Fall into RV Maintenance - podcast 378
Fall into RV maintenance - RV podcast 378
This week on the StressLess Camping RV Podcast, we talk about Fall maintenance and shaking off a summer of fun. Whether you’re going to winterize and store your rig or just plan to keep on camping on, these easy tips are a great stop on your road to StressLess Camping.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
Our podcast episode on Winterizing your RV
We just got the Camco Tastepure XL water filter
We have an article about spring cleaning your RV
There’s a great article on RVTravel about cleaning the dirtiest places in your RV and many were surprises.
Our friends TNT RVing have a great video on regreasing your RV’s wheel bearings here.
Our RV of the week is the 2027 LaCrosse by Forest River 39FK
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
Our collection of resources for RVers for StressLess Camping
Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 378
Tony
This week on the Stressless Camping RV podcast, we talk about shaking off that summer of fun. Whether you're planning to winterize and store your rig, meh, or just plan on keeping on camping on, these tips will help you on your road to stressless camping. We have this week's podcast, along with the notes, tips, tricks, ideas, and destinations at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com. And of course, we always appreciate your likes, your shares, your comments.
Tony
For this episode, number 378, Stressless Camping, I'm Tony. And I'm Peggy. Okay, this week we have, uh, no Peggy. She got to go to a big family gathering, and there's a bunch of kids, and of course they made her sick, so you're stuck with just me. Uh, so, you know, if, if, if it's time to tune out, I don't I don't blame you. But seriously, uh, you know, we're two RV industry veterans who travel part-time in this Rockwood Mini Lite, looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips, tricks, and discounts.
Tony
And, well, this week's story of the week... Yes, what is it? We've been in Elkhart now for weeks and weeks and weeks, and I don't know why we've never written a list of fun things to do in Elkhart, 'cause there are quite a few, in addition to going to RV factories and watching them build RVs. I, I like that. This week we've got a list of some of our favorite places here in Elkhart, and, uh, if you're planning to come here, well, uh, hopefully that'll help you.
Tony
It's a great place to get your RV worked on. Uh, one of the great places, of course, that we always enjoy going to is ABC Upfitters, where they provide solar and lithium solutions for RVs of all sizes. This week it was really interesting 'cause we went there and they were modifying... So, they provide a lot of solar and lithium systems to various RV manufacturers. Uh, and they had a Class B there that had a factory-installed system, and the owner was like, "I, I wanna, I wanna super-duper this system." And so they were adding some other systems.
Tony
Neat thing is, the systems that they install, it's not just a one and done. You can go in and spec one heck of a system. We saw them putting a system in a fifth wheel that, oh my gosh, talk about we'll keep the lights on for you. But they also will upgrade or modify existing systems. So they're very flexible in that. And of course, they always do a super job. We- we've been very pleased with them. For example, a lot of people were getting those rail lights that we have on the back of our trailer.
Tony
That's a, a minor upfit, but one that they will do. So, if that's the kind of quality and reliability that you're looking for, well, you can just give our friends at ABC Upfitters a call at 574-333-3225. That's 574-333-3225. Course, we have them linked in the show notes at stresslesscamping.com, and below in, if you're watching on YouTube, and all of that. Well, we realize that some people are starting to put away their RVs for winter.
Tony
Boo. Um, but it's a reality, and other people, it's just been a summer of fun, so we thought we'd go over a few things that we've been doing the past little bit here on just kinda freshening up, spring cleaning our RV, and, and just getting it ready for either storing, which is sad, or more fun. So, the first thing we're gonna suggest is that you give the whole outside of the RV a nice good cleaning.
Tony
Uh, we have started using Liquishine from now Prime RV. Used to be called Liquified, and now the company is called Prime RV. But it's a waterless wash and wax. So we wash the outside of the RV, but they also have a roof cleaner, bug and tar remover. Um, so they have some really good products, and, and, you know, get the outside of the RV kinda all spiffed up and, and shiny and, and wash off the summer of fun.
Tony
Uh, in the past when we were home, we literally have taken everything out of the RV. And to be honest, it's a whole lot more stuff than you might imagine. It, it's amazing how much over a summer of travel you collect in your rig. And we've taken it all out, and, you know, the things like dishes and pots and pans and, uh, storage containers and all of that stuff, we've run through our dishwasher at home.
Tony
We don't have a dishwasher in our RV. Well, we do, it's either me or Peggy. Oh, wait, hang on. Peggy has a few things to say. Oh, blast, this is, this is funnier if it's, if it's done right. I usually am stuck washing the dishes, but Tony cooks. Oh, that's cool. I should've had more pictures pulled up. But anyway, yeah, we take everything out and we, we give it a good cleaning and all of that.
