MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS *A* and New Bookcase

Well, I am thinking that I need to get more motorhome stuff and RVing stuff in my blog.  Since we do not plan to go anywhere yet this winter (I think) I am pretty sure things will get boring for my blog readers.  Since so many folks are visiting my blog posts (past and present posts) I thought I would change things up around here. I get a lot of requests for modification and repair blog topics.

I am going to start off the new year with posting three of our motorhome modifications at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

So here it goes:

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER A 

Adapting the Air Conditioner Air Flow- 

One hot summer day, while minding my own business, and sitting in the totally hot motorhome in the basking sunshine....  The air conditioning was helping some, but the air conditioners blow out straight to the front and rear along the ceiling of the coach. We noticed that on such humid hot days, we were not feeling much comforting cool air sitting down below it. 

My darling husband stood up and went outside to his handy dandy tool compartment.  He walks back in with a drill and a big hole saw bit.  He reached inside the little fin openings of our roof air conditioner and wiggled his fingers around a bit. He grinned.  He turned off the air conditioner.  Then he stuck that hole saw up against the outside housing and started to DRILL A FREAKING HOLE in our air conditioner surround!   

Yup.. he sure did!  I grabbed the camera to document his temporary insanity!  

Look at that!  A big huge gaping hole in our air conditioner surround!  He smiled and turned the air back on and voila.... a big blast of cool air came down into the motorhome's livingroom! It was instantly cooler feeling on us to have the air blowing down.

Next, stealing the idea from our Safari-owning friend Mel, Steve took the inside housing off and rivited on a slider vent grid. Mel gave him that too. Now he can control the flow of air if we do not want it blowing full blast, or partial flow, or shut it off. Of course it still has the original side grid openings to use as intended.

Screwing it back on, and feeling pretty proud of himself, I should think. 

 Hahhahaaaa

What a great improvement!  I think Steve should be a consultant to the Duo Therm company on how to improve the air flow with their rooftop air conditioners!

We did notice (in the past before we did this improvement) that if we closed off one end of the air conditioner vents and try to blast it all out the other side, then a condensation effect on the inside metal housing shoots darkened particles across the ceiling carpeting, causing greyish streaks on the carpeted ceiling.  The only thing that cleaned them off was Fantastic Oxy Power cleaner. Since doing this alteration we do not get that grey streak build up anymore. P.S. Whomever thought creamy white carpeted ceilings in a motorhome was a good idea should be shot! 

Twist Lock Adaptor from 50 amp plug to a 15 amp service- 

We bought this device from an RV camping store not long after we first bought the diesel pusher with those big huge 50 amp twist lock power cords.  It runs around $40.00 or so. Many times we want to just plug in our rig in our yard before leaving to run the fridge, load up, or vacuum after a trip.  Hauling out that huge 50 amp service cord 25 foot long, it is a huge heavy SNAKE!  Weighs about 20 pounds and is pretty unwieldy and stiff. Since the garage only has 15 amp service, we had to use a small adapter at the receptacle end anyhow.  Why not use this instead with a good heavy 12 gauge cord? Also, our big thick 50 amp cord is not laying out enticing copper thieves... They are quite pricey to replace... in the $150-175 range. Yes, that year we bought this, some thieves at a nearby RV dealer uncoiled all of the cords on travel trailers and some motorhomes and cut them off to sell for the copper!  ACK!  

We are not sure how many thieves this deterred, but it makes life easier when just needing to plug into regular household 15 amp service. 

Air Filter for a 3126 Cat diesel engine- 

This isn't really a modification so to speak.  But I thought I would post what an air filter looks like for a big ole diesel engine!  How many folks realize that our big old motorhomes need such huge air filters?  They run in the $125 range.   We used to change them fairly often, about every 10,000 miles.

There is a handy dandy little air filter minder gauge that tells you how dusty your filter is and how low the air flow is getting, indicating that it needs to be changed with a new one. We do drive on some gravel roads that kick up dust, and since the air intake is at the back of a diesel motorhome, it can mean changing air filters even more often. 

HINT---- DO NOT BANG YOUR AIR FILTER ON THE GROUND THINKING YOU CAN KNOCK OUT THE DUST AND USE IT AGAIN.... OR BANG A NEW ONE BEFORE INSTALLING.  Doing so can knock loose the paper folded inside fins and allow dirt INTO your delicate engine, and ruin it. 

 (that is called a ''dusted'' engine, thus needing to be rebuilt!) 

In my next blog, I will post about a modification that Steve (and Mel) did 

to our Safari Motorhomes to help the prevent the amount of dirt coming into air intake

 and how to change the air filter less often! 

That is my cliffhanger to my modification posts.....

~~~~~~~~

Now on to my normal blog yammering.  I know you are probably sick and tired of hearing about Steve's retirement. But.... actually today is very first OFFICIAL day of being retired. His last scheduled day to be a State of Wisconsin employee was Dec. 30. He was just burning up unused vacation days from the 22nd until now. He could have taken them as cash payout, but that is subject to taxes. Might as well burn them up in time off, right?  

This is how he is experiencing his first day of retirement:

-Sleeping in till 7:45 a.m. when he is usually at work by that time.

-Yacking with my brother on Facebook Video Chat (a first time for both of them!)  

-Then I made him breakfast and served him on his ''throne''... hahahaha

-Moccasin slippers on his feet

-Internet on his laptop to search for bargains on Craigslist and Facebook

He spent the day doing computer stuff, house hold stuff, and suffering yet from a cold.

 He is now watching PBS This Old House while I am typing this.

On my end, I am happily sorting out and stacking some of my current quilting projects on a new shelf that he found for me on the local Buy Sell Trade Facebook pages. Always looking for a good deal, he found me this set of shelves that fit perfectly on the narrow wall in my sewing room. 

I finished the free motion quilting stitching on my newest motorhome quilt. I will post pics of that huge one when I get the binding done in the next few days.

I also sewed up 4 or 5 more blocks for my newest quilt in progress, a log cabin quilt in all of my favorite colors! Peaceful afternoons are spent in my sewing room on my treadle sewing machine, making up fun creations.

Well, supper is done, (lasagna!)

Gotta go!