Community Forums

Chad G · 06-20-2017, 11:50 AM

This is my first post, and I'm brand new to the RV community.

I recently purchased a pre-owned 1997 Shasta E-350 Class C Motorhome. Yesterday I replaced the six gallon hot water tank because the seller did not disclose the fact that he didn't properly drain the tank for winter storage and it ruptured. Not knowing the right questions to ask, I learned of this the hard way when I introduced water to the system.

The vehicle is in pretty good shape. I'm temporarily living in it and I have a pretty good understanding of the water systems, sewage system, electrical systems, and automotive systems, but I do have some pretty basic questions a community member might be able to provide assistance with.

My kids, age 4 and 10, subsist primarily off chicken nuggets. The best way to make chicken nuggets is in the oven. However, lol, I cannot find the pilot light in the oven to turn the oven on. Where might the pilot light be located?

On that note, I think the oven is electrically activated, but maybe the electric igniter is bad, because I have to use a lighter to light the range, and probably to light the oven (once I find the pilot light). I also suspect the house battery needs replaced, because when the refrigerator is in the "auto" position, it works on shore power, but once I disconnect shore power, it will only run if the generator is running - it will not run on propane alone. I may be misunderstanding its operating principles, but I think maybe the house battery needs replaced. (Incidentally, how often should I change the oil in the generator?)

Also, I bought a 19" flat screen LED TV. Does anyone have any guidance on how to hook the TV up to the RV antenna, or if I subscribe to a satellite TV service like Dish or DirecTV, how to make this functional, mobility being the premise of RV'ing?

One last question -- I cannot find ANY operator's manuals for my particular vehicle online, and I'm pretty adept at leveraging the capabilities of Google.

Would anyone be able to recommend any good RV accessories websites?

Thank you so much for the help.

Best Regards,

Chad

BFlinn181 · 06-20-2017, 01:15 PM

For your oven and other items in the RV: Note make and model of each item you encounter in a top to bottom search. Then use Google to find owners manuals, service manuals, etc.

Your house battery is needed to make the refrigerator, water heater, thermostat (& A/C and furnace) operate, they all use 12v control boards. Everything would 'die' when shore power is disconnected. Check and clean battery connections, charge, then have it load tested at an auto parts store to see if it's any good.

Do you have a roof top TV antenna? That should lead to a coax connection usually in a cabinet near TV mount. It also has a 12v amplifier that needs to be on to receive over the air broadcasts, but should be off if connecting to cable of satellite TV. (also reduces battery drain) Often the amplifier is behind a cover plate with the coax connection, switch and LED on the cover plate. Your RV might have a coax connection in an outside compartment, usually on driver's side for hook up to campground cable connection.

Look up a manual for your generator, usually oil change is measured in hours of use. If you don't know when it was last changed, doing it soon would be a good idea for peace of mind.

As non-specific most owner's manuals for RVs are, you might search for any Class C owner's manuals online and read one or more of those. They don't give details or help on much of your RV, they are very general so they don't have to be re-written each time a design or feature is changed.

Chad G · 06-20-2017, 09:20 PM

Thank you very much for the guidance. I got the TV hooked up, it scans 37 channels, but I can't get them on the TV. But at least I got the Blu Ray player hooked up lol, so the kids could watch 101 Dalmatians - after I baked chicken nuggets for them in the oven you helped me figure out.

KT4Wextra · 06-20-2017, 10:02 PM

You need to run the set up procedure on your television to scan for OTA reception and have the little button pushed in on the coax plug outlet. You should have a small light when it is on. As far as the oven, there is no pilot light for safety reasons, you have to manually light the pilot each time you use it.