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BPD138 · 03-21-2023, 04:06 PM

Hello,
We bought our first Motorhome last year in early December. It's a 30' Fleetwood Encounter. The couple we bought it from had already winterized it for us. I basically drove it 120 miles to get home and parked it. I think I turned the battery disconnect on to separate the house batteries from the engine battery. Other than that I didn't do anything else. Although I didn't have our motorhome connected to shore power, it is available.
My question is; What should I do to bring it out of winter hibernation? Are there certain things I should check or do before starting it up. Should I connect it to shore power and let the batteries charge a bit?
Thanks for any advice.
Willie

mlpeloquin · 03-21-2023, 04:20 PM

You might check this post. POST As far as your batteries go, if your rig has been plugged in, then they should be charged. The battery disconnect switch removes almost all loads from the house batteries. There should be a switch in the battery compartment to disconnect the engine battery as well. It is a mechanical switch. If it were plugged in, then the batteries should be fine with the small loads on them. Otherwise they could be dead or greatly discharged. The post talks about how to flush the pink stuff out of the water system etc.. Do check the water level in the house batteries. Use only distilled water.

Flyer15015 · 03-21-2023, 04:24 PM

Oh, where to start?
Check all your batteries with a meter FIRST. That will give you a base line.
Were it mine, I would put an old dumb charger on each battery to see if they come up to spec first. If they do, go ahead and plug her in. Don't = replace.

Next, give your hot water tank a good vinegar bath and pull the blow off valve and stick a water wand in there to rinse out the calcium (white flakes), then bleach the entire water system. Youtube is your friend.....

Re the chassis, a grease job oil change with filters should do it. Check the Tx and diff fluid levels too. So many new owners don't.

Mike in Colorado

SandiaMan · 03-22-2023, 09:43 AM

Being that it is a class A gasser go ahead and see if it starts, if it won't turn over put a charger on chassis battery. Really not much different than a car that sits for months, we have a trickle charger on our rig that keeps chassis battery ready to go.

As for the house side, depending if they used RV antifreeze or just blew out the the water lines, there are videos aplenty on youtube demonstrating de-winterizing techniques for either scenario, certainly a bit more tasking getting antifreeze out.

As mentioned above, checking and/or replacing powertrain fluids at the beginning of the RVing season is a good idea, particularly on a coach that you have never used. There was no mention of mileage, some of the fluids may be from 2010.