Imagine not being let into your favorite campground because of your RV’s age. It’s more likely than you think. Despite the increasing popularity of vintage RVs, some campgrounds are not admitting RVs aged 10 years or older. When enforced, the rule takes no account for the condition or maintenance of an individual’s RV, eliminating them from some high-end campgrounds strictly based on age.
RV parks who enforce the ten year rule usually list this information on their website, and drivinvibin.com says that while the rule is seen in some campgrounds across the country, Florida and Arizona enforce it most frequently.
Many campgrounds who say they enforce the rule might not be as strict as their stated policies.
“Almost every RV park that implements the 10 year rule also allows exceptions for it. In our experience (owning in vintage RVs for 5 years), we’ve never been turned away. Most often RV parks will ask for a picture of your RV. They will either allow or deny based on the picture.” drivinvibin said.
The website polled nearly 500 RVers, and a whopping 88% did not agree with the rule.
Park owners use the rule to guard against RVs on the decline, but most RV owners say there’s no foolproof way to weed out unkempt RVs.
Of the same RVers surveyed about the 10-year rule, 82% agreed that park owners do have the right to deny entry based on the RV’s condition. Check out the original article here for more details.
At Pete’s RV Center, we have a solution to your concerns about the ten-year rule. It’s our large supply of new RVs for sale! With locations in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, check out petesrv.com and roll into the campground of your choice this summer.
Announced during the awards dinner at Jayco, Inc’s annual Dealer Homecoming, Pete’s RV Center was announced number three in the category of Top Ten Towable Dealers for Model Year 2018.
Pictured Left to Right: Matt Thompson, Wilbur Bontrager, Phil LeClair, Chad Shepard, Nick Campbell, Rocky Holman, Randy Murray, Bertha Bontrager, Derald Bontrager.
Their South Windsor, CT store led the charge with the sale with a combination of nearly seven hundred Jayco travel trailers and fifth wheels. An outstanding achievement considering Pete’s RV Center was not ranked in the top ten last year.
“It was difficult walking out of the awards ceremony last year knowing we had just missed the cut for top ten. That disappointment diminished with this year’s announcement”, reflected co-owner Chad Shepard. “It was a thrilling moment accepting the award from Jayco’s founding family, the Bontragers. I did so on behalf of everybody at Pete’s RV who worked so hard to help propel us into the number three ranking.”
Established in 1968, Jayco, Inc., manufactures and markets towable and motorized RVs through its Jayco, Starcraft, Entegra Coach, and Highland Ridge RV divisions.
Original Release: https://www.prlog.org/12726431-petes-rv-named-top-ten-jayco-towable-dealer.html
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
Editor’s Note: Airstream is at it again! First Nest, then Basecamp X, now Smart Technology. Starting in 2019, the Classic is going to be equipped with an application that allows owners to access key information about their Airstream from a mobile device as well as improving access to the internet in the most remote locations. Most impressive, indeed!
The 2019 Airstream Classic features an unprecedented level of digital capability to provide owners with connectivity, comfort, and control
Jackson Center, Ohio (August 2, 2018) – Airstream, innovative maker of the iconic “silver bullet” travel trailers, has announced that its 2019 Classic models will feature the company’s Smart Technology, which digitally connects owners to their RVs for a more enjoyable camping experience.
The integrated, Airstream-designed Smart Technology and connectivity solution is the first of its kind developed and produced by an RV manufacturer. Fueled by extensive consumer research and the opportunity to lead the industry, Airstream’s new platform will transform how customers interact with and use their recreational vehicle.
“Digital technology has improved almost every aspect of our lives,” said Airstream President and CEO Bob Wheeler. “Shouldn’t it make camping better, too? We think so. That’s why, in keeping with our commitment to innovation, we’re leading the way with our new Smart Control Technology and connectivity solution, starting with our Airstream Classic travel trailers.”
The Smart Control Technology enables 2019 Airstream Classic owners to control and monitor systems and amenities from anywhere – keeping them connected to the comforts of home, even when they’re far from it. Lighting, HVAC, awning, vent fans, water, propane and battery levels, and more can all be controlled and monitored remotely with an intuitive app – creating a more comfortable camping experience every time.
To view the rest of this article by Airstream, click Here!
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
PetesRV.com expert, Randy Murray provides an overview of basic camping essentials and the tools required to make your next trip safe, worry free, and fun!
