What did you do to your RV today?

[LHaven]

I had two sail switch repairs or replacements before the warranty was even dry. This problem is more insidious – I never even get the initial fan to come on. There's just a small click from a relay near the furnace, then nothing else happens. Turning it off, same click. But last time it happened, just riding the first leg of our trip did something to correct it. And it goes bad while it's parked at home. I'm assuming it's a loose wire or a bad board, but the way this furnace is tucked away and inaccessible, I'm not gonna be troubleshooting either one.

[MarkEHansen]

Yeah, sounds like the controller board. I never had to replace mine, but everyone says to go with the Dinosaur board. Extending the wires wasn't that hard. Just make sure you get DC wire which can take the hot temperatures. Then a couple 4-way automotive connectors and Bob's your uncle.

[jimpa]

I have a 271 zeplin 2 and I have a cover for it but I noticed after using it a couple of years it's rubbing the roof on the sides from the wind blowing the cover. does anyone have a way to prevent this from wearing a hole in the roof?

[GlasNav]

After the deep freeze, we had a warm up here in NE Kansas for a day. My wife and I took advantage of the 60f day and greased the wheel bearings in advance of our upcoming trip in two weeks.
Thanks to the Dexter EZ-Lube arrangement, this was the first time I didn't have to pull wheels and hubs to repack wheel bearings.
I've seen posts knocking the EZ-Lube system, but we had zero issues. We jacked one side at a time so the wheels were off the ground, I pumped the grease, and my wife spun the tires, worked like a charm.

[LHaven]

The main failure mode with the EZ lube system is that you end up greasing your brakes as well. Be sure to give them a good test before you start any long trips.

[MarkEHansen]

Also, that you can't inspect the bearings for wear/damage. Remember these wheel bearings are not like what you have in your contemporary cars/trucks. They need to be inspected from time to time.

I like to remove, clean, inspect and pack mine manually so I can be sure.

If course, my new trailer came with what look like sealed bearings, claiming they don't need repacking - but do need inspection. I haven't quite figured out how to inspect sealed bearing yet

[travelin texans]

[QUOTE=GlasNav;525201]After the deep freeze, we had a warm up here in NE Kansas for a day. My wife and I took advantage of the 60f day and greased the wheel bearings in advance of our upcoming trip in two weeks.
Thanks to the Dexter EZ-Lube arrangement, this was the first time I didn't have to pull wheels and hubs to repack wheel bearings.
I've seen posts knocking the EZ-Lube system, but we had zero issues. We jacked one side at a time so the wheels were off the ground, I pumped the grease, and my wife spun the tires, worked like a charm.
[/QUOTl

You're exactly right, you can pump the grease in very easily with zero issues, BUT until you pull the hub you have no clue how much grease may have bypassed the rear seal into the drums, there's no indicator other than poor braking.
Hopefully it worked as intended! Unless you've put good quality double lipped seals in the rear I wouldn't put a lot of faith that it worked with zero issues.

[GlasNav]

Thank you for the cautionary views. Today we had another fairly nice day and after seeing all the gloom and doom mentioned on another post I heeded the collective's advice and pulled the hubs before we set off on a couple of thousand mile trip later in this week.
The seals were intact, no blow by, all looked good, the bearings have approx 10,000 miles on them and looked brand new. Cleaned up a little brake dust and wiped some grime off the backside of the seals.

[hlh1]

Replaced the Dometic 300 toilet with a 310. Much better and heavier toilet.

[Rick]

Our trailer didn’t come with an inverter and needed one for my wife’s CPAP (12v adapter isn’t available for it at this time and I thought about cutting the power plug off and adapting it for 12v/110v use) as we almost exclusively boondock. Only after installing a dedicated outlet and remote switch for the inverter did I think of just plugging the shore power cord into the inverter. Shut the converter off at the breaker and the whole trailer’s powered with 110v! Only downside to that is I’d have to run an extension cord from the nearest outlet to the CPAP as there’s not one on her side of the bed. Oh well, it looks good.

