Highway 61, headed north from Duluth Minnesota to Thunder Bay over the Canadian border,  immortalized in Bob Dylan’s song.   

He chose this stretch of road for good reason, it represents the best of Minnesota in so many ways.  The North Shore drive along Lake Superior is the most scenic stretch of road in Minnesota and possibly the entire Midwest.

 

RV water heaters are generally pretty reliable.  Under normal conditions, they’ll last a good long while with very little attention. 

There are a few ways a water heater can develop a leak, though the most common is due to negligence or operator error:

Failure to drain the water out of the tank before the first winter freeze would rank as the most common mistake.  You can empty the water tank, drain everything else, but if you forget to take the drain plug out of the water heater it won’t drain.  After the water freezes, the aluminum tank will split wide open. 

Another problematic time is the first time in the spring when you're anxious to get going on that first RV trip of the season.  If your water heater is equipped with a bypass kit (hoses and valves that stop water from entering the water heater) and you forget to open the valves allowing the tank to fill, you're in trouble. If the burner is ignited and the water heater is empty of water, the temperature in the tank will rise to dangerous levels, possibly melting a hole in the tank. 

One final scenario would be corrosion inside the water heater.  This can be caused by hard water.  Over time, the water eats away at the aluminum tank and eventually it will develop a leak.  This condition can be prevented by installing an anode rod.  The corrosive reaction will eat away the anode rod and leave the tank alone.

The anode rod is attached to a replacement drain plug, making installation as simple as removing the plug and screwing in the new plug/anode rod combination. Plus, every fall when you drain the tank, you will be able to see how well the anode rod has been working and determine whether the anode rod is still in usable condition or not.  If it has dissolved away, you will know to buy a replacement one before the next time you use your RV. 

We’ve covered the most common failures of the RV water heater’s aluminum tank, now for the cure. 

Last Spring when I brought my Dutchman out of storage to prepare for our first RV trip of the year, as soon as I pressurized the water system I saw I had a problem.  The kitchen faucet was leaking water all over the countertop. 

The one weak link in the plumbing systems in most RVs produced today is the plastic faucet fixtures used throughout.  Even though they might be chrome plated, most are still made of plastic and have an unusually high failure rate. 

What a mess when you turn on the water pump and immediately see water running out onto the floor! (This is most likely to happen when you're getting ready for your first RV outing after a long cold winter.)

If you see the water running out, then you're ahead of the game -- because you know where to look.  If the water pump keeps on running, or pulses on and off continually, then you still have a leak.  It may just take a bit more effort to find the problem area.

With a thorough search inside cabinets, outside storage spaces, or even under your RV, you can usually find the problem area.  Removable panels will allow access to the plumbing behind the shower faucet and the area around the water heater.  Sometimes, as in our Dutchman 18B travel trailer, there are water lines running along the inside -- under the bed storage area.

Once you have located the spot where water sprays out, it’s time to determine what type of fittings or hose will be needed to make the repair.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all manufactured products never wore out, or failed? 

Unfortunately, in the RV world -- due to weight or cost restrictions, and of course exposure to the elements -- some RV components have a higher failure rate than what you find in the average house.

Many of the following RV repairs can be avoided altogether with proper RV maintenance and storage procedures.

I got to wondering -- in a perfect world -- what my next RV would be. I came up with 2 different types of recreational vehicles.

To qualify my 2 choices, I should say that I’m a hands-on kind of guy.  Fixing, adjusting, modifying to suit our needs are the norm for my wife and I.

That said, my top 2 choices for our next RV would be:

a 25-foot fifth wheel trailer

a teardrop trailer

Now, for the "why" I chose each of these RVs...

You're cruising down the freeway with a mild headwind and your motorhome on cruise control 

Unfortunately, the motorhome can’t make up its mind... in top gear it’s struggling in the wind, but when it drops a gear you're screaming at high rev’s.  One thing is certain: the gas gauge is dropping like a rock as it continually hunts up and down for a manageable gear.

Have you ever noticed, semi trucks have transmissions with 10, 13, even as many as 15 different speeds?  The reason for that is to give the driver the ability to pick the gear that allows the truck to roll along within the most economical RPM range.

An engine that’s screaming along is pumping as much fuel through it as possible, while an engine that is trying to pull too much of a load in too high a gear is also washing excess gas through the engine.  Both situations will consume excessive fuel, and cause excessive wear to the engine.

Gas motorhomes generally are equipped with 4-speed automatic transmissions behind a large cubic inch engine.  The weight of the motorhome is carefully calculated by the manufacturer to give you the roomiest (and biggest) RV within the limitations of the drivetrain powering it.  To keep manufacturing costs within reason, drive trains are limited pretty much to this type of offering.  If you want more power, you’ll have to go with a diesel pusher at a considerably higher price.

So what can you do when your 38-foot Class A motorhome -- which usually gets about 10 mpg -- drops to 5-6 mpg because of hilly terrain, or high wind conditions?