These tips are from recent experience and I will definitely recount the incidents with each! There are so many different tips and tricks of the trade, these are some that we have experienced lately. We also publish a post early in our travel which you can read here describing the top 3 questions new campers have!

Tip #1

Regular Maintenance is constant!!! This is one of the key tips. Whether it is checking tread depth, replacing tires, replacing bearings, checking brakes, getting brakes repaired (see a trend, think something might have happened?) We actually had checking our bearings scheduled last summer. When I was looking at the entire system, I noticed the tread depth was not where I wanted it. Then while I had the tires off to replace them, I had the tech look at the brakes. Dang Camping World never replaced the temporary brakes and temporary hub grease (it is a different color and only good for about 1k miles). So all of that was replaced.

We also took time to clean the roof of the trailer. Man it was a mess. This gives you the opportunity to look for potential cracks, separating seals and just a general overview of what is going on up there. Safety tip (this one is for free), even if it says walkable roof – 250lbs of greatness makes it make weird sounds and it gives quit a bit. Luckily I have 2 qualified workers that weigh in less that 120 lbs and as a bonus, I ran the hose.

Water pressure is one of the most important tips!

Ensuring your water pressure is regulated is one of the earliest tips most RV campers learn. However; what pressure do you need? Well, most of the time, blogs and manufacturers alike state 40 PSI is just fine and dandy, with some advocating even higher (I have seen as high as 60PSI listed!) We have kept ours at 40PSI and it has seemed to work well. This is a Forest River Wildwood *Extra* X-lite (did some remods, check it out here!) and seems to have been constructed by blindfolded monkeys at times.

While sitting outside, enjoying a rock tumbler of whisky, smoking a cigar and watching nature unfold – as one does – I noticed a dripping sound near me. I was a little irritated as it was interupting my introspective respite. We had also just finished cleaning the roof and clearing the gutters, so all AC condensation should have been dripping off the rear of the trailer. Closer inspection revealed it to be coming from the the bathroom sink!

Check everything!

Which brings me to this all important of tips. CHECK EVERYTHING. Of course, the Tim the Tool Man Taylor in me went directly to assessing the situation, researching tools I needed to purchase and how it was supposed to be connected so it did not leak. These are PEX lines with crimped connections. I was up and over $60 in tools and parts when I brought the “solution” to my wife.

Then my wife asked me a question that made my blood run cold. “What else is leaking, is there a problem anywhere else”. A frantic check of the entire trailer calmed me down. No other leaks. That caused me to wonder, “why would she ask that?” so I said to her “Why would you ask that?” She went on to list all of the other water leaks we had experienced occassionally in the past.

Then I wondered, what would happen if I turned the pressure down 5 PSI. Folks. Our trailer does not like 40PSI, it only likes 35PSI and probably Evian water, but it is not getting that. No more leaks, anywhere, for the last 6 months!

#2 Tips of wonder – Clean your AC regularly

Our AC decided we needed a rain forest inside our Forest River (see what I did there?). Water gushed out of the AC unit into the kitche/dining room/living room area the minute the compressor shut off. We were seeing dollar signs. BUT, before I rushed out to get an RV repair man scheduled, we decided to try and tackle it ourselves.

My wife, Ash, had read some tips on AC maintenance and remembered the condensation drip pan sometimes gets plugged with debris and needs cleaned. Up my < 120 lb workers went!

It turns out there was styrofoam blocking two of the 4 drip points and some left over oak tree debris in one of the others. Why styrofoam you ask? Because Camping World is terrible. End of story.

Ensure you clean the unit inside the living space frequently too – and remove the air screens and clean them with hot water. We try to do it weekly due to our dog situation (having them). Decided frequency for yourself!

Tip of all Tips! (#3) Wind can knock out your water heater’s propane pilot light!!!

No pictures for this one. We were too panicked. Our sensor inside went off. Of all of the misinstalled, broken or just forgotten things in this trailer – it has consistently been a champ. It alerted us to CO2 and Propane. DANG! Not something you can just decide not to pay attention to. We shut off all propane, opened the windows, aired everything out and then started restarting everything one item at a time.

