Many RV owners are not aware that the RV industry has programs to train, test, and certify RV Technicians. Certified Technicians must not only complete training and pass testing, but also are required to continue training in order to update thier skills.

Many dealerships do not have trained or certified technicians feeling that their bottom line should come before having the ability to service what they sell. If you do not know if a dealership employs certifed technicians ask. Certified technicians should be able to show you their certification card and many will be wearing their certification patch on their clothing. Some dealerships also display the certification signage in their service departments.

If the person working on your RV is not certified, maybe they should be!

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423.341.8792)

At long last it looks like the RV industry is recovering from the worse slump since the 1970′s. Sales were up over 10% in 2011 and continue to climb. With the unseasonably warm winter, dealers are already looking forward to spring and for buyers hoping to catch winter sales, sorry, but you waited too long. Price are now likely to stabilize for the remainder of 2012 barring something unforeseen with the economy.

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423.341.8792)

When it comes to towing, I doubt there is another brake controller that generates as much discussion as Ford’s built-in Integral Brake Controller or IBC. Many folks who are new to controllers or worse, are experienced with what are called “timed controllers” often erroneously conclude their controller is not working.

The Ford controller, as well as nearly all modern after-market controllers have a device called an accelerometer built in causing the trailer brakes to work in unison with the truck brakes. Operation is seamless and there is no way to feel the trailer brakes power up.

If you think you are having a problem with your brakes and do not have an error message on your dash, first operate the trailer brakes with the manual override on the dash. If you have trailer brakes manually, the wiring and trailer brakes are good. Leave them alone.

That leaves the controller. Testing the controller means you have to be moving. There is no test that can be done at home when the truck is not moving. You can try pulling your trailer on a gravel road, with the controller setting dialed up, and see if you can drag the trailer wheels, as they might engage slightly ahead of the truck wheels .

The best thing to do, however, is to take your truck to someone who has the correct test equipment to measure output from the seven pin on your truck while moving and activating the brakes. Most RV dealerships and service centers have such a device and testing your controller may take as little as 15 minutes.

Your controller may be doing a better job than you think!

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423.341.8792)

thermostat leads connect to blue, +DC to red, -DC to yellow

This time of year, I get a good number of questions about furnace repair. The first thing do-it-yourselfers want to do is replace the thermostat. It is, after all, right there handy and not too expensive. The only problem is, it is almost never the thermostat and it is very easy to know if it is.

First, if the furnace blower runs, leave the thermostat alone. An active blower means the thermostat is powering the blower relay, end of story.

Second, suppose you turn up the thermostat and nothing happens, what then? Naturally the initial step is to check the fuse for the furnace. You will find it in the breaker box with the other fuses.

If the fuse is good, take off the panel where the furnace is located so you can see the wires to the furnace. You will find a red lead, a yellow lead, and two blue leads. Using a multimeter, check for power between the red 12 VDC+ and the yellow 12 VDC-. You will need more than 10 VDC there or the furnace will not operate. If you have a good fuse and no power, you have a break in the wires somewhere. Usually that means running new wires as getting to the old ones is seldom possible. Running wires in cabinets is a common solution.

If you have power between the red and yellow wires, disconnect the two blue leads from the red and white thermostat wires at the furnace. Be sure to mark them so you know what goes where when you put it all back together. Now tie the two blue leads from the furnace together. Doing this bypasses the thermostat. If the furnace now fires and runs, replace the thermostat. If nothing happens the problem is at the furnace.

Remember, every time you troubleshoot you are simply answering a series of questions and one set of questions always leads to the next. Break diagnosis down into steps and repair is much simpler.

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423.341.8792)

The 2012 RV season is fast approaching and dealers already are reporting increased sales. So what should you buy? Here is my advice. Too many folks who are first time RVers purchase campers which are too small and worse yet, do not have at least one slide-out. Why you ask?

I think size is intimidating so first timers think small and a great many also buy small thinking if they do not enjoy RVing, it will be easier to get rid of a small camper.

Wrong on all counts. Size quickly goes away, after the first couple of trips and, if you have kids, you will discover they will seem to be everywhere at the same time in a small camper.

Secondly, if you don’t have enough space you may just as well tent camp. Features and space make a huge difference on a rainy day and no one can always camp on a sunny day.

Finally, small campers are slow sellers and without slides, you better get lucky, plan on giving it away, or be willing to sit on it a long time, until the right buyer comes along.

Be smart! Buy what you want starting out and you will save money in the end.

Just my thoughts,

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423-341-8792)

Before calling for parts, be sure to check the appliance on which you are working for model and serial numbers. The RV industry has almost no standardization and simply knowing the name of the manufacturer is often not helpful when it comes to time to order parts.

If you can not find the model and serial number, go online and run a search in order to find the location. Doing so will save you time and money!

Mobility RV Service (423.342.8792)

Close to a 1/3 of the service calls we go on find nothing the matter with the RV. The problem is the owner either has forgotten how to operate something or turn something on.

Whenever the lights, the refrigerator, the water heater, and the furnace do not work, unless the shoreline to your camper is plugged in, immediately think in terms of the loss of battery power. All appliances that have computer boards require 12-volt power that comes either from your batteries or the power converter in your RV.

There is always a fuse located within 18 inches of your batteries (per RVIA code) and your power converter is fused to protect it in the event your batteries are hooked up incorrectly.

Check those things first and save yourself money and your technician from making an unnecessary service call. In the event you need to charge your batteries and your power converter has died, you can always hook a battery charger to your batteries. Batteries do not care where the power to charge them comes from!

Mobility RV Service (423.341.8792)

If you have a 2012 or late 2011 RV, you may have the latest and greatest from Dometic in the form of a square rather than rectangular thermostat. So what’s the big deal? You mean besides the fact you can not use the new on their old tried and true systems?

Well how about this? If you do not have the fan setting on automatic, the fan in the air conditioner will run, even when you are using the furnace. This is a change from older models, so if you find yourself in this predicament, go to your fan setting and change it to “au” and the AC fan will shut off when the furnace is on. Set the fan to anything else and it will run, irregardless of the system you are using. This issue is resulting from plenty of calls from owners, so you heard it here first.

Steve (Mobility RV Service, 423.341.8792)

It happened again yesterday. A husband had his wife call for parts, then sat in the background hollering so she knew what to say. Naturally when I asked a question, she had to wait for him to answer, before she could answer me. Just plain nuts!

When someone calls with a question, I want to be talking to the person who is trying to solve the problem and I need to know make and model number of the component that is the problem. Just knowing it is a furnace or refrigerator doesn’t help. The extreme example is when the wife tells me she has to go outside to get her husband so he can answer my questions. That leaves me in the middle of working, holding on the phone. Very off-putting to say the least.

Husbands, “man up” and make the darn call yourself!!

Steve (Mobility RV Service 423-341-8791)

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