Parts on the road; HELP

[dlb435]

Ok, we made our trip from New Orleans to South Carolina. 1500 miles on the trailer and over two weeks living aboard. We had a great time but the trailer was not so happy.
The water heater quit, the water pressure regulator sprang a leak and there was no dump station near by.
We made one trip to a major city and picked up a tote tank. We made adjustments for the water leak and I did a temporary fix to keep the hot water going.
I tryed to have parts shipped to us but nothing came in due to the holidays.
Just what do you do for parts whaen your 200 miles from the nearest major RV store? Should I doudle up on the parts that failed and keep spares? Should I have made a shout out for help on the forum?

[idroba]

No matter what parts you decide to stock, something else you don't have will fail. I doubt that there is any real solution other than trying to keep things replaced and repaired as well as possible and living with the fact that sometimes failure will occur at inconvenient times and you have to wait it out. Smile, and remember you are camping with a few inconveniences always possible.

I know, it can still make you unhappy....lol. Does me.

[GCinSC2]

Where are you? What do you need or what needs fixed now to help with the trip?

[dlb435]

I'm home now and the parts are on the way.
This was a little aggravating but it did not spoil our trip. A few adjustments and we were fine.
I checked out everything in the trailer before we left. We were on the road for over a week before the first failure occured. I'm more interested in what to do next time.
It seems that both failures (the city water pressure regulator and the water heater temp switches) are fairly common. Do you carry spares on these items?
We also had the microwave fail on one trip but it whould be crazy to carry a spare microwave. I'm looking for your recommendations.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by dlb435

I'm home now and the parts are on the way.
This was a little aggravating but it did not spoil our trip. A few adjustments and we were fine.
I checked out everything in the trailer before we left. We were on the road for over a week before the first failure occured. I'm more interested in what to do next time.
It seems that both failures (the city water pressure regulator and the water heater temp switches) are fairly common. Do you carry spares on these items?
We also had the microwave fail on one trip but it whould be crazy to carry a spare microwave. I'm looking for your recommendations.

As it happens to me that the 'spares' that I carry guarantees that those in use DO NOT fail. Others will.

Neil

[pullswitha40]

Reminds me of my brother and his boat.
The spare parts he carried would stock any well equipped auto parts store..., but after spending one or two days chasing parts during his summer vacations at Lake Powell a few times...

Funny thing was.....once he carried a spare it seemed he never needed that part...

[dlb435]

Hmmmm....
Sounds like our old friend Murphy at work here.
Murphy's Law: Anything thing that can break will break.
Murphy's Postulate: Anything that does break will do so at the worst possible time.
I guess we should add Murphy's Therum: If you have a spare part; that item will never fail.

[Jim Flower]

Originally Posted by dlb435

I'm home now and the parts are on the way.
This was a little aggravating but it did not spoil our trip. A few adjustments and we were fine.
I checked out everything in the trailer before we left. We were on the road for over a week before the first failure occured. I'm more interested in what to do next time.
It seems that both failures (the city water pressure regulator and the water heater temp switches) are fairly common. Do you carry spares on these items?
We also had the microwave fail on one trip but it whould be crazy to carry a spare microwave. I'm looking for your recommendations.

Forget about trying to carry parts. Bring tools and some odds and ends left over from previous fixes. Rivets, duct tape,electrical tape, wire, screws, oil, grease, an iPhone, and knowing that most likely something will break and will require a road fix. Sometimes the fix will also involve others and more time than you counted on. It's one of the reasons I travel with full water, empty holding tanks, and solar power. I can't recall an extended trip that did not require some kind of fix. Last week it was a broken bracket on the Hensley. (Too many shoes) An iPhone, coat hanger, pair of nippers and a local welder contributed to mitigating down time. A rv shop in Charleston provided a control valve for the toilet and a flashlight provided alumination on a loose cable connection for a holding tank monitor. It must have been WP Kinsella who said "if you use it, it will break". That's the way I see it, anyway.

[masseyfarm]

If you are living in a traveling home the maintenance will probably triple from the brick house back home. Its part of the excitement of travel in your own RV. Try to deal with the problems yourself as much as possible, and then when you have the job done you can join the rest of the group at the camp fire, and you will have a story to tell.

ps: today nobody really cares what your problem is anyway unless they can make money from it.


Dave

[switz]

Old saying:

Telling folks your problems - 50% don't care and 50% are glad you have the problem,