As a continuation of my post last week, here are some additional tips and tricks that you can use after an RV trip to keep your rig looking its best and to maximize your efficiency.
- If you cover your RV, protect the cover from sharp corners by adding suitable padding at those places. Tighten the cover tie-downs snugly with rope but so as not to put excessive strain on the tie-down eyelets, which will cause them to tear away from the materials around them.
- Every so often disconnect the battery terminals and clean them. Corroded battery terminals can keep your engine from starting or operating properly.
- Sometime on the trip home, it’s time to start your “To Do” list of tasks for when you get home. The list will keep you focused and prevent you from trying to do everything at once. At the top of the list should come calls to friends and family to let them know you are home safely. The laundry will wait.
- Unloading the RV will be easier if you organize as much as possible before you get home. The last morning on the road, change the sheets on the bed and gather towels and other laundry in a big plastic trash bag or pillow case. Fill plastic grocery bags or tote bags with newspapers, trip brochures, cosmetics, and audiotapes so these and other loose items will be ready to carry into the house.
- Sometimes after a long period of disuse, and RV’s furnace won’t start because its microprocessor board needs to be reset. Try removing the fuse for the microprocessor board for at least 60 seconds and then reinserting it. The location of the fuse panel varies with each manufacturer. It could be either inside the vehicle or outside in a compartment. If you can’t find your fuse panel, ask a knowledgeable friend or your RV dealer. The most common types of fuses are cartridge, blade and miniblade styles.
- If you haven’t used your motorhome for a month or so, take it out for a drive so the fluid and lubricating systems reach their normal operating parameters as shown in the owner’s manual.
- To keep the refrigerator smelling clean while the RV is not being used, fill an old stocking with charcoal and leave it in the unit. Put one in the freezer compartment too.
Enjoy your RVing!
Bernice