RV Repair courses

[terrysims52]

I would like to ask the forum readers if anyone has ever considered or completed any RV repair courses to help them do their own repairs? I have been reading about a school in Texas that offers rv owners a 5 day course covering electrical,plumbing,water heater,furnace and ac issues. They also offer an at home study course. The name of the school is National RV Training Academy. I am very interested in becoming more proficient at repairs and avoiding the high hourly labor and inconvenient down time at service centers. I would welcome any information on other places to get this training as well as opinions in general about doing something like this. Thank You
Terry

[tderonne]

I took a class. Started in 1974, no end in sight.

[Old-Biscuit]

Topic covered in this recent thread....enjoy

https://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/rv-t...nt-567208.html

[Alpine36]

Mmmm, good idea.
Go for it.
Something to be said about saving a ton of cash and the instant gratification knowing that one, yep, I can likely fix that.
(even on the road)
Two, never be held hostage by the dealer or repair centers again for basic maintenance or relatively easy repairs.
I'd say the five day hands on class sounds like a good excuse for a road trip.

[Boogie_]

a school in Texas that offers rv owners a 5 day course covering electrical,plumbing,water heater,furnace and ac issues.

If you don't currently have an understanding of or experience in carpentry/plumbing/electrical skills, a 5 day course is pointless.

If you have an understanding of or experience in carpentry/plumbing/electrical skills, a 5 day course is pointless.

[GUS2000]

In my opinion, their material (NRVTA) is dated and not specific enough to new technology. Find someone who you can learn from that you can trust and is willing to share their knowledge and you will be better off in my opinion.. the other thing that sticks out is that NRVTA also certifies inspectors, which is a conflict of interest to me as you should not be able to certify the people you just trained as they should be certified by an impartial third party.. just my 2c..

[hamm2018]

Originally Posted by terrysims52

I would like to ask the forum readers if anyone has ever considered or completed any RV repair courses to help them do their own repairs? I have been reading about a school in Texas that offers rv owners a 5 day course covering electrical,plumbing,water heater,furnace and ac issues. They also offer an at home study course. The name of the school is National RV Training Academy. I am very interested in becoming more proficient at repairs and avoiding the high hourly labor and inconvenient down time at service centers. I would welcome any information on other places to get this training as well as opinions in general about doing something like this. Thank You
Terry

The 5-day class I would think you would get the basic in every category you listed. It could benefit you, but only if the material is up to date. So, I would say "go for it".

[RHD51]

I am fortunate enough to have a lifetime of experience in carpentry, construction, maintenance, elec., plumbing etc.
It is a great feeling to have the confidence to know that you can likely fix anything that may go wrong with your rig.
A 5 day class will not get you to that point, it is an introduction to the knowledge you wish to acquire.
The important thing is that you want to learn, as long as you have the desire to learn you can acquire the knowledge you desire.
Take the class and then continue to build on that knowledge from there and soon you too will have the confidence to tackle even major repairs.
The actual repairs are usually the easy part, in my experience, the troubleshooting is the tricky part. Figuring out what to repair is what takes a some time and experience to learn. Good Luck.

[Paul R. Haller]

I built the home I live in. Every nail, screw, all sheetrock, concrete, insulation, roof, heating and AC, siding, electrical, plumbing, etc. I have acquired my knowledge over a lifetime. I learned by doing and doing the research to get the best result. Do not be scared doing things you don’t know or understand. Just be prepared for a lifetimes accumulation of tools both hand and power and many, many man hours crawling, hammering, researching, and swearing. It took 4 years building my home with a full time job teaching at Cal. I worked every day at Cal for 8-10 hours and then came home and worked until 2 in the morning building my families house. If you are afraid of the time spent learning, don’t be. Life is a lifetime of learning, or at least it is for me. If you are not prepared for learning more or afraid of losing down time, Be afraid. I went to grad school for 9 years after graduation from college and then built my own home in my spare time. If you go into this, you will buy tools and you will save money but at the expense of real spare time. We all make our choices and place our priorities. You must do the same. I’m in agreement with RHD51. 5 days will only wet your interest. Paul R. Haller

[TXiceman]

If you are not after expert level competence, look at the Escapees' Boot Camp program.
It will give a noobie a good start at what is needed to know.

https://www.escapees.com/education/rvers-boot-camp/

Ken

[Triangle Drifter]

About the only thing I did to learn something about RVs was a plant tour of the Mobile Suites factory shortly after getting our Alpenlite. The purpose was to get an idea of how these things are put together. All prior experience was 25 years of boating. Boats are more complex but the electrical & plumbing systems are very similar.

For anything specific YouTube is the goto source of info. It takes some sifting to find what you are looking for but it is there somewhere.

[Fiesta48]

Been fixing nearly everything since I was a toddler. Saved way over a 100 grand by now. Jobs done right, on time, no waiting on inexperienced workers and overpriced shops.
Just fixed a furnace control board with bad soldering. I've made 175 improvements and 180 fixes on my DP. Service and grease it myself at 74. No job I won't tackle. I take care of 3 RVs.