Tony
We did an article about spring cleaning, which would be also good for fall cleaning, which is what this is. So, there you go. Uh, also, the seals, if you have slide rooms, give them a good wash with a mild detergent Typically, that's all most RV companies recommend. So all that stuff they sell at the RV dealership on slide sealer and slide this and that, don't waste your money. Just get your dishwashing, you know, the, like Dawn or whatever, and wash off the seals, and typically that's all that's recommended.
Tony
In fact, a number of makers of these seals that go around the edge of the slide have said, "Don't use these wacky products that they sell at the store." It, it's amazing how much stuff you can buy at the store in the RV aisle that's really not good, so... Well, now that we're talking about seals, they're not just Easter Seals, but check all the seals around the edge of your camper. You're really supposed to do this every 90 days, uh, but things you might want to pay particular attention to is seals around windows, doors, baggage compartments, uh, but most of all the roof and anywhere where there's a hole, uh, like, you know, or if you screwed in solar panels or you have a vent or the air conditioner or anything like that, check all those seals.
Tony
Now, our trick for this, which we've shared before, is to, we put a camera on a pole and we walk around and we video, I'd say every 90 days, maybe more frequently, but we video our whole walk around. That does two things. One, we have a point of reference, so if we look at something and say, "Was that always like that?" We can go back to previous videos and there's a point of reference. As somebody who managed warranties, uh, you know that they, all RV companies say you have to inspect the seals every 90 days, or just about all RV companies.
Tony
Well, one of the things, if you come in and it's clear that that wasn't done, the, as a warranty manager, I would've said, "Can you prove it?" Well, if you have videos from every 90 days of your checking all the seals and stuff, then the answer is absolutely, and you can show them. So there's no reason not to do it, especially now with all the, you know, we all have smartphones with great cameras on 'em. Uh, just do a video every 90 days of the seals on the roof and the walls and all of that.
Tony
Good idea. Get yourself your vacuum. I like using my Shop-Vac, and I vacuum out the air conditioner, you know, the vents on the air conditioner. Uh, we've, when we had a propane gas absorption fridge, we'd open the compartments on the back and vacuum all that out to make sure it was clean. Uh, the water heater on ours, we can take the panel open and vacuum out the water heater. Uh, so things like that, just make sure, you know, dust and debris just build up and this is also something some, like birds and other things like to build nests in 'cause it's nice and warm.
Tony
And guess what? That could start a fire, so opening those compartment doors and just looking at the back of water heaters and gas absorption fridges and all of that is not a bad idea, and just make sure they look clean and don't have any debris, otherwise known as debris. I just saw a great article over on RV Travel about cleaning the dirtiest places in your RV, and it was a good reminder of some of the things you kinda don't think about. For example, the filter on the vent above your stove, that could go in, a lot of times, in the dishwasher.
Tony
The filter on your RV's air conditioner, that you just can rinse out. The tops of ceiling fans, the furnace if you have those furnace ducts in the floor, mini blinds, all of that. It was, there, I'll put a link, or Peggy will put a link in the show notes with that article. It was really good. Gail Marsh wrote it. She does a great job. Also, a water heater. It's not a hot water heater 'cause if you had hot water you wouldn't need a heater.
Tony
Anyway, uh, water heater. You, there are usually procedures for descaling your water heater, and if you have a tankless water heater, uh, there are specific steps to kinda clean that out. Uh, ours has the traditional gas/electric water heater. Thank you, Rockwood. And so that, what we do is we just pull out the anode rod and then we rinse out the water heater. We have a little tool we put in there, and we can run water through it and get all the scale out.
Tony
The anode rod is like a bar that screws into the water heater, and it is sacrificial so that the tank itself doesn't get eaten away by minerals and, and water and all of that. Kinda funny, it used to be they made stainless steel or aluminum tanks, and now it's just... Anyway, it's the way it is, right? So, uh, you can also use that to inspect your anode rod. Uh, another thing, and, you know, all of these water heaters, like if you have a tankless water heater, uh, there are steps for annual service or regular servicing it, so check that out.
Tony
Freshwater tank. We have found this Blue Technology product for, uh, sanitizing your freshwater tank. We really like it. So a lot of people have a bleach recommendation. We just do not like the smell of bleach. It's just both of us are no fans of bleach. But some people are, so there are bleach ways to clean out your freshwater tank. Uh, but we like this Blue Technology. We'll put a link to it in the show notes, too. Uh, but it's a- ...
