RV Storage in Winter: Item Removal, Plumbing, Battery
If you're storing your RV for any significant period of time, whether it's over the winter or any other time of year, there are several basic themes you'll want to be considering. From ensuring you've removed the right items to periodic checks on certain themes to make sure nothing is going wrong with the RV during storage, you'll want to be sure you cover all your bases here.
At Campers RV Center, we're proud to not only offer a wide range of new RVs and travel trailers, but also to provide clients with expertise and tips on the basic care and maintenance of their vehicles throughout the year. Like we said above, storage of an RV can happen any time of year -- but because winter is the most common such time, this multi-part blog series will dig into several areas to make sure you cover when storing the RV for the cold season.
Removing the Right Items
No matter which season you're storing your RV in, there are a few removal areas you want to hit on. The primary goal here is ensuring rodents and other pests can't get into the RV to cause damage.
The list of things you'll want to remove includes:
- Food and food packaging: Even if you're confident that everything is sealed up tight, it's best to just remove all food and food packaging from the RV. This will help keep any pests at bay and also help reduce the chances of any unwanted smells permeating your RV during storage.
- Trash: Again, this is simply a matter of keeping things clean and pest-free. Make sure to take out all trash and recycling before storing the RV.
- Clothing, bedding, and other fabric items: These can attract pests and also may start to mildew if stored wet. Remove these items to help avoid any issues.
- Mold risks: Speaking of mildew, one key issue to be aware of when storing an RV is mold. If you're storing the RV in a moist environment, or if there's any water damage that wasn't properly repaired before storage, you could be opening yourself up to some major mold problems. Make sure to check for any leaks or other water damage before storing the RV.
Draining Plumbing Lines
One storage element that's especially important during winter is draining your plumbing lines. If you don't, the water in those lines could freeze and cause some major damage.
The process of draining your plumbing lines is pretty simple: just open up all faucets inside and outside of the RV and let the water run until it's clear. Once that's done, close all faucets and make sure to cap them off tightly.
Battery Considerations
You also need to think about what to do with your battery during storage. If your RV is plugged into shore power while it's being stored, you can keep it connected; if not, however, certain items will slowly drain the battery over time.
To combat this, turn off the power to all breakers and unplug any cord or device that's attached to your RV's electrical system. Be aware, however, you'll need to check your owner's manual for specific instructions on what exactly to do here.
For more on how to store your RV during the winter period, or to learn about any of our RVs or trailers, speak to the pros at Campers RV Center today.