Learning RV maintenance

[MasterGrumpy]

Hi,


My wife and I are new to RV'ing and are awaiting our new FC 27, hopefully by August. We're reasonably competent do-a-lot-yourself home-owners who are used to Googling and Youtube search to solve problems.


Being new to RV'ing and Airstreams, do you have any opinion of the NRVTA's RV Maintenance and Repair Home Study Course for RV Owners program? Is it worth the $200-$300 time and money? Or are we better off just waiting until we own the unit, meet other RV'ers, search and participate on forums like this, Facebook, YouTube, etc.?

[Rich Jenkins]

Welcome!

I have no experience with this "course". What does it cover?

While Airstreams use pretty much the same appliances as most other RVs, buying new means most of those will be under the manufacturer's warranties.

On the other hand, for Airstream specific stuff, if you are remotely handy, reading threads online for your specific problem here on Airforums is a good use of time. I've found the folks here are extremely helpful and chances are, whatever question or challenge you have, someone else has had it. There are some very experienced and knowledgeable people here.

[Silvr_Bullet]

Great information in this book.

https://airstreamsupplycompany.com/p...-by-rich-luhr/

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you already are familiar with normal home repairs, you have a lot of the background for the typical trailer. Some experience with automotive electrical systems would fill in the gaps related to basic 12V "stuff".

Past that you get into things like solar, which may or may no be covered in this or that course. You also get into the grubby details of this or that appliance or control system. Those are unlikely to be covered in a quick course.

Airstreams have a number of brand specific "items". Things like rivets don't show up on other brands. Airstream steps, windows, and doors are a bit unusual. That stuff is very unlikely to be covered.

I'd suggest saving the money on the course and joining WBCCI (or whatever they call it these days ...) and going to some rallies. You will learn *way* more that way.

Bob

[Shiny16]

Between this forum and YouTube you will have most things covered. Save your money.

[Doc Foster]

This RV technician has a ton of great videos that I have found helpful
https://www.youtube.com/c/MyRVWorksInc

[DCPAS]

Come on now, somebody needs to step up and take the course in order to report back. I vote for MaterGrumpy to do so.

More seriously, I enjoy the NRVTA guy's (Todd) YouTube videos. Seems very knowledgeable. That said, I have to agree with the other posts and say that there is enough education from other sources, particularly this site and YouTube. A generalized RV course would spend time on slides, Suburban water heaters, onboard generators, and other stuff you do not have. As mentioned above, you can learn a lot from the My RV Works YouTube videos and you can limit watching them to ones that are relevant to your Airstream.