Maintenance

I have put a lot of effort into keeping the fifthwheel looking and operating like new.

Several factors conspire to require more maintenance on a RV than on the typical fixed residence. RV systems must be small and light; this generally means that RV systems are somewhat less robust than corresponding systems would be in your house. RV's travel down roads that are not in the best of shape; your house does not (in general). The small, light, components in your traveling home will get shaken, rocked'n'rolled, bounced, banged around, accelerated, decelerated, and stopped suddenly. Things will break.

Maintenance is one of those things best done early and often: fix problems as soon as possible, and prevent problems when possible. Failure to do maintenance in a timely fashion can result in a RV that looks like and acts like a junk heap. Good maintenance will result in a RV that just keeps "giving back" in appreciation for your tender loving care.

This page is a history of repairs done on the fifth wheel trailer, and modifications or repairs that need to be done or that I want to do.

Leaks

Every RV owner I have ever talked to complained about leaks (with the possible exception of the owner of a million dollar Prevost conversion). We have had our share. I have found products that deal with them fairly well. The problem is finding the actual source of the leak, versus the apparent source of the leak.

The roof has a lot of extra caulking and sealant after nearly four years of intermittent leak repair. At some point in the next couple of years it would be a good idea to have someone remove all this old caulk and reseal the roof around skylights, air conditioners, vents, etc.

At this time there are no known leaks. The Oregon coast winter rains are doing a continuous test of trailer; all is good so far.

Completed Maintenance/Repairs

These are repairs that have been performed on the trailer, based on receipts for work done and my memory.

Wheel bearings retightened:

October 2004. In an RV site that slopes side to side, the automatic leveling system will sometimes raise the downhill tires completely off the ground. The first time this happened I discovered wobble in both downhill tires. Had all four wheel bearings inspected and tightened. Customer service at MOR/Ryde International agreed that it was their fault and paid for the work. No problems since.

Replaced hatch cover, repaired scratches:

January 2005. In western North Carolina there is a winding mountainous section of US 64. We were traveling west on our way to Atlanta, Georgia. We had seen many signs warning of narrow sharp turns. Until the final one these signs had been false alarms. The final one before descending out of the mountains was not a false alarm. I banged the right side into a boulder. We had the main hatch cover replaced on the right side, and scratches to the surrounding area sanded out and repainted.

Repaired Fiberglas in hitch area:

January 2005. The Fiberglas under the bedroom was damaged when we lost our truck's tailgate the previous October. Had the trailer damage patched and painted at the same time as the hatch cover was replaced (above).

Replaced blackwater dump valve switch:

January 2005. The blackwater dump valve stopped working. I could still dump by manually operating the valve with a screwdriver. Technician discovered that a wire had broken off of dump valve switch. He soldered it; it broke again. I tried to solder it; damaged the switch. New Horizons RV sent me a new switch and paid the repair bills.

Replaced light switches:

March 2005. Light switches in the main living area were getting hot and operating erratically. Upon inspection I discovered heat damage to the switches. New Horizons RV sent replacement switches which I installed.

Replaced bathroom blind:

June 2005. String on the pleated blind broke. Ordered a replacement blind. When it arrived, used the shipping box to return the broken blind to the manufacturer for free restringing. Now have a spare blind. I had to swap them once more and get the "new" blind restrung in April, 2007.

Replaced cooling coils in refrigerator:

August 2005. The refrigerator stopped cooling. The manufacturer (Dometic) paid for replacement of the cooling coils.

Repaired ice maker:

December 2006. The ice maker in the refrigerator sprung a leak. Had the water line replaced.

Replaced utility connections:

December 2006. I "hugged a tree" with the trailer. Had to replace fittings on the utility side: fresh water fill; cable/phone connection; and range vent cover.

Replaced water pump:

July 2006. Water pump stopped working after weeks of misbehaving. The RV technician who came to the park just happened to have just the right model on hand. The new one is a SureFlo, same as the original, but is a newer replacement model that gives much better flow.

Repaired air leak & cleaned up caulking:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory, had them repair an air leak around the bedroom slide. Also cleaned up caulking that I had applied, recaulked, and replaced molding around the bedroom slide.

Improved cooling of refrigerator:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. In hot climates (e.g., 103°F desert) the refrigerator did not stay cold during the day. Installed Dometic's new fan and baffle kit to improve air flow over the coils. The refrigerator has performed much better in hot weather ever since, but it is still necessary to turn off the ice maker during the day when the temperatures are over 90°F and the sun hits the side of the trailer where the refrigerator is installed (see "Nice To Have", below).

Repaired shower drain:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The night before pulling into the factory parking lot the shower drain broke. Got the drain repaired at the factory.

Replaced toilet:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The flush blade valve in the original toilet was sticking frequently. I requested a toilet with a ball type flush valve. It just so happens that the toilet that New Horizons currently uses is such a toilet. They put one in.

Replaced both electric dump valves and switches:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The original blackwater dump valve was sticking on a regular basis. Worse, it could not be operated manually because the screwdriver slot used to turn it was messed up. The grey water valve was beginning to stick intermittently. So we got both replaced. The new ones supposedly have heavier duty motors, and the manual operation is via a hex key instead of a screwdriver. I also got the valves/switches with an indicator light showing when they are fully closed.

Repaired metal undershielding:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The aluminum sheeting under the trailer had taken a beating. Had it repaired and re-undercoated.

Attempted repairs of entry steps:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The power-operated entry steps required a manual boost to fold up. Factory technician lubricated it and installed heavier wiring. Seemed to help for a while, but a manual boost is once again required. See "Nice To Have", below.