Video Transcript for “Basic Camping Essentials | Pete’s RV Quick Tips”
Randy: Hey, folks. Randy with Pete’s RV TV here today. Another Quick Tip segment for you. I just want to take a couple minutes and show you some of the things that I bring me … with me when I go camping.
I take a lot of phone calls from customers that have small problems while they’re camping that do arise. and when I direct them on the best way to take care of that problem, they need a couple tools that, they may not have with them. So, if you put together a basic tool kit, when you go camping, leave it right in the camper, no problem whatsoever. We can talk you through most anything.
So, some of the things that I bring with me is, first of all, I always bring some sort of, like, source. Either something I can put on my head, or … This little guy right here in kinda neat. We sell him in the store. It’s got a magnet on the back, so we can stick it to a piece of metal in the camper where I’m working there. It’s got a hook on it and it gives me some light underneath the cabinet or in the front storage compartment or by the battery, cause nothing ever goes wrong in the daylight. It always happens at night, especially if you go camping with me.
So, a couple lights, which are nice to have, or even if you’ve got just a regular flashlight that you store, and keep charge in the camper. Another thing I bring is I’ve got a bag of fuses. So, every fuse … every camper has multiple different size fuses in them. So, I kind of got a bag of … Just, a variety of everything that I run into in a camper and a good thing to have with me. Roll of electrical tape. Never know (laughs) and you can fix most anything with electrical tape, if needed.
I also bring some crimp-connectors, which you can buy in a kit like at, your local, home goods store or something like that. And these are just if I have to re-attach a wire, or we have to shorten something up, or we have a mishap or something pulled loose. Just, to be able to make a crimp connection is nice. That will also work in conjunction with a pair of crimping pliers. And, again, sometimes the kits you purchase will come with an inexpensive pair of pliers that you can use, to get by for the weekend.
Now, most campers are built with, screws, obviously. And the type of screws they use are a square-tip, or a screw had has got a square tip, so you need a special square tip, to go to those screws. And that’s this guy right here, if Josh can pan in on it, and you’ll see I got a Phillips right next to it.
most people have a Phillips, because that’s what we have at home. Campers are a little odd, and they require that square tip. So, this tip that I purchased from, again one of the local box stores. It’s a Milwaukee kit. I think it cost like $20. It’s got everything I need in it. It’s got, screw acceptor for my screw gun. You will need a screw gun as well. and it’s got the square tips, it’s got fill-ups, it’s got a couple torques here, and it’s got spares of all, because if you lose them like I do, nice to have a spare. But anyway, for the cost of this kit, I think it’s just a great kit to (laughs) … I have one at home, and on my carry-around tool box that I do bring with me when I go camping.
Sheet-rock knife, or a box cutter. This one actually folds up like a jackknife. I actually carry this one with me all the time, right in the pocket of my pants, but, good to have. you never know when you’re gonna need that. Wire-strippers, and cutters. Again, if we have an electrical problem … A lot of times, we can talk you through it, or you can find it very easily yourself, but having a good pair of strippers on board, it makes that job a lot easier for us stripping that wire back.
I like to bring a couple pair of channel locks if I’ve got a plumbing issue, and usually I can get by with a bind if I got to tighten something up with a channel locks. And again, this can be purchased at your local box store. Christmas is a great time to pick this stuff up because they’ve usually got kits on sale, relatively low price. And you don’t need the best ones. A lot of these tools are very expensive tools. This is how I make my living. You don’t need the best tools for your basic kit that you keep in your camper.
I usually will carry a Phillips and a regular screwdriver. These are like mid-size so they’re pretty much good for almost every application, unless it’s something specific. we’ve already talked about the crimpers. I do carry a pair of side cutters with me. Sometimes these are just a little easier to make a cut close to something or pull a staple out that may be in our carpet or what have you. But, again, pair of side cutters.
Needle nose. You can always get yourself out of a bind with a pair of needle nose. Especially, when you drop something in that spot that my little fat fingers can’t get into. Needle nose, it makes it very easy for that. there is some neat, small kits out there. Again, the big box store, Sears, all of them have kits that have couple different size open end box wrenches. This is one of the ones I carry in the small kit that I have that’s all over my toolbox cause I left it open. i also bring a couple of adjustable wrenches with me as well. Reason for the adjustable wrenches is, they’re adjustable. We can use them for almost any size, anything to get you out of a bind.
