OFFICIAL RV 101® GUIDES

Downloadable RV 101® Guides for beginners & experienced RV owners

In an effort to help educate beginning RV owners and experienced RV owners alike, RV Education 101 is offering free downloadable RV Guides covering a multitude of RV topics. There is a lot of RV information available on the Internet, but not all of it comes from a reliable source. Scroll down to see the RV 101 RV Guides we offer.

1) Official RV 101 RV Guide - RV Water Heater Use and Care

This downloadable RV 101® RV Guide for beginners and experienced RV owners will answer questions you have like these:

Do all RVs come equipped with a water heater?

Do RV water heaters come in different sizes?

What are the three basic types of water heaters used on RVs?

What is an RV water heater bypass kit use for?

How do you light an manual light RV water heater?

How long does it take the water heater to heat your water?

How do you operate a DSI water heater?

What is a tankless or demand type RV water heater?

What kind of RV water heater maintenance do I need to perform?

What is the difference between an Atwood water heater and a Suburban water heater?

How do you extend the life of an RV water heater?


2) Official RV 101 RV Guide -Trailer Towing Myths, Weights & Confusion Explained

This downloadable RV 101® RV Guide for beginners and experienced RV owners will answer questions you have like these:

In this RV 101 RV Guide Mark discusses a couple of confusing topics in the world of trailer towing, Understanding Tow Vehicle and Trailer Weights & Trailer Tongue Weight with a Weight Distribution Hitch. Our goal with this RV Guide is to:

  • To explain these confusing trailer towing topics in layman terms, so it is easier to understand.
  • To help you make a good choice when it comes to properly and safely matching a tow vehicle with a travel trailer, in regards to trailer tongue weight and towing.

This RV Guide will questions you have about trailer tongue weight, trailer sway, how to properly match a tow vehicle and trailer, tow vehicle weight ratings, RV weight terminology, weight distribution hitches and more.


3) Official RV 101 Guide - Buying an RV Online - with an RV Buying Insider's Perspective

This downloadable RV 101® RV Guide for beginners and experienced RV owners will answer questions you have like these:

How do you conduct RV buying research on the internet?

What type of RV is right for you?

What RV floor plan works best for you?

What RV manufacturers are there?

What is your budget to buy an RV?

Can I save money buying an RV online?

Should I work with a local RV dealer or any RV dealer?

Ho do I finance the RV?


4) This downloadable RV 101® Guide to RV Generators will answer questions like these:

What is a Generator Set?
What about 120-Volt AC Power?
How often should I exercise an RV generator?



Other Helpful Downloadable RV Articles Written by Mark Polk with RV Education 101

1) RV 101 -Is your Dinghy Towing System Safe to Tow Behind your Motorhome

This Downloadable RV 101® Article for beginners will answer these questions:

There are lots of components that make up your dinghy towing system. You have the hitch receiver on the motorhome, a drop hitch if required, the tow bar, and the baseplate to connect the tow bar to the towed vehicle. In addition to all this hardware, there are safety cables, pins, clips and a wiring harness. When was the last time you inspected all of the components in your dinghy towing system?

In this article you can download your free Towing Systems Inspection & Safety Checklist

Read about one individuals scary towing experience

How do I inspect my dinghy towing system?

What is a tow vehicle base plate kit?

What do I need to know about the installation of base plates on my tow vehicle?

How do I safely tow a vehicle behind my motorhome?

What vehicles can you safely tow behind your motorhome?


2) RV 101 - Can a Unibody Constructed Vehicle Safely Tow a Travel Trailer?

This Downloadable RV 101® Article for beginners will answer these questions:

What is a Unit-body or Unibody vehicle?

What is a body on frame vehicle?

Can a unibody vehicle safely tow a travel trailer?

What happens when you use a weight distribution hitch on a unibody vehicle?

How much can you safely tow with a Unibody vehicle?

