This podcast episode emphasizes the indispensable resource that RVhelp.com provides for RV owners facing mechanical failures while on the road. As we delve into the intricacies of RV ownership, we discuss the critical importance of having a reliable support network to turn to when unexpected issues arise, illustrating this with a cautionary tale regarding the pitfalls of improper electrical installations. The episode further explores the life cycle of an RV, offering insights on maintaining its longevity and functionality from its factory origins to its adventures on the frontier. In addition, we highlight the advancements in solar technology that enhance the RV experience, enabling users to extend their off-grid adventures and reduce dependency on conventional power sources. Join us as we dissect these pivotal topics, ensuring you are well-equipped for your journey in the RV lifestyle.

1. Takeaways:
2. Understanding the importance of RV maintenance is crucial to prolonging the life of your vehicle.
3. Utilizing RVhelp.com provides a reliable resource for RV owners in need of assistance during their travels.
4. The life cycle of an RV includes various stages that require attention to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
5. Solar power technology for RVs has advanced significantly, offering enhanced efficiency and reliability for off-grid adventures.
6. Water leaks are one of the most damaging issues for RVs; prompt attention can prevent extensive damage and costly repairs.
7. A well-maintained RV not only enhances the travel experience but also retains its value, making it easier to sell in the future.

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Eric Stark

How many of you have been in your rv, camping at a campsite, a friend's house, and something failed on the RV and you needed help and you had no one to call? Well, now you do. RVhelp.com who they are and what they do. So we're going to interview them today.

And in enjoying the RV life, we're going to talk about from the factory to the frontier, the life cycle of an RV and how to extend it. Then the next stop, we're going to visit Richmond, Virginia. And then in shadows of the past, towns that once were Kilmar, Virginia.

And RV Envy is going to be about harnessing the sun and a practical guide to using or purchasing solar panels. This is Eric Stark with the Smart RVer podcast, your trusted source for tips and insights to embrace the RV lifestyle without worries.

Let's talk everything RV and today is episode 183. So let's do this. All right. Welcome back, smart RVers.

So recently we had a customer in the store and this happens, unfortunately, more often than it should. There's confusion about RV cords, plugs like a 30amp cord. That's what we're going to be talking in this case.

So the RVer wanted to have a 30amp outlet installed in his shop. Now he had one of his friends help him and maybe that's where this fell apart. I'm not sure.

I know they didn't come talk to me first because I would have prevented them from doing the. Doing it and creating the headache they created. So they wanted a 30amp outlet installed in their shop.

Now, a 30amp outlet, just so you know, is 110 volts. It's just 30amps. And the cord looks similar to some welding cords, dryer cords, whatever cords.

These things get confused and every thinks they're 220 volt. Ah, do you see where this is going? Well, the end is electrifying, as they might say.

So so stay to the end of the show and let's see if you know what I'm talking about here, what they did and how they went wrong with it. So we're going to get back to the 30amp outlet installation at the end of the show today. So again, welcome to the show.

I'm going to ask everybody to like, subscribe, share. We're on all the podcast channels. We're on YouTube. We have our own website, the smartereveryear.com ever how you digest our content.

We want to thank you and ask that you please share and subscribe with others. We want everybody in the world to Know about our what? Our little adventure here. What we're doing and how we're doing doing it.

And how much you guys enjoy it and how we are helping the RV community. That is our goal, to help the community. Now enough of that nonsense. Pleading on my hands and knees, begging, no, enjoying the RV life.

We're gonna jump right into this. From the vac factory floor to the frontier. So basically your RV is built in Indiana? More than likely.

Then it ends up out on the frontier someplace in the United States or maybe even beyond. So what's the life cycle of an RV and how can we extend it? So we're going to dig right into this.

We're going to check out your home on wheels, if you will. Every RV ends up being on a epic journey. Whether it's one or its entire life just depends on who owns it, where they go and what they do.

But somewhere in the lifestyle or lifetime of an rv, the RV will experience an epic journey. Whether you're with it, when it's experiences or not. Who knows, you might have sold it before it ever happened to you, right?

But that's what RVs are about. Having those journeys that are just awesome. Time with your family, enjoying the great outdoors, enjoying, I don't know, your bicycles.

And you take your RV there, it's your apartment or hotel at night, whatever it is. RVs are absolutely cool. Even if you only use it two or three times a year.

And that puppy's paid for, man, it's not worth getting rid of unless you know you're not going to use it. So RVs are absolutely cool. That's my take. And I truly believe that. I don't just say that I own an rv. I enjoy it. I miss it when I'm not using it.

In fact, I sometimes dink around on it just to stay close to it. Even though I work on RVs and do all this stuff related RVs, I still love touching my RV and having fun with it.

In fact, I just put a new air conditioner on it the other day. Replaced the brand new Dometic. Brand new, two years old. I put on a new Furion Chill Cube. Oh man, it's awesome. What a difference on the cooling.

The ductwork actually has air coming through it now because it's an 18,000 BTU. Super quiet. In fact, I'm gonna have to do a video not on the installation, but just so you can hear how quiet it is. It's amazing.

And hey, I also put on, I forgot about this. I put on. Well, I haven't installed it yet.

It's just a better awning. But anyway, so normally it would take 30 seconds for it to extend this switch on there. 15 seconds.

Now the real cool thing is it took 60 seconds to track or come in with the switch on there. It takes 30 seconds and I like that. So if it's windy out and you need to bring it in, it's not taking you 60 seconds to do so.

It's going to be in quicker. Now These switches are 100 bucks or so. It might not be worth it to everybody.

In fact, I'm going to do a video on this showing the difference, timing it so you can see for yourself. And now my numbers aren't 100% accurate. It might have been 28 seconds versus 54 seconds. But you know, I just round up. But I'm going to get.

We'll get back to that. That's coming. Those will be videos. That will be a video. Maybe by the time this podcast comes out, it'll already be out with 400 million view use.

Who knows? But the Valerian power awning switch is a cool add on if you're tired of your slow awning going in and out. And it's an easy installation.

Man, this thing is brainless. Anybody can do this. Wow. Sounds pretty bad, huh? Sorry about that if I offended anybody. All right, the life cycle of an RV got sidetracked there.

