They say you learn a lot in the first month in an RV...
"They" are not wrong! We not only started living in an RV full time a few weeks ago, we also took our fifth wheel to the South in the heart of winter and we had a cold snap the last couple of weeks that really put us to the test.
We had a few problems in our first few weeks, but fortunately it was nothing my mom and dad couldn't handle. Not only are we doing just fine, we also learned a lot!
We started our journey in New Braunfels, Texas near San Antonio. We then drove to Lamar, Mississippi to see some friends and then set up in Nashville, Tennessee for the last couple of weeks.
Problem 1 (Texas):
The grey water return line was cracked at a T joint inside the storage under the RV. I am guessing it was cracked when we received the unit, because it looked like the cap in the T joint was screwed in too far and it cracked the whole T - it only started dumping water when we did loads of laundry preparing for our big trip. At least it was nice smelling laundry water dumping into the storage! I am glad this was in a very accessible part of the camper and very happy this happened before we hit freezing temperatures.
Solution:
We cut the T section out (not sure why it was even there, it was just creating a weak point, I think the T may be there for larger units that have a second bathroom?) and replaced the pipe with some 40 gauge straight pipe. We let the glue dry and seal, ran some laundry the next day and it held up just fine.
Problem 2 (Tennessee):
Our cabinet hinge over the TV broke off. The plastic caps that go into the holes in the wood panel wouldn't stay in place on one side.
Solution:
We used Gorilla Glue (the gel kind that expands). We moistened the wood to get adherence, put the glue in the holes, tapped the plastic pieces into the holes with a hammer, and let it set for 24 hours. We screwed the cabinet hinges back on, and it's holding great now!
Problem 3 (Tennessee):
Within minutes of arriving to our RV park in Tennessee, it started snowing. That first night, it got VERY cold and despite our camper being rated for all-seasons, our furnace alone did not keep the basement warm enough to prevent parts from freezing.
We found the problem because we heard a fuse blow. We checked and it was the fuse to the water pump. Sure enough, the pump was frozen.
Solution:
We put a heat lamp and space heater downstairs until everything thawed. Now that its thawed, the heat lamp alone is keeping it plenty warm. The water pump thawed out, and we will test it when we disconnect the water tomorrow and hopefully the pump works fine. UPDATE: We tested the water pump a few days later, and sure enough it works just fine after fully thawing out.
Problem 4 (Tennessee):
We had a drawer slide break on a kitchen drawer.
Solution:
We will start off by contacting Keystone and requesting a new slide for the drawer, as it should be under warranty. If I am feeling ambitious, I will just upgrade all of the slides at some point with high quality soft close slides from Home Depot or Lowes.
Problem 5 (En route to Tennessee):
This one was our fault. We forgot to strap the bedroom door closed when we drove. The door got jammed and the hinge that holds it in place bent. The door would no longer slide shut.
Solution:
We removed the hinge from the door, bent the bracket straight, got the door sliding perfectly again. It also bent the magnetic holder that keeps the door open, so we bent that back into place as well. Oops, lesson learned!
We expect to have more problems, and we will keep fixing what we can. Hopefully, we won't run into any major issues in our first trip. I am so glad I am a handy pooch!