Start with the easy things first...

I’m writing from beautiful Lake Tahoe, California, on our 2019 Adventure, and we’re camping with family as they shake down their new Forest River Cardinal. We also met some of their family who are in a new-to-them, used travel trailer.

We’ve encountered a few things that reminded me of the title of this blog - Start With The Easy Things First. Not just with new trailers, but basic, everyday issues that come up with any house on wheels.

I’m going to start a new tab called “Troubleshooting”. But in the meantime, here’s some of things that brought this to light:

Low or Non-Existent Water Pressure. We were troubleshooting a toilet with almost zero water flow, and a shower head that just dribbled. Of course, the first thing that came to my mind was a clogged shower head and a kinked water feed for the toilet. In both cases, starting with the easy things first, the cause was a Camco-style fixed water pressure regulator. It seems like the low-flow regulators that most new RVers purchase cut the water pressure down to 40 or 45 psi and it’s barely enough to flush the toilet. We removed the regulator (as most RV’s are built to withstand at least 70 psi), and, voila, the toilet flushed and the shower head had good pressure.

I recommend an adjustable water pressure regulator, such as this one, and set your pressure at about 65 psi. If your RV springs a leak at 65 psi then there’s a problem that needs to be fixed any way.

No Cable Signal. When you buy a new rig, it’s difficult to check the satellite and cable signals at the dealership. Here’s the step-by-step process to change your TV input from satellite or antenna to cable:

Hook up a coax cable from the post to the cable input on the rig.
Turn off the Antenna Booster, a push button wall switch usually located near one of the TV’s where the coax from the TV connects to the wall. Usually they have a red or green light indicating the booster is ON, and this booster is necessary to get a good over-the-air TV signal. Switch the booster OFF.
On the TV, change the input to TV (the usual choices are TV, HDMI1, HDMI2, AV, and PC).
On the TV menu, do a Channel Search. Most TV’s will give the option to choose the source - Antenna or Cable. Choose Cable and do an automatic search.
After about 5 minutes, the TV will pick up all available cable channels and you’ll have cable TV.

Non-Working A/C. I’ve already discussed this in a previous blog, but check the electrical connections between the wall and the thermostat first before assuming a problem with the thermostat or capacitor on the air conditioner.

Leaking Basement/Cargo Compartment Seal. I found water on the basement floor after washing the rig, and thought I was another one with the dreaded leak that can’t be found.

I discovered that the seal rides on a ridge surrounding the door, and while I was cleaning out the basement and reorganizing I had been laying on the bottom seal, bending the aluminum ridge.

I easily bent the ridge back into its original near-vertical position, reinstalled the rubber seal, and no more leak.

Back to the purpose of this post…

Start with the easy things first. In any of the above situations we could have called a Mobile RV Tech or attempted to make an appointment with a dealer and gone through the frustration of months of waiting only to find out “they couldn’t find a problem.” So Start With the Easy Things first.

The solution…