Dear RV Shrink:
We just moved into our new motorhome. One thing I never gave much thought to was noise from all of our belongings banging around as we travel down the road. It drives my wife to distraction more than me.
At first it was annoying — we could hardly talk in normal volumes. After locating and quieting the noisiest problems, we are now down to several more we are working on and some we have not been able to locate.
Does everyone have to put up with this, or did we just end up with a rattletrap? —Looking for sound advice in Sacramento
Dear Sac:
Motorhome sound pollution can be frustrating. There are many things to consider in your case.
Let’s start out with the ride you are experiencing. If your rig is riding rigid, it will make for more noise creation. If you have a good smooth ride, it gets down to how you pack, what you pack and where you pack it.
There may also be mechanical noises you will have to deal with. One notorious culprit is the oven fan vent. It is often a light piece of tin, designed to open with the air pressure from the fan. It can open and close while driving and make a loud tin can noise.
While one of you is driving the other can search, make notes and cure each noise individually until you get to a point that is satisfactory.
Often the biggest offenders will be dishes, pots and pans, utensils and appliances. Each coach is different but the usual suspects can often be identified and brought into compliance by using spacers such as soft material, plastic containers or isolation.
I am sure your sounds are unique just like everyone else’s. Seriously, they can be challenging, but think of it as a game, like I Spy. Slowly, but surely, you will find and cancel out so many tiny noises in the chorus, that you will eventually be able to argue with each other again, driving along looking for your next turn in the road. —Keep Smilin’, RV Shrink
##rvt751;##RVDT1196
Get some sort of a trailer. We have a 5th Wheel. We don’t hear a thing!
One of our biggest culprits was the glass turntable in the microwave. Put a towel underneath it and “fixed.” That led to us “touring” the RV before we hit the road and finding all loose items (including in the shower).
I made little pockets out of felt that I could slide my glass turntable from micro in. Same thing for the pots and pans. Put one of those dish drying mats under the metal lid on the stove. If you store anything in oven wrap them up in a towel. Muffled a lot of noise doing these things
We put rubber like shelf liner between dishes , pots, pans and etc. we purchased it at Walmart and cut it into various sizes. It Also keeps things from sliding around on shelf’s. We used it for years during our sailing years to keep things in place.