PRVCA Explore Magazine PRVCA Explore PA 2019 | Page 17

When to ‘do it yourself’
and when to rely on the
professional shop
V
irtually all coach manufacturers
agree that in order to receive
the most out of the recreational
investment you’ve made,
adequate maintenance must be performed
on certain components on every RV. In
fact, any typical RV with a generator, two
roof air conditioners and a slideout or
two, has a minimum of 18-22 retail hours
of mandated maintenance that needs to
be performed each and every year! That’s
right, 18-22 hours worth. At an average
retail labor rate of say $120 per hour,
that’s more than $2,600 per year for just
trying to avoid a major problem.
Product manufacturers oftentimes will
indicate the necessity for periodic
maintenance on their individual products
each season as a precautionary step in
obtaining the optimum use of that product.
It is noted, however, that all products will
not automatically self-destruct if these
hours of maintenance are not performed,
but it is highly recommended and one
would certainly gain additional life from
these products if they were to be maintained
and checked periodically. That said, here’s the important thing to
remember; preventive maintenance will
minimize the frequency and the degree of
crisis-type repairs.
Types of Service Realize it is a choice every RV owner must
face - Preventive maintenance, or crisis
repairs. There is no third option.
There are basically two types of RV
service — crisis repairs and preventive
maintenance. The aforementioned
service hours would be classified as time
devoted to preventive maintenance;
those steps usually performed before
there is an actual need for repair. Kind of
like preventive medicine. Something you
do now to prevent something from taking
place later. A little insurance, if you will.
Crisis repairs, on the other hand are not
an option. The problem is already at hand
and readily in the now! A few examples
of crisis repairs would be an abnormally
worn tire, a blocked cooling unit on the
refrigerator, a blown engine, a burned-out
roof top air conditioner compressor.
www.prvca.org
Routine tire inspection and careful study
of inflation pressures, checking and
cleaning the refrigerator components and
checking the propane pressure, regular
oil changes, and periodic cleaning of the
air conditioner filters can all prevent the
above crisis repairs from happening
Preventive maintenance
will minimize the
frequency and the
degree of crisis-type
repairs.
Some of those areas that
may need seasonal attention
and that you may want to
consider doing yourself
are not limited to, but do
include;
• checking and sealing the roof,
windows, storage compartments
and doors
• cleaning the LP appliances.
• changing the oil in the generator
and chassis engine and checking all
fluid levels.
• cleaning the filters in the roof air
conditioners.
• cleaning and treating the holding
tanks.
• flushing and sanitizing the fresh
water system.
• performing battery maintenance.
continued on page 18
EXPLORE Pennsylvania 2019 | 17