Week 860 - Take Note of This - 02-05-2023

Take Note of This

Having good information saves time. Take time to read this and you'll save more time later.

The Internet is great for getting information but sometimes you can't find what you want. Or it takes hours to find it. And there are other sources of information: books, brochures, TV programs, classes and other people.

Once you find the answers you seek, what do you do with that data? You will remember it for a while. How long depends many things. Do you use it daily, weekly, monthly, annually or a longer interval? And it depends on how old you are!

Years ago you probably knew many phone numbers. Today, not so much: put it in your phone and out of your brain. So phone numbers are taken care of, but what about the remainder of the myriad of data you use? In today's world there is so much data you need.

Take your car for example: What oil do you use? What should the tire pressures be? What is the windshield wiper item number? For your car these answers are easy to come by as there are millions of your model in the world. And car dealers and auto parks have that low down on all prevalent models.

Not so with a motorhome or other RV. There may be only a few made of your model each year. And manufacturers constantly change suppliers or upgrade components. Answers from RV dealers are much harder to get compared to your car dealer or auto parts store.

The solution is to keep your RV information in a simple data file. Those of you that do not have an RV, stick with us here. You might find this very valuable for other uses.

We purchased the MotherShip on April 5th, 2006 (4-5-6).

On that day we created a simple note file with these notes.

The RV Notes on 4-5-6

2006 Monaco Diplomat PAQ
Coach No #166148
Vin No: 1RF43464X62040280
Purchased New 4-5-2006
Mileage 2182
CA License 5TUD535

Side Bar: Where to keep the notes?

We recommend a personal computer or tablet. A phone is okay but the PC tools are better. Keyboard entry is more efficient and you can see more on the screen. On a Windows PC use Notepad. On an Apple use TextEdit. These apps start instantly and are simple to use. They have a Search feature to find data once your file gets large. And the text file they create can be used on any electronic device, today or in the future. Other data formats (like Word, etc.) will constrain you to a particular manufacturers products.

Back to The RV Notes.

Over the years we added to this note file every week. We only add as we learn, spending just a few seconds for each entry. Today (2-5-2023) it has 1,067 lines of info. Here's a sample of the different categories of notes.

Coach Info
    2006 Monaco Diplomat PAQ
     Coach No #166993X
     Vin No: 1RF43464X6204
     Cummins ISL400 Part CPL1096 S/N 465517
     Allison 3000MH Part E012544 S/N 65106221
     Purchased New 4-5-2006
     Mileage 144,929
     AZ License NBA12L renewal 11-21-2023

Club/Vendor Info
     FMCA No: F3738 expires 5/xx
     Good Sam No: 0505167 - expires 8/xx
     Passport - expires 5/20/23 R-0195794
     Coach-Net No 166993X - expires 4/17/xx road service 877-882-0614
     ...

Components and Notes
     Carefree patio awning is Eclipse, motor R001104BLK
     Carefree Freedom Over the Door awning, s/n 2082404600
     Magnum ME2012-20B Inverter ME-RC50 remote ME-AGS-N AGS
     Thetford Aqua Magic Plus Toilet 34429
     Air conditioners
         front: mod 641816CXX1C0 prod xxxxxxxxx s/n xxxxxxxx
         rear: mod 641815C751C0 prod 936000718 s/n 53125558
     Onan 80HDKAK 11451J 3 qts oil, filter 122-0833 air 140-2897 fuel 149-2513
     Norcold Refrigerator Model 1210IMSS s/n 18109820 freezer 0-14 frig 33-40
     Blind Sizes
         PassWindowFront 24.75 x 54
         BathSink 27 x 20
         PassBedroom 39 x 26
         BedSide 17 x 23
         Kitchen 26.5 x 17
         Couch 51.5 x 26
     Fantastic Fan 7350
     Trico Wiper Blades 32" 67-321
     ...

MH Contacts
     Tim DeMartini (our dealer) Grass Valley, CA (800) 576-1921
     Monaco Tech (877) 466-6226
     Mobile Lube Express, Cochella Valley Area (760) 399-9773
     Armstrong RV Service 34551 Hwy 58 Springfield OR Gerald (541) 744-8050
     -recommended, but not used yet
     -Unlmited Collision 6030 N Litchfield Rd #2 Glendale AZ (623) 242-5440
     -Masseys diesel tom (602) 233-1700 inspect suspension
     ...

MH Maintenance History
     Scheduled Maintenance or Note or New item
     F Failure after use
     M Manufacturing error, weak component
     A Accident

     F 01-19-23 144929 Pete/Jim: install new BlindsChalet shades: kitchen, bath, toilet
     F 07-19-22 142851 Pete: replace water pump: Shuflo 4008-101-E65
     F 07-18-22 142851 Mid-Lane Truck: replace leaking pass. side axle seal $662.05
     ...
     M 08-04-06 DeMartini: The water pump is noisy/vibrates when shutting off, tie wrapped.
     04-09-06 Pete: Ceiling light flickers, fuse out on visors:
     M 04-06-06 DeMartini: Torn screen, stuck fantastic fan
     04-05-06 Pickup at De Martini's, (Grass Valley CA)

Tires 295/75R22.5 discount from CoachNet and FMCA
     # F/R miles currenttire miles oldtire
     4 F/R 133687 sumitomo ST778WE 295/75 16PR new has 1/2 inch tread depth
     2 Front 110584 yokohama RY617H 295/75 90848 yokohama RY617H 295/75
     2 Rear 110584 yokohama RY617H 295/75 58576 michellin XZA3 275/80
     ...

Weights & Tires Pressure
     Front 10,960 105 psi
     Rear 22,560 105 psi
     Total 33,520 at Coburg TA truck stop

Years ago we visited auto parts stores looking for motorhome wipers. They didn't have a listing for our wipers. Our motorhome manual didn't either. We were not near an RV parts stores. After a bit of research, we found the wipers.

Last week we wanted to buy new motorhome wipers. We opened our note file and searched for wipers. The app returned Trico Wiper Blades 32" 67-321. Knowing the item number, we ordered the wipers online.

Note that the majority of the data we keep are numbers and other info that is hard to remember. This file has been amazingly helpful and a tremendous time saver. For your RV, create a Note file today and add to it as you obtain new info.

Don't have an RV? Guess what? We kept this kind of file for our house. We added model and serial numbers for appliances; sizes for our heater filters; whole house vacuum parts supplier and any other data that took time to find or was hard to remember. Every time we bought anything that might need parts or service (like a PC, vacuum cleaner, etc.) we added where we bought it, the date, serial numbers if any, model number, phone number or website address.

You can keep one file for all notes for everything. When our single file got huge, we separated the RV Notes from the rest. Either way we have all the notes we need to supplement our memory.

Try it and we think you'll thank us later.

With love, Pete, Ellen and Mandy

I remember to think about the many things you did in years gone by. Then I lift my hands in prayer, because my soul is a desert, thirsty for water from you. Psalm 143:5-16

Photos from Our Archive

The Full Time Motorhome Living Guide