Regular Maintenance

[monik7]

My RV is 1 year old. I got it new in May 2012. I just had the 10,000-mile service but that was just under the hood. I was hoping some of you experienced ladies would be able to tell me the types of things you do yourself or have someone else do on a regular basis - i.e., monthly, semi-annually, annually. Thanks for your help.
Sandi

[avalen]

used to check my batteries every month, in the desert its important as the heat of summer really zaps them and I always
had to add a little distilled water to one or two of the cells.

[snowball]

since being here I've had intermittent electrical outages...at first thought it was that the electricity had gone out ...but then realized that hadn't been it...most of the time it came back on but there was a few times it didn't but with my solar panels I just turned on the inverter so that I was drawing from the fully charged batteries...then came the day it didn't come back on till of coarse when the dd checked and she said it was on...did some reading in the manual to see what to look for and then it went out again so son in law checked around which he'd done prior and always had power out to the trailer (my thought was that it was the housing where I was plugged into but nope not that!) so in my reading and what son in law determined was the the connection needs to be cleaned the prongs I think on the power cord...so I got some emery paper for it be cleaned with but hasn't gone out again and it's been a week I think oh well I got the stuff to clean it
so that is something to put on that list
I would think tires would be one thing to check of course you check the pressure but I'm talking visual see if there is worn areas ect
I'm sure that we will all come up with more
sheila

[Bethers]

Monthly -
Check levels in batteries if you have that type battery
Check roof (if traveling do this as necessary - like when parked under trees, etc)
Check all other areas with seams or caulk
Check tire pressure (if traveling might want to do this more often)
Run engine if the RV is sitting.
Move rv if it is sitting (don't let it sit on the tires in the same place for months at a time - can cause tire problems
Run generator for 2 hours under a load

Annually I make sure the engine, brakes, etc get checked - whatever is necessary

I doubt I got everything here - but it's a general list :O)

[monik7]

I guess I'm doing OK so far as I've done all the things mentioned. Is there any schedule for having systems checked - like generator, heating and A/C, refrigerator, water heater, etc.? Just wondering because when I was at CW once, I saw a big board with some of these listed and they were pretty expensive to have done. I would imagine at some point things have to be checked and serviced, but I'm trying to figure out how often.
Sandi

[avalen]

ac should be serviced yearly as well as the heater. With the ac, ya want to make sure the coils are clean of debris. I can
remember climbing on my roof and pulling the shroud off my ac and doing that. (its no different than a s & b house) Usually
done at the beginning of the season as well as the heater. Pull the outside cover off and make sure there is no debris in there
and the vents don't have spiderwebs. If its not broke, don't fix it routine maintenance hopefully will prevent it from
getting broke, at least thats the plan.
Fridge....open the panel outside and if you ever see any yellow powder in there, turn it off! I've been told this is the freon
leak and is usually what causes those fires ya hear about on motorhomes that start in the fridge area.
I used to replace my waterfilter every 3 months, but of course that was when I was fulltiming it and when I did that I also
replace those little cone shaped screens in the water inlet connection. Those little screens are so cheap its ridiculous not
to carry a bunch in the toolbox tray.
The hot water heater ....... if yours uses an anode rod, thats good to replace too when it needs it. I remember Beth talked
about that years ago. I'll have to do some research on that to refresh my memory.

[Azusateach]

The water heater is a biggie. As Ava mentioned, if you've got an anode rod and have used your rig often, chances are that you need to replace it AND flush your hot water tank out. It's an easy, but wet-messy job.

To flush your tank you'll need an attachment to your hose -- kind of like a super-sized water pic. You'll be surprised at how much sediment can accumulate in the bottom of the tank, and it's really important to get as much as possible out of the bottom of the tank. Actually, this goes for your hot water tank at home, too (and the "pic" can be used to clean it as well).

If you choose to have a dealer do it ask them how they clean them out. Many, many dealers simply drain the tanks and replace the anodes without flushing out the tank. Not good.

Getting your roof checked is also a good thing. You can do that yourself if you feel comfortable enough climbing up and walking around on it. If you see something suspicious it would be good to have it patched/sealed.

Our rig is almost a year old and we're going to be doing the same things in another month or two. Always better do be proactive than reactive if possible.

Laura

[monik7]

How do I know if the water heater has an anode? Sorry, even after a year I'm still a newbie
Sandi

[WickedLady]

If the drain plug has a long rod on it that is your anode. I think it is the Suburban heaters that have it. The rod protects the tank from corrosion and eventually wears away and needs to be replaced.

[OregonLuvr]

When I had my yearly maintenance done I requested they change my anode rod....ha ha he told me I didnt have one but they flushed my tank and said I was good to go. I have an Atwood in my Winnebago.

karen

[avalen]

heres a good youtube on how to flush your water heater
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjEPy21nIrQ
to make it clear to all.....Suburban brand water heaters use an anode rod and Atwood brand does not.

[Bethers]

And flushing it is easy.

Most of the things CW wants big bucks for annual maintenance we can do for nothing or very few dollars. Easily.