TV replacement

[reveye]

I just bought a 2022 Cougar 354FLS. Took it out for the shakedown trip this past weekend. Didn't realize until this weekend that the 50 inch TV it came with, is not a smart TV and it is not wifi capable. It is a front living room model and raises up and down out of the front section above the fireplace. I think I would like to upgrade the TV to a new smart model with all the bells and whistles. Has anyone ever swapped one of these out before? Looks difficult to access???

[chuckster57]

Should be fairly straight forward. Look at the back of the tv for the mounting screws. They will be a standard size, measure and make sure the new tv has the same size or get an adapter plate.

[dutchmensport]

My Montana has a front living room with television that raises and lowers. I need to raise the television about 2 inches higher, but that is impossible because the access to the screws on the back of the television fixed to the lift mount is impossible to break loose.

Our solution was to purchase a smaller Roku television we simply place on the top of the lift shelf, raise it up a bit, attach a separate sound bar and presto! We have access to internet streaming.

Plus, the smaller television on it's own stand is very easy and convenient to set outside on a picnic table or a stand when we want to watch television outside.

AND that smaller Roku television works as a really, really great second monitor for our laptop computers! We never use the one factory installed. I can't remove it, so it just taking up dead space.

That's how we handled it. The small Roku television is so handy, and sets up anywhere .... even when we don't have the camper with us ...

[markcee]

You could also just keep the existing TV and plug a Firestick into one of its HDMI ports and then connect the Firestick to wifi.

I have a standard Keystone issue dumb TV (Summit brand) and this works well.

[Mikendebbie]

I swapped out our OEM non-smart TV for a Samsung couple of years ago. The bracket plate fit perfectly to the back of the Samsung, but I had to raise/remount the bracket by 1” on the wall to get the Samsung to fold into the entertainment center cubby hole properly.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

My Montana has a front living room with television that raises and lowers. I need to raise the television about 2 inches higher, but that is impossible because the access to the screws on the back of the television fixed to the lift mount is impossible to break loose.

Our solution was to purchase a smaller Roku television we simply place on the top of the lift shelf, raise it up a bit, attach a separate sound bar and presto! We have access to internet streaming.

Plus, the smaller television on it's own stand is very easy and convenient to set outside on a picnic table or a stand when we want to watch television outside.

AND that smaller Roku television works as a really, really great second monitor for our laptop computers! We never use the one factory installed. I can't remove it, so it just taking up dead space.

That's how we handled it. The small Roku television is so handy, and sets up anywhere .... even when we don't have the camper with us ...

they probably have threadlocker on the screws so it doesn’t vibrate loose inside the enclosure…if you could heat up the screwdriver and hold it on the screws for a minute or two it may break free..if they used Red thread locker you would need a small torch and that is not an option with a plastic tv lol…i’d use a hacksaw blade and cut the screws off …the tv isn’t worth much..i’d be surprised if the cost is $100 for the summit
the operating system menu reminds me of a 1970s Atari game

[reveye]

Looks like the hardest part is getting that Summit off of there...Ugh.

[chuckster57]

For the record I have yet to see ANY screw,bolt, nut or other threaded part on ANY RV have any type of thread locker.

[DonP]

Well, to me a Roko or firestick is much cheaper and my Roko works just great with my Summit TV and my mobile phone hot spot. Just say'n.

[wiredgeorge]

I have the cheapest Walmart 32" tv they sold and use a Roku and have the TV connected to a soundbar. Works pretty darn good. I couldn't use a 50" TV as we sit too close. I also have a DVD player connected to the cheapo television.

I would leave the TV and use a Roku or Firestick or similar. BTW: There is a good chance you can put the correct sized screwdriver in the screw slots and tap on it lightly and the screws break loose.

Here is my setup pictured from my recliner and another showing proximity to the recliner. If you look carefully, the soundbar is under the television.

[reveye]

Thanks for the firestick idea. Sounds like the easiest route to go.

Jim

[JRTJH]

I'd be inclined to try using a 1/4" battery powered impact driver (the other half of most battery operated drill "combo" sets) with a couple of extensions, a bit holder and a #2 Robertson square drive bit.

