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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Indiana
Posts: 2,700
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The list on page 93 is pretty inclusive, and in my opinion, a bit over the top. It's a good check list, but the schedule is not realistic. It depends upon your use and how you use your camper (full time, boomdock, full hookup, how far you travel, and how often, and over what kind of roads).
Again, the list is good, it's the schedule.
For example, I use to drain my water heater when departing every campground and would fill it back up again when arriving at a new campground. But over time, and with different needs, that slowly change because we use the camper at home 24x7 when not on the road. Draining the water heater occurs, maybe 2 or 3 times a year now. But it does get run on both electric and/or gas, depending on our location and time of year.
The slides are swept off completely every time they are retracted. A soft RV brush on the end of a long painters wand works well, and a wet towel for cleaning off bird poo works well. While on the roof doing this, I always walk slowly and inspect the seams and the caulking, looking for cracks and if air conditioner water condensation is pooling in spots it should not. I added caulking over cracks only once in 4 years years now, but I check every time.
Tires are inspected every time I hit the road. Since I started carrying an air compressor with me, I always check the air pressure tire the night before we hit the road, and inspect the tires then.
I am very anal (pun intended) with the black and grey holding tanks. I go through some pain staking measures to keep them cleaned out. I do this every time I dump. The black tank is back-flushed with the grey water from the washing machine/shower/bathroom sink tank. And I use the black tank rinser as way to help drain off some water from the fresh water tank to lighten it when traveling.
Fresh water tank is very seldom sanitized (like never), as the tank is in use all the time. Some people sanitize once a year, some more often. Some never use their fresh water tank. Regardless of how you use your fresh water tank, you need to maintain good garden hoses and protect them. I have dedicated water hoses, I've been using for the last 10 or more years. They are not white, but they are good. And yes, I drink from them. I carry 200 feet of hose, and have one white hose with that in case someone needs help with water because they fell short on hose length. If you live in town and your house is on city water and you fill your water tank in your camper with water from there, you really do not need to sanitize as the city water will sanitize automatically for you. It's mind boggling what is added to city water to help keep it safe. it works in your camper too.
When we break camp, no matter if we are traveling from one campground directly to another campground, or if we do an overnight and move on the next morning, the interior of the camper is always cleaned up. Floors are always swept, counters always washed off, things always packed away. Entry steps cleaned off, all trash removed, toilet cleaned, sinks cleaned, no water standing in the sinks, a little in the bowl of the toilet to keep the seal wet. We clean every time.
Another thing I started doing just this year is inspecting the slide cables on all the slides after we get set up at our destination. That destination may be home, or it may be a campground. But I take the time to inspect them and check them for tightness. It's easy to do, just wiggle the cables on the sides of the slide and see how tight they are. I've had 4 broken slide cables. I replaced the last one myself. I don't want to do that again. So, now that I know what I'm doing, what to look for, and how to check them, I'm doing it every time we get set up, sometime during our stay.
Of course, you also want to wash the outside of your camper, check things like the propane tanks (you do that when you fill your propane), spray down the condenser coil on the air conditioners and get bugs and dirt off. Again, this depends how much and where you use your air conditioner (and if you feel motivated to do it).
There is no bullet proof way to prevent something from happening. The real secret is to get to know your camper as intimately as possible, and that takes time and using it in all types of conditions. Then when something doesn't seem quite right, you'll instinctively know something needs attention. Get it fixed immediately. A minor problem on an RV will quickly develop into a huge one if it's not taken care of immediately .
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2019 Montana High Country 375FL
2014 Chevy Duramax HD 6.6 - 3500 Diesel Dully Long bed Crew Cab
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