View Full Version : Sprinter Campfire 26RB Mods
Well my first mod is to fix a factory issue with our bathroom door. Notice in the 1st stock picture how the "raised" panel side of the door is facing out into the room. Well ours had the smooth side facing out and the panel side in?
The second issue to address was the fact that the door swung out into the room, vs. into the bathroom. I had a couple of issues with this design. 1) when open it covers up the thermostat on the wall. 2) If you forget to close the door, before you put in the slide, kaboom, crunched door and or jacked up slide. and 3) (probably the most compelling reason for me) going down the road you can't get into the bathroom for a pit stop unless you put the slide out....which is on the drivers side so it would be sliding out into traffic.
I guess they have it swing out because the door knob they use may make contact with the slide when it travels past the door. Also, it requires that the toilet be placed in a spot that won't contact the door swinging in. After my mod, no contact is made but there may be only an inch clearance between the door and the toilet. So swinging in would have less forgiveness.
Anyway, flipping the door, jam, and using a lever style door handle makes all things good for those emergency pit stops in the middle of the open road.
I have several other mods that I plan on doing, so I'll try to post some pics when I get them.
factory faucet seemed a bit cheezie, so swapped it with a residential one. thinking the pull out sprayer thingy will be nice.
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We've had several used campers over the years and never had a clue about the EMS/surge protection stuff. After reading several of the posts, watching some youtube videos and such...figured it's a worthy addition to our first new camper. Very cheap insurance premium I suppose. Very easy install, had tons of room behind my electrical panel. Mounted the monitor do-dah sideways because I wanted to hide the cord. Too bad they don't make that monitor box with the jack plug in in the back (vs the bottom).
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So our outdoor kitchen had a TV mounted in it, and it was ok. However, we knew that we'd never have it going outside. Chances were much better that I'd want it in our bedroom as it was wired for one, but didn't come with one. TV is now in the bedroom.
After a bit of inspection, turns out there was a ton of wasted space behind that outside tv spot. I'm now in the process of reclaiming that space by putting in some full sliding wire basket drawer thingies.
I've just started this and will post some final pictures when complete.
On a side note, no I did not cut that big-o hole in the top of that compartment. Apparently the factory needed that much room to fish the couple electrical cords down to the two plugs.
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Finished pictures. We almost put a 3rd drawer unit in the last slot, but decided that we may have some stuff that might need open space? Oh well, we both liked how it turned out, so a success.
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Jcdwing
06-08-2018, 02:49 PM
We've had several used campers over the years and never had a clue about the EMS/surge protection stuff. After reading several of the posts, watching some youtube videos and such...figured it's a worthy addition to our first new camper. Very cheap insurance premium I suppose. Very easy install, had tons of room behind my electrical panel. Mounted the monitor do-dah sideways because I wanted to hide the cord. Too bad they don't make that monitor box with the jack plug in in the back (vs the bottom).
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Money well spent. Mine has saved me many times. Especially during high heat times the campground sometimes drops to low voltage.
A power problem took out my board in my original converter before I had one.
So we went camping for the first time having the EMS a week ago.... This thing is excellent! I think the one feature I was finding very useful was the amp draw value. We have two dogs and they get left to "guard" the camper while we're off shopping and such. One of my biggest fears is that the AC breaker will trip and they will be left in a camper that is getting warm. I realize we're usually only gone for 3-4 hours at a time, so the insulation should keep the camper reasonable until we would have returned. Anyway, knowing the amp draw helped me understand that having the Air on and the hot water heater on electric was not a good combination. The two combined were drawing 29 amps. Easy enough to switch to gas and or just not have the hot water on at all while we were away. But I would have not known this without the EMS. Also it was good to know that the little outside kitchen fridge only draws 1 amp. In my mind I was thinking it would have been like 5 amps or something. I'm pretty sure I'll never own another camper without one.
kksfish
06-17-2018, 04:29 AM
WOW, you have been busy! Nice mods......
So our camper came with a Flowjet water pump. The pump was fine but a bit loud. Also we had a problem with it loosing it's "prime". We'd fill the fresh water holder tank, turn the pump on, run the faucets to get the air out of the lines, and the pump would build pressure and shut off. Come back 20 minutes later and turn on a faucet (or flush the toilet) and once the pressure was released, the pump would come on and stay on. It would not build pressure and shut off. I googled trying to find out the issue and solution and determined it was either air getting into the system or this new pump was bad. I say new because it's a new camper.
I futzed around with trying to find the problem only to just buy a new pump. I decided on a Shurflo. I had good luck with that brand in the past and I was able to get a strainer thing for that model.
Installed it and crap!...still doing the same thing. So, it had to be a air leak. Oh I should mention I checked all my connections for leaks and such finding none.
One thing about the Shurflow pump.....super quite. When it ran it was a very low purring sound. That made my $100 purchase feel a bit more justified.
