Tips & Techniques for RV-ing

[snafu]

DH bought a new-to-us [smallish] 24 ft. type A Motorhome and I'm totally out of my comfort zone. Every little task takes an extra-ordinary amount of time. Every purchase seems overly expensive. I can't tell what is a Need and what is a Want.

Any techniques and tips would be appreciated.

[bjl584]

RVing is expensive. Bottom line. Class A are the ones that lok like a bus. Fuel economy stinks, and repairs are expensive when needed.

Motorhomes can be fun, but they can be, as I've said, expensive. The one that we used to have had a 75gallon gas tank and got 8mpg, Yikes!

That being said, it was nice to have a hotel on wheels. A hot shower, tv, a refrigerator, and a stove were all right there.

The trouble was finding places that were friendly to motorhomes to be able to park them and hook up to the utilities. If yours doesn't have a generator on-board, then I would get one. They make life so much easier especially when you can't find a place to hookup to power.

[josetann]

I'll respond to your PM here.

Yes, we had an RV (sold it before our move to Australia), but it was converted from a bookmobile. So a lot of what we did won't apply. I.e. I had a normal shower stall, regular bathroom sink, regular double kitchen sink (and full counter), full sized queen bed (not the smaller camper-sized one), regular fridge (large electric...many campers have one that'll run on electric or lpg), etc.

Use the wrong toilet paper, and you'll really regret it. But, you don't have to use the super expensive camping tp either (comes what, 2-4 rolls to a package and costs a pretty penny). I forget the brand, but I bought big boxes of generic 2-ply at Sam's Club and it worked great. There's a simple test. Get a small jug of water (an old jam bottle might do the trick). Put water in it (leave some room at the top for air, you want to really shake the water up good). Put a square of tp in it. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds or so. If the tp has broken down into many tiny pieces...you can use it in your camper! If it's still mostly intact...it means it'll take a long time to break down. In a home septic system (or if you're connected to the sewer), this isn't an issue. In a camper with a small waste tank that needs to be emptied every few days or so...that can be a huge issue. Also, if you, erm, need a lot to wipe...tear off no more than three sheets at a time (even if you need a gargantuum amount like 9...tear three squares three times...less likely to clog up 3 at a time vs 9). Yeah, sounds a bit disgusting, sorry...but better to think about this NOW, than once your drain hose is clogged and someone (generally the man, ugh) has to go unclog it.

If you have two waste tanks, when you're connected (semi)permanently, you can leave the grey water tank open (so it never fills up, as water goes in, it immediately goes out the drain hose). But do NOT leave the black tank open. The black tank is where toilet waste goes. That stuff needs to, well, go out all at once. Leave THAT tank open, and it'll work for a little bit...but I guarantee it'll clog. So just let it fill to at least 1/2 (I'd recommend 3/4) before you empty it (and remember to close the valve so it'll start filling back up).

I personally don't want any LPG stuff in my camper...seems all the horror stories involve gas somehow. Either gas heaters causing carbon monoxide poisoning, or a fire caused by the gas fridge, etc. But that's just me. Vast majority of people don't have issues. But if you do have gas, I'd pay particular attention to that part of the rv when you're doing your annual maintenance. A forgotten air filter = bit worse fuel economy; a malfunctioning gas appliance = not good.

Ours was really awesome for long road trips. Get tired, just pull over at a rest stop or Wal-Mart (check if that particular Wal-Mart allows RVs to overnight...most do, but not all), sleep, and take off the next morning when you're ready. Unlike in a car where you need to figure out where the motels are, stop, check-in, etc. And you may need to drive a bit further, or not as far, as you would have liked. Oh, and if you get stuck on the interstate in a freak snowstorm...just fire up the generator (hope you made sure you stayed above 1/2 tank of fuel) and relax in your warm rv, have a bite to eat, go to sleep in a nice warm bed, while everyone else is freezing and making long treks to pee.