Again, these aren’t tools to, you know, fix the problem per se, but enough to get us by for the weekend before you can get it in for service and get it ap- repaired appropriately. an electrical tested. This particular one right here is for 120 volt power. Pretty much, I’m just going to plug it into the outlet and it’ll tell me if my power is good, tell me if it’s wired properly, and tell me if power is present. So that’s a good one. I take phone calls a lot where, “My TV’s not working.” “Well, do you have power at the outlet?” “I don’t know, Randy.” (laughs) well, I’m gonna- Having you plug something else in, but if you’ve got a quick electrical tester to plug it in, then you can tell me.
This guy right here is for checking 12 volt power. It’s called a stab tester, 12 volt tester. We’d hook this into ground or anything pretty much metal on the camper and then we can test our fuses with this guy here. I’m gonna have Josh pan in on one of these fuses here. This is a great way to test our fuses so if you can pan right in on that and see the two metal tabs on either side of the 40 there, Josh. Each one of those is a test point so I can test if I’ve got power coming in in the fuse and I can test if I’ve got power going out of the fuse.
So when you’re looking at a whole fuse panel and you’re trying to determine which one is the one for your furnace or your LP detector, something like that, which is labeled incorrectly, by testing both sides, as well as the fuses, we can quickly determine whether one is blown or not. And again, we would do that in conjunction with this tester here. This will also test if we’ve got power at breakers and things like that on the 12 volt side of things so when you call me up and tell me that your slide outs not going out, I’m going to ask you if you’ve got 12 volt power to the breaker going through the breaker to the slide out. This is a great way to test that.
This is another tester that I carry with me. Kind of [00:06:00] on the same lines of this one here, but I can actually put this next to any wire and it’ll tell if it’s 120 volt wire and it’ll tell me if I have voltage present rather than putting it into an outlet. It’s called a [wiggie 00:06:09] tester.
Multimeter. This is what I love for customers to have cause we can do all sorts of testing with this guy here. Not everyone’s gonna put this, in their tool box that they keep in their camper because these can be a little bit more pricey, but if you’ve got like an inexpensive version of this and one of these, which aren’t too bad, we can usually get by anything.
So anyway, there’s just some of the tools that I bring with [00:06:30] me camping and, again, enough to get you out of trouble in a pinch. maybe not make the final repair, but definitely continue on with your camping weekend if you are having a small problem. So, just wanted to share that with you guys and if you’re looking for presents for Father’s day, birthdays, or even Christmas, great time to put this little tool kit together and can be done for relatively, inexpensive on the Father Day, on the Christmas side of things, cause that’s when we see a lot of tools on sale at our local box store. So, thanks for watching Quick Tips with Randy today. look forward to seeing you on the road and happy camping.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Achieve Extended Hot Showers When RVing
Thursday, September 8th, 2016 18:16:23
Pete’s RV Vermont Service Writer and Resident RV Expert Randy Murray provides a step-by-step overview on how to achieve extended hot showers in an RV.
Video Transcript for “How to Extend Hot Water Showers in Your Camper”
Randy:(singing) Hey folks. Randy with Pete’s RV TV here today. Another quick fix segment for you. When you’re camping, do you go to take a shower, do you get about three minutes of good, hot water? And then it starts to go lukewarm on you? And of course your hair is full of soap, and you haven’t rinsed off yet? Happens to me too, but I’ve got a trick. So when we’re camping, different camp grounds have different water supplies. Some of them will have very deep wells. Some of them will have shallow wells. Usually on a deep well, the water coming out of the ground is very cold. This can happen at the spring of the year as well, when the water feeding that well is very cold. So what my trick is for that is I will, when I’m having that problem, I’ll fill my fresh water holding tank. And when I take a shower, I’m actually going to turn the city water off, and I’m going to turn on my water pump and feed the water from the fresh water holding tank.
The reason I do this is the water coming in from a very deep well is mixing with the hot water in your tank, as long as you don’t have a tank-less hot water heater. So it’s mixing with that warm water in the tank and it’s bringing the temperature down very quickly. And we’re also taking water out of the top, so as that cold water is mixing with the hot, it’s going to bring the temperature down. Where if we’re taking it now out of our fresh water holding tank and mixing it with that same hot water in that water heater, it’s going to be ambient air temperature coming out of that fresh water holding tank entering the hot water heater. Rather than the real cold water from the city coming in and cooling down our water a lot faster.