Well to cut this long story down, I determined that the inlet side of the pump had to be allowing air in, thereby allowing the water in the line to the holding take to run back to the tank. The pressure side had to be good, since it was holding pressure. So I removed some of the fittings on the inlet side, reconnected, and boom! ...fixed, quite, and now I have a spare pump.
(stuff I removed, almost seems the barbed fitting is wrong for flex hose tubing? seems more like a pex style barb?)
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Shurflo with strainer
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ptooti
06-17-2018, 08:17 PM
I had the same thing happen bled all lines etc scratching head I cracked the diverter valve and it let the air out pump pressurized and stopped cycling
Finally got my generator and truck box thing mounted. Means I'll have to relocate my spare tire. I have a ton of room under the camper up front...wonder if anyone has mounted their spare up under the basement area?
Looking at the back bumper, it appeared to be welded by the factory reasonably well. I did finish off the top of the "L" pieces they had welded to the square tubing.
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I used 3 x 3 angle, I was wanting to get some lighter weight 4" "I" , but the iron shop didn't carry it that light weight in 4". I overlapped the top of the angle onto the bumper to distribute the forces pulling on the bumper. I also added a 4x4 square to help spread the downward force.
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Seems stout enough as I can bounce up and down (200lbs) on the middle angle and the only thing moving is the trailer suspension.
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All painted up.
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Generator and truck box installed. A little dusty from sitting in the barn, needs a good wash.
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66joej
06-23-2018, 04:58 PM
Not to sure looking at your pictures but has the original bumper/hose holder been reinforced to the trailer frame also?
Yah, I didn't choose to do anything with the existing connections back under the camper. This is why in my first post I mentioned:
"...it appeared to be welded by the factory reasonably well"
But I suppose I could be a nice guy and post some pictures of the how the Mfg has this connected.
Appears to be 4x2 tubing 1/8th and the bottom of the "I" channel also appears to be 3/16ths. The Mfg welded on all fours sides with the running length being about 6 inches.
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Also, I guess I should mention (which I assumed to be implied)…
These posts are NOT "how to" posts, but rather how I chose to do my mods. Assume I don't know what I'm doing. Assume that doing any mod will void your warranty. Please consult your own attorney, tradesman and or electrical/structural engineer for their opinion(s).
Finally, point, giggle, laugh and smile...life it waaaaay to short not to.
When we go camping...it's usually very hot and the campground power isn't always very reliable. Since we have a couple of dogs, it's always troubling to leave them in the camper with the AC running worrying if the power might trip. Granted we typically have non-floater people with us to check in on our dogs, but I sure hate to place that burden on them. So we decided to look into adding a auto start generator controller.
I did a little proof of concept video https://youtu.be/eSIEViJQHjA
My next steps are to get it installed in the camper, hopefully I'll have that follow up video in the coming weeks.
ptooti
04-15-2019, 06:53 AM
1/2 off topic but ...We have dogs too and I understand your concerns we have the same and also worry about our dogs barking and annoying other campers we have found a solution that works for us we have 2 cell phones running the alfred app we leave one behind in the camper we can connect and see or hear if the AC is running also it will alert us if they are barking we can go on an tell them to be quiet and this work for us very well as they get freaked out hearing our voice and immediately lay down it gives us peace of mind for very little investment. We are not usually that far away from home that if there was distress we would make it back in time, your situation may be different but just wanted to share what works for us. When we go camping...it's usually very hot and the campground power isn't always very reliable. Since we have a couple of dogs, it's always troubling to leave them in the camper with the AC running worrying if the power might trip. Granted we typically have non-floater people with us to check in on our dogs, but I sure hate to place that burden on them. So we decided to look into adding a auto start generator controller.
I did a little proof of concept video https://youtu.be/eSIEViJQHjA
My next steps are to get it installed in the camper, hopefully I'll have that follow up video in the coming weeks.
That's an interesting solution. Thanks for the reply!
So I finally got the install done. Took much longer than I had expected, which seems to be the norm for me. I put up a short video on youtube enjoy.
https://youtu.be/y6TjH03y16s
Thanks!
(a couple photos)
Chrispl36
03-14-2021, 07:53 AM
Hi Kegs,.
I have wanted to mount a generator off my receiver which ties into the rear bumper. Have you seen any structural issues with your generator?
JRTJH
03-14-2021, 09:22 AM
Hi Kegs,.
I have wanted to mount a generator off my receiver which ties into the rear bumper. Have you seen any structural issues with your generator?
That member was last logged into the forum on 4/21/2019 (almost 2 years ago)
Chrispl36
03-17-2021, 07:12 PM
Yes I noticed it was two years ago. In though I could get an idea of long term issues mounting off the rear bumper.
nope no issues, but.....
we've only been camping probably 5 times in the past couple years. way too much life happening...and not enough camping happening. hope to change that this summer.
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