That should be in the beginning, the intro as we call it here in the biz. The biz. So, you know, your RV is built in a factory somewhere, hopefully by someone who is a hand skilled craftsman.

They've taken the time, everything's done right. It's just the perfect rv. And you know that's nonsense because so many of them come out of the factory just with so many problems today.

And that sounds really bad in itself, but man, you know what, you work past some of these problems just like everybody does. It's annoying, it's. It drives you crazy. But when you work through the problems, you end up having a good RV that you really like.

Even the best of the RVs, and believe me, the best of them right out of the factory, the they Got problems. And so that's where those shakedown trips come in.

You know, a short little two or three day trip close to home to just see what kind of problems you have, shake out the problems. So next time you can take it out and not have those problems. Right. They've been fixed. Little minor thing, sometimes a major thing.

But anyway, you shake out the problems. And now owning an rv, you're going to have problems. There's things that are going to break on it. So it's a rolling house.

It's an experience in an earthquake. Every day it goes down the road and, you know, it shakes and rattles and rolls. And we expect it to be perfect.

You know, like our house sits stationary. But, you know, our houses have problems too. Sometimes we can ignore them because they don't directly affect us.

Sometimes we have to take care of them right away. But we have problems. You know, we might not do a roof for 30 years, but when we do, it's 20,000 bucks or more, right?

You're not going to spend that much on your RV in 20 years. Well, probably not. Hopefully not. Hopefully your RV doesn't have those kind of problems now. Some people will just replace stuff.

You know, the air conditioner starts getting weak, they're not even going to hesitate. They just put a new one on. Okay. So that can add up quickly. Refrigerator, start doing stuff like that. Kind of how I roll.

Hate to say it, I don't like messing with it. Just put in new and have a new, new problem. That sounds negative. It's been a long day already and sometimes I just get a little loopy.

But let's get back to reality here. So what you want to do to really enhance the life or the, the life expectancy of your rv, it's all about having an rv, you know, has.

This definitely has its perks, its benefits, the coolness of it. You know, be able to go places, do things you can just on a Friday night, hey, let's go out of town. And you go camping for the weekend.

It's that easy. You don't have to worry about finding a motel room, a hotel room or anything. You can just hop in your RV and go.

And you can sleep almost anywhere in them. But along the way, to make it last, you know, to something that's going to be around for decades, in good shape, take care of it.

And the first thing I say is if you can keep it undercover, carport, RV port, a garage, shop, do that.

If you can't, though, maybe an RV cover is the way to Go to protect the, the paint, all the decals and stuff from fading, cracking, falling apart so quick. Not being able to cover it isn't the end of the world. It's just staying on top of it and keeping that roof in good shape.

And no leaks from the windows, doors, things like that. Leaks are what kills RVs. People don't realize how bad they are.

Someone called me the other day, they complaining about the wallpaper in their bedroom was, you know, just coming off. It's just the wallpaper. All we need is have a little bit of wallpaper work done. So he sent me some pictures.

I said, you know, that picture looks like there's been water damage. You know, is there more to this? Because they had this, the wallpaper stapled back on the side.

Can you just pull that wallpaper up so I can see what the veneer looks like? Well, the wall, the next picture has the wallpaper peeled, ear stuck to it. There's no water damage. Well, that's all 100% water damage.

The entire corner was destroyed. So this was not a wallpaper thing, it was a leaking thing. And the guy's just amazed. Well, I don't understand how that happened, you know.

Well, you got a water leak. Well, water has come in, but I didn't think it could do that. Well, it could.

And I'm kind of knocking the person because to me it seems like so obvious. You have a water leak, it's going to be a problem. But to a lot of RVers, first time RVers especially, they don't realize that.

And it becomes a problem quickly and severely. Take care of the water leaks.

And gosh, I say this in so many episodes, you know, I emphasize that with our customers, take care of those water leaks, keep this RV on the road. Because where do RVs go when they don't go where anywhere anymore. They go to the side of your house, the backyard, out in that field.

You have, you just put it out in the corner, forget about it. They don't go anywhere else. They don't go to like this big junkyard.

There's a few RV junkyards, I think two in the United States that are legitimate RV junkyards. Some yards just have junky RVs in them, but they're not RV junkyards. So you don't want your RV there. Keep it going.

Sometimes RVs, when they're maintained, you know, sometimes on the outside, they're not the prettiest looking because they just fade. You know, kind of like we get old, don't look so Good later on in life. Well, RVs are the same way, but it's like a person who's older, they.

They have a good heart. Right? Good personality. Well, an RV can be the same way. You open up the door and it's like, wow, this thing's really nice inside.

Someone really took care of it. That's what matters. Take care of it. So down the road, when you want to get rid of your rv, you can sell it.

Someone will buy it because they can see you took care of it and they'll do the same thing. More than likely, you'll be able to sell it quicker, get top dollar for it, and that's all there is to it.

Keep that RV in shape and it'll keep on the road. It'll keep paying for itself for decades to come. Now that brings us to our money saving tip for today.

And actually, I don't have one because we're going to do the interview with rvhelp.com so I thought I would save a little bit of time. Some of our podcasts go long with these interviews. They go long sometimes. Anyways, I just talk too much.

I'm trying to get them back into a more under an hour.

So no money saving tip today, but there will be an article for it on our website@the smartrver.com we will definitely have one on the website because money saving tips are very important. So now that's going to bring us to staying on the road in the interview with RV help.

Speaker B

All right, so here we have Heath Padgett from rvhelp.com and Heath is going to help us today to understand exactly what RV help is.

Eric Stark

I've talked about it briefly. I've kind of built it up.

Speaker B

But now we have Heath and he's the CEO and he's gonna explain this in a way I never could because it's his company, it's his baby, and.

Eric Stark

He loves it, man. Actually, I love it too.

Speaker B

And it's not even my baby, but.

Eric Stark

Anyway, so welcome to the show, Heath.

Speaker B

It's great having you here today.

Heat Padget

Thanks, Eric.

Speaker B

You come from a RVing background, as we've talked about, so you have experienced it out on the road, traveling, you've been to campgrounds.

Eric Stark

What do you think one of the.

Speaker B

Biggest frustrations you faced with RV repairs.

Eric Stark

While out on the road is just.

Heat Padget

Are you just asking for one?

Speaker B

Yeah, just one.