So if you’re looking for a little bit longer shower to get that hair, or that soap out of your hair, fill the fresh water holding tank when you arrive. And use the fresh water holding tank rather than the city while you’re taking your showers. Then you can go back over to city after you’ve done your shower. But that will give you another minute or two of warmer water to get rinsed off. So just another quick tip from Randy at Pete’s RV. Thanks for watching our quick tips segment, and I look forward to seeing you on the road. Happy camping.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Empty Your RV Holding Tanks
Friday, May 20th, 2016 20:01:36
Pete’s RV Vermont Service Writer and Resident RV Expert Randy Murray provides a step-by-step overview on how to empty your RV holding tanks.
As Randy explains, with the black holding tank, we want to keep it closed as long as possible to allow the chemicals to break down the solids, and toilet paper inside the tank. Over time, the solids and toilet paper will build up more head pressure, so when you go to dump the tanks, it will evacuate much better.
Sidenote: When going camping, it’s recommended we bring RV toilet paper vs traditional toilet paper. The RV toilet paper tends to break down quicker than traditional toilet paper while in the holding tanks.
The steps to emptying your RV holding tanks explained by Randy include:
Make sure to keep your black tank closed to allow toilet chemicals to breakdown black tank waste and to build head pressure to make dumping much easier.
Pop the cap off of your black tank and attach your see through hose attachment
Attach your hose to the end of your see through hose attachment and release your waste water
When black tank is empty open your grey tank water valve to release grey tank waste and clean your house
When grey tank is empty close your valves, detach your hose and pack up your hose
Pete’s RV Center is an extraordinary recreational vehicle dealer with locations in South Burlington, VT, Schererville, IN and South Windsor, CT. An RV sales and service provider since 1952, Pete’s RV Center carries an extensive inventory of Keystone, Crossroads, Coachman, Heartland, Evergreen and Forest River RV-branded campers.
To learn more from Randy as well as stay up to date on all things Pete’s RV be sure to visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Prevent Low Voltage Damage to RV Electronics Monday, April 18th, 2016 19:32:08
Pete’s RV Vermont Service Writer and Resident RV Expert Randy Murray provides a step-by-step overview on how to prevent low voltage damage to your RV electronics.
As Randy explains, we can use a voltage regulator to help protect your RV’s electrical system and sophisticated electronics from the dangers of electrical power. The regulator will send a low voltage from anything that is below 107 volts, and it will add about 10% to the incoming power of the camper by having it in line.
Sidenote: When you unplug the regulator, and plug it back in. Right away, you’ll notice an increase of about 10%, which will help alleviate the demand on the grid, and in turn, prevent low voltage damage to RV electronics and help the coach work at a good power range.
For more information or to get a quote on the step up transformer and voltage regulator be sure to visit petesrvcenter.com.
To learn more from Randy as well as stay up to date on all things Pete’s RV be sure to visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
Fifth Wheel vs Motorhome – Reasons to Consider a 5th Wheel Friday, May, 1st 2015 22:07:29
RV Lifestyle Consultant Joe Vartuli discusses before rushing into the decision of purchasing a motorhome and why you should consider: ton the five key points to take into consideration:
1. Interior Space/Ceiling Height.
Typically, fifth wheels provide more living space, especially if equipped with multiple slideouts. Slideout widths are generally smaller in motorhomes to allow for people to move about the cabin, which produces less living space. Also factor in large interior ceiling heights in fifth wheels, and you’ll feel more at home.
2. Furniture/Appliances.
Large size residential amenities provide that home away from home feeling, with optional items such as central vac, solid surface counter tops, and also larger AC units, heating systems, and appliances depending on the model of the fifth wheel.
3. Storage.
The combination of exterior and interior storage provides extra space to bring along any and all items. Because there is no engine or cabin, fifth wheels generally have large bulkhead storage for bigger sized items.
4. Towing vs Driving.
As Joe mentions, 80% of people end up towing another vehicle behind their motorhome, whereas with a fifth wheel you always have a dependable tow vehicle with you, allowing you to easily unhook and travel wherever you would like. Either way, you will be towing something.
