Getting Ready - Always Another Surprise, Part I

Hello all! It has been awhile.

It finally - after what always seems like forever - became time to get the Roadtrek ready for the new season. The winter temperatures seemed to keep holding on. There were some odd days - even series of odd days where the temperatures were going up into the 70s (degrees F) and higher, but they would come and go - and nights were potentially getting cold enough to make problems if we dewinterized. It took until the end of April for the temperatures to begin to stay warm enough during the day - and infrequently cold at night to be able to remove the antifreeze from the plumbing and get the Roadtrek ready for the new RVing season.

We planned a day that would be comfortable enough outside to get wet to de-winterize. Now, just in case you think that since we have written all of those articles about de-winterizing and sanitizing the fresh water system, we just go outside and do it, well, no. Every year before dewinterizing I get the articles up on the computer, read them and print out the step by step guide to dewinterizing and sanitizing. And when we go out there - with all of the instructions in hand, I follow each one step by step because I know if I don't I am going to forget something or mess something up. And every year, I stop and read the next step before I do it. This year was no different.

Before we started we checked the date on the bleach bottle and saw that it was a year old. Meryl looked up how long bleach is good for and it is good for one year - so we went out to buy a new bottle of bleach. One way we discovered one year that we were de-winterizing was if the bleach does not overwhelming hit you with that bleach smell when you come close to the open bottle it is time to buy new bleach - and this one's odor was fading. So armed with a new bottle of bleach, I turned the outside house water on for the first time in 2017, pulled out of the things we would need for the process, and started.

The de-winterizing part is easy - it is all easy - and quick. The most time that any of this takes is filling and draining the fresh tanks the numerous times that is involved. Getting the antifreeze out is as simple as filling the fresh tank(s) with water and turning on all of the faucets, showers, and toilet and watch all of the pink antifreeze in the pipes flow out and go down the drains. But I am not going to go into the steps here - it is all linked above.  We started mid-afternoon and by the time we were ready to put the bleach into the tanks to sanitize it was getting late - late enough that if we were going to start flushing the bleach out after its sitting in the tanks and plumbing for four hours it would be dark outside. So the sanitizing step would have to wait for another day - and not the next day or the day after that because it was going to rain - a lot. So we put that off a few days.

So what surprises did we have. A few. The first surprise was opening the lid of the toilet and finding out that mold had grown on the inside of the bowl - above the level of the antifreeze that I pour into the toilet so that the toilet flap does not dry out over the winter. This is no big deal but it does have to be cleaned and that is something that I will go into later.

Another surprise took place right after we poured the bleach and water mix into the rear, internal fresh water tank through the tank fill hole in the frame behind the passenger side cargo door. The bleach and water (a gallon total) went right down. When I took the hose to fill the tank the rest of the way with fresh water, the fresh water came rushing right back out the fill hole! We have had a similar experience in the past - and always with the rear tank, but never at this stage of the process. It has happened after the bleach and water were drained out of the tank and we were refilling to rinse and flush the bleach out. It has never happened trying to follow the bleach mixture with the rest of the water! I pulled out my gizmo to fill the tank from the bottom up - which has worked in the past to get passed any gas bubble formed from the bleach sitting in the tank. I need to tell you that I have never heard from anyone else that has this problem - and we have it every year we dewinterize. A one tank system should not have this problem, but others have the two tanks - and no one has ever let me know that they too have this.

I pushed the thin tubing down into the tank fill hole down into the tank. The nozzle end was connected to the fresh water hose and I turned on the valve to let the water flow. And the water came shooting back out the fill hole! A few times in year's past with this I let the water keep coming up and out until it broke through whatever was stopping it from going down and into the tank. So much water was coming out that I stopped. So what to do? Meryl had the answer and suggested that I get into the van and roll it back and forth up and down the driveway, shaking up whatever was in the back tank.