Heat Padget

Okay. I would say just being able to find somebody trusted who I could call and quickly be able to get service on my rv.

That's probably the biggest one Is that.

Speaker B

What helped Inspire this platform? RVhelp.com?

Heat Padget

We were chatted before the show and I was selling you for. We've had several RVs over the years, so our first ones we had to DIY it because it was a 20 year old rick.

So I would have benefited from your show greatly because I, you know, I had to climb on my roof, replace parts in the, in the, in the bathroom and do things I didn't know how to do, which was good for learning. And then we bought a newer rig and I thought, all these problems will go away now that we have a brand new Winnebago.

And we all know that's not the case when you buy a new rv. There's just as many, if not more broken things that happen on a new rig.

So I remember we bought it from an RV dealership near Austin, Texas, and we would go and drop it off there. And I just, I remember every time we had to take it to any dealership, we, we would have to call and, you know, ask, what's the status?

Where's the sort of be at, what's going on? And we were full time and we did that for five years. And I just remember thinking, you know, this is. In the moment. I knew it was a painful process.

I wasn't thinking, oh, this is a business I want to solve because I'm not a tech.

And I remember we used to have to drive it to Forest City, Iowa, where Winnebago headquarters is, because we just got so tired of having to take it to somebody who would work on it and not do a good job or not call us back. And we'd have to wait a long time. And I said, we'll just drive 16 hours. I don't care I'm an RV or I'll just drive 16 hours. Is not.

In hindsight, I recognize that that shouldn't have to be the solution for many people.

So I think it was just planted from many years of RVing and feeling it firsthand, but also talking to, you know, business owners and operators at the manufacturers and hearing it from them too, over the years that, you know, everyone feels that pain.

Eric Stark

Right? Yeah, we hear that all the Time.

Speaker B

People travel in 8 hours, 10 hours, 20 hours, whatever to get their RV fix. It's crazy. So yeah, you know, that's great that you were inspired and you did something with it rather than just sit on it.

It'd be a great idea to do one day. Now you actually acted on it and you created the platform, so that's awesome.

Now for RVers who are out on the road, they're traveling, their RV breaks down. How does RV help connect them with certified mobile technicians?

Heat Padget

So we have 1200 certified RV RV mobile providers on RV help. So we have an app, we have a Android and an iPhone app so that you could download and find nearby providers.

And one of the questions is we've been going to RV shows, we've been going to a lot of manufacturer rallies, escapers and events and things like that as people will ask what is a vetted or certified technician look like. So all of our technicians are part of the RV Technicians Associations of America or the National RV Inspectors Association.

So they've went to the, in our vta. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that.

With the school down in Athens, Texas, the certified technicians do a five weeks hands on training and I was having lunch with a couple texts yesterday who went through the school and they were just reminiscing about what they actually have to do on, you know, on site at the school.

Like, you know, before they graduate, they'll rip apart a dometic fridge and say here's a bunch of wires and components and boards and they have, some of them are broken and they have to, you know, put it all back together. And there's this built in hands on process that everyone has gone through to become a certified technician.

And we were talking about how when we first started RVing, anybody could kind of hang up their hat and say I'm a technician or I'm an RV tech. And maybe some of them are really good and some of them aren't. But all the technicians who are on RV help have went and had hands on training.

That at least puts them in a space of hey, I've gotten some education and I'm, I can go out and speak confidently to know how to diagnose and look at certain problems on your rd. And then the other part of that is park qualification, but also part RV owner reviews.

So on RV help you can see the reviews of techs, you can see many of them share what their rates are. They share if they've done extra training for Firefly or Lippard or whatever. They've done generator trainings and things of that nature.

So you can kind of go and see what this person is, what their background is, how they've treated other RV owners.

Because you could be extremely smart and competent to work on an rv, but you know, if you don't take care of customers or communicate well, then that will definitely show up and how people maybe reviews and things like that. So for me it's, it's part, hey, this person's been trained and they're qualified, but also they are doing a good job taking care of RV owners.

And most of the mobile techs that I talk to, their frame of this is, hey, it's like going out and fixing an RV for a friend and I'm coming to your house and you don't have to pick up that, tow it to a dealer or service shop and things like, like that, you know.

Speaker B

As you're going along there talking about some of that training, like let's say Lippert training or even Dometic, you know, they get this extra training on top of what they already got from an association which by the way, you can.

Eric Stark

Go to the websites for these associations.

Speaker B

And see what it takes to become in a mobile RV tech. So that gives you a better feel for what a technician has to do.

But back to the training, you know, if they're a Dometic or Lippert trained technician, that's going to save the RVer money because they're not going to get in there trying to figure out what, how the systems work. They already know that. So they're in and out quicker, which is a bonus for having a technician work on your rv.

Because a lot of technicians, they have to kind of start from scratch there, let's see, what's this do?

Eric Stark

What's that do?

Speaker B

But when they're trained by the factory, they already know what it does. So that's great. So these are great points that you're bringing out here to really help RVers understand the benefits.

Now would you say that your mobile or your, the mobile techs that you guys have on your platform, would there be an advantage to using them over.

Eric Stark

A traditional repair shop?

Heat Padget

Well, I would say that first of all it depends on what your needs are. So if you have a big issue on. First of all, most all the technicians on RV help are really working on the house they're not working on.

I mean, some of them have a background as a mechanic and things like that. So that's not true across the board.

You know, it depends if you're if you're having an engine issue and things like that, you're going to probably want to take it to Ford or whoever makes your chassis. If you're sitting at a campground and you're a full timer or you're on a trip and you're just trying to get somebody quickly.

I would say that finding a tech on RV help is a great first solution. If you can't DIY it from listening to Eric's podcast and fix it yourself just because that might.

I would say there's a much more reasonable chance that a mobile technician is going to have availability in their schedule than a traditional service shop. And part of the reason for that is many of the techs on RV help are also RV owners as well. So they're traveling from market to market. So they might.

A lot of our techs will go to Texas or Arizona or California or Florida in the winter, and then in the summer they're all over. So they might serve Michigan or Colorado or Montana.

And as they change locations, they can update that on RV help so they can actually say, hey, I'm scheduled to go to this area in the summertime and I'll be there. Versus these service shops are there all the time, which means they have a lot more people booking them constantly throughout the year.