5. Cost/Maintenance.
Insurance plays a key role in cost for owning a motorhome because there are more moving parts. A fifth wheel can be up to 30% cheaper to insure than a motorhome. Plus, you have to factor in all general maintenance items like the chassis, tires, wheel bearings, brakes, compressed air systems, hydraulic systems, oil changes, etc. Overall, maintenance costs will run higher for a motorhome vs a fifth wheel simply because of the mechanics and build.
As you can see there are many factors to determine whether or not a motorhome or fifth wheel is more suitable for you and your family. As Joe explains, fifth wheels will provide you with more livability, which is better for longer stays, and motorhomes may be better suited for quicker stop and go trips. We hope we shed some insight on the differences to help make your decision making more educated.
Pete’s RV Center is an extraordinary recreational vehicle dealer with locations in South Burlington, VT, and Schererville, IN. An RV sales and service provider since 1952, Pete’s RV Center carries an extensive inventory of Keystone, Crossroads, Coachman, Heartland, Evergreen and Forest River RV-branded campers. We can be reached at 1-888-902-9352.
Make sure to subscribe to the Pete’s RV YouTube channel for more informative videos and information on news and events.
Video Transcript | Fifth Wheel vs Motorhome – Reasons to Consider a 5th Wheel
Hi, I’m Joe Vartuli, RV Lifestyle Consultant, here at Pete’s RV Center in South Burlington, Vermont. I’m going to do a little bit of a buyer’s tip here. We’re actually doing a Fifth-Wheel versus a motorhome. I want to give you reasons why you should consider a Fifth Wheel if you were thinking you were in the market for a motorhome and depending on how you use it, how the Fifth Wheel can benefit you, alright?
some of the few things that we’re going to go over in kind of this quick video are interior space ceiling height. If you’ll notice, I’m in a triple slide right now. This has a tremendous amount of floor space in it. It has lots of storage everywhere. It’s all very usable. also, the ceiling heights are incredible in the Fifth-Wheels. The, no matter how tall you are, you’re not going to hit the ceiling. It’s, it gives you the feeling of space and openness, which a lot of people like.
a couple of the other things is the furniture. some of our units have very, very plush furniture in ’em. The Fifth Wheels, this unit here, in particular, has heated massage, theater seating, that actually has a power reclining in it. So it’s, it’s all right at your fingertips, LED lighting, and solid-surface counter tops. frameless windows on a lot of our fifth wheels, fireplaces, central vacuum systems if they don’t come with a, with a Dyson already.
also, Josh just showed you the full residential style of refrigerator, which is coming in more and more of the high-midline and upper-end Fifth Wheels. Big appliances. This one has a 30-inch, over-the-counter Microwave that you can see, and we are in a Bighorn 3875 so I will mention that. this is a, a front bathroom model, has a lot of great features.
But back to what we were talking about, otherwise I’ll keep rambling. storage. You notice the cabinetry everywhere inside of here. So inside and out, Fifth Wheels give you a tremendous amount of storage. On the outside, you have pass-through [store 00:01:59] [00:02:00], which we can’t show you here, but tremendous pass, pass-through compartments. Drills, chairs, blocks, whatever you need to put in there, even a small refrigerator will fit in some of the the outside storage compartments on these units. So you can bring everything with you. All right?
Towing and driving. One thing with a Fifth-Wheel is you’re only going to have one motorized vehicle. 80% of motorhome b-, motorhome buyers will end up towing a car, maybe a trailer with a motorcycle in it, but they end up towing something.
This, you have a nice tow vehicle with you all the time, so you always have a good dependable vehicle. once you’re unhitched at the campground you go to, state park, wherever you are, you have a reliable unit that you can go anywhere with.
next thing is cost and maintenance. Insurance cost on this is, is a fraction of what a motorhome would be. So it’s, it’s a third of what an average, maybe even a gas-class A would be. maintenance is very simple because it’s not another motorized vehicle.
You have your roof system to take care of, you keep it clean, you have your brakes and your, your axles. You keep your bearings lubed. And that’s not a whole lot more that you need to do with a, with a camper. A few other small items, but with another motorized vehicle, you have the class, you have the oil changes, the transmission fluids. You have a whole other motor vehicle that you have to take care of. And the ins-, like I said, again the insurance is a big part of it. There is a lot more.