Repaired tire blowout damage:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. We had two tire blowouts in July 2006 that did minor damage. On this visit to New Horizons we had them fix it. Replaced the curbside fender flare. Patched crack in the Fiberglass at the rear of the trailer behind tires.

Repaired rust:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. Remove rust at various points on the trailer and repaint.

Replaced rear bumper cover:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The chrome trim cover on the rear bumper was corroded. Replaced it.

Repair minor delamination:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The year this trailer was built New Horizons RV used two sheets of Fiberglas to get the wall height they wanted. The top sheet was pulling away from the bottom sheet where they overlapped. New Horizons RV's did their standard repair for this problem: they screwed down extra molding on this joint along both sides of the trailer to hold the Fiberglas securely in place. They assured us that it was strictly a cosmetic problem.

Recaulked shower:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. Mold was growing under the caulk in the shower. Removed shower door; cleaned; recaulked.

Replaced light switches:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. Light switches in the main living area were getting hot and operating erratically again, as they did in 2005. Replaced them again.

Replaced automatic awning control:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. The awning is supposed to retract automatically if there are wind gusts over a certain speed or if the outside temperature gets too low. This automatic control continuously beeped when turned on, indicating a sensor failure. Replaced sensor.

Replaced curbside outdoor GFI outlet:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. Outlet was corroded and did not supply power. Replaced.

Replaced tail light fixtures:

April 2007. At New Horizons RV factory. Tail light trim was corroded; screws rusted; sockets corroded and intermittent. Replaced tail lights.

Replaced window blinds:

January 2008. Replaced three torn roller blinds.

Replaced Bedroom Slide Topper Fabric:

January 2008. Slide Topper fabric had a frayed hole in it. Replaced the fabric with heavier awning material.

Replaced batteries:

January 2008. Had the batteries load tested. One of the four batteries was weak. If one is going bad, then the rest can't be far behind. Harold Bailey of Pirate Power replace all four batteries. New batteries are Trojan, model 6V-AGM, 200 amp hour.

Replaced main awning motor:

January 2008. The motor would sometimes stick when running the awning either in or out. Harold Bailey of Pirate Power replace the motor. In the process discovered that the probable cause was debris inside the roller that jammed the motor ocassionally.

Replaced Upper Control Board (UCB) on the MotoSat DataStorm dish:

January 2008. The control board on the MotoSat dish had a bad GPS chip. The D3 controller refuses to point the dish unless the UCB tells it the current GPS coordinates. The UCB was under warranty; I did the installation. GPS problem is corrected.

Replaced Battery Equalizer

February 2008. The 12 VDC part of the power system was not getting power (damaged during battery replacement?). Batteries were discharging. Harold Bailey of Pirate Power replaced the battery equalizer responsible for providing the 12 VDC from the 24 VDC system. The new one is a bit heftier (75A versus 60A) because I could get the heavier-duty equalizer quickly and at a reduced price.

MotoSat DataStorm dish receive signal was weak:

April 2008. The receive signal was somewhat erratic, and usually very low. Performed many tests under direction of MotoSat technician on the phone; did additional tests after getting off phone. Took the rig to Grants Pass, Oregon, where Rob Chittenden of Advanced Technology Services, Inc. replaced the LNB. All works great now.

Dometic Refrigerator Recall #08E-032:

August 2008. Work done by D&L RV Repair in Harbor, Oregon. Also replaced gas igniter probe at the same time.

Repaired Fiberglas crack:

January 2009. There was a small crack running from one corner of bedroom slide down toward the propane tank compartment. Fixed at D&L RV Repair in Harbor, Oregon.

Replaced leaking toilet flush pedal valve:

January 2009. Toilet flush pedal dripped clean fresh water. Annoying. Work done by D&L RV Repair in Harbor, Oregon.

Replaced 50A DC breaker:

January 2009. The main 50A DC breaker cut in and out for no apparent reason. Replaced with an automatically-resetting, thermally operated breaker. Work done by D&L RV Repair in Harbor, Oregon.

Replaced Slide Topper fabric on main slide:

January 2009. Had previously replaced the fabric on the bedroom slide; now did main slide. After another winter of flapping in the breeze holes were beginning to appear. New fabric is much heavier than the old. Work done at D&L RV Repair, Harbor, Oregon.

Replaced Sewer Fitting Hanger

July 2010. Pipe hanger on sewer hose connector was broken. Replaced with same kind of metal strap. Sewer plumbing is very secure without it, but if the manufacturer saw fit to put a hanger there, seemed a good idea to fix it.

Rescreened Screen Door

July 2010. Got main entrance screen door rescreened. Cat had clawed a corner out, and I discovered a few spots where it had simply pulled loose from daily use. All new screen, now.

To Be Done

Trim Molding Strip

There is a loose piece of trim molding on the rear. Added a new screw, but probably still need to add some epoxy.

Not Repaired

These are items that are not right, but which we do not intend to fix.

Satellite Internet

Dang! On the fritz again. Receive signal is too low. The last time this happened it had to be repaired with refurbished parts because the dish is old and no longer supported. It can probably be fixed for about $200 by the guy who did it last time, just over the mountain in Grants Pass, OR.

Incliner handle broken:

The sofa is an "incliner". The two end sections have fold-up foot rests; the backs will slant to a very small degree. The handle that operates the foot rest on one end is broken; it needs a specialized screw that is probably available from the manufacturer. The handle is stored under the sofa. We rarely used the foot rests and were planning on getting a new sofa if we stayed in the trailer anyway.

Tom Donaldson tomd@mactom.com

The rig was sold on Friday 7/23/2010. There will be no more updates to this site, and the site will eventually disappear.