In this video, I demo how I maintain our Keystone Cougar trailers Winegard batwing style TV antenna. Our rig has the standard Winegard bat-wing style, hand crank TV antenna. The manual states to lubricate it twice a year with silicone spray. It is important to use silicone lubricant because the crankshaft has a rubber O-ring … Read more
In this video, I replace my expiring Atwood 2001 ProTECHTor LP Gas Detector alarm with a new one. The old model wasn’t available so I install a newer version. I explain my installation and hookup and the perform a demo test. According to the manual, the RV LP gas detector should be replaced every 7 … Read more
Each year we spend summers mostly stationary on Vancouver Island in beautiful British Columbia. However, once the temps begin to drop in the fall, we become snowbirds and fly south for the winter. The winter half of the year is spent on the road traveling down the west coast and into the sunny US southwestern … Read more
Our safety on the road is a big concern, so I’ve always made sure to have my trailers wheel bearings and brakes inspected and maintained. Over the years I’ve relied on the Keystone dealer where we bought our Cougar fifth wheel to perform the task. Every two years I’ve had them repack the grease, replace … Read more
Our Dometic 9100 power awning is now over seven years old. Being that we are full-time RV snowbirds its seen a ton of sun. Much of that in the dry US desert southwest. The awnings fabric is starting to slowly disintegrate at its top section closest to the RV sidewall. This is the part that … Read more
A few weeks ago while I was testing my RV holding tank capacities, I discovered two small cracks. One of the cracks is in the black waste tank and the other in my shower grey tank. Both are located right at the top of the tank at the rounded corners near my waste valves. I … Read more
Each year just before Christmas I make sure to publish a wishlist of RVing goodies and gadgets I’ve been pining after. I figure you never know Mrs. Claus may be reading. 🙂 Well, this year it worked! I was happy to receive several products on my list from my lovely wife, Anne. Number one was a … Read more
A few months back I went to turn on the trailers AC unit, and it made a funny sound. It was muted compared to normal, and no air was blowing out the vents. I headed up on the roof for a look see. After removing the plastic cover, I had Anne turn on the AC … Read more
Back in the summer of 2015, I published a post and video detailing how I test and maintain my RV batteries. I have the cheaper “wet cell type” golf cart batteries. They are a tried and true power source for boondocking but do take a bit of effort to keep them performing at their best … Read more
A few years ago one of our Keystone Cougar fifth wheel landing legs completely failed. The leg no longer went up or down and couldn’t support any weight. It ended up being a stripped collar nut in which the worm gear threads. We were on the road at the time, but I was able to order … Read more
Our Keystone Cougar fifth wheel came with an internal black tank flushing system. It’s done a decent job for many years now but recently has become plugged. I’m not sure why but have suspicions the blockage is inside the black waste tank. All the external piping to it looks fine. So, to flush out the … Read more
Last year I noticed the shelf area on our Cougar fifth wheel’s passenger side storage bay was sagging a bit. On closer inspection, I discovered the particle bottom sunken on one end. The long staples that held it in place had come loose. I do carry a tool box in that location. I guessed that it’s … Read more
After our extended snowbird trip down south I like to go over our Cougar fifth wheel trailer with a fine tooth comb looking for defects. This spring I discovered a small leak in one corner of the slide out room. Luckily it hadn’t had a chance to progress too far. Still, though, it had weakened a small … Read more
For a little while now I’ve noticed water dripping from the RV water heater’s outside access panel. Not completely abnormal since the units pressure relief valve does this on occasion. But, recently the flow increased from the odd drips to a constant dribble. I knew something must be up. After some investigation, I pinpointed the … Read more
In my last blog post, I told you how we prepare for our annual snowbird adventures down south. I thought I would go into a little more detail on prepping our rig for the upcoming extended journey. While summering on Vancouver Island, BC we are for the most part stationary. So before we hit the road … Read more