Insurance Source Solutions, serving Oklahoma, wants your RV to last you the lifetime of vacations you planned to take in it. To help out, we offer this list of essential preparations to ensure your RV runs well after winter storage. Before you head out for Lake Eufaula or Grand Lake, plow through this checklist to make sure your RV is ready for the big trip.
Inspect Your Slide Outs and Awnings
Even though you had them folded in and tucked away, your pop-outs, slide-outs, and awnings can take on winter damage. Pull each out completely, and inspect the hydraulics system, folding mechanism, and the material of the covering. You might have had rodents munching on your awning while it was folded away. If a cat can get under the hood of a car, a mouse or rat can get into your pop-out area while trying to stay warm. Patch any tears or holes you find before you go on the road. After you patch them, lay a tarp over the interior and test the sturdiness of the pop-out, slide-out, or awning by spraying the RV with water from your hose. Create a wide spray that mocks rainfall to make sure your patch will hold, and you won’t feel like a drowned rat sitting inside your RV while it rains.
Clean the Interior
Clean the surfaces, the walls, mop the floor and the ceiling, and clean out all of the appliances. You can get rid o of tiny rodents this way – bugs, spiders, etc. Check the water heater, too, and your air conditioner. Clean the A/C by changing the filter. This helps your RV smell better, and it keeps you and those who ride in it healthier. An old air filter can cause the dirt it’s meant to catch to fly into the indoor atmosphere. That can cause allergy attacks and asthma attacks.
Check the Holding Tanks
Clean out the freshwater tank and fill it with clean water. Add chemicals to the gray and black water tanks after making sure they’re empty. If they aren’t empty, you need to dump them appropriately, then treat them with chemicals.
Check Your RV’s Battery
You probably removed it for winter storage. Now you put it back in and test it out. It may have discharged completely during storage, so you may need to re-charge it before you try to travel.
Contact Insurance Source Solutions, serving Oklahoma, to learn about protecting your RV with RV insurance. We offer travel policies and full-timers insurance. Let us help you determine which you need.