But you can only find them on Google and several of our techs, you might only be able to find them as they update their location as they're traveling on our V help.

So I would just say from an availability perspective, if you can find a technician nearby, you're probably more likely to get faster service that way.

Eric Stark

Yeah, definitely.

Speaker B

That's what I keep hearing around here in Montana and other areas that mobile text can definitely get to you quicker, but so that's awesome. And so they have training, everything else.

Eric Stark

What.

Speaker B

One thing is becoming more popular today is people are having inspectors check out their RV before they purchase it.

You know, it's still, I don't think it's done enough because I always hear I got such a great deal on this RV and then several thousand dollars later for things that could have been avoided, it's not such a great deal. So how does rvhelp.com help a potential RV buyer or an RV buyer find that potential rv?

Heat Padget

With an inspector on RV help, you can click on find a nearby technician or inspector. And so a third party inspector is basically, if you're a new RVer, you know, dealerships will do a basic PDI.

And so the basic PDI is going to be a short half a page Checklist, do the lights work? You know, things very high level.

And if you look at the checklist that a third party inspector goes through and the Intervta in Texas, they train technicians and inspectors so all the technicians have went through the same program at the NRBTA and they have their own code of ethics. So they can't go and inspect something and say, by the way, I need to fix. You need to fix these 25 things, I'll fix them for you.

So there is an association that's over seeing all these inspectors around the country.

But the core value of it is that if you're at a dealership, and I wish we would have done this when we had bought RVs in the past, is they'll go through and spend five, six hours with you and you know, really look through this and especially if you're buying, I would say any rig, but I would, I was going to say a $150,000 Class A, but now the, the truck, I mean the, the fifth wheels are getting that expensive. I mean it's just kind of wild.

So if you're buying this type of unit, they'll spend all day there and they'll go through and they'll really give you a thorough checklist of everything that could have possibly. And this is for new and used.

And then that way you could give it to the dealer and say, hey look, this is a great unit, I want to buy it, but you got to fix all these things for me because otherwise you're going to take it and drive it to a campsite and then you're go spend three months trying to get back into that service shop probably to get things done. And they have a built in urgency to fix those things.

There's a hit or miss on whether dealers appreciate third party inspectors coming out, but there's no doubt that our deers find them valuable and there is a great value to their service.

Speaker B

Some dealerships don't mind, some actually kind of resist it and they'll make it harder on the inspector, but the good inspector will do his job and you know, they're trained for this and they understand the systems too. It's not like they're just looking while the refrigerator doesn't work work, they're going to understand why it doesn't work.

They're going to have an idea. They're almost trained as technicians in a way, they're close to it.

Heat Padget

So many of the inspectors on RV help are also certified techs as well.

Speaker B

Okay, there you go. So they have the expertise there we talk about wholesale warranties quite a bit.

They're an RV extended warranty provider for new or used, it doesn't matter. And so they offer inspections but, but you pay for it either way.

So even if you paid, went through rvhelp.com had something inspected and you wanted to get an extended warranty, that inspection would be handy for them. They could look at it, okay, here's what we cover, don't cover. So it's not like it's wasted money either.

So no matter what, that inspection will be of great value, especially if you find a lot of problems or the inspector finds a lot of problems with it. So it's a great way to save money.

And you know, this training that you guys talk about, your technicians are all certified and that just makes such a huge difference in this mobile RV tech world. Because from experience being around the RV industry for a long time, a lot of guys will work at a shop for six months and say, wow, I'm.

Eric Stark

Going to go out on the road.

Speaker B

And become a mobile RV tech. And that's all. They're experienced six months and they call themselves an RV tech. And it doesn't always work out very well.

So these certified certifications make a huge difference. So it's really great that you guys are pushing that hard on the, on your platform. Are we help?

So with boondocking and off grid travel, off grid living anymore, everybody's in RVs living someplace. In fact, people are just living in RVs in general because they can't afford houses anymore.

So if someone's in a remote area, how can RV help help that person? Maybe even if there's not an RV tech in the, in that area.

Heat Padget

So we have, one of the things that we saw were, hey, we have some requests coming in from RV owners so they'd reach out to us and say, hey, there's not a person in this area. So we, we created a virtual diagnostic program and we contract with 10 of our certified tax and we, we tried to create a kind of a roster.

If you were building a team, you'd say, hey, I need somebody really good at generators or look really good at, you know, Jax, I mean we didn't get that granular, but the point was we tried to cover the gamut. And so we've got 10 techs that we pay to do virtual diagnostic. And so that's pro membership and how we make money. So the site RV help is free.

Anyone can go use it to find tax. But if you want that extra peace of mind, we have a Few other things that we built.

And essentially one of those is the ability to jump on a video call with a tech who can look at it, help you diagnose it, because some of these things can be fixed remotely. Also, many of our techs do basic troubleshooting calls.

And so part of the other parts of that is in our pro membership, some of our techs get discounts to RB owners on their service or service call fee. And then we have an emergency dispatch feature as well.

So based basically, if you've got a stuck slide out or a major issue and you don't have time to kind of hit the phone and call 20, 25 people, you can go to your dashboard in RV help and click emergency dispatch. And then we send that out to the nearest 20 technicians to let them know that this is an emergency, it's not roadside.

But the whole point is we've had that issue before ourselves where we had a stuck slide out and I just really needed it fixed so we could continue going on our way.

So we built in some of these features for RV owners so that even if you're not nearby a mobile tech, you could potentially eventually have enough of a solution to keep you going.

Speaker B

And sometimes those repairs in an emergency situation aren't always maybe the best repair, but it gets the person down the road. I knew of a mobile RV tech that was in Ennis, Montana during the summers, and he said it was like a mass unit. No one wanted to really, they just.

Eric Stark

Wanted to get on the road.

Speaker B

So that's all he did. He just patched things up and get them on the road. So depending on the situation, that might be what it is.

Get you to the next service center or someplace where you can get it repaired properly, depending on what it is. So, so that's great. So you're not stranded then, because that's what it.

Well, I know a lot of RVers feel that way, that, gosh, now I'm out here in the middle of nowhere.

Eric Stark

What do I do? You know?

Speaker B

So now you guys, you guys are covering it. That's really nice. That's one good thing about me. If I RV breaks down the middle of nowhere, it's not a big deal.

