If you’re like most RV owners, your motorhome or travel trailer is your pride and joy. It’s the key that unlocks your access to adventure your home away from home that makes every destination feel comfortable and just familiar enough to get you amped up to explore.
But anyone who’s been on the road for longer than a couple of days knows that RV issues are pretty much unavoidable. After all, it’s a house that movies. Technology is pretty amazing, but we’re talking about a big, heavy vehicle with some super complicated systems. A few things are bound to go wrong from time to time!
What’s worse, RV repair and maintenance costs aren’t exactly known for their affordability. Even when you’re working with a trustworthy mechanic, you can easily find yourself taking out a second mortgage to foot the cost of relatively simple repairs.
RV Roof Repair & Roof Leaks
When it comes to RVing, water leaks aren’t just a scary possibility: they’re pretty much inevitable. Even the toughest modern-day motorhome finishes will eventually cave to the pressures of the elements. Sealants harden and crack with age and motion, no matter how high-tech and well-made they may be.
And unfortunately, this ever-present bogeyman can wreak some serious havoc on your camper. Water damage does more than just stain your interior. It can also damage delicate moving parts, rust out metal fixtures, and even cause dangerous short-circuiting in your RV’s internal electrical system.
RV Electrical Issues
After all, with other DIY repairs, you run the risk of causing damage to your rig. But with electrical DIY repairs, you run the risk of causing yourself serious damage — i.e. injury or even death.
But there are certain minor motorhome and travel trailer electrical problems that the average around-the-house handyman can take care of without serious intervention. For instance, occasionally you’ll find the switches or push-buttons in your circuit breaker panel stop functioning. Replacing these is a very minor procedure.
The same goes for the outlets you find throughout your RV’s interior. If you find one malfunctioning, it may be due to the common use of the clip-together style of receptacle by RV manufacturers. These receptacles cut through wires’ insulation, clipping to them in order to make contact and run an electrical current. They’re simple, and thus a money saver… but they’re also prone to becoming lose (and, thus, not working). You can easily replace them with the same type of outlet boxes you use at home, which will solve the issue and create a more reliable source of power.
RVers also frequently replace their RV batteries, especially when they’re planning to upgrade from a generator to a solar panel system. Lithium batteries are lighter, longer-lasting, and don’t require anywhere near as much maintenance. They’re also relatively simple to install and set up yourself, though you’ll also need an RV power inverter and a few other components.
RV Plumbing Issues
Fortunately, many RV plumbing issues are simple enough to troubleshoot yourself. For example, a common cause of RV toilet clogs and backups is simple user error: too much toilet paper or too little water can keep your camper potty from proper flushing. Making sure everyone knows the right way to “go” will go a long way toward avoiding any problems.
Another common error is to leave the black water drain pipe open constantly if you’re hooked up to a sewer connection. But doing so is a bad move: it will allow all the liquid waste to drain first, which can lead to a sticky, sludgy clog in your holding tank or sewer drain pipe — the type of clog you do not want to have to deal with on your vacation. (Or ever.)
If you’ve already got a clog, the only thing to do is to snake the line, which is usually best done from the RV’s exterior (through the black tank drainage valve) as opposed to from inside through the commode itself. Depending on the severity of the clog, some campers have also reported success using plain old hot water. However, keep in mind that you may not have the skills (or the equipment) to perform this part yourself. Commercially-available products like Draino are unlikely to help and can also have negative interactions with RV toilet chemicals.
In some cases, the clog will be bad enough that you’ll need to get professional help regardless of your at-home plumbing abilities.
RV Air Conditioner & HVAC
There’s nothing worse than coming home from a long day of sweaty adventures looking forward to a nice, cool couch retreat… only to discover the “cool” part isn’t happening. Fortunately, however, there are lots of RV HVAC (heating/ventilation/air conditioning) repairs you can do without calling a professional RV AC service.
For instance, if your air conditioning unit is running, but you notice the air coming out of the vents isn’t exactly cool, the problem could be as simple as having dirty RV air vent filters — which means the solution could be as simple and cheap as replacing them. (You should perform this step as a preventative maintenance routine on a regular basis, anyway, so you might as well keep a stock of them on board both for those periodic changes and in case this happens.)
Another common RV AC issue has nothing to do with the AC unit itself — rather, it could be that your thermostat is busted, and not properly communicating with your air conditioning unit!
Replacing an RV AC thermostat is a relatively simple operation that can be performed with common hand tools. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to upgrade from analog to digital if you’re in an older RV model.
Article By: Article Originally Appeared On: https://rvshare.com/blog/rv-maintenance-problems/
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