How to 'Summerize' Your RV

It’s almost that time of year again! Time to take your RV out of storage and get it ready for summer adventures. Not sure where to start? Make summerizing your RV a breeze with our step-by-step instructions. 

Check Your Tires 

Start with checking your tires. If your RV is stored during the off-season, the air pressure in your tires will slowly deflate, especially if parked outside all winter. The tires will lose about 2-3 psi of air pressure for every month of storage. When inflating your tires, refer to the manufacturer's recommendations based on the load capacity. Check your owner's manual for this information. When inspecting the tires, check for any signs of wear and tear and worn-down treads. Driving with underinflated or worn-out tires can lead to poor handling or loss of control.

Inspect the exterior

Your next step should be a thorough inspection of the RV's exterior. Look for leaks and cracks, and check carefully around windows and doors. The weather stripping and seams are crucial areas for moisture to be an issue. Pay extra close attention to the roof. Heavy snow accumulation can lead to structural damage. Ensure your awning opens and closes properly. Be sure to give everything a thorough clean.

Charge or Replace Your Batteries

When batteries are in storage, they will gradually lose power, so it is important to recharge them before use. Keeping your batteries charged when you are not using them will extend their life. Before your first trip of the season, check the charge usage on your voltmeter, and make sure you have a secure connection when reinstalling.

Flush your water system

Flushing out your water system is the most important step in summerizing your RV. You will need to drain all the antifreeze from your tanks and refill them with potable water. Follow these steps to flush out the antifreeze:

1. Turn the water pump on
2. Open all water faucets, including sinks and showers
3. Run the water for several minutes
4. Flush toilets
5. Once the water turns clear, close faucets and turn off the pump
6. Take water heater out of bypass mode
7. Replace all water filter cartridges that were removed for storage
8. Dump gray and black water holding tanks at an official dump site

Instead of using your RV water pump to flush antifreeze, you can also use a garden hose or city water supply. Attach the hose to your water hookup instead of turning on the RV water pump, and then follow the same steps as above.

Sanitize your water system

This is the second most important step for summerizing. Even if you used a non-toxic antifreeze to winterize, sanitizing your water system is still essential to kill any mold or bacteria that may have developed during storage. To sanitize your water system, follow these steps:

1. Close all drains and install drain plugs
2. Add bleach into a one-gallon container and fill with water
3. Fill the freshwater tank with potable water
4. Turn on the water pump and open all faucets
5. Run water until you can smell the bleach and then close the faucets
6. Let it sit for up to 12 hours in the water tank and water lines
7. Drain all the water from the system
8. Refill the fresh water tank with potable water
9. Flush the system by turning on the water pump and opening all faucets

Let the water run until it no longer smells like bleach. The bleach needs to sit long enough to eliminate bacteria effectively. However, too much bleach can cause your synthetic seals to deteriorate more quickly. For best results, let the bleach solution sit for at least 3 hours and not more than 12 hours.

Check for leaky pipes

Since the pipes in your RV sit for so long without being used, you'll want to ensure you don't have any leaks. You can check this by turning on the electric pump and letting it pressurize the freshwater as soon as it fills the tank. The pump will automatically shut off as soon as it reaches full pressure. Listen to see if it comes back on. If it does, there is a leak that needs fixing. 

Clean and inspect the interior

Next, it's time to give the interior of your RV a thorough clean. Look for signs of critters that may have stuck around during the off-season. Check all drawers and cupboards, and do a thorough sweep and vacuum. An easy way to clean and kill germs is by adding 1 tsp of Tide powder detergent with ⅓ cup of bleach to 1 gallon of hot water and use for washing all walls, countertops, and any other surface areas. You want to use products that kill bacteria but not stain the surfaces you are cleaning. 

It is important to remember that any damage that is not taken care of immediately, like moldy or wet insulation, or delaminated walls and floors, can cause more problems down the road. If you need more assistance, give our team of dedicated service repair technicians a call. They will be glad to help.