new owner... worried

[cllecr]

First time motorhome owners, just back from a 4 week, 11 state, 4000 mile maiden voyage in our newly purchased, used 2011 Sunseeker 2300. Overall, a wonderful experience ... very few problems and lots of fun getting to know and love or new "home away from home"! We especially appreciated the upgraded queen bed which was as comfortable as our bed at home... SO much better than typical for beds while traveling!
Now for the worries... We discovered a leak into the coach and under storage within the first few days of travel. We took it to a repairman who found a crack in the caulking near the shower skylight, he pulled off the old, applied new and that fixed the problem. We experienced numerous heavy trains in the weeks after that with no apparent reoccurance of the leaking. We had previously noticed that there was extra caulking of different color in this same area of the roof already.... Now assuming that means there were probably leaking problems before. Do we need to worry about damage we can't yet see or about the potential for delamination in the future?? Is there anything we need to do now to prevent this from becoming an issue?
Also... When we returned home we emptied, turned off and cleaned the refrigerator... Will be cleaning and going thru everything, taking it to the car wash to get off all the bugs, getting the oil changed, rotating and aligning the tires? not sure what else we need to do for typical maintenance... We may use it occasionally in the next month, then have plans for several 2+ month trips!
Should we empty all water tanks between trips? Does this involve opening the low point valves?
Does anyone have a list of maintenance tasks and timing? My head is spinning.
Sorry to put so many issues in one post... They all seem related to things we need to get in the habit of doing as new owners.. I know that for some of you this is all second nature, so hoping you'll share your maintenance routine! Thanks!

[bob34787]

it all seems overwhelming but you will get into a pattern and it won't seem so bad. leave the fridge doors open when stored, make sure you turn off 12v power, empty tank or put in some bleach and empty prior to your next trip, add some water to your black tank and add some deoderant , change engine oil as per maint. schedule thats about all I do, that and wash it after every use and wax 2 times per year.

[donn]

Refer off and doors open, I drain the potable water tank after every trip. It is pretty easy to fill the tank the day before we leave. And depending on where we are going i may fill the tank or only add a few gallons. We always leave our clothes and non perishable food items in the trailer all summer. Taking things out when we winterize. And at that we still leave all our clothes packed in. If you can, also leave the RV plugged in. Keeps the batteries fully charged and ready to go too.

[cllecr]

Do you empty the fresh water tank by using the water pump or opening the low point drain? Also, there is a switch near the floor by the door that I think disconnects all power. If we don't plug it in, do we turn that switch off? What if we intend to use it again in a couple weeks?

[donn]

Yes, open the tank low point drain. That will get about 99.5% of the water out of the tank. Besides you don't have to watch it. As for the switch? It should be labeled with some identification on it. And the switch should be a key that you can turn and take out. It will more than likely conserve most of your power. But things like gas detectors are generally wired directly to the battery. So you will still see some loss from sitting for a couple of weeks.

[RvBill3]

You can empty the fresh water tank by opening the storage compartment that is just to the rear of the right rear tires. Inside that is a hatch that opens where the water filter is located. Also a small valve on the water line. That is the fresh water drain and low point for cold water lines. It drains underneath.

The switch inside the door at the step is the coach battery disconnect. Turn it to Off whenever the RV is not in use unless you are connected to shore power. This turns everything off including gas detector, radio, etc. That way battery will not be drained.

[davegood]

Underneath the coach, next to the blue fresh water drain, is a red hot water drain. What is its purpose? Does it drain the hot water heater? If so, is it better to use it than to remove the hot water tank anode?

[TURBS]

it is just a low point drain.
you drain hw heater at the heater .
when you take off cover look at the bottom for a big nut

[mlts22]

Checklists are an immense help. I have one for parking, packing up, and long term storage.

Depending how long is between trips, I'd either just keep the water in the tanks, or dump it. Generally if it is more than a month, I'd drain all the fresh water to the black/grey tanks, dump them, then refill.

Winter, different story. It is wise to at least drain all tanks (except to leave a a couple gallons of water in the black tank to prevent "poo stone" from forming), then use an air compressor set at 30-40 PSI to blow out the lines. Colder climates, I'd blow the lines, then winterize using the pink non-toxic RV antifreeze.