I cleared everything out of the way and got in and started the engine. Meryl stood on the side and watched in the area of the rear tank. I pull back fast and hit the break, stopped pulled forward the same way - and then pulled back again. Meryl shouted that a huge amount of water shot out from the bottom of the van over the rear passenger side tire. She and I both knew that this is where the overflow valve of the rear tank is located. The only explanation is that the bleach and water give off enough gas in this small tank to the point that it forms a gas bubble that prevents the water from going down. Tossing the contents of the tank around like this broke that and the momentum of rushing back blew it out the only opening for it to go through - the overflow drain - which is on the top of the tank inside and piped outside. After that the tank filled easily. I realized as I started putting water down into the tank - and it was going down - that we probably blew out all of the bleach that we had put in - so we added another mixture of bleach and water - that all went down and the tank filled with fresh water. It all sat for 24 hours (only four are necessary) but again, by now it would be dark again to go out and rinse and flush the tanks. When we got back out, drained the bleach out, and refilled the rear tank to rinse and flush it, the water went right in!

Now, the mold in the toilet. The toilet in the Roadtrek is not porcelain. It is a plastic composition RV toilet used because it is very light in weight.  The company that makes this toilet, Thetford, says to never use bleach or any bleach product to clean this toilet. We have been looking for such a product that is actually going to disinfect and clean for a long time. What we have been using is dish soap, but with the mold I wanted something more that would kill the mold. We looked at various products that feature right on the label that they contain "NO BLEACH" and each one has some statement on the label about not using it on plastic.  We took the names of several and contacted Thetford which came back with their answer - NO! Do not use any of those! What should you use? "Well we make our own product - just order it." No local store sells this product. Camping World sells the product - a foaming spray cleaner - but they want over $10 plus shipping. I found another that sells the product for $7 BUT shipping is $8!  I went to a good Roadtrek owners forum on Facebook to ask what others use.

It seems the most effective disinfecting cleaner is white wine vinegar. Vinegar seems to be the universal thing to do anything and everything. Most of the things that I have tried that use vinegar have not worked at all - forget killing your weeds with vinegar, salt, and detergent. The weeds in my backyard flourished after being drowned in this mixture. On the forum group other Roadtrek owners insisted that this will work on the toilet - and it will not harm the toilet. We were suggested both using vinegar mixed with dish soap or just vinegar alone. As I write this Meryl has purchased a spray bottle and has the vinegar and is going to try it and see. I will report back when we have the results.

Then we had two more surprises which I will write about in Part II - come back in two weeks.

A Review of the Classic Roadtrek Electrical System

We get a lot of questions from readers about the electrical system in their Roadtrek. We always are happy to respond and answer what we can. In 2012 and 2013 I wrote a series of articles that explain the electrical system in our - and in what I would call a "classic" Roadtrek. Classic meaning a basic system that does not include the new electric options that Roadtrek has introduced since my 2011, starting in about 2013/14. This means no solar panels, no lithium EcoTrek batteries, no VoltStart, and no Engine Generator. This does include coach battery or batteries, shore power plug in, an Onan built in generator, an isolater or separator, an engine battery, and a three in one inverter, converter, charger or two units - inverter and converter/charger.

I will start with a very important tool in understanding the electrical system in these "classic" Roadtrek electrical systems - a computer simulation of the electric system. To use you must specify a year and model in the drop down menu that is at the bottom of the left column on the page. Select 2010 for years 2010, 2011, and 2012 - and possibly 2013. If you have a basic electric system in your Roadtrek beyond those years select 2010 also. IN ADDITION, there is a link at the top of the Simulator page for NOTES.  This will open a PDF file that gives a great deal of explanation. I did not create the simulator nor write the "Notes". I was sent this link by Roadtrek back in 2011 and the author of the simulator has updated the Notes since.

ROADTREK ELECTRIC SIMULATOR

Next, some history as I know it. Originally the electric system used a converter/charger unit and in some (and not in some at all) an inverter unit. The converter/charger charges your batteries and takes 110 volt power and converts it into 12 volt DC power. The inverter takes 12 volt DC power and changes it into 110 volt AC power.

During the 2005 model year, Roadtrek began to change this. Instead of two separate units, they started to install a three in one single unit that provided all three functions - inverter/converter/charger. By 2006 the changeover was complete. If you own a 2005 Roadtrek you may or may not have the single unit - you may have the two separate units.If you have a model year before 2005 you have the two separate units. If you have a 2006 you have the single unit. The single unit installed in 190s, 170s, and 210s is the TrippLite 750. In the Sprinter models, there is also a TrippLite but a more powerful unit - greater in wattage than 750 watts. With the larger unit you can run the microwave oven on your inverter. With the TrippLite 750 you cannot.