Also going back a little bit to the towing, if you have the right-sized pickup, mated to the Fifth Wheel that you want, you back in, you drop your tailgate, you stop into your hitch, you put up your power legs and away you go. It’s very, very simple.
a lot of people ask me when they come in during the week, you know, I, really want a motorhome because it’s, it’s because I want to move a lot. We want to be going every one or two days here and there. It w-, the motorhomes will work terrific for that.
That being said, if you want to do extended stays at any point, the Fifth Wheel gives you much more livability in it. it will give you more space, more storage. Some of them have two bathrooms. bigger furnace systems, bigger air-conditioning systems until you get into your really high-end level diesel pusher motorhomes.
In a lot of ways, we’re trying to tell you the Fifth Wheel will give you a great option if you’re willing to look at it. I hope you enjoyed this buying tip from Pete’s RV. My name is Joe.
Pete’s RV Center is an exceptional dealership group serving the United States and Canada since 1952. With multiple locations, Pete’s RV provides sales, service, parts, accessories, and education to our community of RVers all across North America.
How to Clean Your RVs Holding Tanks Sensors
Wednesday, November, 26th 2014 15:26:23
Resident RV Expert Randy Murray discusses a multitude of ways to clean your gray/black water holding tank sensors, clearing all inaccurate monitor panel readings from your camper on the†Pete’s RV YouTube Channel.
Sometimes you may get a full tank reading on the monitor panel inside your camper even after youve dumped your gray and black tanks. Randy notes that this is generally caused by a buildup of waste materials or anything that might have made its way down the toilet. These items can block the sensors preventing the correct readout.
Randy provides a few preemptive approaches to make sure you won’t have to deal with that faulty reading. The first is making sure before you flush that you add extra water so the toilet paper (making sure you use RV toilet paper) won’t clump up or dry out to the inside of the tank walls, the next is making sure the tanks are as full as possible (making sure not to overfill) before they are dumped. Randy suggests the use of a tank flush chock to assist in filling your holding tank before it’s dumped.
The good news is that there are other tools for when all else fails. The first one Randy recommends is what’s called an RV swivel stick, which he explains attaches to a hose and sprays around water at a high velocity to break down any tank buildup. †Depending on whether you own a travel trailer or fifth wheel, a longer flexible version is available for the harder to reach holding tanks. Lastly, filling up a 5-gallon bucket with hot water and pouring it down the toilet should help alleviate the issue by steaming away the blockage from the sensors.
Pete’s RV Center is an extraordinary recreational vehicle dealer with locations in South Burlington, VT, Schererville, IN and South Windsor, CT. An RV sales and service provider since 1952, Pete’s RV Center carries an extensive inventory of Keystone, Crossroads, Coachman, Heartland, Evergreen and Forest River RV-branded campers.
To learn more from Randy as well as stay up to date on all things Pete’s RV be sure to visit and subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
How to Properly Use The Air Conditioner in Your Camper
Wednesday, July 3oth 2014 20:03:48
Learn All About Using Your Campers Air Conditioning on the Pete’s RV YouTube channel.
Randy gives a quick important lesson teaching us that air conditioners work by removing warm air and moisture from around the room, which then gets sucked outside leaving the room cooler.
In order to make sure your AC is running properly, Randy shows us how to remove and check the air filter to make sure there isn’t a buildup of dirt and dust hindering performance. Making sure the fan is on will increase efficiently with the AC system, as well as making sure that all doors, windows, and shades are closed to prevent heat from working its way back inside the camper.
Randy advises turning on the AC when temperatures are cooler (typically early morning) for optimal air flow and a cooler camper throughout the day. By using the quick cool option to restrict airflow from the ducts, the AC can effectively cool the room faster and when it reaches a temperature to your liking, airflow can be redirected back through the vents for everyone to enjoy.
To learn more from Randy and stay up to date on all things Pete’s RV be sure to visit and subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Video Transcript | How to Properly Use The Air Conditioner in Your Camper
Randy: Hey guys, Randy with Pete’s RV TV today, another quick-tip segment for you. Today I’m going to talk about air conditioners and the proper way to use them. I’ve been taking a lot of calls around the country and we’re in the middle of our warm season in Vermont, the little warm season that we get up here in the northeast. But people are having trouble with their air conditioners freezing up. People are saying they’re not cooling properly for them. And sometimes that’s the case, but usually it’s operator error about 99 percent of the time.
