Sunrise RV Services

06/10/2025

HEY FREDERICKSBURG AND SURROUNDING AREA - there is another mobile RV tech in the area. Reach out to Tom Hill of H3RV ( https://h3rv.com/) at 540-386-7944.

Just a reminder if you missed it in the posts below - I retired in July 2024 and closed down Sunrise RV Services. Actually intended to keep this page more up to date with information as we travel full time in our RV for retirement - but have not done that very well yet. Hope to do better in the future.

Here is to safe RVing.

At H3RV, we’re 100% mobile—no shop, no hassle. We specialize in on-site RV repairs, maintenance, and inspections. Bringing expert service directly to your location. Whether you’re at home, a campground, or a storage facility, we serve RV owners throughout Stafford County, VA, and surrounding a...

12/12/2024

Professional tank cleaning. I'm always thought I did a great job of taking care of the tank by using a good product and thoroughly rinsing the tanks. When I rinse the black tank after dumping it would be coming out clear when I was finished and whenever I was looking at the gray tank discharge it never looked like it had problems. I had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Sue with Royal flush RV ( www.royalflushrv.com ) and discovered that there are things that can form or harden or grow in the tank that filling it up and rinsing just won't get out. Our current rig is a 2017 motorhome We purchased just last March that has had two previous owners. Despite things looking good even on this rig when I emptied the tanks I decided to have Sue come in professionally clean with her professional plumbing jetting equipment. She said my tank wasn't bad but I was certainly surprised by how much stuff was coming out of there as a result of her professional cleaning versus what I was doing - especially the big black globs coming out of the gray tank! You'll never too old to learn something new and I learned that the products and best practices are important but professional cleaning periodically is definitely the way to go and I strongly recommend it for anyone that has a rig that's at least two years old.

mobile rV tank Cleaning Royal Flush RV specializes in hydro-jet cleaning RV black, gray, and galley tanks… so you can get back to the fun. Hydro-jet RV tank cleaning uses no chemicals, is 100% safe

10/01/2024

https://campersmarts.com/common-rv-maintenance-mistakes

Lots of good information here.

Prevent expensive repairs by avoiding common RV maintenance mistakes that can harm your vehicle’s condition.

05/14/2024

SUNRISE RV IS CLOSING DOWN OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA

Thank you for visiting Sunrise RV Services. I am closing operations within the state of Virginia effective in June as my wife and I transition into semi retirement with significant travel planned across the country. At this time the schedule between now and then is full and I cannot schedule any new appointments.

Two links that can help you find a mobile tech are rvtaa.org/locate and myrvresources.com If you are at a campground, check with the office as they often have options.

"So long, and thanks for all the fish!" - Douglas Adams

Locate an RV Technician in your area! Are you looking for a Certified RV Technician to help fix your RV? Search our RV Tech Locator and get the help you need!

02/06/2024

Internet signals. As an electronic technician for 20+ years, primarily in wireless communication across multiple platforms, here are my thoughts. There are a lot of devices out there to consider, but basically any of them will work great if you are near a cell phone tower (cellular internet) or have clear skies (satellite internet). But no cellular product will work when mountains block the signals from the towers, and no satellite will work well during a thunderstorm or if blocked by excessive tree branches. Let's address satellite internet first (starlink, direct TV, etc). They depend on a clear signal from the satellite and storm clouds & trees block that signal, sometimes completely. So weather and terrain are the factors that can affect those. Now for cellular internet - it is all about the antennas. Your phone has a tiny antenna inside of it. Hotspots (dedicated ones) have somewhat larger antennas than cell phones. Routers have multiple antennas, with the more antennas generally bragging about more coverage - but if the antenna receiving the signal from the cell tower is inside, it is still getting significantly blocked by the walls of the RV. Then are are systems with exterior mounted antennas for receiving the tower cellular signal. Those are generally the best, and within those you can get good, better or best antennas. For any given antenna, the throughput speed of the router can potentially be the limiting factor, but most system have routers that can easily handle whatever the packaged antennas can bring in. A cellular internet router/receiver will likely require a SIM card with a data plan, and the better router/receivers can handle multiple SIM cards from different carriers and then select the best one. So multiple data plans along with a multi-modem router/receiver and a quality exterior cellular antenna(s) is your best for cellular, and a satellite system with an antenna that can be relocated (starlink on a stand) is best for satellite. If you are remote most of the time, consider a satellite system. If you need more throughput speed and hang out near to towers, a robust cellular internet system will be the strongest/fastest (not so much in the boonies though).