[firestation12]

Assurance or Endurance tires by Goodyear??

[firestation12]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Decided to make my old Cougar more modern and ordered one of these:

https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-500.html?q=121g

Where do you insert the soda cans? Asking for a friend.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Rick

Our trailer didn’t come with an inverter and needed one for my wife’s CPAP (12v adapter isn’t available for it at this time and I thought about cutting the power plug off and adapting it for 12v/110v use) as we almost exclusively boondock. Only after installing a dedicated outlet and remote switch for the inverter did I think of just plugging the shore power cord into the inverter. Shut the converter off at the breaker and the whole trailer’s powered with 110v! Only downside to that is I’d have to run an extension cord from the nearest outlet to the CPAP as there’s not one on her side of the bed. Oh well, it looks good.

There's more to a "whole house inverter connection" than just turning off the converter so it doesn't create the "circlular charge/discharge" condition....

You also have to turn the refrigerator to "GAS" or you'll also be automatically switched to ELEC operation. The microwave "timer/clock" will also automatically come on as will the heater circuits in the LED/LCD TV. When you "power up the entire trailer, more than "just the converter is drawing energy from the battery".....

IMO, trying to power the entire trailer from a central inverter is not usually the best option. You're probably much better off (from a battery conservation perspective) by just constructing a single, one purpose outlet....

[CampNBrew2]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

There's more to a "whole house inverter connection" than just turning off the converter so it doesn't create the "circular charge/discharge" condition....

Thanks for sharing this John. That is something I hadn't fully thought through before. I'll stick with my small inverter only powering the TV/DVD player.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by CampNBrew2

Thanks for sharing this John. That is something I hadn't fully thought through before. I'll stick with my small inverter only powering the TV/DVD player.

Chris,

Your trailer, a 2013 and mine, a 2014 are "old school components" compared to the newer trailers and their "exotic control systems"...

I'm still trying to get "clear answers to other components that draw shore power automatically" and can't get "accurate power requirements from the manufacturers"....

If you consider the newer trailers have In-Command systems that "prepare the HVAC system for heat pump/furnace operation, there are monitor circuits in the air conditioner overhead units that monitor outside temperature, so they can determine whether the unit will provide "heat pump operation" or whether the temperature is below the set point, and the system will revert to "propane furnace operation"... I have not been successful in getting either In-Command or the heat pump manufacturers to commit to how much energy is used in those monitor circuits and whether there are any "conditioning circuits" that use energy to keep the heat pump "ready for use" (sort of like the "quick start" features on televisions and radio/stereo systems)....

There's a heck of a lot more that gets turned on as soon as you plug into shore power (or run an inverter output to that plug) than most people realize. All/most of that "if it's from an inverter" is wasted battery power.

[Rick]

The inverter would only be turned on as needed, so no wasted battery power. Since we boondock almost all the time, the fridge is always set to “Gas”. We rarely use the microwave (I’m going to shut that off at the breaker also and thinking of pulling it out for more space anyways), so for us and our 8yo little trailer, plugging the shore power cord into the inverter seems to work. We don’t have any of the fancy electronic stuff. The highest tech I may have is a 12v tv. Have the solar panels to recharge the batteries, so I think I’m good.
Your points are valid for the newer and higher tech electronic trailers though. Something for those owners to think about.

[hlh1]

I added a Bose soundbar to my TV. Greatly improves the sound.

[Readi2Roll]

Originally Posted by LHaven

In the 26RBSWE, there are some really handy shelves hidden behind the TV. Problem is, it's dark as sin back there, so it's tough finding things stored in the fabric bins. For Christmas 2019, one of my boys got me some raw LED strips so I could add some lighting. Great, now I just had to figure out how!

