Ok Folks,, summer is slowly coming to an end,

[Lakota Wolf]

Its getting to be that time of the year fellow RV's. Yup, old man winter is going to be apon us in a very short period of time. Do you know what that means? Time to winterize if your going to store your rig or trailer, But if your a full timer,,, Winter checklists still have to be performed,

Now with winter,, it brings the BRRRR COLD, No matter where your parked,, there is going to be a cold spell pass thru and possibly hang around,, and that means you need heat. No you can be el cheapo, earth friendly and just get a burn barrel and set it up in the middle of the living room and burn trash and kindling,, and of course leave a roof vent open,, But common,, Thats not really practical. The typical RV heater is propane, and usually the biggest problem they have come winter time is not firing up, Sometimes they try,, but its usually no cigar. A common problem is that during the warm months,, those pain in the butt Mud wasps build their nests deep inside the burner tube.

Its relativley an easy fix,, It involves checking first if you can see with a bright flash light and nests on the flame tube and thermocoupler area, But I have mostly found them way inside the burner tube, around the first curve, There is 2 ways you can get them lil boogers out,, You can take the furnace out and remove the regulator and flame tube and thermocoupler and shoving a hose into the burner tube and flushing it all out, Or,, leaving it in the rig and still removing the regulator,flame tube and thermocoupler and blasting water into the tubes that way,, But it does have a disadvantage if you dont have your rig already tilted to allow all the water to drain out. Blasting the burner tube will soften up the mud nests and dissolve them and flush them out. After flushing,, make sure your cabin battery is charged up,, because RV heater use a 12 volt blower fan,, and make sure the blower fan spins freely,, as they can get clogged with them nasty mud daubers (wasps). Make sure the squirrel fan fins on Both sides of the fan are clear from obstruction.  You tube also has videos on how other people have addressed this same problem,,, Now with your water supply hose,, get some good quality foam wrap and insulate it and for excess hose,, tuck it into a styrofoam ice chest and tape it shut,, It will protect it from the wind freeze. Dont forget to cover your roof top a/c unit,,(always check for wasp and bees nests hiding in the air vents on the cover).. And for added comfort and heat saving,, use bubble wrap on the windows,,(inside),, possibly hang some heavy towels or blankets  over the windows to keep out the small drafts.  And if your rig is of the larger size,, isolate each area with blankets,, sectioning off areas,, like the kitchen from the living quarters and sectioning off the sleeping areas. And those small electric heaters help for small areas,, Just be careful as to not exceed wattage and over load your electrical system.. I find that the small 1500 watt units work great and dont overheat the system,,, Going with the 3000 watt,, will just create serious electrical problems.. Remember,, most rigs are 30 amp service. If your going to use and electric heater, avoid running the microwave or toaster or even the coffee maker at the same time,, that will trip a breaker real quick, or worse,, melt a lot of wire,, When using appliances,, turn your electric heater off,, do what ya need to do, before turning the heater back on,,, and on that note,, Be safe stay warm.

[Dawn Michelle]

Well, I guess that is the point of having wheels, isn't it, Russ??!!  Yeah, two winters in Denver and that gave me my fill of snow, wind and misery for a lifetime.

[Russell E Johnson]

Good pointer, Dawn. But when da wedder gits dat cold I votes to point the nose south for warmer temps. LOL

[Dawn Michelle]

Also when we had a bounder, we found even a simple 100w flood light in some of the bays helped keep some with pipes just above freezing in Denver.  The days before leds.  We also invested in remote thermostats so we could keep an eye on the bays that were most vulnerable.  Worth every penny.

[Russell E Johnson]

Good reminders, Lakota. And since you reminded me of the mice/rat problems I face I am doing an experiment this year using Fresh Cab Repellant. It is a plant based essential oil for repelling rodents. Being that I live in the country rats (smallest ones I have ever seen, compared to the ones in big cities) and mice are a terrible problem for the RV, cars, and houses. Will report back to let everyone know if this product works as well as the various reviews I have read on multiple web sites says it will.