Parked For 4 - 5 Months

[davidsteverson]

Greetings everyone. We arrived in the Rio Grand Valley in mid October and will be here until the end of February. What kinds of things do I need to be doing to make sure our motorhome is getting the proper maintenance. 

I've cleaned the filters on the A/C (do that the first of every month), checked the batteries, fresh wash and coat of wax on both motorhome and toad. 

Do I need to bring slides in periodically?  Do I need to bring jacks up and re level periodically?  Should I take it out for a ride every so often?  If so how often and for how long?  

One other thing I have already done - I exercised the generator every six weeks. Started generator and ran all 3 ACs for almost 2 hours. 

Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated. 

Thanks. David

[wolfe10]

David,

Since you have a diesel coach, here are some suggestions:

Put a BIOCIDE such as Biobor JF in the diesel tank, then fill tank all the way to minimize condensation.  Then drive it far enough to distribute the biocide. Any marine store and many Academy stores carry it.

Yes, a good idea to start the coach once a month, BUT (read that LARGE BUT) ONLY IF YOU CAN DRIVE A MINIMUM OF 25 HIGHWAY MILES. That is the only way to get the OIL, not just coolant up to operating temperature.  Just starting it and running it in place only puts moisture in the crankcase.

Be sure the tires are covered to protect them from UV light.

[davidsteverson]

I do have tire covers on - bought them at the last FMCA rally. They are the kind that attach to the coach and completely cover the wheel well. 

[tbutler]

Unless you are going to need it, drain your fresh water storage tank for the winter.  You will want a fresh tank of water when you leave in the spring.  It will be easier to rinse and sanitize your fresh water tank if it is empty for the winter. 

Depending on the surface you are parking on, you will likely want to put some kind of pads under the tires.  Definitely the case if on soil, grass or gravel.  We use cutting boards from the cheapest source  you can find (Walmart, Dollar General, etc.)  Wood is another alternative and there are specific pads you can purchase from camping stores.  Be certain that the pad will support the entire "footprint' of each tire.

Critters are active all year round here in the RGV.  One year I looked under our coach and there was a termite tower about 8 inches tall coming through the asphalt parking surface.  We paved the pad with concrete shortly after that.  Ants are also active in the winter months here, treat the area around the coach for ants and watch for their activity.  The cooler winter weather drives mice indoors and RV's are often an easy target so block all entries into the coach basement.  Wasps and birds build nests very early in the spring.  Look for their nests starting in mid-February.

Warmer weather and humidity can cause batteries to show corrosion fairly quickly.  Periodically examine and clean as needed to prevent early failure.

 

[davidsteverson]

We are on a concrete pad and it seems to be fairly level. I do have wood pads but I didn't put them down since it was concrete and level.

The water pressure is fairly weak where we are so we are actually filling our tank and using the pump to have better pressure. It's OK without the pump but using the tank and pump really gives us good pressure.

Thanks for all the good input. 

[BillAdams]

Do your engine batteries get charged when you are parked?  Mine do not so I have a charger I keep connected to these when parked for more than a couple of weeks.

[davidsteverson]

Greetings everyone.

Wanted to close the loop on this thread and let you know what I did. First, we have a pattern of the 1st of every month we clean all the air filters - I think there are like 16 of them. I then checked the batteries. Not dry, but all 4 low on water so I added distilled water to the bottom of the fill opening. Had a little corrosion on a couple of connectors so cleaned that off.

I went to Autozone and bought a bottle of diesel treatment that would treat 300 gallons. Packed up like we were leaving and headed out for a spin. Before we left I fired up the generator and turned on all 3 ACs and put them on 70. Drove to the next town up - about 25 miles and parked and left generator on and went into Cracker Barrel and had a bowl of beans. Came out and drove back to our town and stopped and filled up with diesel and put half the bottle of diesel treatment in. Drove a few miles to get it thoroughly mixed in and came back to our resort and set up again. All together from take down to setup again was a little under 3 hours. 

We have been here a week short of 2 months. We'll be going to a meeting in Beaumont, TX in early January and then leaving here the end of Feb headed to AZ for FMCA. So this 8 weeks we have been parked will be the longest stretch with no driving. 

Thanks everyone for your input. Hope we have done all the right things.

David