Help. In over our head

[Solo_RV_Guy]

Originally Posted by Newbies5713

First time camper owners and trying living in it full time but we realized that we don't have a clue about even the basics! Help!!! We bought a second hand 2007 Forest River Flagstaff classic travel trailer off Craigslist. So we have lots of questions!
Where exactly is the place you put a house to fill the fresh water tank???
Where are the drain valves for all the tanks????
Let's start there!

Did you not receive a manual (or stack of them) with the unit? Not making fun of your situation but trying to understand how they could have let you drive away with this level of ignorance. Shame on them. I wouldn't expect a private seller to spend the kind of time a dealer might, but it strikes me as setting you up for failure for them to assume you knew as much as they did after owning the unit for years.

First, use the link IndyGlen provided and get all the info from Forest River you can. Some of it will be very generic and not give a lot of details (like valve locations) while some other will be more than you want to know.

Next, the advice to spend some quality time reading about how RV "house systems" work will be a Very Good use of your time. They aren't like your conventional house in many ways, but *conceptually* they are the same. I've got the "Reader's Digest" version following:

The biggest difference: your sticks 'n' bricks house doesn't have 12vDC powering the lights or water systems, but in your RV the 12v system runs those. The 12vDC also powers the blower to the furnace fan, the controls to your refrigerator, and possibly the air conditioner controls if it's controlled by a wall-mounted thermostat.

Water comes from either a direct connection to "city" water or an on-board fresh water holding tank. If you're hooked up to city water you'll want a pressure regulator (spend $50-75, don't buy the $19 ones) to avoid over-pressurizing your water lines. When you aren't hooked up to city water you fill your holding tank prior to arriving at your destination and use the 12vDC pump to pressurize the system.

Your water heater runs off propane. Some *may* have a backup electrical element but it won't work fast enough to heat water for showers. The tank is probably around 6 gallons, maybe less.

Your furnace runs off propane for the heat and 12vDC for thermostat and blower motor. The blower will drain your "house batteries" in a matter of hours so you need to be hooked up to "shore power" to run the furnace.

Your RV needs to be within 3° of level for your refrigerator to work properly and to avoid damage. RV refrigerators work by boiling ammonia into vapor, which cools when it condenses and absorbs the heat from the refrigerator contents. They don't work like your home refrigerator - but they can work just fine once you understand how to best use them. Ammonia absorption is how hockey ice floors are frozen in arenas, and how most industrial refrigeration is done so it's a proven way of cooling, just not what you're used to.

The other "tanks" in your unit are waste tanks. The use and discharging of them is a whole 'nother world of discussion (nothing gets folks in a lather like sewage!). Lots of YooToob videos, after market products (hoses, chemicals, cleaning accessories) that may or may not be needed or useful to you. In a nutshell - "black" water tank holds what you flush down the toilet, and the "gray" tank holds the drainage from your sink(s) and shower. The tanks are arranged physically so the gray tank is on top of the black tank, and that's done to aid in draining the tanks and flushing your "stinky slinky" sewage hose when you dump the tanks. Use lots of water when you flush the toilet solids, you want to avoid a "poo pyramid" under the toilet. I suggest some YooToob time with this topic because failure is a very messy option (National Lampoon time?) and usually doesn't generate much sympathy from your neighbors if you have a problem at your full hookup campsite.

Finally, if you're camping, ASK a neighbor! Tell them you're new and unsure of things. RVers tend to be very friendly and helpful and often remember what their first few trips were like. You'll get help.