That's what I use, almost exclusively, when I'm trying to remove "old, rusted or corroded in place" phillips screws that I'm afraid I'll strip out if I twist any harder. Almost always, the impact driver will break them loose without stripping the heads.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'd be inclined to try using a 1/4" battery powered impact driver (the other half of most battery operated drill "combo" sets) with a couple of extensions, a bit holder and a #2 Robertson square drive bit.

That's what I use, almost exclusively, when I'm trying to remove "old, rusted or corroded in place" phillips screws that I'm afraid I'll strip out if I twist any harder. Almost always, the impact driver will break them loose without stripping the heads.

John, Some products from the Far East use Japanese Industrial Standard screw heads which look like Phillips heads but are slightly different and tend to strip with a Phillips screwdriver when the size is #2 or less. Motorcycles, copying machines and electronic stuff use JIS. I will check out battery powered impact drivers as I use a manual impact driver not suitable for the screws on the back of a TV set bracket.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

John, Some products from the Far East use Japanese Industrial Standard screw heads which look like Phillips heads but are slightly different and tend to strip with a Phillips screwdriver when the size is #2 or less. Motorcycles, copying machines and electronic stuff use JIS. I will check out battery powered impact drivers as I use a manual impact driver not suitable for the screws on the back of a TV set bracket.

There is a significant difference between the impact driver I recommended using and an impact wrench... They both "work on the same principle, but the amount of torque is so different that they become "two different types of tool"....

As an example, my 1/2" Ridgid impact WRENCH delivers up to 1300 ft/lb at 2300 impacts per minute..

My 1/4" Ridgid impact DRIVER delivers up to 150 ft/lb at 3800 impacts per minute. That's only about 11% of the "power from the impact WRENCH...

I've used the impact driver with a #2 phillips bit to remove aluminum shower enclosures where the screws heads were "destroyed by trying to loosen them with a regular screwdriver"...

But, no, using an "impact WRENCH" on a #2 Robertson square drive screw would probably end up with more damage than potential for getting the screw loosened.....

[curtiscapk]

Originally Posted by DonP

Well, to me a Roko or firestick is much cheaper and my Roko works just great with my Summit TV and my mobile phone hot spot. Just say'n.

+ 1

We love watching youtube music videos on it!

Dang sideways pics!

[Pull Toy]

Before I invested in a new Smart TV, I would decide how I was going to use it. Don’t count on campground wi-Fi for service. Every place that we have stayed the bandwidth is barely able to use for e-mail and yahoo. If your connection is a reliable 1 Meg , you’ll have maxed out.

[LHaven]

I bought a Smart TV to put in my previous rig, which had no TV. Over the years, I've watched as major streaming app after major streaming app disappeared from it ("we no longer support the version of our app that runs on that TV"). Knowing what I know now, I'd rather get a smart dongle like a Firestick, which is cheaper to replace (plus has a market presence that makes it harder for them to abandon in the first place).

[dutchmensport]

Originally Posted by Pull Toy

Before I invested in a new Smart TV, I would decide how I was going to use it. Don’t count on campground wi-Fi for service. Every place that we have stayed the bandwidth is barely able to use for e-mail and yahoo. If your connection is a reliable 1 Meg , you’ll have maxed out.

No problem for us there. We've already been to that rodeo. I retired a year ago, but before that, both my wife and I worked full time remote in Information Technology software development for our respective companies. We traveled a lot and took advantage of the work from home ability.

To access internet we went through many experiments, trials, errors, and many unsuccessful, unsatisfying results.

We ended up with a system that now works and works well for us. We NEVER depend on campground WIFI. We select our campgrounds now on cell phone service availability. We never depend on campground services on this one.

[rellison110]

I am dealing with the same issue on my 2023 Cougar 25RDSWE. Mounted great, but is too low to go into the space. The long arm connected to the TV plate is not level. I am going to try to straighten the bracket first and if that doesn't fix it, i will cut the TV plate loose, move up, weld and paint.

[LHaven]

Originally Posted by rellison110

I am dealing with the same issue on my 2023 Cougar 25RDSWE. Mounted great, but is too low to go into the space. The long arm connected to the TV plate is not level. I am going to try to straighten the bracket first and if that doesn't fix it, i will cut the TV plate loose, move up, weld and paint.

Aaargh! Before doing that, look at the very affordable VESA mounting plate offset products [SAMPLE LINK, $20] already available!