RV equipment guides
Straight answers on RV gear.
Buying guides and explainers built from manufacturer documentation and published specifications — so you can tell whether something fits your rig before you spend the money.
Browse by system
Each section covers one system end to end — the equipment, how it works, and what goes wrong with it.
- Electrical Shore power, batteries, solar and everything that draws from them.
- Surge protection
- Batteries
- Solar
- Inverters
- Water Fresh, grey and black — filtration, pressure, pumps and sanitation.
- Filtration
- Pressure
- Pumps
- Sanitation
- Towing Hitches, weight distribution, brake control and trailer security.
- Hitches
- Weight distribution
- Brake controllers
- Security
- Gear Leveling, mattresses, storage and the kit that makes a rig livable.
- Leveling
- Mattresses
- Storage
- Covers
- Camping Awnings, outdoor cooking, campsite setup and boondocking.
- Awnings
- Outdoor cooking
- Campsite setup
- Boondocking
- Maintenance Sealants, winterizing, storage and troubleshooting that saves a bill.
- Sealants
- Winterizing
- Cleaning
- Storage
In progress: guides .
Latest guides
- maintenance
RV Winterizing Calculator: How Much Antifreeze, and Which Bypass Position
Estimate RV antifreeze gallons, check model-specific heater bypass guidance, and download a winterizing checklist with your settings in US Letter or A4.
- electrical
12V Wire Size Calculator: Gauge, Voltage Drop and Fuse Size
Size DC cable for an inverter, a DC-DC charger or any 12V circuit. Shows the gauge voltage drop needs, the gauge ampacity needs, which one binds — and whether it will fit your device's terminals.
- electrical
How Much Solar Do I Need for My RV? Sized for the Month You Camp In
Size RV solar for your camping month and roof space using NASA's monthly sun data. Download a Letter/A4 peak-sun-hours chart for 14 U.S. destinations.
- electrical
RV Battery Charge Time Calculator: How Long to Full?
Work out how long your bank takes to charge from your own numbers — bulk and absorption separately, and whether your converter or your battery is the thing setting the pace.
- electrical
RV Battery State of Charge Calculator: What Your Voltage Reading Is Worth
Enter your voltage and what is running, and see how much of the reading is load sag rather than charge level. On lithium the answer is usually that the number cannot tell you.
- electrical
RV Amp Draw Calculator: What Can You Run at Once on 30 or 50 Amp?
Estimate running amps and startup loads on 30A or 50A RV service, then download your appliance amp-draw card as a Letter or A4 PDF.
Editorial approach
How recommendations are made
RVTrove earns a commission when you buy through our links. That only works long term if the advice is right, so the method is published and the limits are stated.
Read the editorial policy- 01
Specifications, from the manufacturer
Every figure we publish comes from a spec sheet, manual or warranty document — and the source date is shown on the page.
- 02
Recommendations by use case
A 30-amp travel trailer and a 50-amp fifth wheel need different equipment. Picks are labelled for who they suit, not ranked on an invented score.
- 03
Compatibility before features
Most bad RV purchases are fitment mistakes. Sizing, amperage and thread standards come before the feature list.
- 04
Weaknesses stated plainly
If a product has a known limitation, it is in the write-up. A guide where nothing has a downside is not a guide.
What you won't find here
- We do not claim to have tested products we have not tested.
- We do not publish scores, ratings or awards that imply testing that did not happen.
- We do not print live prices, which go stale within hours.