Heat Padget

I wish I had that skill. I just, I, I don't ever.

Like, my, my grandparents and my parents would do a big RV trip every summer and they would leave Texas and that RV would sit for 11 months and inevitably the same thing. And my, my grandfather was always very savvy.

We did the Alaskan highway one year with them and My parents, all of us in a 32 foot RV, which in hindsight I don't recommend, but it was a great adventure. And I remember, you know, a toilet broke and it's 5am and it's already bright out and he's in there, you know, messing away at this toilet.

But every summer the RV would break down when they're leaving Texas and they would hit, hit Oklahoma and then they'd end up stranded there for two or three days waiting on something. So to your point, I.

The other side of getting it patched up or fixes is, you know, if you only have two weeks of that trip a year, then you don't want to have to sit around and wait on, you know, a part or something like that for, for that time period.

Speaker B

Exactly. You know, I get it all the time. Just a week or so, a guy came in, emergency, you guys got to.

Eric Stark

Look at my rv.

Speaker B

You got it, you got to check it out. You know, nothing's working inside. And it was a fuse and he was ready to cancel his trip.

You know, if he was out in the middle of nowhere or traveling, he's on the road and he's using rvhelp.com then he could talk to a technician. They would probably have walked him right to the same thing.

Eric Stark

You know, there's going to be a.

Speaker B

Few someplace you got to find it, but there's going to be a fuse. And that's what's cool about that. These guys can actually stop that trip from being ruined.

And just like you brought out, and I, I appreciate that because that's one of the things I talk about in the podcast quite a bit is don't let something as simple as a fuse ruin the trip. You know, your, your wife, your kids, everybody's gonna be looking at you like, come on dad, what's the matter with you?

You know, we just went home for a $0.69 fuse.

Eric Stark

Come on.

Heat Padget

You know, I was talking to a couple of our techs yesterday and that's the exact same thing happened. They called a customer. They didn't. It was like two hour trip out for them to go do the call.

But they said they were able to talk it through over the phone. And a lot of technicians see that as goodwill like that maybe that person will hire them the next time they're coming through for a job.

And we encourage them to go leave a review on rb help to just say, hey, this is a tech. Really helped me out. But yeah, it could be a few, like RV sat at a camping world lot for Two weeks, once. And it was just a fuse.

I ended up finding it and you know, they didn't even look at it.

And so I think that, yeah, those, when those simple fixes happen, that it's really nice as long as it didn't, you know, you know, cause you to ruin a trip for the summer.

Speaker B

And you know, like your RV techs, they're building the community. They're making it clear that not all rv, mobile, RV technicians are criminal or anything like that.

Eric Stark

They want to help.

Speaker B

They understand your situation, you know, it's so it's great to hear that. Yeah.

The other thing too is, you know, some people are on a, you know, everybody's on a budget and some are more budget conscious than other because they have to be. So could using rvhelp.com actually save some money versus going to a traditional repair facility?

You know, some of these shops there, 2, 3, $400 an hour. So could using a mobile tech from your platform actually help them financially?

Heat Padget

Tech? I mean, physical dealerships have more overhead, right? They have more staff, they have, they've got bays, they've got more costs.

So they, they really do have to charge more for the most part. It's not to say that all mobile technicians are going to be cheap.

And I would actually, the caveat there is that a lot of technicians that I talk to, they'll say, you know, somebody wants me to come fix their, their black tank or work on it, and they're trying to nickel and dime me.

So the other side of this is these are professional small business owners and also they should be compensated well for their expertise because they're solving big problems for us.

So I would say yes, you can save money by going versus going to a traditional dealership, but also you shouldn't to try to nickel and dime somebody who has worked hard, paid money to go get their education.

Speaker B

RVs get caught up on that service call. You know, a mobile technician is going to have a service call and that becomes the focus of the entire thing.

But you know, that service call is just, it's kind of their overhead in a sense, but it's not nearly as much as what it's going to cost to go to a regular dealership.

You know, a mobile tech might be $150 an hour with $75 service call, where a dealership could be $200 an hour and it might take two hours, but it might take the mobile tech only an hour. So there's a give and take there. And sometimes the savings might not be substantial. But it's convenience, too.

You got someone that comes out to your house hooking up your RV or.

Eric Stark

Getting in your motorhome.

Speaker B

It costs you money to drive it no matter what. It's time. You know, time is one of the biggest things that's a problem for a lot of retired people.

It's not a big deal or doesn't seem to be, but for a lot of working people, it is a hassle. You know, it's easier. Just leave it at home. Hey, it's going to be there all day. Go check it out. You know, even for just regular repairs.

Eric Stark

Anymore, I mean, where we're at in.

Speaker B

Montana, a lot of people living in their RVs, they require mobile tax. They can't break camp or, you know, tear everything down to bring it in. And so they require it.

So it's great to know that and actually hear that from you because you're dealing with this every day. And a lot of RVers don't understand that actually could be a better deal in a lot of different ways. So thank you.

Now, you talked about camping while sitting in a parking lot for two weeks. You know, that's a familiar story because I hear that from other people, too. They go someplace and no one even looks at the rv.

Well, we'll get to you. You know, you gotta wait two weeks and they get tired of waiting like you. What do you have to do?

Heat Padget

Replace the fuse with that situation.

Speaker B

Yeah, yeah. And I've heard others, you know, they come in, hey, do you have this part, you know, for a refrigerator? And we have it, and it's the same thing.

They got tired of waiting and they just go figure it out themselves out of frustration, you know, so. So yeah, there's definitely some benefits there. So now you've. You guys have acquired RVTAA Tech and nrvia. I get those acronyms, right.

So what other things are you bringing on? Or do you have any plans for anything for the end of this year or next year to help your. Your platform?

Heat Padget

Just as a side note, we have. We didn't acquire. We. We took over the old tech locator. But those associates are. Are completely different and they're their own separate entities.

But as far as next big things for us, a lot of our technicians all have apps and said, hey, because they're already logging in RV help and getting their leads and things like that or changing their location. And so many of them have.

Have said, hey, if you guys add ScheDuling and a CRM and Tools for us to run our business, you know, we would we would use that.