Tony
tank sanitizing product, and this is a good chance to do that. Note also that bleach can be harsh on plastics, and guess what your freshwater tank is made out of? Plastic. If you have a towable fifth wheel travel trailer and you have not looked at the wheel bearings all year, perhaps now would be a good time to also have those serviced. And it's not a difficult procedure to do. It's just a good thing, they say every 7,500 miles or so, or once a year.
Tony
Now of course, a lot of these RVs have those easy lube fittings on the hub and they say, "Oh, you just have to put some new grease in." I don't like that because if you take off the wheel and clean out the old grease and put brand-new grease, that does a few things. One, you know the job is done properly. Two, it gives you a chance to look at the wires attached to the brakes, test the brakes, um, look at the brakes themselves to make sure they're not worn or damaged and that they're operating properly.
Tony
And I have to tell you, our friends Tony and Tina from TNT RV have the best darn video on how to service your wheel bearings, so we'll put a link to that in the show notes. But oh, To- Tony, they call him MacGyver 'cause he is the man of many inventions, and he did a super job on this video of how to grease the wheel bearings on a, uh... They have a Minolite also, but they're, it's pretty universal, so. Uh, and if you can do it yourself, of course you'll save money, and if not, we take it to a place that Dex- we have Dexter axles on our trailer.
Tony
We take our trailer to a place that Dexter recommends and have them do it. And it's about 350 bucks so, you know, DIY is cheaper. If you have flooded batteries, this is also a good time to check the water in those batteries. Uh, flooded batteries take distilled water. If you have lithium batteries, for example we do 'cause we went to ABC Upfitters, know that actually a lot of times the best course of action if you're storing the RV is to just charge the lithium batteries to full and then leave them that way over winter.
Tony
Lithium batteries can provide power usually below freezing, but cannot be charged below freezing, so that's something to know. But if you do have lithium batteries, uh, or any batteries, if, and you do plan to store the RV, do the battery disconnect. They all have a switch, but some of them, if you have solar panels, it'll still be providing power to the battery trying to charge it. Know if that's the case, and you might also figure how to disconnect the solar panels.
Tony
Here's one a lot of people don't think of. Exercise your emergency exit window. Uh, it's amazing how these things can get stuck, and that's the last thing you want if there is a reason to use your emergency exit. So every once in a while, just pop that window open. It's usually a window, right? Uh, and make sure you know how to do it without really thinking about it 'cause in, you know, in an emergency a lot of times you don't wanna have to figure out how to work this window or try to overcome the window if it's stuck.
Tony
So exercise your emergency exit window. And some of you, of course, on larger RVs may have a whole different emergency exit plan, so. It, this goes back to safety, which, uh, is something we like to talk about. Well, that's pretty much what we have on this. Uh, we do, if you are planning to winterize, we did a whole podcast episode with our friend Adam Douglas about how to winterize your RV, tips for winterizing.
Tony
We'll put a link to that in the show notes. Last week we were very privileged to introduce Prime RV, which is the new name for the company that does Liquified and Liquishine, and they also have a new sewer hose, and we've been using that sewer hose now, uh, this past week. I'm very pleased with the material they used for the connections, those bayonet fittings. They s- it seems smoother and easier to get on and off than some of what I've had in the past, and of course there's a spring in it and it's a better material.
Tony
Wait, we have a whole ad from last week about the new L- Prime RV sewer hose. You already think of Matt when you poop.
Peggy
And now you can think of Matt even longer.
Tony
20 feet longer.
Peggy
Da, da, da, da. Introducing the gravity hose kit from Prime RV, the new name for the company that brought you Liquified waste tank treatment.
Tony
And Liquishine RV cleaning product. Now brings you the gravity sewer hose kit.
Peggy
Doesn't crush.
Tony
Doesn't crack.
Peggy
Built to last. Easy in.
Tony
Easy out.
Peggy
Easy out.
Tony
And comes with a clear elbow.
Peggy
And using the link on our website, you can get a discount.
Tony
Get yours today. Stressless dumping.
Peggy
Stressless dumping.
Tony
Well, hopefully you're flushed with excitement about that. I couldn't help myself. I have no adult supervision. Uh, our destination this week is Elkhart, and I wrote an article about just stuff we enjoy doing here. And so we will put a link to that in the show notes, our, our Elkhart destination article. Also, oftentimes this is where we'll put a gadget, and next week's podcast is catch up on RV gadgets.
