Making Modifications to Your RV

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 AdminI get asked these questions alot: “Is it safe to modify my RV? What about my warranty? Will it be voided?” There is a lot of misinformation floating around about what constitutes a safe mod and what will void your warranty if you do certain kinds of mods. Many RV owners tend to be the “do-it-your-self” types and enjoy “doing the mod”. If you fall in to this group, you should carefully consider the implications of certain mods. You know that really expensive extended warranty that covers your RV “bumper-to-tongue” after the factory warranty runs out that you added when you purchased your new RV? It won’t help one bit if you do a mod that causes a failure on a covered part. So let’s look at what mods are safe to do and what just might cause you some grief down the road if you are not aware of your warranty conditions of coverage. Read more  Read More →

RV Doctor – Dripping Shower Faucet When Hot Water Heater Is On

Dear RV Doctor, We have a single lever faucet on our shower that has a continuous drip when the hot water heater is on. I carefully replaced all the parts within the faucet with a kit, but to no avail. I understand that as water heats it expands, but where does the water normally expand to and how does it seek relief? I know that some water leaks through the hot water tank relief valve, but that is not an option that I like either. — Leon Hill, (Belleville, ON, Canada) Read more  Read More →

RV Doctor – A Real RV Plumbing Miracle!

Dear RV Doctor, I think there is something wrong with the monitor panel in my RV. I just dumped both holding tanks and still the 1/4, the 1/2, and the Full lights are lit for the black water holding tank. On the gray tank, it still shows 1/4 full. The water tank, however, registers fine. I know the holding tanks are completely empty….I just emptied them! Do I need to replace the monitor panel? Read more  Read More →

RV Winterizing 101 (Part 2)

We enjoy using our RV as much as possible throughout the year.  But when you can’t use your RV, for whatever reasons and temperatures are approaching freezing, it’s important that you protect it. Last week I talked about preparing your RV’s interior, exterior and chassis for storage during the colder winter months. I mentioned at the beginning of the article that the RV plumbing system is the most vulnerable to damage caused by plummeting temperatures. The good news is it is really quite easy to protect the RV water system from this potential threat.  I am including a checklist from my “Checklists for RVers” eBook to help walk you through the winterizing process. Read more  Read More →

RV Doctor – How Do I Install a New Toilet in My RV?

Dear RV Doc, How would I install a new toilet in my RV? I’d like to go to a bigger one. Is the RV toilet the same as a toilet in a home with the two bolts and the wax ring? Or is it an entirely different hook up? - Armin Meyer, (Tacoma, WA) Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy – Smart Drain by Thetford

by Brian Brawdy In this episode of Gear to Get, I take a look at one of the most necessary, yet unexciting aspects of RVing; how to focus on dumping your black and gray water tanks in a safe and sanitary way. When we get to a dump station, we need to be able to count on our gear, and a dependable hose is just one piece of the larger puzzle. To learn more about Brian Brawdy and the Green RV, please visit BrianBrawdy.com  Read More →

RV Winterizing 101 (Part 1)

It’s always sad to come to the realization that another camping season is winding down.  Part of this realization is preparing the RV for winter storage, so it will be ready to go camping again next spring.  My guess is that most RV owners, especially those in cold climate regions, refer to this winter storage preparation as winterizing your RV.  When you hear the term “winterizing” the first thought that comes to mind is to protect the RV water system from potential damage caused by exposure to freezing temperatures. Frozen and damaged water lines are in fact the most common problem related to not winterizing your RV, or not properly winterizing your RV; but there is more to winterizing your RV than just protecting the water system from freezing. Read more  Read More →

Preparing Your RV for the Colder Months Ahead

As summer winds down, it’s time to prepare your RV for the cooler weather ahead. Fall and winter are really great times to take in the changing seasons on the open road. But when it’s time to turn in for the evening, the overnight temperatures can plummet, especially at higher altitudes, resulting in increased propane usage, interior condensation, and other plumbing-related issues.  And then there is that freak snow storm you wake up to that while beautiful, can catch you off-guard, leaving you unprepared to deal with freezing temperatures.  If you plan to camp well in to the colder months, here are some ways you can make your cold weather RVing ventures less of a chilling experience. 1. Examine your RV’s plumbing to determine what measures may be needed to prevent damage from freezing temperatures. Some RV’s have plumbing exposed to the outside elements. In this case, you should wrap the exposed plumbing with heat tape and foam pipe insulation. . 2. Part of the plumbing system includes the holding tanks. Some RV’s have enclosed holding tanks that are heated by the RV’s furnace through heater ducting to the holding tank areas. As long as the furnace runs occasionally, the tanks won’t freeze unless it’s very cold (below 20F). For those tanks that are not heated and/or enclosed, tank heating pads can be affixed to the bottoms of the tanks. These are very easy to install, thermostatically-controlled, and come in both 12-volt DC... Read more

There Is Magic In This Shower Head

So how do you really like showering in your RV?  Even when using a city water connection without a regulator, a shower can still result in a less than a “pressure-packed” experience. Low water pressure from the shower head is most often caused by the poor design used by most RV manufacturers, save for the high end luxury models. For some reason, they all come with this tiny little hole inside the shower head which is supposed to help save you some water. Well, they definitely do but as a consequence, you can barely rinse the soap out of your hair! You could try and modify the standard shower head to remove the restriction and that can help. But there is another way to magically increase the output pressure of your shower head. Replace it with an Oxygenics Body Spa shower wand. The shower head uses a venturi effect to raise the pressure output  and provide you with a much nicer showering experience. This mod is so easy that you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. Just unscrew the standard shower head and screw the magic one on. The output is also adjustable, providing a low pressure trickle to a full blown high pressure spray. At the base of the wand is a circular adjuster you simply twist. The only drawback of this mod is that you lose the ability to completely shut off the water supply. The standard shower head allows you to almost stop the water flow using a valve on the back of the head. This feature doesn’t exist on the magic wand. So you might... Read more

RV Doctor – Can Water-Pump Bypass Valves Go Bad?

Dear RV Doc, I own a 36-foot motorhome. The day before we left on our last trip, the temperature here dipped to about 16-degrees so I kept the heater on in the coach and placed a small space heater in the bay where all the water lines are. The morning we left all was fine. I didn’t see any sign of freezing so away we went. We stopped about six hours into the trip where I noticed ice forming underneath the bay where the water lines are, (I have no way of heating down there while traveling). Also we had no water pressure inside the coach. When we stopped about three hours later the water pressure had returned and everything looked thawed. Upon our arrival at our destination, I did a more detailed inspection and found that the strainer basket part of the water pump had separated slightly from the water pump which caused a small leak. There was no damage to it so I simply reinstalled the part and there were no more leaks. The rest of the trip was uneventful. When we returned I began to re-winterize the RV using a non-toxic RV antifreeze by disconnecting the supply line from the pump and using a tube in the bottle of anti-freeze. I allow the pump to pull the antifreeze into the water lines of the coach, then I turn on each faucet until the pink stuff comes out. Before any of that, of course, the first thing I do is after draining the water from the system and water heater is put the water heater in the by-pass mode.After putting it in the by-pass mode I noticed that the pump... Read more

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