And so we've been working with several of our techs to develop a RB mobile tech software so they can run their business, do their invoicing and things like that through us, which will also eventually help with easily being able to schedule appointments because you'll actually be able to look at availability and time slots for service appointments and things like that. So that's a big focus for us at the moment.

Speaker B

Yeah, that's good because that, you know, the easier it is for the technicians, the better quality of technicians you're going to get and more of them on.

Eric Stark

The platform as well.

Speaker B

So that's really cool. So those are nice things.

The, the RVer who needs help might not appreciate that as much, but being in business, I can see how it benefits the tech and the less hassle he has to do to be a mobile tech, the better mobile tech he's going to be. So that's great, that's good to hear.

Heat Padget

They could, they could handle more appointments.

I mean, I think the ultimate long term game is how, how can we live in a world where you could get same day or you know, next day RV service versus having to wait a long time and you know, if they're running a more efficient business, they're able to get more people in and if they can't, if maybe if a mobile tech can fix it, you know, people will just keep learning from, from you on how to DIY it and that they fix too. So whichever way.

Speaker B

Yeah, I don't think we're putting mobile techs out of business, but we're trying. No, you know, it's just, it's that simple thing. If you can fix it and save a trip, man, it's well worth it. That's, that's kind of the thing.

So we're coming to the end here. I got one final question for you.

If you're going to give one tip to an RVer, whether it's a new RVer or someone who's experienced, do you have one tip that you could give.

Heat Padget

Them if you're a new rver? This goes along with what we're talking about.

But I would get an inspection before you buy your rig because you're going to save so much time and hassle on those common things that would have broken on your rig anyways. So I would, that would be one easy thing that could eliminate a lot of frustration.

Speaker B

That's the perfect answer, you know, because that's it. You get those inspections done and headaches can disappear. That's for sure.

Eric Stark

Well, Heath, we've come to the end.

Speaker B

Here, so I really appreciate you coming by today and letting me pick your brain here and get some answers to these questions. I love your platform, what you guys are doing. So, again, thank you very much for stopping by.

Heat Padget

Thank you for having me, Eric.

Eric Stark

That was an Excellent interview. RVhelp.com is certainly providing a service for the RV industry, so we want you to take advantage of it. Check them out. Remember, it's a free service.

They have paid service, but they also have a free service. Don't ignore this. And that brings us to the next stop. And today we're going to visit Richmond, Virginia.

Richmond, Virginia, is a hub for RV day trips. I've never been to Virginia, let alone Richmond. You know, it's on the east coast, but it's a place I'd like to go. I've heard a lot about it.

There's a lot of history there. And for RVers, man, what a place to go. They have campgrounds. You have different areas you can go for day trips.

Some of them are farther away than others. Williamsburg, Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, Shenandoah National Park. These are just to name a few. And some of them are an hour.

Some of them are several hours away. But wow, what a place to go. Driving for a few hours isn't a big deal anymore. You know, it's easy, especially in our modern vehicles are comfortable.

We're driving in comfort. So a few hours is not a big deal. So Richmond, Virginia, basically is this hub.

It's a vibrant hub, and it's perfect for RVers to explore the heart of the commonwealth, as they call it. So it's nestled along the James River. It offers a blend of history, culture, and outdoor adventure.

It's an ideal base camp for RVers to make nearby trips, local trips, easy trips. So why not discover Richmond, Virginia, on your next trip?

I know in these podcasts, every episode we're talking about someplace that we want to go to, someplace we've explored on the Internet via maps videos. We talk to people about them, RVers, persons we know, and they're all cool, and we want to go to all of them.

So somehow I've got to quit working so I can do this. So Richmond, Virginia, is the capital, or Richmond is the capital of Virginia. So we could call it a treasure trove.

You know, it's got a nice central location, easy access to all sorts of destinations within one and three hours. You got full RV hookups there. You have a downtown area that's walkable, which makes a big difference.

Getting out, stretching your legs and enjoying the local flavor is so nice. You could call it a tapestry of attractions. You have the Civil War sites, you have craft breweries.

It's an urban setting with, I don't know, big city convenience. I'm not sure it has an outdoor appeal. So it's like so many cool places we've talked about. So Richmond, Virginia, put it on your list.

And, you know, we've said it before, and I'll say it again, when you go to the maps and you start looking at these places and start thinking about where you're going to go, you might start out looking at Richmond, Virginia, but you might end up in New York, you might end up in Florida, Georgia, who knows? And that's what's cool about doing this. When you own an rv, whatever time allows and your budget allows is where you're going to go.

So your intentions might be one place, but you end up in another place. I do it all the time. I look at a map like, I'm going to go here, and my wife and I end up over there or on the way there, we actually change gears.

Hey, let's not go here after all. Let's go to this place. We're heading east now. We're heading north.

Happens to us all the time because we look at maps and decide, you know what, let's go here instead. Take advantage of your RV for making those memories, turn those memories into stories you can tell your family and friends.

And you do that by going to places like Richmond, Virginia, coming to our website, looking at the places we recommend, because every Single1 is RV friendly. And that's what's important, is our being RV friendly. Now that brings us to shadows of the past, towns that once were.

Today we're gonna do a little reading about Kilmarnock, Virginia. I hope I'm saying that right. K I L M A R N O C K Virginia. Kilmarnock, Virginia.

So this was once a thriving town in the northern neck of the east coast, or in that area, they call it the Northern Neck, but it still holds the echoes of its storied past. So let's get into this reading here. You know, this is a place.

One of the books or one of the articles somewhere, they described it as a place where the Chesapeake breeze carried the hum of industry, the chime of shop bells and the laughter of children. That is such a great description. Right. All right, so now let's really get into the reading now.

I said that a minute ago or a second ago, so let's really do it now. Once a bustling crossroads of agriculture, fishing, small town trade, Kilmernock thrived on hard work and water.

Horse drawn wagons rattling along dusty roads, Grocers haggling over barrels of potatoes, k racing towards the town's one room schoolhouse. Steamships once stopped nearby, bringing mail, cargo and news from the wider world. But time has a way of shifting the tides.

As the industry waned and roads replaced rivers, Kilmarnock began to slow. The shops closed earlier. The dock workers moved inland. When the railroads bypassed the region, opportunity followed the tracks westward.