At the end of 2010, Roadtrek made another change. They stopped using wet cell deep cycle coach batteries and started using AGM deep cycle coach batteries. The change over is complete with the 2011 Roadtrek model year.  I know many with 2010's that got deep cycle wet cell coach batteries, but some have told me that their 2010 came with AGMs - likely late in the model year.  If you have a 190 and have two coach batteries. With the AGMs these are two 6 volt coach batteries wired in series.

I am not going to go completely though each component in the electrical system again, as the articles from 2012 cover these fairly well - and those articles, I have been told, have helped many. I am going to link those articles here so that it is all in one place. Start with the first introductory article and then read the rest from there. Here are the LINKS -

THE ELECTRIC SYSTEM - Intro

BATTERIES

THE GENERATOR

SHORE POWER

THE INVERTER

LOCATING THE INVERTER

CHARGING THE ROADTREK BATTERIES

IMPORTANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE INVERTER

LOW COACH BATTERIES AND THE GENERATOR

GETTING AN ACCURATE READING OF THE BATTERY VOLTAGE

THE BEST WAY TO KNOW YOUR BATTERY'S VOLTAGE 

PLUGGING INTO AN OUTLET THAT IS NOT 30 AMPS

To give you some brief information not covered in the above, your Roadtrek has either a Battery Isolater OR a Battery Separator. Each provides the same function BUT each works a differently to do this from the other. If you have a Roadtrek before 2006 (or 2005 IF your 2005 has the three in one inverter/converter/charger) you have a BATTERY ISOLATER. If you have a Roadtrek after 2005, you have a BATTERY SEPARATOR (specifically, a Sure Power 1315-200 Bidirectional 12 volt 200 amp battery separator. Either should be located in your engine compartment on the rear wall just about in front of the steering wheel. What these do is keep your engine battery and your coach battery(ies) apart and stop one from draining the other. The engine battery and the coach batteries are linked between these units BECAUSE while you are driving your engine battery will charge your coach battery - and similarly, when plugged into shore power or running your generator, your coach batteries will charge your engine batteries. (There may be some exceptions - see the simulator as this will show you exactly what happens when the engine is running OR the engine is off and you are plugged into shore power or running your generator- specifically for your year and model).  The change from a Battery Isolater to a Battery Separator came because of the TrippLite three in one unit which did not work correctly with a battery isolater. Be aware that the Isolater or Separator do not last forever. They can go bad over time. I have been told that when odd things start happening with your batteries and electrical system the first thing to do is have the isolater or separator checked. It can be tested to see that it is working properly. Now - just a personal observation. This past year I was not certain that the battery separator in my Roadtrek was functioning properly. I have since determined that it does. When I was unsure I set out to find the Sure Power 1315-200 Bidirectional 12 volt 200 amp battery separator to replace it. I assumed - never assume - that it was a common part. It is NOT. I contacted a few local RV dealerships (not Roadtrek) and they did not stock this - some had never heard of this particular model. I did locate it on the Internet at just a few RV parts retailers - in the middle and on the other side of the country. It is not a matter if it goes bad you can get a new one right away. You will wait to have it shipped to you or whoever is going to replace it for you. Interestingly, I have discovered the same thing about AGM 6 volt deep cycle batteries - 12 volt are easy to find - 6 volt are not.

Here are three links to help with the Sure Power 1315-200 Bidirectional 12 volt 200 amp battery separator -

LINK 1

LINK 2

LINK 3

Take your time reading the different articles referenced and linked in this article. Read them more than once. It takes some time to put all of this together and understand how this or that works - or even just what it is and does. 

So there you have it. I am still happy to help and answer your specific questions. It is best to use the Email Us link that is located in the column to the right on this page and email us directly rather than putting a comment on this article. It is much easier to interact with you this way and get the specifics. When you email, please remember to include the year and model Roadtrek that you have (or any RV - we get lots of questions on basics from non-Roadtrek or even Class B owners).