Our 1st Camper?

Well the nest is finally empty not that it makes me happy! But such is life! So the wife & I just purchased our 1st camper! Bought it from a friend of a friend its been taken care of very nicely & everything is supposed to work but for now is still winterized. I guess my question is……is there anything that you guys can tell me i should look at to ready it for spring! We just rented a permanant camping spot for the summer on the banks of the Mississippi river here in IL. we can take it to our campground April 1st. Looking forward to a great Spring,summer,& fall on the river! Any help would be appreciated!

Mouse traps, get them out first ! Wipe down everything with bleach, shampoo carpets. Clean out tanks if you have them. Then enjoy your home away from home

Clean spider webs out of the water heater tube. Usally it will not light if you don’t. Oh and check if it has a by-pass system on it and reverse it.

Drain nontoxic antifreeze out fron your water system. Then pour 1 cup of bleach in it and fill up holding tank with freash water and run through the system till you smell the bleach at each side of each faucet valve.and then let it set for the day.

Next day drain system and repeet with a 1/4 cup of disolved baking sota, run through the entire system and each side again leave it for a day.

Last time drain entire system and fill with fresh water.

If you have ever had skunky water when out in the camper, this becomes a first of the spring item when cleaning the camper from it’s winters rest.

Thanks Big G! It’s 24-25 ft sleeps 4 its a 2000(year) Nomad. The people we bought it from are keeping the dump tank! So i need to buy one of those! I was also thinking about treating the top of it so it doesn’t leak down the road! Since it will be sitting outside most of the year! Im sure theres some type of soap or homemade solution to wash the outside too!

I found that using “simple green” undiluted mist sprayed on the camper exterior walls and wipe with a rag (rincing it out frequently to keep it clean) helped a bunch then you can apply your favorite wax quite easly! SG will remove the grime and oxidatation easer that elbow greasing it off with the wax. Also your new wax will buff very easly off!

Win win item!

doesnt you permy campsite have sewer and water on your lot???????????

Quote:

---

doesnt you permy campsite have sewer and water on your lot???????????

---

Our site has fresh water, electric, & dump station on site! I’ll be pulling blue tank to dump station! we’ll probably use the parks bathrooms most the time i’m guessing! Its a pretty nice park! 2 sets of showers & bathrooms!

replace batteries in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, clean up mouse turds and check for active mouse infestation and seal up where they are getting in. It is rare to buy a used camper with no mouse problems, it can get pretty rank on hot days if you dont clean up their mess.

heard of a few that way. our permy site has a sewer type system. good luck and have fun. campin is what ya make of it!!!! and stock up on the firewood.

If you see any sort of mouse poo make sure you clean the entire camper with an anti-bacterial spray and wipe it down. Mice cannot control their bladders so they pee constantly, everything they touch has mouse pee on it which can lead to all sorts of nasty illnesses.

As mentioned above run bleach and clean water through all of your faucets and shower to get rid of the antifreeze . One thing I have found to do after each use is to drain your hot water heater. It does not take long for that water to smell after it cools down. Switch your hot water valves so water goes in it instead of bypassing it. Fill LP tanks. Clean mildo off of awning with a bleach warm water mix.

Thanks Guys! Were gonna get started on it as soon as the weather breaks? 4-7 inches of snow headed our way starting in the morn! thanks again!

the campground we are at and i-d assume the same where your at if they have water will have to sanitise there lines in the spring anyway, so filling your tanks with that water and let it sit would do the same thing.

Glen, tied direct is differant than using onboard water.

Using site water in a direct connect you might need to filter it for several reasons, using “loaded” water is what I speak of.

Definately clean all the lines good with a very diluted bleach solution and then a diluted vinegar solution. This helps get the strong bleech smell out of the lines. Also rinse the tanks and all lines after doing this throughly with fresh water. I have a camper on a seasonal site and the last couple years I have NOT used the antifreeze for winterizing. I took the advise of my late Father in-law and started blowing out the lines with air only. I bought a small portable air compressor and put together a brass fitting that screws into the city water intake. I set the psi on the compressor to 40 psi and open each fauset one at a time until all the water is gone. I rotate through all the faucets several times and open the low point drain vales under the camper as well. (I do this with the hot water heater drained and bypassed.) I have had no issues at all by doing it this way. I just don’t feel comfortable using all the chemicals in the water lines. What little water that is left in the lines doen’t seem to bother anything.

I buy 1 gallon of RV Antifreeze a year. I pour some down each drain to keep the P traps from freezing.

I also use this air compressor to blow the lines out early and late in the season when there is a chance that temps could freeze lines while I’m gone during the week. It’s quick and easy and only takes a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

Quote:

---

Glen, tied direct is differant than using onboard water.

Using site water in a direct connect you might need to filter it for several reasons, using “loaded” water is what I speak of.

---

gotcha!!! i assumed being he said it was a perny site water hookup and sewer hookup where part of the deal. much easier that way then portable!!!

Since everyone is talking about water, sewer ect I’m going a different route.

I’ve had a handheld marine band radio in my camper. I have the weather alert turned on and it’s been the first warning a few times of storms/high winds. I works well for listening to the barge/boat traffic and at times can be pretty entertaining.

Plus, a handheld comes in handy. Last summer I anchored my boat and jumped in another fellas boat to fish. I left the boat’s marine radio turned on loud in case someone came over to check out the empty boat. Since it was always in sight some distance away, I could radio to them to let them know I didn’t fall over (or tell them to get the ‘ell away from my boat. LOL! )

Thanks Ben! the folks that we bought the camper from have never used the water tank on board, they used the park water directly!But we are going to rinse out the tanks anyway for lack of use just see if everything holds water & to freshen things up! I have a small compressor so i will definately be trying that method of winterizing! And thanks to everyone that gave us input on our camper! This is why i enjoy coming to this site! THANKS Men!

Brian, that trick sounds like a good holloween trick,

Quote:

---

Definately clean all the lines good with a very diluted bleach solution and then a diluted vinegar solution. This helps get the strong bleech smell out of the lines. Also rinse the tanks and all lines after doing this throughly with fresh water. I have a camper on a seasonal site and the last couple years I have NOT used the antifreeze for winterizing. I took the advise of my late Father in-law and started blowing out the lines with air only. I bought a small portable air compressor and put together a brass fitting that screws into the city water intake. I set the psi on the compressor to 40 psi and open each fauset one at a time until all the water is gone. I rotate through all the faucets several times and open the low point drain vales under the camper as well. (I do this with the hot water heater drained and bypassed.) I have had no issues at all by doing it this way. I just don’t feel comfortable using all the chemicals in the water lines. What little water that is left in the lines doen’t seem to bother anything.

I buy 1 gallon of RV Antifreeze a year. I pour some down each drain to keep the P traps from freezing.

I also use this air compressor to blow the lines out early and late in the season when there is a chance that temps could freeze lines while I’m gone during the week. It’s quick and easy and only takes a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

---

X2 I do the same thing this works great!

Thanks Briank! My Birthday is coming up April 1st & that hand held is the only thing on my list! We have lots of friends running the river & we are right in the middle of pool 18! sounds like a handy thing to have around! Loved the story!

I have a well at my place and every spring I “shock” it and use the bleached water to run through my camper. Works great to kill 2 birds with 1 stone