Glossary
RV Technician Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential RV technician terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key RV technician vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in RV technician training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Black tank
- Toilet waste tank.
- Class A
- Bus-style motorhome.
- Converter
- Turns 120V into 12V.
- Fifth wheel
- Trailer hitched in a truck bed.
- Gray tank
- Sink and shower waste tank.
- Inverter
- Turns 12V into 120V.
- Lap sealant
- Roof sealant.
- Leveling jacks
- Level the RV.
- LP
- Liquefied petroleum (propane).
- Manometer
- Measures gas pressure.
- PDI
- Pre-delivery inspection.
- Roof membrane
- Rubber or TPO roof.
- Shore power
- Campground electricity.
- Slide-out
- Room that extends.
- Thermocouple
- Flame sensor.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free RV Technician practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see RV Technician training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.