01/13/2024

Cold snap coming. Keep your propane tanks full - see my post about rate of vaporization. Electric heat does not heat the underbelly where the water pipes are (exception is the hydronic heat systems). So you need to run the LP furnace. The colder it is outside, the faster you run out of propane. It would be a smart move to keep a full tank on hand all the time, which may mean refilling a tank every day. That is unquestionably inconvenient and not cheap, but it still more convenient and cheaper than a broken pipe.

12/18/2023

This post is for the women RVers out there.

Two fantastic women formed 52U, a program to help educate other women RVers. See 52university.com From their website: "Learn to understand how these [RV] systems work, why they matter, how to maintain them yourself, and when you need an expert." One of the founders is Brenda Puckett, who I know personally. Brenda is knowledgeable, passionate and a great teacher. Check out their videos, and if you have a chance try to get to one of their seminars.

11/02/2023

Winterizing the batteries. Everyone who winterizes knows about the water. But the batteries need some attention also. There are three concerns - you don't want to run the batteries down, you don't want to let them get too cold and you want to give them a bit of a charge every few weeks. Keeping them from getting run down can generally be done by engaging the battery disconnect switch so it is not connected to and/or powering the coach. Note however that on some coaches that disconnect doesn't 100% disconnect from everything. I still have not figured out a pattern, just that some coaches still leave at least something connected even with the switch engaged. Best way to absolutely make sure is to disconnect the the battery lead (and tape it up so no accidental grounding). As for not letting them get too cold, best thing there is to remove them from the coach and keep them someplace that is at least partially climate controlled (attached garage, workbench, inside the house, etc.). Putting them on top of a board vs directly on a concrete floor helps too. Then you can attach a trickle charger for the battery for a day or so once or twice a month. If you do not have a place to store the batteries and do not have a trickle charger, you can also run power to the RV and let the converter do the trickle charging. That does not address the 'protect from cold' part but at least helps keep a charge on it and improves the chances of the battery surviving the winter. If you have a drivable RV, removing and charging the starter batteries is also a good idea.

07/06/2023

"China bombs". A term that comes out everytime there is a tire blowout and then the argument ensues on which brands are best. Fact is, there are a number of factors controlled by the RV owner that can contribute to tires having a blowout - which could have been avoided by some due diligence.

First question that comes to my mind is what is the weight of the trailer when loaded (ie, how much does all the owner's stuff weigh). Only a handful of people have even had an idea, and most of them are from weighing once at a scale when they first started (and not after things have been added/removed over time). ANY tire that is overloaded could have issues.

Second question is: what is the load rating of the tires and do they have a copy of the load chart (available online). Yes, there is a load rating at full PSI, but numerous people do not realize that every PSI the tires are below that max PSI reduces the load rating of the tires.

Third question is: are the tires currently on the camper the original tires? If not, then the PSI recommendation on the side of the trailer may no longer apply as the new tires have a different load rating at the sticker's PSI recommendation. See above for load chart and calculate the PSI needed to handle the GVWR.

Fourth question is: what is the speed rating on the current tires? It has been my experience that the original tires on campers are not the best and usually have a 65 mph speed rating. Where I live, if you are going only 65 mph on I-95 then even the big trucks are passing you like you are standing still. So it is tempting to go faster, which may be faster than the speed rating of the tire - especially if you have a really big truck pulling a small travel trailer where you have way more pulling capability than needed and are in a hurry.

Fifth question is: when was the last time the bearings were inspected and either repacked or replaced? Overheating bearings can easily contribute to issues with tires blowing by getting the tire temperature too high.

Sixth question is (and this one is almost unanswerable) is: where is the center of gravity of the fully loaded trailer? While this can be determined by having a individual scale under each tire and doing calculations, most people do not know (I don't know on my 19' travel trailer to be honest). The issue is that the load is never centered between the axles and along the centerline of the camper - so either the back or front or one of the sides (or usually a combo) has more weight, so the weight borne by the tires is not equal. Imaging that big box of tools in the back left storage - that puts more weight on the back left tire than the rest. This mean you could be under the GVWR (weight of camper and contents) but still have one of the tires be overweighted.

