In RV Industry News's three-part series on RV health and wellness, Wayne Hulit - CEO of Cedar Mountain RVI - presents the third installment .
Our first part explored how truckers use fluid analysis to determine the optimum time to change the oil in their rig, thus getting the maximum value from their investment and saving money by avoiding premature oil changes.
After that, we explored the fluid analysis technology in Part II, showing how multiple samples over a year can give you a good idea of your engine's health.
It's still important to note that only some RV owners have trucking experience. Likewise, many of us are still following the adage, "Don't let your oil get too dirty, or you'll blow your engine."
The difference between RVs and trucks, despite their trucking technology, is that RVs are not trucks, even though they are built with trucking technology .
Nevertheless, you cannot see a trend with just one oil sample, and once a year is too long to wait to see what we may be experiencing next season. The best compromise is to do three fluid analyses a year. Three samples will show you a trend, whereas one will not. Additionally, you could take an oil sample instead of changing your oil every 3,000 miles.
Full-time RVers should take a sample every quarter. The last sample will be taken as you wrap it up for the winter, so if you "garage" the RV in the winter, three samples every two months will be plenty of data to draw a trend. You will build a database of three to four samples yearly to have 15 to 20 samples in five years. Now, you will have a good idea of how well your engine is doing.
We indeed spent a lot of time discussing the engine, but there is much more to it than that. If it fails, you'll have to tow, repair, lose time, money, home, and hearth. If we're talking about creating a database of fluid analysis for the engine, how about the water heater? I hope you keep the records of only some of those samples in a shoebox.
Wellness records for your RV
How many of you have a similar story? I purchased a used RV from a man who kept meticulous records. Unfortunately, he was very old school and had every receipt, spare part, replacement part, and correspondence with every dealer or manufacturer he ever spoke to. He had stickies everywhere.
As a result of his transfer of ownership, I was left with a mountain of loose papers, receipts, sticky notes, and something I can only refer to as a "question mark."
Most of us of a certain age likely remember visiting our doctor and seeing rows upon rows of cabinets containing patient records neatly organized. Most of us have attempted to keep track of our maintenance records using a spreadsheet with some success. However, keeping records in a spreadsheet is nice, but it is also tedious to do.
How many of us will take the time to plot the data points associated with the oil analysis to create beautiful charts and trend lines? Now, you have to "remember" when to take that next fluid sample. What if you decide to buy another RV in five years? You have to start over.
The medical profession is smart, and in business, efficiency is paramount. Since they all use computers to keep their records, it doesn't make sense to keep receipts and transactional information in spreadsheets today.
You say, "What is an app?" Well, I'm sure we all do online banking. That's an example of a good "app". Your bank account is computerized, and you can access it online. It's impossible to access my doctor's medical records over the Internet, but he walks into the examining room with a little computer.
He can pull up all the details of my last blood test using his little stylus. It's all filled in with the right terminology so they can explain how I'm doing in simple terms.
Let's make this easy.
In addition to taking oil samples three or four times a year, there are many ways to track when to take the next sample.
RV owners treat their RV maintenance the same as their car. Many people need experience with diesel engines, generators, or key RV components. They get a set of assurances from the dealer on how easy it is and that an annual service back at the dealer's service center releases them from having to worry about anything, much like owning a car. While this is true in some cases, with some really good RV centers, it is rare. Once the sale is made, most RV owners are on their own.
RV owners are shocked and overwhelmed when they see how many maintenance tasks there are. This is especially true of motorhomes. As many of us learn how much to stay on top of and why we should stay on top of it, we quickly become eager to get help, but we only sometimes know what we know.
Important, but not urgent. Although every RV owner agrees that maintenance is important, it only sometimes stays urgent, resulting in the out-of-sight, out-of-mind syndrome. As RV owners, we need to work on Consistency if we get behind and dread the expected time investment to figure it out.
Get caught up in the age-old adage, "That engine is designed to last a million miles." We have covered this in detail. Engines may be designed to last that long, but we will not likely approach that number of miles. If we do, or if we ever hope to do, we need some maintenance regime. How else can you expect to maintain your engine, shocks, brakes, refrigerator, smoke detectors or winterization without some aid?
Who wants to spend time every quarter trying to pull together receipts, records, mileage, and the myriad of data we must keep on our RV? Where will we have the time to enjoy the RV if we fuss about keeping records? We must keep records. But we must also enjoy our investment.
So, let's summarize. We know we don't want to damage the engine in the RV because that is the single most expensive item to replace should anything happen to it. We know that we need to take care of it by ordering fluid analysis three or four times a year to establish reliable wellness data for it.
We also know that at least 30 other things on the RV need care, both on the chassis and the coach. And it's also true that an RV is neither an automobile nor a truck. It's a house on wheels and needs special care and attention. We all need help in doing this.
These are my final points regarding RV health and wellness. Please recognize that your RV's most expensive maintenance item is your engine and that its oil is as important to us as blood. Treat it carefully and provide regular "checkups" — oil analyses.
And take the burden off yourself by trying to maintain all those pesky receipts and records. Use a tool to keep track of them. Save time. Save money. Save your oil and your time. I use an online tool called Maintain My RV.
You can get more information about Cedar Mountain RVI at www.rvlife7blogpost.com and download a whitepaper that explains how important fluid analysis is for your RV on their website at www.cmrvi.com. In RV Daily Report's Podcast 117, Tom Johnson, president of JG Lubricant Lab, discusses the importance of RV fluid analysis. Podcast 118 features Rob Willard, president of Maintain My RV, discussing his online maintenance record-keeping service.
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