It can be a money drain though, so do be careful. I did mine cheap, and it paid for itself in housing costs, so we came out ok.

[snafu]

Thanks for taking time to response. Being a novice is very frustrating!

What was your system/check-list for departure from campsite or W/Mart? Did you have a checklist/procedure for checking fluids and tire pressure with each fill? [I didn't know we need to check generator] What items were important to have? What was better left at home? How did you manage meals in such a confined space? Did you mostly use portable BBQ at camp sites? Did you primarily use convenience foods or continue cooking as though at home? DH & I disagree about how to manage laundry for example.

[josetann]

I didn't have a checklist. If I had, we wouldn't have had the medicine cabinet dump it's contents into the sink repeatedly (I had a rubber band that was fastened around it to keep it shut...but I'd keep forgetting).

I'd check tire pressures and fluids shortly before heading out for a big trip. Might check occasionally during the trip. Note...check the tire pressure when all tires are in the shade...ours had big bus tires and was around 100lbs of pressure...and if the sun was hitting one side those tires would register higher than the ones on the other side.

Ours was built to live in 24/7. We didn't cook as much as we would at home...but that seemed to be true whether we were in the RV or an apartment. Was able to cook minor things like cookies, cup cakes, and frozen pizzas in the microwave/convection oven. Had a separate dual hotplate to cook noodles, canned foods, etc.

For laundry, I had a washer/dryer installed where the passenger seat used to be. Was pretty small, couldn't wash a big comforter (ok, I wasn't supposed to...but I tried anyway). I learned that if you install a washer over carpet...it'll somehow get a piece of carpet pulled into the belt and rip it to shreds. Other than that, thing worked fine.

[JoeP]

We had a pop-up, but some of our experience may apply.

Try a dry-run in your yard or driveway for a couple nights. You'll be in a safe location where mistakes, omissions, and repairs can be addressed without the stress of being in a remote location.

Make checklists for pre-trip, setup, daily routines, and breakdown. This should include an inventory list, procedures in sequence, etc.

Keep a well stocked toolbox onboard, along with a good set of fuses.

Get to know how to service things on the road. For example, we had our inverter stop putting out DC voltage when connected to an AC hookup, so none of our lights and accessories worked. It wasn't until I got home and physically removed the AC breakers that I discovered a small glass "buss" fuse tucked deep inside the inverter chassis had blown. I replaced it for pennies, and made the next buyer aware of it when we sold the camper...this could have made the trip miserable if we were out for a week.

[josetann]

Excellent suggestions. A lot of which we did, but it's hard to remember when someone asks you.

Did a dry run for a night or two before we headed out, just to make sure we had everything we'd need.

I didn't keep any checklists, but I probably should have.

I kept various tools around, enough to do an oil change (on RV or our car), fix various things in the RV (i.e., around the house tools), etc.

In addition to some tools, I'd recommend fluids. Antifreeze, motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, etc. You don't have to keep a huge amount, just a quart of motor oil and transmission fluid, and a small bottle of brake fluid. If you're worried about kids/pets getting into antifreeze, just take a gallon of distilled water. It can be used in an emergency (and is just fine for occasional topping off, though you need to top-off with antifreeze just as often), and can also be used as drinking water (may be harmful to one's health long-term...but in an emergency, it'll do). Oh, and bring a big roll of duct tape. Maybe a tire repair kit (I'd go for the plug kit, something easy that you can do on the side of the road...just so you can drive to a place to do a proper repair), course you'd need an air compressor too. It's easy to go overboard, but you do want to be prepared for actual emergencies.

And yes, get manuals for as many appliances and what-not that you can (includes the inverter, heart system if you have one, fridge, etc.). Our inverter kept crapping out too (though luckily it was the reverse problem...didn't want to power stuff off battery, but would happily switch to electric when we were connected). Easy fix, just gave a big whack to the top until it came back to life (heh, I wouldn't actually recommend this "fix").