Now let's put this together. Can you see how it would not be hard to create a situation of a slightly overweight camper with an uneven load going a bit over the speed limit while tires are below the max or recommended PSI? Any one of those factors by itself may not seem like a problem but combined that can put a lot of stress on the tire bearing the most weight - even if it is a better tire. Then when that tire blows due to factors that can be controlled by the owner, that tire is blamed for being a 'china bomb'.

So what can an owner do?
- Learn about your tires - go look up the load sheet so you can see how the PSI affects the weight capacity and you know how many PSI you must have for your camper
- Consider upgrading now if you have original tires as most of the tires you can get at a tire center will be better (higher load & speed ratings) than what originally came on the camper. My advice to customers is to get the highest load rating tire that you can afford
- At least once, take your fully loaded 'ready for camping' trailer to a truck scale and find out how much it weighs so you have an idea of where you are compared to the GVWR so you know if you need to make adjustments to content and/or tire PSI
- Have an air pump with you and always check your tire PSI before departure, even at the campground before leaving (not just at home before heading out) so you never travel without proper PSI
- Keep up with maintenance on the bearings. The general recommendation is that bearings need to be repacked/inspected at least once a year. Inspection for possible replacement should not be skipped, and just squirting more grease into the zerk fitting once a year doesn't really count (even though that is still better than nothing)
- Consider a tire pressure monitoring system. This doesn't eliminate the need for the above steps, but it does give you constant feedback of the current status of the tires and increases the chance of noticing an issue before it becomes a blowout.

There is more that could be discussed about proper PSI for the weight so the tire is not overinflated or underinflated, and those things still apply - but there is a lot of information already available online discussing that so I won't repeat all of that here and will just recommend that you investigate that on your own as needed.

04/03/2023

Sunrise RV Services will be at the Fredericksburg/Washington DC South KOA Holiday ( facebook.com/FredericksburgKOA ) in Fredericksburg VA on Saturday, April 8th hosting a "ask a RV tech" open question session from around 1pm to 5pm where I will try help answer as may questions as I can from the people there. I actually will be on my preseason shakedown camping trip that weekend to de-winterize, sanitize, clean out and check all of my systems before starting our own camping season (so I am doing RV work for my boss/CEO/honey/love of my life in the morning) but will have free time on Saturday afternoon to answer questions.

Comfortable, clean, and fun camping with Fredericksburg / Washington DC South KOA Holiday....

12/01/2022

Water pumps should not be turned on if you are connected to city water.

There is a check valve in the pump, but it is not designed to be hit with pressure from both sides (no check valve is), and this can result in water being pushed past the check valve (or breaking the check valve) so city water now fills the fresh water tank - potentially to the point of overflowing. Saw this on one camper that evidently had their fresh water tank overflow multiple times which resulted in a rotted floor covering a large area.

So if you are hooked up to a city water, leave the water pump off.

10/27/2022

A fellow RV Technician that I have collaborated with (tag team larger jobs, share knowledge, refer customers, etc.) recently posted this on his FB page https://www.facebook.com/Sebastian.oveysi . Sebastian Oveysi of American Dream RV Service and Inspections is and will continue to be a positive force in the RV Technician world - keep an eye out for him. Thank you for the shout out my friend.

“Find a mentor that inspires you, that makes you want to be the better you, the type of person you look up to and motivates you to be the best you can be. Someone you can learn from, someone that truly believes in what you’re trying to accomplish. For me that person is Steve Rupert who’s a fellow RV technician that has helped me from day one when I had no clue how to tackle this type of job. Especially coming from the food industry like I did, this line of work can be overwhelming for someone who has never done any technical work before. But knowing Steve and having his friendship made this whole process a lot easier to handle. From the endless hours of talking to me on the phone trying to help me with jobs i had difficulty with to referring customers so that I get the ball rolling with my business, Steve has been there for me from day one. Words cannot describe my gratitude for this dude. Thank you for being an amazing mentor man. I can’t imagine progressing in this profession so quickly if I didn’t have this guys support. Greatest mentor someone can ask for. Thank you man. Much love brother.”