it yourself, its quite simple.
Everything must come out.
Remove all food, even nonperishables. The inside of a closed-up RV can get very hot or cold, depending on the season, and items can surely spoil, become stale, attract bugs, and so on. Also, anything canned or bottled could potentially freeze and burst and that’s not something you want to return to next season.
Remove clothes, blankets, and linens for laundering. If you are storing the RV away from home then I would suggest you take out all valuables ie: TVs, tablets, etc.
Give it a good cleaning—inside and out—because dirt will stain if left on for too long.
The Plumbing
Empty both the fresh and wastewater tanks at a nearby dump station or during the last campout of the year. You won’t get out every drop, but it’s a good place to start.
Unlatch tank drains to purge any remaining fluids and turn on faucets and the shower to clear the lines as much as possible. Don’t forget any water left in the toilet and the water heater.
Give the holding tanks a thorough scrub-down. Close any opened faucets and drain plugs before beginning. A water wand (an attachment that delivers high-volume water pressure) is best for rinsing black water tanks, allowing users to access the inner reaches of the tank via the toilet and blast tough nooks free of any accumulated materials.
Gray and Fresh Water Tanks
Gray and fresh water tanks require a more subtle approach, because there’s no straight shot inside like most black water models.
Although a few cleaning agents can do the job (most RV supply stores are full of remedies), it’s just as easy to fill the emptied tank with fresh water, add some baking soda or bleach (1 cup per 15 gallons of water), and drive down the bumpiest road in town for a few miles.
The sloshing motion will coat the tank walls and do the dirty work for you. When done, drain the tanks completely, and close all water escape points (faucets, valves, and so on) before signing off on the plumbing.
Now, you can take it and have the dealership fully winterize it, if it’s a brand new RV then I would suggest that’s what you do as it will be warrantied when they do it.
Old Ones
But if its an old girl like mine then follow the next few steps:
Drain the water heater this is done on the outside of the RV. Locate the water heater drain white plastic plug (Atwood wrench size 15/16 or 7/8) or Anode (Suburban wrench size 1 1/16) and remove it to drain the water.
Open all hot and cold faucets; don’t forget the toilet valve and outside shower.
Locate and open the low point drain lines, these should be found on the outside of the RV at the back on maybe on the side by the dumping valve, some RVs, like mine, don’t have these at all. Therefore my lowest drain point is my bathtub. There will be one for the hot and cold water lines. Using the water pump will help force water out, but turn it off as soon as the system drained.
Recap all drains and close all faucets.
By-passing water heater
By-pass the water heater, there should be a inline switch that you can turn near the hot water tank, even my old gal has this. If you do not have a by-pass the water heater will fill up with antifreeze before it goes through the water lines, wasting six gallons of antifreeze, so I would suggest you install a bypass prior to winterizing. Pretty easy, just go buy one at your local RV store and it will have the instructions with it.
Install a water pump converter kit, or disconnect the inlet side of the water pump (the line coming from the fresh water holding tank). Connect a piece of clear tubing, you can buy this at the RV store for about $3.00, to the inlet side of the pump and put the other end into a one gallon container of non-toxic RV antifreeze.
Pressurize the system
Turn the water pump on and pressurize the system. Starting with the closest faucet, slowly open the hot and then cold valves until antifreeze appears, its pink, then shut the faucet and move onto the next faucet. Replace the antifreeze container as required.
Repeat this process on all faucets from the closest to the farthest away. Don’t forget the outside shower, if equipped.
Flush the toilet until antifreeze appears.
Turn the water pump off and open a faucet to release the pressure. Go outside to the city water inlet. Remove the small screen over the inlet and push in on the valve with a small screwdriver until you see antifreeze. Replace the screen.
Pour a cupful of antifreeze down each drain. Pour a couple of cups in the toilet and flush into the holding tank.
If your water heater has an electric heating element make sure you turned it off. This will protect the element if the unit is plugged in while being stored.
Make sure you closed all the faucets.
Consult your owner manuals for winterizing icemakers and washing machines.