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To learn more about how to use and maintain your RV check out all the RV 101 Online Training Courses




 

Your Instructor


Mark J. Polk
Mark J. Polk
Who is Mark Polk and why is he qualified to teach RV technical content?
Mark is an RVer and has a very extensive background in the RV industry. He began at age 15, washing RVs at a dealership in North Central Pennsylvania. It wasn't long before he was working as an apprentice RV technician under the guidance of the RV service manager.
His maintenance plans were interrupted when he enlisted in the military. Mark completed airborne training in 1979 and served with some of the most elite U.S. Army Airborne units, including Service Company 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 82nd Signal battalion, 82nd Airborne Division and the 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps. He spent the next 18 years with the U.S. Army eventually retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 3 Automotive Maintenance Technician.
In the military, he managed large fleet maintenance operations, and had to teach young soldiers how to maintain and operate ‎expensive vehicles and equipment. These soldiers came to him from very different backgrounds, and their prior experience with heavy equipment and mechanical skills were similarly varied. Mark had to learn how to ‎communicate with all of them clearly, concisely, and effectively, and he found he had a ‎talent for teaching. The Army agreed, and eventually he was asked to produce written ‎instructional materials, including driver training manuals and operating procedures for motor ‎pools.‎
When he retired from the Army in 1996, he went to work for an RV dealership in ‎sales and service. He talked to customers about their needs and desires and helped them select ‎the right RV for them. He inspected used RVs for trade-in, he serviced customer RVs, and he ‎educated customers on how to operate and enjoy their vehicles. As an RV owner himself, throughout the years, he has owned and used all the classifications of RVs (travel trailer, motorhome, pop up, 5th wheel and truck camper). He even restored, from the ground up, a 1967 Yellowstone travel trailer. It was clear to him there ‎were limited resources available to RV owners who wanted to learn more about how to operate and maintain their RVs. Owners’ manuals provide limited information, and most consumers ‎find them confusing. Anecdotal information learned around campfires from other RV owners is ‎incomplete and can be unreliable.
Mark realized he had the knowledge and teaching ability ‎to fill that gap, and so in 1999 he began writing articles and books about how to choose, buy, ‎maintain, repair, and operate a variety of RVs. To date, he has produced more than 500 educational ‎videos, and authored 15 e-books, 3 paperback books, and more than 1,600 articles educating millions of RVers. His best-selling book, titled The RV Book, has sold over 53,000 copies to date.
‎Mark's first priority is the safety of his audience. To Mark, ‎this means anticipating the risks and challenges RVers will encounter when following his ‎instructions, ensuring that the information he provides is complete and accurate, and providing ‎enough information so his audience can make informed decisions about when to tackle ‎maintenance tasks themselves and when to take their vehicles to professionals.
His second ‎priority is his audience’ empowerment. He sends his students out on the road with confidence that they are equipped, prepared, ‎informed, and ready to enjoy themselves.‎Producing material that achieves those goals is a very difficult thing to do. RVs come in ‎a bewildering variety of different types, makes, models, and vintages, and when Mark writes ‎about tasks such as winterizing an RV plumbing system, (as we know there are many ways to winterize an RV), his instructions need to walk his readers through the process ‎regardless of what RV the reader happens to own.
Like his soldiers, his RV students come to him ‎with widely disparate levels of expertise, experience, talent, and motivation, and his instructions ‎must speak to all of them. Mark’s writing and video presentations are accurate and comprehensive. It is also clear, ‎concise, and easy to understand. He breaks complex, intimidating tasks down to easy steps.

Chief Warrant Officer Three Mark J. Polk was awarded a first place US Army maintenance award from General Shelton.

Mark started RV Education 101 in 1999

  • Writer/ Columnist/ Contributor for numerous RV consumer & RV trade newsletters and magazines (RVBusiness, FMCA, RV News, RV Companion, Pop-Up Times, RV Free Wheelin’, Trail Blazer, RV Executive Today and RV Magazine,)
  • RV Technical Writer for several newsletters and blogs, (Go RVing blog, KOA Kompass Newsletter and Blog, Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA), RV Net Expert Blog, RV University This Week, Camping World e-newsletter, RV Travel, RV Trader, Rollin On TV website, HGTV and Geiko Insurance blog)
  • Script and host television segments for Rollin On TV
  • Scripted & hosted television segment titled RV Savvy for four seasons (52 episodes) with RVTV on The Outdoor Channel and three Canadian TV Channels.

Frequently Asked Questions


When does the course start and finish?
The course starts now and never ends! It is a completely self-paced online course - you decide when you start and when you finish.
How long do I have access to the course?
How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

This course is closed for enrollment.