Tracking Maintenance Log

[PHeff]

I am thinking about subscribing to "Maintain my RV" for maintaining my maintenance records for scheduled maintenance. Please provide any feedback i.e. Pro/con, Good/bad,
Pete

[pgandw]

Having gone through moving our aircraft maintenance to a Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) program, my input would be to take a look up front at what your scheduled maintenance needs really are.

• Does the scheduled maintenance achieve its goals - does it prolong the life or prevent failure of the item being inspected/lubed? Can a likely failure be detected by an inspection before the failure happens?
• Does the required maintenance cause more issues than letting the item fail, and fixing at failure (inspecting coax cable connections every 90 days on aircraft was actually counter-productive)?
• Is the interval between inspections appropriate, given the item's failure history?

A motor home's maintenance needs are far different than a travel trailer - much more similar to a truck. A travel trailer has but 4 critical areas - wheels and brakes, hitching mechanisms, structural integrity, and roof integrity.

An instance of the RCM questions applied to the wheels and brakes would be the interval for pulling wheels and repacking bearings. If you pull the wheels for a manual repack, you need to replace the rear seal. If you pump in grease instead, you stand a not insignificant chance of damaging the rear seal (the probability of getting grease past the rear seal appears to vary greatly from one "mechanic" to another).

Since I have been running trailers for years, have never experienced a catastrophic bearing failure, don't dunk my RV wheels in water, and avoid potholes as much as possible, I have set my scheduled maintenance interval (hand repack) at 3 years for bearings.

Trailer roof damage appears to be mainly a function of ultra-violet sunlight exposure damaging sealants and surfaces. I store my A-frame in the garage between trips, but the trips have high UV exposure in Colorado sunshine and altitude. So my scheduled roof and seal inspection is at 2 years.

In using software to track maintenance, I would ask does it allow you to set your own intervals? To modify intervals based on personal experience and evaluation? Does it allow you to reset the interval due to unscheduled maintenance (your brakes are not working correctly so you pull the wheel to diagnose)? What is the benefit of maintaining maintenance records on a web site instead of maintaining them yourself? Will the company still be in business 5 years from now?

just my experiences and thoughts, yours may vary
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[Oldbears]

I haven't subscribed to that to provide feedback. My preference is to save my $ and use the small notebook I have to record that info. I write down the miles towed for every trip, what items I repaired, when I did what to maintain this or that, etc. If I feel that I need an automated reminder to do anything, I just plug it into the calendar on my computer, and it will pop up later.

[PHeff]

Thanks for your input. As a Communication electronics guy I agree,sometimes Preventive Maintenance can cause more harm than good. But for the most part I agree with performing scheduled maintenance. Maintain My RV is place to record maintenance performed. It will also send out reminders of when scheduled maintenance is required. You can tailor it to your needs. I was wondering if anyone has used it and what they think of it.

[Morgan_N]

Originally Posted by pgandw

Having gone through moving our aircraft maintenance to a Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) program, my input would be to take a look up front at what your scheduled maintenance needs really are.

• Does the scheduled maintenance achieve its goals - does it prolong the life or prevent failure of the item being inspected/lubed? Can a likely failure be detected by an inspection before the failure happens?
• Does the required maintenance cause more issues than letting the item fail, and fixing at failure (inspecting coax cable connections every 90 days on aircraft was actually counter-productive)?
• Is the interval between inspections appropriate, given the item's failure history?

A motor home's maintenance needs are far different than a travel trailer - much more similar to a truck. A travel trailer has but 4 critical areas - wheels and brakes, hitching mechanisms, structural integrity, and roof integrity.

An instance of the RCM questions applied to the wheels and brakes would be the interval for pulling wheels and repacking bearings. If you pull the wheels for a manual repack, you need to replace the rear seal. If you pump in grease instead, you stand a not insignificant chance of damaging the rear seal (the probability of getting grease past the rear seal appears to vary greatly from one "mechanic" to another).

Since I have been running trailers for years, have never experienced a catastrophic bearing failure, don't dunk my RV wheels in water, and avoid potholes as much as possible, I have set my scheduled maintenance interval (hand repack) at 3 years for bearings.

Trailer roof damage appears to be mainly a function of ultra-violet sunlight exposure damaging sealants and surfaces. I store my A-frame in the garage between trips, but the trips have high UV exposure in Colorado sunshine and altitude. So my scheduled roof and seal inspection is at 2 years.

In using software to track maintenance, I would ask does it allow you to set your own intervals? To modify intervals based on personal experience and evaluation? Does it allow you to reset the interval due to unscheduled maintenance (your brakes are not working correctly so you pull the wheel to diagnose)? What is the benefit of maintaining maintenance records on a web site instead of maintaining them yourself? Will the company still be in business 5 years from now?

just my experiences and thoughts, yours may vary
Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

What method or software do you use to track maintenance and provide reminders?

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Morgan_N

What method or software do you use to track maintenance and provide reminders?

I don't use any software at home. There is a house, 2 cars, and an A-frame camper to maintain.

Except for the wood deck and fertilizing the lawn and trees, the house and its systems are on as needed basis. Lawn mower gets annual oil and air filter and blade change. Sprinkler system is high maintenance, but on condition (blow out with air before 1st hard freeze in fall).

For the car which does not have an oil change reminder, I use the windshield sticker to compare against the odometer. When I get the oil changed, I go to the tire shop and get the tires rotated. Once a year, I'll change cabin and engine air filters. For the TV, radiator and transmission flush once every 3 years.

For the camper, I checked the bearings 8 months after I bought it. It was properly lubed at the factory, I needn't have bothered. If I have no reason to pull the wheels before then, I will repack the bearings Spring 2022 (3 years). By memory. I will check the tire dates then, and replace tires at 5-6 years unless visual checks indicate a reason to replace earlier.

Everything else is on condition.

If I needed a computer reminder, it would be easy enough to set one up in my phone calendar. But I haven't found the need yet.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time