Is your RV ready for camping season? Here's how to prepare.

Getting ready for summer motorhome camping starts with climbing up on the RV's roof.

That's according to Chris Park, general sales manager of Meyer’s RV in Mount Morris.

“You should always want to recondition your roof. Every year you should be getting up on your roof, checking the roof seals, checking your vent seals and reconditioning it. A lot of people ruin campers because they don’t check their roof seals,” he said.

“The problem is once you start getting water into the roof, it’s going to get into the walls and start creating major damage to your camper,” he said.

If there's a crack in the caulking along a seal, peel it out and re-caulk the area. Depending on the roof, there are chemicals that can be used to recondition and clean leathers and other fabrics, he said.

To clean the outside of the camper, soap and water works best.

“You don’t need to put hard chemicals on the outside, especially if your camper has gel coating. Certain chemicals can mess with the gel coating,” Park said.

If mice have invaded the camper over winter, they usually enter through the camper’s hook-up connections and vents. Make sure they are sealed off or have covers on them when not being used, he said.

When de-winterizing the camper, cycle three tanks of water through the system to make sure all the anti-freeze installed before winter is gone. In addition, check all of the faucets, sinks and toilets to make sure nothing became loose and started leaking.

For traveling, check the wheel bearings and the tires' sidewalls, looking for dry rot, he said. And he recommends replacing tires every five years because the sidewalls become weak.

Inventory for RVs

This may be the year to buy a camper as the inventory supplies are better than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inventory has caught up, and pricing is better because of supply and demand. He is seeing consumers who bought a camper at the beginning of the pandemic returning for an upgraded model.

Depending on the model, a new camper can be purchased from 10% to 45% less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), he said. During the pandemic, those discounts typically were not available.

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Purchasing a used camper

For those considering a used camper, look at the roof for any sign of leaks, he said. Shoppers should also check the interior walls, including inside the closets, to make sure there are no soft or spongy spots that may have come from a water leak.

“You want to make sure they are solid," he said.

The same advice goes for the floors - check all the floor space for soft spots caused by water damage, he said.

Upgrades for your camper

Solar technology has advanced to power more electrical items than just a few years ago. If a camper model doesn’t come with a solar panel, the new campers are being built solar prepped to allow the customer to add it in the future, he said.

One misconception is that one solar panel can power everything on a camper.  He said they can be used to charge batteries, but campers need multiple solar panels and lithium batteries to provide full power to an RV.

Choosing where to camp

Jason Vaughan, executive director of the Pennsylvania Campground Owners Association, said his organization represents 218 privately owned campgrounds across the state.

“The campgrounds get super busy when summer rolls around. They are spending a lot of time getting their parks ready, so we’re getting excited,” he said.

In the off season, the campgrounds have been busy updating their facilities, playgrounds, swimming pools and amenities for this summer, including internet services and electrical equipment.

“The units (campers) have gotten bigger and fancier with more stuff,” he said. With additional appliances, more televisions,  and outdoor kitchens people are staying at their campsites longer, especially if they have a job that allows remote access.

“They can extend their weekends and extend their travel a little bit,” he said.

“Planning out is a big thing campers do. Folks get excited in January and February as we all do and start planning out their summers. Booking earlier helps a lot,” he said.

Vaughan also suggests trying mid-week camping when the facilities and local attractions aren’t as busy as on the weekends.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at bwhipkey@gannett.com and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook @whipkeyoutdoors ,Twitter @whipkeyoutdoors and Instagram at whipkeyoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: What maintenance do campers require each spring finding PA campgrounds