Fires, hurricanes and economic changes carved away it once was, leaving the town quieter, fainter. Yet, Kilmarnock never vanished completely. It remained weathered but standing. Some called it forgotten. Others called it home.

And today, while modern boutiques and retirement homes have crept in, the soul of Kilmarnock still lingers in its clapboard churches and red brick sidewalks.

If you listen closely on a summer night, you might still hear echoes of the past of a town that worked the tides and leaned into the wind even as the world changed around it. Kilmarnock, Virginia. Not quite gone, but no longer the town it once was. Kilmernock sounds like another awesome place to go in your rv, right?

You're gonna be in Richmond, Virginia. You might as well go to Kilmarnock. Why not? Kill two birds with one stone, as they say.

So that full article again with more information will be on our website, the smartrver.com and we hope you like those readings. You know, we add sound effects and do all this stuff to make it a little more lively.

It takes a little more time, so we'd like to hear from you about it.

We want to hear from you guys about anything about this podcast that we can improve, fix, get rid of throughout a section, replace it with something else. We want to know. We hear enough of the same thing and we will definitely make the adjustment. We try very hard to please everybody here.

So now let's go to RV Envy. Harnessing the Sun A Practical guide to RV Solar Panels. Now, we've talked about solar panels in the past. We've talked about lithium batteries.

The last time we talked about or I talked about solar panels was like, hey, put the brakes on. There's no point in rushing into us. Take your time, you know, make a quality decision, not just a decision. Not all solar panels are equal.

And solar panels are absolutely awesome sometimes for getting into off grid campsites. You can stay there for days, weeks, months, years, move there, whatever. People live with just solar panels and battery banks.

No hookup to the utilities whatsoever. So a lot of people full time arbors are full timers, weekend warriors.

Those that just want to reduce how long that generator runs during the day, they're turning to solar. And solar has changed a lot. You know, the last episode I did or talked about, this was probably over a year ago. Solar today.

I mean, the technology has gotten so much better where if it's part of the panel shaded, it'll actually reroute the energy. If part of the panel fails, it'll reroute the energy. And so you're not losing all the efficiency. You're not going from, let's say 98% to 0% or 10%.

You're going 98% to like 85%. So technology has changed.

Now some of those panels get much more expensive than your typical monocrystalline panel, but they might be worth it depending on the application you're in. You might feel, I need that, you know, because of shade, because of this, because of that. So that's your choice.

So solar is going to help you extend your RV adventure. It's going to help you extend it beyond the RV park and extend it time wise if you choose to do that.

But if you don't, it's going to help you have a more enjoyable adventure in your rv. Your family is going to be happy the whole time because you're not running out of power. Power is very important.

When we're out RVing, we don't realize it until it's gone. It's like all of a sudden. So it's there, it's quiet.

It' working 24 hours a day or not 24 hours a day, but it's working during the day, at night, at rest, wakes up in the morning, goes back to work, doesn't complain, does what it's supposed to do. Now there's components to solar and these are the key components. And that's really what we're going to get into.

We can't get into the all, all the aspects of solar, but it's definitely something that you need to know about and what the parts you need. So if you do start shopping, you have a better clue.

And some of these websites like Renogy, they have tons and tons of kind of looks like the same thing. So you have to kind of pe it together, maybe call them, talk to an expert. What do I need?

I'll bet if you go solar you're going to either pick a kit that's too much or not enough. You're not going to find that happy medium on your own.

You might, but most people like go overkill with it or they go super cheap and it's not even going to do what they need it to do. So anyways, obviously you need to have solar panels. You know you can get a hundred watt panel and get a 200 watt panel.

I don't personally see the point in a hundred watt panel you might as well get 200 watts. There are locations where 100 watt is more than what they ever would need.

So in that point, yeah I can see it, you know, the footprint and between 100 and 200 almost the same. So like on an RV application, I don't know why you'd want 100 watt panel.

And, and I'm not saying that like sarcastic, I really don't just go 200 watts. The footprint's the same, 100 watt is an older. That's kind of how they've started, 100 watt, then you get into 200 watt.

You know, solar panels have been evolving for years. You know they have, they haven't always been. Well they, they haven't been made for RVs up until more recent times.

They just happened to work on RVs decades ago, years ago. Now they're made more for RVs where a 200 watt panel has a footprint that's maybe 2ft by 5ft. 100 watt panel has almost the same footprint.

See, that's what I mean. Okay, you're besides the panel and you're gonna have to shop and get what you feel is what's going to work for you.

You're going to need a charge controller. Charge controllers come in a different couple different flavors. Some of them are flush mount.

In other words, you're going to cut a hole in your wall and it's going to sit in the wall. The wires won't be exposed. You know, all you see is the charge controller. Then you have surface mount ones that attach to the surface.

You see the wires coming up to it. It's whatever works for you. It depends on where you're going to run the panel or the charge controller. You know if it's going to be in the RV.

A lot of RVs that come pre wired, they use a flush mount one and then you cut the hole and the wires right there in the the behind the the wall and you tie into it.

They're very clean looking, but they're out in the open where a surface mount might be in a compartment, might be in a cabinet door, someplace like that where you're not going to see it.

And then you have a Bluetooth connection or some type of connection to it so you can look it out on your phone or even a remote connection, a display that remotes to it with a wireless. Then you're going to need a battery bank. That's where you're going to store all the power from your solar panels.

And solar panels, just so we're all on the same page. They do not run air conditioners, they do not provide 110v. They charge your batteries. That's all they really do. They keep your batteries charged.

Then when you have your charge controller, your solar panels, your battery bank, you're going to need wire and mounting hardware to make all that stuff connect and work together. Then also you might want to put an inverter in it. See that's where that 110 volt comes in.

An inverter converts DC battery power to AC for household appliances such as your microwave, maybe your 110 volt refrigerator, your TV set. Inverters are not what everybody thinks they are. You can't just buy any inverter and run anything on it. There's different wattage verters.

You want everything to be automatic. Those you'll forget sooner or later and that'll cause a serious problem. But micro or inverters are not just.

You don't go buy any inverter and plug it anywhere in an rv. It doesn't work that way. A lot of RV owners think that or they've been been led to believe that it's not that simple.

They have to be wired into the 110 volt system. And some RVs are harder to do than others.