Tony
Uh, we have so many new gadgets that we've gotten that we just need to cover, so that's what next week's podcast is gonna be, RV gadget catch-up. We are able to cut the mustard on that. I also did have a chance to look at a huge destination trailer, the 2027 La Cross by Forest River, 39FK. It's a really well laid out destination trailer, and what a destination trailer is, or a park model, uh, well, a destination trailer, it's just a giant travel trailer that's more meant to go somewhere and stay rather than be pulled around, you know, as a vacation trailer.
Tony
So let's say you have an RV park that you really like and you wanna spend a season there, that's kinda what this is for. Or if it's legal where you live, if you have a piece of property and you want a tiny house on that property, and again, if it's legal, this would be a great... I mean, what a great thing, right? You go buy this trailer and you put it on the property, and bam, you're done. Furnished, everything's all set up, and no building permits, none of that nonsense.
Tony
So again, but that's not legal everywhere. Uh, this trailer had two bathrooms. Unfortunately, one of those had a plastic toilet. Come on, really? But a great kitchen and really nice living room, plenty of seating, king size bed, washer/dryer, hookups. Uh, it, it was really well-equipped and I like the way it was built, but not really expensive. I've seen these things for in the 60,000 range, kinda out on the open market.
Tony
I think the MSRP is in the mid-70s. I mean, you think, you get a fully furnished house for 65 grand, that's, that's a smoking deal. And this thing was really nice, big windows and all of that. So we'll put a link to the review of that too. Well, we're down just about to the end, to question of the week. Last week, uh, if you weren't here, we spoke with Duane Yoder from Rockwood Flagstaff, who shared some of the improvements that they have in store for 2027, which kinda got us wondering, well, what improvements would you like to see and suggest to the RV industry?
Tony
And as you know, we ask that question at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group, and that group just remains very friendly and not the typical nonsense you see on social media. Well, there's nonsense, but it's intentional nonsense. Uh, and a few of you had some great suggestions, like our friend Kathy, who said, "How about getting rid of those glass shower doors?" I wonder if we're gonna talk about that next week on our RV gadget catch-up.
Tony
Hmm. Anyway, uh, there's also a complaint about how badly dealerships treat you after the sale. You know, I don't know what to do about this. Uh, you know, we, we often recommend shop your RV dealership first, but a lot of people are going places and they're not being treated well, and it's unfortunate. There was also a discussion of appliances and how reliable and noisy some of them are, and there are alternatives, but they're expensive.
Tony
And you know the RV industry is gonna build what customers ask, and if customers say, "Well, that RV's too expensive," then you're gonna get the lower priced stuff. So, uh, shop wisely. Shop from the wheels up. And lastly, uh, Patrick, who also has one heck of a system from ABC Upfitters, he said, "How about increasing the cargo carrying capacity on regular RVs?" He said, "A, a good solar and lithium system can consume a nice chunk of your cargo carrying." Yeah, it, it, it, it can, especially his.
Tony
His is off the charts. So anyway, that's what we have. Um, this week we're gonna ask you, so what tips do you have as you come into the sometimes off-season of RVing? Uh, you can answer that or pose your own questions at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group.
Stacy Johnson
I have known Tony and Peggy for, I wanna say five-ish years. Um, she and Tony of Stressless Camping have become very good friends of ABC Upfitters, and personally to myself and my husband. My favorite memory, although there are many, is when Tony proposed... Or I'm sorry, when Peggy proposed to Tony at, uh, Sports Time right here down the road from our shop.
Stacy Johnson
Um, I actually recorded it, and it was a, a very fun time. Um, but there are, there are many, many memories I have, but I won't bore you with all of them. But we love Tony and Peggy. Love you guys. Bye.
Tony
Well, that's this week's episode. I wanted to let you all know while Peggy was away with family, I spent a lot of time redoing a lot of stresslesscamping.com, and there are new, easier ways, I hope, to find things on the website, videos and articles and all of that. So check it out, and please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions. I've already heard, "Go jump in the lake." It's a little cold for that outside right now.
Tony
Uh, but other than that, um, you know, we always appreciate your input. So let us know what you think. Of course, one way you'll always stay on top of what we're up to is to be on our weekly newsletter email list, and it's fun and free and, and spam-free, except if we go to the spam museum. So, uh, sign up for our weekly fun and friendly newsletter. You can do that just about from any page at stresslesscamping.com. Lastly, you can find the show notes with links and all of that at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com.
Tony
Know that this is episode 378 on the podcast page. And with that, thank you for hanging out with me. I know we all miss Peggy. Hang on. Let's, let's bring her back here. "Yeah, I miss you too." We all miss Peggy, but we appreciate you so much. Have a great week, and most of all, stressless camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next stressless camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure, and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.
