Wish I Knew…

RV service calls are expensive and many of them can be avoided. 

When repairing an RV, I often hear “Oops, wish I knew that!” when I explain the issue could have been avoided.  At risk of losing business, and keeping with my theme of “RVing should be fun, not frustrating”, here are 4 things you should do (or not do) to avoid calling a costly mobile technician:

• RV refrigerators have to be level. Most RV’s have an absorption style of refrigerator. They can run on either 120 volt AC and propane. They heat a chemical liquid in a tank that turns to gas, which rises to the upper back of your fridge. As that gas cools (and cools your food), it returns to a liquid flowing back to the tank through zig-zag tubing like a roller-coaster set at a slight slope of 7 degrees.  That’s not much of an angle, but if it were steeper, it wouldn’t cool your food.
  If your RV is not level, that liquid will not flow back to the tank and crystalize. That causes a blockage in that tube and your fridge no longer cools. 
  Here’s the “oops” moment…that blockage can not be un-blocked.  You will have to replace your cooling unit or refrigerator, which is very costly.
  
  When your RV fridge is on, keep it within 5 degrees of level. I suggest using a bubble level and if any part of that bubble touches the center, it’s within 5 degrees. 

• Always use a water pressure regulator when hooked up to “city water.” Water leaks in an RV are bad, and when fittings leak where you cannot see them, it’s devastating. Many of them are from fittings blowing out due to high pressure, which could be avoided. 
  RV manufacturers pressure test new RV plumbing systems at about 60 psi of water pressure. Many homes and most RV parks have pressures from 75 psi to over 100 psi.
  The Oops moment comes when you find out your RV has a slow drip or a full spray where you cannot see it until too late! Water damage can be costly or ruin your RV.
  Water pressure regulators are pre-set to around 55 psi, which is less than what your RV is rated to handle. They are inexpensive and you should always connect one on the end of your potable water hose. You can also get a type that you can adjust the pressure, but please remember, 60 psi is the “break and spray” threshold.

• Harming your battery. Most RV’s have one (or more) 12 volt “Marine Deep Cycle” battery. Deep cycle batteries are considered dead at about 50% of charge, and that’s when they should be re-charged back to full. To be more specific, they’re fully charged at 12.7 volts and are fully depleted at 11.6 volts (which is actually 50% of charge).  Yes, you read that right… 11.6 volts on a 12 volt battery is depleted. 
  The “Oops, wish I knew that” comes when the RV owner realizes they ran their battery below that 50% several times until it was totally dead and will no longer hold a full charge. Or, worse yet, the battery starts stinking like rotten eggs when being charged, which is an explosive gas and very dangerous to your health. That stink comes from your RV converter trying to charge a ruined battery with over 14 volts, boiling the acid in the battery.
  Most RV’s have a battery meter or lights to show their available power, when those lights get to half, it’s time to recharge them. 
  Also, a couple of times per year, check the water level of each cell. See the rectangular covers on the batteries in the photo below? if your has those, they can be popped off to check the water levels. As batteries re-charge, the fluids evaporate. Check to make sure water is equal in each cell, covering the lead plates, and to the bottom of the filler tube (you may need a flashlight). Use distilled or purified water.

• Your water pump switch doesn’t need to be on when your RV is hooked to city water. Your water pump is only used to pump water from your fresh water storage tank to your faucets and toilet when “boondocking”.  When you attach potable water hose to your house or RV park’s hydrant, the water pressure from that source causes the flow to your fixtures. You can turn off your water pump then.
  The “Oops, wish I knew that” comes when you have to replace a burned-out water pump.