Hello folks,, Tip Time.

[Lakota Wolf]

A bunch of us,, (you included,, dont be shy), are getting our rigs taken care of, now that Old man winter is finally letting up. Remember,, its bee, wasp and yellow jacket time of the year,, be care reaching into or around the sides and storage bins,, them lil boogers are mean. Now,,, a lot of newbies and even us older then dirt die hard full timers sometimes forget,about the waste tanks,, the grey and black,,, Take your trusty flashlight and look down into the toilet and see if ya have any residue left over from the last trip... Get your water hooked up and fill your tank about half full and let it sit a lil to lubricate what ever dried and died in there.

Dont forget to check all the cabinets,, not just peek, but really get in there and look for tell tale signs of vermin and rodents and their droppings,

Look under the sinks for tell tale signs of any leakage that has since dried, Be extra careful when hooking up your trailer,, the ball hitch cup is excellent place for a juicy wasps nest and the pin box on the 5th wheel is excellent for bird nests and a condo neighborhood of wasps and yellow jackets,. Next, check your tires,,, besides the air pressure,, But the DATE,,  RV tires are good for about 5 years,, and then they are pretty much toast from internal and external dry rot. If you have to crawl under your rig, be very careful of them pesky spiders,, Black widows and brown recluse spiders love RV's,,, hey what better way to travel and see the country?  right?  Dont forget to sanitize your fresh water tank and NEVER travel with a FULL fresh water tank,, about a 1/4 full is enough till you get where your going and if your boondocking, wait till your last stop before going off grid to top your tank. Check your roof and vent covers for cracks and breaks etc,, and visually inspect your vent pipes,, but watch out for the wasps,, thats another great spot they like to build their condos in..

As far as your electrical plug in, The 12volt to vehicle one,, spray out the crud and make sure the lights work,, adding marine grease to both connections will save you a lot of problems later,,While you on the roof, pull the cover on the a/c unit and check for debri around the fins and motor,  again watch out for the wasps and yellow jackets,,,,

And if you left your battery in all winter without a trickle charger,, expect to invest in a new marine deep cycle battery.  (a battery is needed also if you have trailer brakes for the break away switch,) Take you time and do a good inspection, from top to bottom and side to side before heading out,, wether your rig is a year old or 40 yrs old,, safety is the main concern.  happy travels,, and be safe.

[Drew]

Great list of tips. I would also add pressurizing your water system to the list. Never any fun to pull in to the campground for vacation only to find your winterizing missed a pocket of water and burst a line. Last year in my dewinterazation I found I missed some water in the toilet valve that burst the valve.

Great time to check out the tires as well. Any dry cracks could mean it's time for tires. I only keep tires mounted for three years no matter the miles on them. A new set is much cheaper than repairing body damage from a blowout. Inspect the valve stem too. Rubber valve stems are notorious for causing flats/blowouts on trailers. Upgrading to steel valve stems is cheap insurance.

After dewinterzing we inspect all of our sytems including appliances.  Again it's never fun to pull into the campground to find a system broken. We fire up all of the appliances and let them run long enough to verify all is in working condition.

Speaking of the wasp if you don't have bug screens on your appliance vents I would recommend purchasing them. Wasp and dirt dobber nest inside your furnace exhaust, refrigerator flue, or hot water  exhaust can compromise performance or keep the appliance from working.

Good luck to everyone and happy travels!!