Motorhome

The roller bar in the slide topper had seized up (the below-freezing temps and wind chill throughout the travel day probably contributed) and it was preventing the slide from extending until the roller bar broke free on one side of the housing.

Since our motorhome has a few different heating options for the interior, we’ve often wondered which cost less? Propane vs electric in an RV. The short answer is propane will always be the cheapest option, unless you are staying somewhere with un-metered electricity in which case use all the electric devices you can since it’s already included in the cost of your stay!

Here are the parts needed and exact steps to perform the water heater flush for a Suburban 12 gallon in a 2014 Tiffin Phaeton.

How to keep RV holding tanks from freezing and how to keep RV pipes from freezing while camping. Use a combination of steps: 1) Thermostat controlled personal space heater in the wet bay, 2) Keep fresh water tank as full as possible, 3) Add antifreeze as necessary to grey and black tanks, 4) Add a heated water hose, 5) Keep sewer hose elevated

To keep your RV warm in winter, you can use several different heat sources depending on whether you are plugged into shore power or boondocking using your generator. Our sources include: 1) Two built-in furnaces, 2) Two heat pumps in the roof AC units, 3) Built-in electric fireplace, 4) Presto heat dish, 5) Mr. Heater Buddy portable propane heater, 6) Heated mattress pad, 7) Wall Outlet Electric Heater.

We rely on the battery bank when we are not plugged into shore power or the generator. After our analysis detailed in our How long will RV battery last boondocking? article, we decided it was time for an RV battery replacement, to add RV battery monitor, and upgrade inverter remote control.

The existing flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries in our coach are original and just over six years old, bulging quite a bit, and barely run our typical load overnight before being more than 50% discharged (which isn’t great for FLA batteries). That makes boondocking a bit of a challenge since it usually means running the generator a couple hours in the morning and evening. It was time to figure out how long will battery last dry camping.

We have had our motorhome for over a year so it was time to start a new repair log. Our year two repair log includes the 60K Freightliner chassis service, front A/C blower fan replacement, flaky paint on rain gutters, and additional fixes for issues detailed in our Repair Log Year 1 article.

We share details regarding our RV repairs and maintenance for year one including chassis service, slide toppers, water pump, rear A/C, rear electric slide, tow dolly, and other RV repairs.