When I got this rig, the (adjoining) pantry had three sections, except that the middle one was blocked off. My Mistress of the Pantry informed me that This Shall Not Stand, so I explored. There was a minor rats' nest of AC, DC, and TV wiring strung across the compartment, feeding three intruding wall sockets... but I found there was so much slack in the wiring (which I have found to be true in general in this rig, thank you, Keystone!) that I had no problem routing it along the rear wall with some wire loom, and burying everything (even the wall box backs) behind a false partition, to give DW 50% more pantry space. So I already knew I had a handy "power center" available for this upgrade. (I highly recommend this easy upgrade to any other owner of a "crippled" pantry.)

I invested in (what I thought was) the same model dimmer switch Keystone put in the slide, some metal channels, HD glue strip ("ceiling" mounts are demanding), long pigtails, and surface-mount wire guides. It took me until this weekend to psych myself up to tackle the job. Removing the TV was a two-person job, but a lot easier than I thought it would be (basically one pivot bolt).

The electrical assembly was way less challenging than the physical, thank heavens. While I was in there with tools, I installed a pass-thru to the upper cabinets for an extension cord, so I could power my WiFi rig and the battery chargers for my cordless tools, which live up there.

The finished product is very pleasing, illumination-wise. It wasn't originally my plan to use it for mood lighting or "TV bias" lighting, but those options appeal to me now.

My only problem (that I quickly discovered) is that the dimmer switch (I suspect) throws quite a hum into the Furrion audio unit, whether I am listening to radio or routing the TV audio to the ceiling speakers. I'm wondering why the apparently identical dimmer on the slide doesn't do this. I suspect that despite the identical casing and operation, the dimmer I bought may have lower quality internals. I'm researching this; meanwhile, I'll just have to turn the lights off when I'm using the audio system.

Thanks for the great idea! I'm going to take a look at mine tomorrow!

[LHaven]

I ordered some upgraded dinette cushions. When I sent in the dimensions, I didn't take into account that the seat cushion would be 1.5" thicker, and that the rear cushion sat on top of that... so when they came in, I discovered that the rear cushion no longer fit in the original "box" built for the seatback (photo 1). it wasn't even close.

I considered re-ordering reduced height seatback cushions, but then realized that in "bed mode," the combined cushions would be loose, and possibly uncomfortable. Plus, I figured that for way less money, and some personal effort, I could just raise the seatback lids!

After examining the factory build (photo 2), I got some 2x2 strip, a small 1/2" thick scrap to cut the riser extensions from, and some 1/2" brown edging from the mensches at Outwater (love their stuff for RV edging). I cut the edging to size; stuck two pieces back to back with thin, double-sided 3M computer bezel tape I had hanging around; and air-stapled it onto the riser to form a solid mount, after removing the half-a*d factory edging (photo 3). We put a lot of weight on this riser when we get out of the dinette, so we wanted it solid.

I ran into a problem on the outside seat: the side valance was way too low for the added seat height (but only on one side of the window—weird! You can see this in photo 1). I ended up removing it from the wall, trimming off the top, and re-installing it, along with relocating the shade cord anchors. (Compare photos 1 and 4.) Fortunately, the seat lids squeaked under all the other valances (with a little encouragement).

I finished all the new wood with dark walnut paint, and added an extra screw through the lid into the side biscuit to stabilize it. (Vstar Products, the same folks who made the cushions, also carry brown "Durasnaps" that match the Cougar's).

Ooh, these new seats feel so much nicer!

[SargeW]

Pulled out the standard Suburban 6 gallon tank WH and replaced it with a Girard propane tankless model. The swap was pretty easy, the tank WH came out without too much effort, once I freed the propane line from all the silicone that they used.

The only real change was I had to lengthen the Pex water lines about 6" to reach the connection points on the back of the Girard. The Suburban connections were in the center of the unit, Girard's were on the edge.

I sourced the door and trim ring from Home Depot of all places. Their price was way less than Lippert wanted, and they were out of stock on the trim part of the door. The DW loves her long showers, and now that's no problem