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Getting the camper ready or Spring time camping!
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394 Posts
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April 8, 2013 - 10:28 am
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At the rally this past weekend, I was able to help several fellow Campers having some trouble with their campers. I thought I would share some tips to help others getting their campers ready or Spring. The first thing I recommend is for everyone to turn on their propane tank and go inside and light their stove. For some reason, the propane in the lines goes bad by sitting there like old gas does in a lawn mower. After a minute or so, the gas should light up. Let it burn for a minute or so to get fresh gas in the lines. For those with ovens, Light the oven pilot light and turn the oven on shortly to see if it works as well. Sometimes the thermo couplings goes bad where the pilot light will not work. Now turn on the refrig. with gas to see if it ignites and the campers heater.
I recommend everone to hook up to a good water supply and flush the entire water lines by turning the hot and cold separately at each faucet including the outdoor showers. Make sure you by pass at the water heater is turned off and your water heater is full of water before igniting the gas on it. 
I was able to help a couple who had a brand new camper with a Coleman a/c unit on the roof. They had heat strips in their unit to keep the camper toasty on those cool mornings. They didn't know they had it installed on their unit because the dealer didn't tell them. So, make sure you hook your camper to a 30 amp electrical service, go inside and turn the temp knob to red, turn the fan on low or fast fan, not a/c low or high. in 10-15 minutes you should feel warm air.
While we are on Electrical, turn your refrig. on, after 15 minutes or so, you should feel the upper vents on the outside of the refrigs. outlets. You should feel warm air coming out. Your refrig. is working. We had one camper who's counter top was very hot to touch and refrigs not working properly. They stated it had been that way for 10 years. After looking, we found where someone had puller their refrig. out and a upper metal plate had dropped down and covered the exhaust opening. We removed the screws and pulled the refrig. out partially and pushed plate back up on Insulation, reinstalled refrig. and turned it on. It worked great after 10 years of none use.
As always, pull your tow vehicle up to the camper and hook your plug in to check camper lights for proper operation before your first camping experience of the spring! And of Course, check those Fire Extinguishers, CO/ Smoke Alarms! Happy camping! 

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114 Posts
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April 8, 2013 - 11:31 am
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Jim, 

Thanks for the fridge repair!!!!  I can now use it for cooling things instead of storing can, etc!!!!  It is nice to have all the knowledge at the rally for those of us that are slightly challenged.  Usually if there is a problem someone else has already encountered it and can help solve it!!!

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394 Posts
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April 8, 2013 - 12:02 pm
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:goodstuff: Glad you could make it to the rally and I could help! Enjoy that cool Fridge!

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128 Posts
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April 8, 2013 - 3:54 pm
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Don't forget to flush out all the pink glycol out of your water lines. Will not harm you just a weird taste and pink water......

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April 8, 2013 - 6:35 pm
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All good advice. I too, went for several years using my pup's fridge as a dry food storage area until I got on a forum which led me to investigate further. Discovered that some insulation had worked it's way out and ended up blocking the fins on top of the fridge which caused it to perform poorly. That's what is great about these forums, there always seems to be folks who have had a problem and learned how to fix it or just have the knowledge anyway.
My 2 cents on spring readiness is to check your tires ( and valve stems ) and replace if needed and to grease the wheel bearings. One time we were prepping for our first outing of the year and I noticed a tire that was a little low on air. As soon as I pressed the compressor air fitting to the valve stem to air up the tire the valve stem broke and I had a flat. It was a bummer at the time but at least we weren't on the road in the middle of no where with a failed valve stem and a flat tire. Had it replaced within an hour or so and we were off and camping.

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April 9, 2013 - 4:40 pm
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Both of those is great advice! I just remembered to add- Don't forget to clean your A/C air filters. On my Coleman mach I had to twist 2 black screws about 1/4 of a turn to let the screw drop down and rmove the cover to get to the filters. I used compressed air from behind to blow out the lint it collected.

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April 9, 2013 - 8:51 pm
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Jimmy, you didn't have to tell everyone that I couldn't get my oven to light!  🙁 Oh wait, I think I just told them.  ;D Thanks for your help and for your friendship!

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April 9, 2013 - 10:49 pm
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What would we have done without Jim to get us all "fired" up at the rally.  So glad he got my stove and oven to working, otherwise I guess I would have been looking for somewhere else to cook.  Oh, wait... there's always a campfire.  Boy am I getting spoiled!

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April 10, 2013 - 9:03 am
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It sounds like Jim spent the whole Rally fixing all of our camping problems.  I think the suggestion of a seminar at the next rally is sounding better and better (especially to Jim).  Maybe we should be taking up a collection to pay for Jim's spot in exchange for all his repairs!!! ;D 😀

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April 11, 2013 - 8:21 am
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Folks, I was keeping names out so no one would know who. Your telling on yourselfs! I'm just glad I was able to help out!

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April 11, 2013 - 8:47 am
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Jim, I am not to proud to ask for help or admit that I need it and I am thankful for the helpful folks on this forum as well as those that come to the Rally!!!  It is great to have a place that you do not feel dumb for asking a question!!!!  Everyone here is super helpful!!!  I have a friend looking to buy his first camper and I suggested he get on here and look around and ask questions.  I told him that no question was too crazy and that someone had probably already asked it and gotten lots of suggestions or answers.

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485 Posts
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April 11, 2013 - 4:17 pm
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I told on myself on purpose.  ;D

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394 Posts
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April 11, 2013 - 7:27 pm
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Melinda, I agree with you 100%! This is a wonderful site to get your questions answered! I wish your friend good luck on purchasing a new to him camper! Just holler when you need some more help!

Miles, your not right!  😀

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