Still a Lot to Learn

It seems there's still a great deal for us to learn about our camper - and the owner's manual is not a particularly good source of information. For example, our refrigerator was working perfectly when we left home, but by the time we stopped that first night, it had stopped working and seemed to have taken on some tiny little ants.  Nothing we could do except buy a king-size, super-duper cooler and some ice and unload everything in the refrigerator and freezer into the cooler. And put ant killer in the fridge.

While that might get us through the night, we needed a permanent fix. Our first thought was to locate a dealer. Since we discovered the problem on Sunday and Monday was Independence Day, what were the odds any dealer would be open? Slim, I'd say. But we decided to look. We decided to look for one near Gunnison, which was where we were headed but the closest one was in Colorado Springs - hours away.  We decided to forge ahead to Gunnison anyway. We thought we'd be able to find an independent repairman. After all, the warranty was up a month ago. No need for a dealership!

The RV Park gave us several cards but recommended Fred. I gave him a call even though it was July 4th. I was surprised when he actually called me back later that evening and we scheduled time for the following morning.

But sometime during the night, the refrigerator and freezer started working again! Then Mark found a tripped GFCI and was all set to cancel Fred. I'm glad we didn't because by then the air conditioning was acting up. And besides, I thought Fred might be able to provide some insight into why the refrigerator had mysteriously stopped and started. Yes! He most certainly could! As it turns out, there are things that need to be done when you change the battery and things that need to be done when you reload the propane tanks. We'd done both but didn't know about those finer points. And even if it was mentioned in the owner's manual, we'd never have found it.

I think one of the reasons they don't go over all that information when you pick up the RV is because they don't know what you know. Even if it's your first RV purchase, you might now a lot or a little. Plus there's the issue of information overload. Back when I was developing training courses I continually had to fight with product managers who wanted the trainees to know every possible thing about the product. Why? They won't remember. Until they have a need to know, they won't remember. After it's caused a problem, you won't forget. Hopefully.