The Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association of Canada was kind enough to invite RV Dealer News to its annual Trouble Shooter Clinic, hosted this year in Burlington, Ontario at the Holiday Inn.
RV Dealer News was fortunate enough to attend some seminars at the clinic, and speak with Anita Lein, RVDA of Canada’s Program Coordinator.
The first Trouble Shooter Clinic was hosted in four years ago in Calgary, AB. The TSC has travelled made its way around the country, including a stop in Halifax, NS. After a request from ORVDA, Lien says the RVDA decided to bring the TSC to Burlington this year.
The Trouble Shooter Clinic (TSC) is a week long hands-on training program for RV technicians and dealers. With small class sizes and knowledgeable instructors, it gives invaluable experience in a wide range of topics.
On the agenda this year was everything from solar power, to classes on Reese Towing Products and sessions focused around residential water heaters.
“We take the feedback throughout the week, we try to mix things up a bit year over year, keeping an eye on the new trends and products” when deciding on the course material, says Lein.
After the course material is decided on, the RVDA picks its instructors from industry experts and representatives from the participating companies.
While most of the seminars are focused on technology that is already out, Lein says the RVDA tries to look ahead, to technologies that are on their way. Even if they don’t know how to fix them, knowing what’s coming is half the battle says Lein.
This is not a normal classroom experience though, the seminars are geared towards hands on learning. Class sizes are kept small on purpose, only 15 students per class, allowing them better access to the instructor, explains Lein.
“They actually set up different problems, and the technicians will have to … troubleshoot the systems,” says Lein. “At the end of the day people really enjoy hands on, and hands on the unit.”
The TSC has been growing in popularity since its introduction to the Canadian market. This year’s clinic sold out extremely early.
“This year’s event sold out in September,” says Lein “After that I had people requesting to be put on the waitlist.”
The seminar on Spyder Controls was hosted at Outdoor Travel, where technicians had to open up the panels of an RV to troubleshoot the problemsThe TSC is open to all RV technicians from the U.S. and Canada, but only members of the RVDA of Canada are entitled to a rebate to offset their travel costs.
Next year, the RVDA of Canada will be taking the TSC to Saskatoon, Sask. The dates aren’t confirmed yet, but Lein says expect it sometime between October and December. For more information on the 2018 TSC, be sure to visit the RVDA’s website.
