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Monday, May 1, 2023

Some More Motorhome Modifications

Oh boy. Lucky us. 

Woke up to about three or four inches of slushy wet junk. And more to come. Not supposed to stop until Tuesday. Our family up north is getting a lot more than us.



The bad part is, we have to drive in at this morning! We are pulling an open trailer behind us as well down to Steve's brothers house. Not fun. The highways are slush covered and it drags your tires in any direction if you get up any momentum or speed. 



We're keeping it well below 50, plus we're going through some construction zones. Like I said, not fun.. 


But seeing as I am only the passenger, not having to white knuckle on the steering wheel, I can dictate my blog.

We got a few more things in the mail that we had ordered for the motor home. 

The first one is this accumulator tank. It is meant to go on line after the water pump and before the outlet fixtures within the rig. It helps to maintain pressure in the lines, and reduce the amount of cycling on and off for the water pump. This is especially helpful at night time. If one of us gets up to use the bathroom, the pump runs quite loudly. It is located right next to our bed. The pump will cycle on and off with each flush of the toilet or opening of the faucet at the sink to wash our hands.  Now this will hold enough pressure to keep the pump off for a few water uses during the night.  Or to keep the pump flowing evenly during a shower, with less pulsating or temp fluctuations. 
 


We ordered it from Amazon. It was supposed to come pre-pressurized. But it wasn't. So Steve pressurized it up with his air compressor to 30 PSI.




It also comes with the proper fitting needed to connect it right up to the Shurflo water pump that we already have in the rig. It's nice to have them both of the same brand and you know the fitting sizes are identical. No adapters needed. 



We have easy access to our water pump area by lifting up a platform next to the bed. Steve had it installed in the matter of 2 minutes flat. I held the flashlight. 


We tried it out and tested for leaks. Everything was perfect. We know this is a modification that not only makes it quieter, but with less cycling on the pump... The pump will last longer!


We covered it back up and now that modification is done. 


Another little modification was this set of two little remote control holders to be mounted onto the wall. It helps to keep things in one spot and not have remotes sliding around during travel or getting lost between coach cushions. Or at the very worst, getting stuck under the slide as it's going in or out!! 



These are meant to mount on the wall either with screws or the attached double-sided sticky back foam tape. I prefer to use neither. 

Instead I used two sections of the Command velcro strips. That way I can pull them off if need be, and remove the Command portion without damaging the wall. I mounted one in the livingroom area next to the love seat. This section of wall is actually a type of frosted glass with decorative LED lighting around the edges. So the remote case is mounted directly to the glass. 


The other one I mounted in the bedroom next to the bed within the slide. I put it right by the shelf near our headboard. It's attached to the wallpapered surface, which I'm not nuts about doing. But it really was the only sensible place to put it.


Now this next one is actually a two-part improvement for the livingroom area. The first part is I ordered a set of two of these folding storage ottomans.


These are only 12x12x12. I saw that you could get them as big as 17 or 19 inches square. But then I think our feet would be up too high. So we ordered the smaller size and they seem to be just right. 


They also double as storage for our extra shoes or dog leashes. Less clutter around the entry door.



The other half of the improvement was this pole and table mount bracket. These are from the same company that made the original ones for the table and taller pole to sit and eat at if you want it as a dining table. I felt it was important to get the same brand to make sure that they fit the existing holes in the floor without needing any modifications.



When I looked online to buy just the generic ones, they were very expensive! I also was not sure of the sizing. Many of the RVs seem to use a type of tapered end. Ours are a straight pipe with a rubbery end cap.  I looked up the brand of our existing pole and found them on a boat and pontoon supply company---- for a quarter of the price!


Even with the shipping cost, they were still a lot less than anywhere else to find the Sure Fit brand. 



The last part, yet to come, is a 17-inch wide heavy fiberglass cocktail tray. We are going to mount it to the top bracket maybe with some really good adhesive rather than screws. Right now I put this 12-in pizza pan on top of the bracket just to give you a general idea. This will be a smaller cocktail table to set our drinks on. The reason why I ordered the tray is that it will have a lip edge rather than just a flat table top. It can also be moved over between the two swiveled cockpit seats as there is another receptacle there in the floor. 



So this is what 
I was trying 
to achieve. 



If you have read my blog for any length of time, you know I like to bring along my fiber toys with me when we go camping. One of them is my little singer Featherweight sewing machine. I really enjoy setting it up outside on a table and sewing under the awning. Picnic tables are usually too high for a proper sewing height and my shoulders ache from sewing any length of time at that height. I've learned over the years to take along a lower collapsible table. The sad news is that our old table is too big to fit in our storage compartments on the new to us Winnebago View. Time to shop for a new table.

I asked a few ladies on the Facebook group called RV Quilters. Yes, there's actually a group of women who RV that also quilt that belong to a huge group of 31 thousand members!!! 

Many of them recommended this particular folding table from Lifetime. It has four different height adjustments to the legs. It is very sturdy and will not bounce with the vibration of the sewing machine. Best of all, the 4 ft by 2 ft work surface folds in half so it only takes up 2 ft by 2 ft in storage  space. 

And believe it or not, I found it on sale at Home Depot. With FREE SHIPPING!!! 


The box came while we were gone camping. Our security cameras notified us when it arrived on the front porch. My neighbor picked it up for us, and said it was an awfully big box??

I was confused. It should have only been 2 ft by 2 ft it may be a couple inches high?.

Well, after we got home, I could see what they were talking about. This box was humongous! 


This box is 3 1/2 ft long 
by 2 1/2 ft wide 
by 1 1/2 feet high!


The inside contents were rattling around and it was busting out the tape at the seams. We are really lucky that we didn't lose the contents all together. Yes, inside this big empty box was the smaller box with my folding table. No packing peanuts, no bubble wrap, not even paper packaging to help cushion the blow as the inside box rattled around. 


I suppose I shouldn't complain, it was free shipping after all. But we are lucky that we didn't lose the contents or have any damage. I did leave a review back on the Home Depot's website. 


Now for the table. It is extremely nice and sturdy. The legs are heavy and well made.  It can be set for 22, 24, 29 and 34 inches high! 



It's very easy to change the heights.... Set the top of your toe on the bottom cross bar. With one push of the button on the next higher bar, and lift it to the next "click" sound.  Then go to the other side and do the same. 



I decided to try it out in my She Shed with my little Singer Featherweight. The table stretches out to 4 feet wide by 2 feet deep. It is very sturdy. 



I set my machine on one side, which still left plenty of room for my cutting mat and pressing pad for ironing my seams. 



I sewed a few seams and the table had very little vibration. I have enough room to set finished blocks and cut strips on the far side of the table while I sew. 



I will be able to sew with this outside as well as setting it up in front of the loveseat for sewing indoors. It is much more stable than the single center post table that comes with the motorhome. 

Well, this is enough for tonight.

Will write more tomorrow. 

Got a few more things to show!



1 comment:

  1. Love your footstools and "cocktail" table idea. I have two of the remote holders in similar locations but mine are the slightly larger 3 holder ones. Also work great for parking Kindle and cellphone. I have a lightweight table which folds like a TV tray but is larger but I'm going to check out your folding table as it would be much sturdier for grill or outside cooking. Love seeing your mods.

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