Some come that are already pre wired or come with an inverter which makes that whole chain or that whole process easier because it's already there or pre wired and all you're doing is mounting the inverter and hooking up the wires. Still takes a little bit of time, a little bit of know how for electrical, but it's definitely worth doing now anyways.

We're really talking about solar. So there's portable solar, there's roof mounted solar. Again, it's what you want, what you need, what your RVing lifestyle calls for.

A lot of people like in our area, they like portable because they park under trees to get the shade to keep the RV cooler because they don't have 110 volts to run an AC.

So they go with the portable because they can move that out into the sun where other people that aren't going to be underneath the shade and they know they're not going to be and maybe they don't want to pack something up, don't have the space for it. They're going to mount the panels on the roof of their rv.

Speaker B

Rv.

Eric Stark

And yes you do have to put holes in the roof of your rv, but when they're done right they don't leak. So you don't have to worry about that.

It is one more maintenance thing on the roof, you know, making sure those brackets are sealed correctly and they're not leaking. But that's if they're done right, it's not an issue. So the roof mount is just a hands free setup. Monocrystalline panels are what you want to get.

They're more efficient, they perform better in partial shade. Polycrystalline might be lower price, but they're not as efficient.

Spend, just spend a couple extra bucks, always get monocrystalline and then your batteries, you know, are you going to run with your lead acid batteries? Do you want to upgrade to lithium like we talked about in our last episode? That's entirely up to you.

Lithium can be a better option for performance, but it's not a necessity. So keep that in mind and buy your panels from a reputable solar supplier.

Just because they're all over the Internet running ads doesn't mean they're reputable. You want a company that has a reputation, a topic. Top tier company like Go Power, Zamp Solar, Victron, Renogy.

These companies have a proven track record and Renogy is very affordable. They don't always fit into that top tier category. But they've really proven to be a quality product and they do answer their phones.

They do have tech support. And that's the other thing to consider too. What kind of tech support, phone support do they really have?

Have any company is on a 24 hour cycle, forget it, don't even bother with them. I just had a company, I'm not going to say the name of them because we never did anything. So I don't know if they have a good product or bad product.

But it was a 12 volt air conditioner. They wanted me to review it. They're going to actually give me the air conditioner, test it, try it, do whatever.

But we're on this 24 hour email cycle and there's no phone number on their website. So for me the problem was solved. There is no review because they don't have the kind of customer service that I would expect a company to have.

So we didn't recommend or we're not doing with them. So we can't recommend them buy from companies who answer their phone. Because if you have a problem, do you really want to wait one or two days?

You know, email works out too. You never ask the question. In a way they'll understand it the first, second or third time. So it could drag on for days.

You could spend a week trying to solve one little problem just because it's hard to ask the right question the right way in email where they're going to understand it. You might word it perfect, but will they understand it? Probably not. Phone calls, man. Be able to call them.

So now, if you're not comfortable installing solar yourself, no worries. You know, so many shops do solar, you can take it to them.

Of course you have to pay for the installation and the parts if you don't buy them from them. And I'd recommend buying everything from them. Might cost a few extra bucks, but at the end of the day they're going to give you a good service.

They're going to warranty the product when it's installed. You walk away with a warranty. If you bring them all the parts and they install it, something doesn't work.

It's really not their responsibility because they didn't provide the parts.

So now the warranty will fall on you and any leg work that it takes because most shops aren't going to spend the time to warranty something you didn't purchase from them because they're not making money on it, which is understandable. Everybody's in business to make a buck. I mean there's Lines that can be drawn in the sand there. Where you draw yours is a different story.

For everybody moving forward, the question really remains, is solar right for you? It's not a one size fits all solution. Some RVers really can use solar, some don't really need it.

If you want it because the technology is cool, then that's up to you. But if you need to get it, you know, think about it and take a an approach to it that makes sense.

Don't just go buy the first thing you see or go for the biggest and baddest. That's not really it. And also it can be a great backup source of power.

So maybe you don't totally need solar, but you'd like to have a backup power solution. There you go. Your RV will always be ready. Ready, set, go. Understand what you need and do your research accordingly.

Now that's going to bring us to the end of our show. I want to remind everybody to subscribe to the podcast. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Share these podcasts and YouTube videos with others.

Everything we do, we want to educate. And if you, like I said, if you have any input, let us know. Use the contact us page on the smartrver.com love to hear from you.

If you want to, you can pick up the phone and give us a call too. Have no problem with that. We're one of those companies that still believes in customer service all the way. So you can call us and talk to us.

All right, now let's go back to the guy who had the 30amp outlet installed at his house. So he really wanted one. He had a 30amp cord on his RV. So obviously his RV is a 30amp service.

One air conditioner, basically all the normal stuff, microwave, one air, that's about it for 110 volts, some outlets inside. So he caught or him and his buddy, they go to do this and they just assumed it was 220v. So they ran 220v to the outlet that they installed.

And that bad boy looks so good. When they're all done, you know, they polished it up with a rag and pat each other on the back. Busted open.

An adult beverage maybe said cheers as they tap the bottles together. But to their dismay, when they plugged the RV in, a couple things burn out immediately. Like the invert. Ouch. That hurt. That was the worst one.

So the major damage was the inverter blew the breaker at the house. You know, not a big deal. A little bit of damage here. Nothing, nothing major other than the inverter so the inverter was 2,000 bucks.

Put it in themselves. But they learned a lesson. They know now for certain, 30amp outlets on RVs are 110 volts. Do not be fooled by that.

And I bring this up because so many people think it's 220v volts. We've heard of electricians wiring them at 220v. So this is a common problem. 50amp service is 220v in an RV and that's it. 30amp is 110v.

And you got those two. Those are the two major ones. Some RVs, like little campers, have, you know, 15amp cord on. Looks like your typical residential outlet.

So keep that in mind. 30amps is 110 volts. It just looks like it could be 220.

So that's our concluding comment about how to protect your RV and avoid being a horror story that everybody's going to talk about. All right, everybody, thank you again so much for stopping by and listening to the podcast today. Watching this on YouTube ever how you take it in.

We appreciate the support, the ongoing support, and you guys staying in your RVs, keeping them up to date, keeping them maintained and using them and hitting the open road. So this is Eric Stark with the Smart rver podcast, your go to guide for smarter RVing and unforgettable adventures on where the open road.

We'll see you next time.