RV Doctor - Is There An Easy Way to Access RV’s Water Lines?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminDear RV Doctor, I have a water leak that looks like it is coming from under the tub when I turned the hot water tank bypass off. Is there an easy way to access the water lines without destroying the inside of the bathroom? I think the damage is caused from mice chewing a hole in the water line. Please help! - Joe Linneman, (Wentzville, MO) Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

Safe Holiday Travel Tips

Forty thousand people in the United States die each year on the road! With the peak RV travel season here I thought this would be a good time to discuss getting to your RV travel destination safely. Getting there can be half the fun, as the saying goes, if you take a few precautions to make your trip safe. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

The Low-Down on Drinking Water Filters

As an RVer, you can come across many different water sources in your travels. Most campgrounds and RV parks take care to ensure their water supply is free of contaminants by pre-filtering the water before it arrives at your RV. Often though, the water doesn’t taste very good either because it was improperly filtered or not filtered at all. Or maybe the chlorine levels are so high to prevent bacterial growth that you think you’re drinking pool water. There are several drinking water filter solutions you can easily modify your RV with to get the best tasting water possible. So here is the low-down on various types of filtration systems available. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

RV Doctor - Trouble-Shooting an Emergency Start Switch

Dear RV Doc, My emergency start switch is not working on my Fleetwood motorhome. Can you provide trouble shooting steps? - Ron Berube, (Endicott, NY) Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

VIDEO: Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy - Xantrex PROwatt SW Inverter Series

Starting my second year as a full time RVer and boondocker, I needed to find a better way of accessing power. In that I’ve used my six solar panels and wind turbine to capture those natural enegies and store it in my six 100 AMP Kinetik Power Cells, I needed to learn how to let the genie out of the bottle. In searching for an affordable soultion to supply portable AC power for all my electric devices including video and still cameras, computers, cellphones, Duracell backup batteries and iPods, I turned to Xantrex. I first learned of Xantrex when I installed the RS3000 Sine Wave Inverter/Charger and C Series Charge Controller on the Green RV. In this video you will learn about the new Xantrex PROwatt SW Sine-Wave Inverter Series. _______ To learn more about Conservation thru Exploration and Greening your RV, visit BrianBrawdy.com Tell a Friend Read More →

Extended-Stay Maintenance Checks

Normally when you plan a trip in your RV you conduct some type of pre-trip checks to make sure the RV is properly prepared for travel. When it’s time to leave the campground you perform these checks again for the return trip. But what happens when you find that perfect campground or RV Park and stay put for extended periods of time? Do you conduct routine maintenance checks on the RV to make sure it is in a safe and operable condition while it’s parked? Most likely you do, but if not here are some extended-stay maintenance checks to consider performing. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

New Converter and Charge Wizard upgrade!

Progressive Dynamics Converter 9160 and Charge Wizard Project After getting tired of adding water to my batteries and them never getting an actual full charge I decided on a change. After research I found that many 5′ers and travel trailers come with a “less expensive” basic converters. Many do not manage the charge to your batteries well in that when you are plugged in they constantly charge your batteries and never give them an actual full charge. In addition the constant charge means you have to often check and ad water to the batteries. With the Progressive Dynamics 9160 Converter combined with the Charge Wizard you get great DC power management along with proper battery charging and maintenance resulting in a managed charge to your batteries and less water loss. The install went pretty smooth and here is a link on such a project. A must see! The Charge Wizard is fantastic and you can read more on it here. Below are some pics of what I bought and installed. The new reconditioned converter and new charge Wizard were approx. $225 delivered to my door. This along with 2 new Trojan SCS 150 batteries I have plenty of power (over 200 amp hours) and my batteries are well maintained. Batteries were approx. $120 each. The batteries are fully charged in about 2 hours with my Honda 2000 generator. What a big difference in battery and power management! A couple years ago I spent nearly 6 weeks on a dry camping trip to test everything while I was dealing with a family... Read more

Get Some Control Over Holding Tank Odors

Holding tank odors can be a real problem, especially if you don’t know how to deal with them. If you are new to the RV scene, this issue is perhaps the most popular complaint (aside from dead batteries!). When purchasing a new RV, part of the delivery process is explaining how to empty and rinse your holding tanks, as well as preventing holding tank odors by using chemicals. But on a particularly hot day, even chemicals can’t stop the odoriferous emanations gagging you out of your RV. It’s the same problem porta-potties have which everyone has probably experienced at one time or another. So what can you do to assist in controlling tank odors? Do the Lil’ Stanker holding tank fan mod. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

After-Trip RV Maintenance and Storage – Part 2 – Bernice’s Tips

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... Read more

Step One in an RV Makeover

For over 16 months now I have lived full-time in my Lance Camper. 48 States and an odometer pushing 70,000 miles gave me a personal best. With a wee bit of celebration in mind, and to kick off the Summer of ’09, I wanted to treat myself right so I turned to Thetford. There is something about a porcelain toilet. Now, if you’ve never spent a year and a half on a factory installed plastic one, you’re probably thinking, “it’s not all that big of a deal.” Well, for me it was time for an upgrade, and a state-of-the-art one at that. Now when Nature calls I’ll be answering with a new toilet. Read more Tell a Friend Read More →

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