Feeling overwhelmed

[ScottnBrandy]

Hi we're new here but were hoping someone might be able to give us some guidance. About a year ago we decided that when our son turned 18 we would buy a RV to line in so we could travel. Long story short, 2 people with really no idea what they are doing bought a used 2004 Dutchman Sport. In the ad we found it on the previous owner stated there was a small leak at the shower skylight and it needed updated. Well we can do that right? Went to look at it, okay still not bad. He has video of everything working, etc so we bought it. Hauled it to a spot and were ready to get going. And that's when everything went downhill. I could tell you for days how untrue the persons words were but at the moment we need help with the biggest problem we've found so here it goes yes everything worked at first other than a few outlets but we're on day 5 of this adventure and currently the microwave will come on but won't actual work, hooking into city water is a no go it just won't work, battery isn't charging so we have no lights and woke up in the middle of the night to the ac had shut off and now won't come back on (we're in central Florida, it's August of one of the hottest summers on record) WHAT CAN WE DO? WHERE DO WE EVEN BEGIN??? I'm currently feeling like Tom Hanks in Money Pit and it's kinda too late to back out of this adventure

 

[MapNerd]

I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. Those conditions sound pretty rough and possibly dangerous.

while not a particularly helpful response, the best advise I can give you based on the above is to get out of the unit and into a small apartment. Drop it off at a reputable dealer or service center (North Trail RV is pretty good) and ask them to do some diagnosis work to determine the scope of problems and what it would cost to fix them. At that point, you can make an informed decision as to whether or not it’s time to cut your losses and possibly consider getting some legal advice to see if you have any options for recourse against the seller.
A lower cost way to get a sense of the scope of problems would be to hire an RVIA certified RV inspector. Think of them as home inspectors for RVs.

That is something that in my opinion, should always be done prior to a purchase of a used unit from anyone. I am guessing it was not in this case.

 

[ScottnBrandy]

I think we figured out the problem. Again while we both know quite a bit about houses we really don't know anything about RVs. So far even the things we thought we knew have been wrong. After finding a good diagram for the breakers/fuses we realized the breaker we thought was the water heater is actually the one for the battery. As of now everything is back up and going like it should and we feel a little dumb. Now if everything turns out that simple we might get through this. Thank you for the advice, we are going to call an inspector if for nothing else than to help know what we're doing

 

[FL-JOE]

Depending on what RV park you are in, there also could be a bored retired individual who has been RVing for many years that could give you some tips and pointers. Also, there is a ton of information online. Have you searched to see if you can find a Dutchman Owners Group forum out there?

 

[ScottnBrandy]

We got lucky and got into an adults only park. Everyone so far has been really nice so I'll ask around. We did look into a Dutchmen group but most haven't had activity in years. Same with research, I've had a hard time finding much that's specific to our trailer

 

[dbarnes]

Glad you got things working again. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a small leak with most RVs.
Even a tiny bit can cause a lot of damage. Investigating that leak source and any possible damage to structure should be your next priority.
Water leaks are the biggest and most destructive issues with any RV. The fact that they go down the road and have so many entry points makes it so.
DB