RV DIY® - Winterizing and Storing Your RV Online Video Training Program

Learn how to properly winterize your RV and prepare the RV for winter storage to protect your investment.

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Winterizing & Storing your RV Video Training Program

This RV 101® video training program can be viewed from computers, tablets, and smartphones. The course material includes full-feature videos,...with some downloadable segments, written text, short video segments, related articles written by your instructor Mark Polk, helpful tips & tricks, fun RV University play & learn crossword puzzles and quizzes to help you retain the information.

I would like to start by saying that properly winterizing and preparing your RV for cold weather storage is not difficult to do. If you have some basic hand tools and a little mechanical ability you can breeze through the process, not to mention save some money too.

It’s always sad to come to the realization that another camping season is winding down. Part of this realization is preparing the RV for winter storage, so it will be ready to go RVing again next spring. My guess is that most RV owners, especially those in cold climate regions' refer to this winter storage preparation as winterizing your RV. When you hear the term “winterizing” the first thought that comes to mind is to protect the RV water system from potential damage caused by exposure to freezing temperatures. Frozen and damaged water lines are in fact the most common problem related to not winterizing your RV, or not properly winterizing your RV; but there is more to winterizing and storing your RV than just protecting the water system from freezing.

We also need to be concerned with preparing the RV’s interior, exterior and chassis for the harsh winter months ahead. In this video training program we start by protecting the RV plumbing system, followed by some checks to prepare the interior of the RV, the exterior of the RV and the RV chassis for storage. Some of the checks are as simple as cleaning an item and some are a bit more complicated. All of the checks in this training program will contribute towards properly winterizing and storing your RV, and protecting your investment. If you follow the simple winterizing and storing procedures outlined in this course you can rest assured that the RV will be ready for next year’s camping season.

The Winterizing & Storing your RV video training program includes:

downloadable winterizing checklist

Chapter 1 - Protect the RV Plumbing System

Chapter 2 - Interior of the RV

Chapter 3 - Exterior of the RV

Chapter 4 - RV Chassis (tires, battery's, generator)

Chapter 5 - De-Winterizing the RV

Bonus Learning Material


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.

Course Curriculum


  Downloadable Winterizing & Storing your RV PDF Checklist
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Winterizing & Storing your RV - Full-Feature Video Segments
Available in days
days after you enroll
  Chapter 1 - Protecting the RV Plumbing System - Supporting Material
Available in days
days after you enroll

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.
What if I am unhappy with the course?
We don't want anyone to be unhappy with our RV training material.! If you are not satisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will offer you a full refund if we cannot resolve the problem..
How do your online video courses work?
Our online video training courses are broken down into individual chapters. Each chapter includes a full-feature video segment on the chapter's topic. The course also includes related articles written by your instructor, helpful tips & tricks and fun play & learn RV crossword puzzles. You will not find RV training like this anywhere, all at an affordable price.

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