We determined it was when the water heater was turned on. Our trailer has an indicator light that alerts us when the pilot is lit and that everything is working properly. It functioned, we heard the water heater turn on. About 5 minutes later, alarm and panick all around. We were in Oklahoma in the late fall. Constant straight line wind speeds of over 30 mph. Our exhaust vent and water heater were facing almost directly into the wind.

Long story short, after much testing and checking we determined it was the water heater. No more alarms and everything is good.

#4 for Tips to live by – getting mail

Ok, I really thought this was going to be easier. Being a full time camper I thought that I could just have stuff delivered to the campground I was staying at. When we stay long term, i.e. months at time this seems to be an easy solution. When we travel, which is frequently, and stay less than a month, aslo frequent (2 to 3 weeks is our usual) this becomes much more problematic. Add in that we usually go to COE, State and National Parks = no mail!

I discovered Post Offices accept something called “General Delivery“. This is when it gets sent to the Post Office with your name on it. Bam! Mail delivered. This was awesome and easy to do. Check out the hyperlink if you are interested. My only caution is do not do it often at the same location and carefully time things. You do not want to order something and have it arrive 2 days after you leave!

I made an order with a company I love, they have several items I use frequently (non-paid plug here) and was out of most of them. Firey Adventures LLC hooked me up. Ordering was painless, they put the address on there as I specifically asked in accordance with the General Delivery instructions from the USPS and I picked it up when it arrived by walking into the Post Office, asking for it from a clerk and showing my ID. Easy Peasy.

#5 – you do not want to miss this one!

This is one of those tips that is hard for me to write but it is critical. Do not, and I mean Do not, under any circumstances, cut any water lines unless you really REALLY know what you are doing.

Our fresh water tank start filling up while connected to city water about 4 weeks ago. We did some research and found that our set up is ridiculous (of course) and all water goes through our pump. It is equipped with a valve that senses water pressure and diverts to either city water or the fresh water tank. It can get dirty with minerals from water, get stuck or just plain stop working.

First solution

We back flushed it from the fresh tank as suggested in several forums and it seemed to have worked. Then, like the dramatic diva this trailer is, water came gushing out from the fresh water tank 2 weeks ago. Sigh.

New pumps are several hundred dollars, so I decided to put a stop ball valve inline with the fresh water tank. So I did some research, checked the schematics of the pump, noted which line was marked “Fresh water” and went to buy parts. If you do not personally know me, sometimes I jump before I look.

I went to the RV supply store in Roswell NM, Main Trailer Sales. Extremely helpful, asked if I had Pex lines. I confidently mumbled something and they started handing me parts. Spoiler alert, it is braided PVC supply line, PEX part will not work or even try to work.

I got back, turned off the water supply, drained the lines and crawled under my sink where the pump is located. I proceeded to cut the line the schematics label “Fresh Water”. THAT IS THE SUPPLY LINE. It took 2 days to figure that out.

Make the water stop!!!

I tried putting the PEX materials in and cinching them down as tight as I could. I went to Home Depot several times. Nothing was working. Like it or not, we were now dry camping. I could not even use the pump for teh fresh water tank because the water came through the same line!

We tried plumbers glue specifically made for braided PVC and CPVC, nope. We tried compression fittings made for braided PVC, nope. Then I broke down and we started calling for help. Unfortunately, the soonest anyone could reach us was 3 weeks and we would be halfway to California by then.

I laid in bed, tossing and turning, trying to figure out how to fix my disasterous mistake. I was flipping information over in my head, every single thing I had read about braided PVC and it’s uses. Then I remembered two things. #1) The closest we had to a leak free connection was using the screw threaded typ metal compression bands and #2) Braided PVC was used a lot for setting up water systems to ensure livestock were watered. Tractor Supply here we come!

We purchased 3 different potential solutions specifically made for horse water systems using braided PVC. The second attempt worked like a charm! Not a single leak over the last week. Still have the fresh water tank issue, but one disaster at a time!

Hope this helps!

These are a brief summary of what we think is important to know, now. Things always change and we will be sure to continue adding information! Be sure to check out some of our adventures in our archive and see you next time!