When I went to RVIA school back a million years ago when I first started in the industry and got certified to do this kind of stuff, one of the first things they taught me about air conditioners is they don’t make cool. They remove heat and they remove moisture, as well. cool just happens to be a byproduct.
So, when we allow our coach to heat up inside, we go to the pool all day, we’re out shopping or doing, visiting the sights around the area and we’ve got the air conditioner off, we go back to our camper at 5 o’clock at night. It’s 100 degrees inside the camper. We turn that air conditioner on. That air conditioner actually has to pull the heat out of the carpet, out of the bedding, out of the couches, out of everything inside before we start to feel cool.
So what I want you to do is I want you to do is turn that air conditioner on in the morning. it’s a little bit cooler at night, so when it’s a little bit cooler at night, of course, the coach stays a little bit cooler. So when you get up in the morning set that thermostat at about 65 degrees, 67 degrees. Let’s maintain that cool from the night before. Now, if we never let our coach heat up, the air conditioner is going to have to work a lot less hard to maintain that cool and we’re actually saving energy.
The other thing that we want to do with our air conditioner, too, is while we maintain it while we’re using it is we want to make sure that the filters are clean. So we can remove that very easily on this guy here and we just want to take this guy out and make sure it’s vacuumed. If it starts to turn brown that usually means there’s a lot of dust.
Another thing that makes an air conditioner work very effectively for us, or makes them work better, is more air flow. So with a clean filter we can get more air through this air conditioner, especially on those [00:02:00] hot, humid days.
the other thing we’ll, we’ll want to do is we want to set our fan on high. I usually use the auto setting on mine, if you let the air conditioner run all day. Again, the more air that we’re moving, the more heat we can take out of the coach and expend outside and put the cold air back inside the coach. So fan definitely on high.
We also want to make sure our doors and windows and vents are closed. I went to a camper on a campground the other day. A lady says, “My air conditioner is not cooling very well. Can you take a look at it?” I went inside. I put my hand up to the air conditioner, it was cooling just fine. What she had was both of her doors were open. She had some vents open, a couple windows open. So what that air conditioner was doing was pulling the heat from the outside and just getting rid of that and returning it so it could never bring the temperature of the coach down because it was just kind of maintaining.
What these guys will do is they’ll actually do about a 20-degree air differential, air temperature differential. So, it sucks in here, blows out here or out through our vents, and it’s going to be about a 20-degree differential. Now, if it’s just pulling air from a door, it’s never going to really bring the temperature of the coach down, so make sure all windows and doors and vents are closed. and again, that high air flow moving through the air conditioner is going to get that heat escape faster and help us with freeze up a little bit, too. The moisture will actually pass over the evaporator coil a lot quicker and not have a tendency to grab on there.
Another thing, we just got to our campgrounds, its 5 o’clock at night, we’ve been traveling all day, inside the camper it’s very hot because it’s a hot day out, so you got to turn your air conditioner on to cool this guy down. Instead of forcing it through the vents, if you’ve got a ducted air conditioner, open up the quick-cool option. This way we’re going to get a lot of airflow and we’re going to cool the coach down a little bit quicker.
Once we bring the temperature down, we can go ahead and close this and we can go through the ducts. The ducts are going to restrict the airflow a little bit, but once we bring the coach down the air conditioner is running efficiently, then we can go ahead and put it through the vents in the ceiling.
So if you try out my quick tips here, run it on high, set it in the morning, let it run all day to keep that cool inside so we don’t have to remove all that heat from building up in the sun all day. Also, if you can close your shades and things [00:04:00] like that, keep the UVs down, that’s going to help out a lot as well.
But all these should help you make your air conditioner work a lot more effectively for you. Save a phone call to me and just have a better camping experience, keep you guys cool. Now, out there having fun, you get hot, you want to come into a cool area, at least I do, and it makes it a lot more fun when you’re drinking a soda or whatever while you’re watching TV, as well.
So thanks again for watching Pete’s RV with Randy today. keep an eye out for our quick tips. Join us on our Facebook page. Sign up [ 00:04:26] on Youtube and happy camping (laughs). Have a great one.
Pictured Left to Right: Matt Thompson, Wilbur Bontrager, Phil LeClair, Chad Shepard, Nick Campbell, Rocky Holman, Randy Murray, Bertha Bontrager, Derald Bontrager.