Community Forums

Wisdmhilites · 12-09-2019, 07:51 PM

Have any of you taken an RV maintenance class before you began RVing (or very soon after starting)? Do you think it was more helpful taking it early, or would you have preferred to wait 6 months to a year to have a better feel for what the instructor was talking about? If it was a good class, how long was it?

Itchytoe · 12-10-2019, 12:03 AM

I didn't take any formal classes, unless you include the College of Hard Knocks' classes. I just talked with other people who had RVs before I got my first one. Then I made some stupid mistakes and learned from them. Eventually, the stupid mistakes got less and less frequent. Now they are what I would call rare, but I still do stupid things occasionally. It's just part of owning an RV.

Try hitting up YouTube. There are lots of videos about RV repair and maintenance there.

Pyropete · 12-10-2019, 02:25 PM

YouTube is your best friend. I use it for step to steps on changing the computer on my vehicle and buddy used it to diagnose his problem on his 5th wheel.

I wouldn't try to fix a big issue, but I would want to diagnose it.

Isaac-1 · 12-10-2019, 03:52 PM

I agree youtube is a great tool for doing specific jobs, though a lot depends on your life experience dealing with mechanical and electrical things. RV maintenance requires a mix of skills from automotive to appliance and household repair, and the more relevant background experience you have the better. So without knowing your starting point it really is hard to give advice, other than to say by 6 months in you will likely have needed some maintenance knowledge or pay someone else to do repairs on almost any RV.

Jetskier50 · 12-10-2019, 03:57 PM

I would wait on a class. The one I looked into, you could bring your RV so you could get more familiar with it.

Pyropete · 12-12-2019, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

I agree youtube is a great tool for doing specific jobs, though a lot depends on your life experience dealing with mechanical and electrical things. RV maintenance requires a mix of skills from automotive to appliance and household repair, and the more relevant background experience you have the better. So without knowing your starting point it really is hard to give advice, other than to say by 6 months in you will likely have needed some maintenance knowledge or pay someone else to do repairs on almost any RV.

Yah I am great with computers and electronics and taking things apart to put them back later lol.. Been doing it with cars for a long time. Not great with engines, but the stereos and wiring speakers behind panels I am a whiz.

TXTiger · 12-12-2019, 05:36 PM

As others have said YouTube is a great source. I also went on many forums such as this one and many owners forums to learn about RVs, electrical systems, plumbing and water, how to dump, maintain the hot water heater and other appliances etc. I followed for a year before I purchased my first RV.

GeezerViz · 12-16-2019, 11:42 PM

I took a class on how to maintain my Spartan chassis. It was 5 days at the chasiss manufacturer and I learned a great deal. There is another class offered by the RV manufacturer that will give me more info on the "house" part of the coach, which I'll probably do later. I don't see any benifits to waiting as you want "advanced" information on your rig ASAP.

MingusPirate · 12-17-2019, 03:00 AM

The best way for adults to learn is to muck with it first. Then go to a class. However, with RV's the classes are YouTube, the equipment manuals, manufacturer's web sites, irv2.com, owners forums, etc. There are some teaching sites, but I don't know how good they are. Spend some money at harbor freight on some wrenches, channel lock pliers, a digital volt-ohm meter, and socket set in 1/4 and 1/2 drive. You'll buy more as time goes on. Don't be afraid to try. Good luck.