MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS *B* and Steve Painting and New Quilt Started

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 B 

Backup Camera Monitor Replacement:

We are up to the letter B in my files of Motorhome Modifications.  This one is about our backup camera monitor.  The camera is working fine, even at 20 years old, and is located behind a little glass lens in the rear cap. Access is through a rear cabinet over our bed. We did replace the glass once, as the previous stuff was a plexi plastic that was scratched up. We use it to check on the Tracker as we tow it down the road, or to check while backing up into campsites.  Even while parked, we use it as a security set of eyes when boondocking and we want to see if someone is back there.

Our camera feed comes through to the tv up front over the drivers seat.  It worked out really well to see what is going on out back with a glance at the big screen overhead. But the problem is that the cabinet the tv is housed in hangs down so low over the driver's dash. It is commonly known as the ''Head Banger'' and Steve's head has enough lumps to prove it.  Soooooooooo

You just KNOW that Steve has to make a change to it, don't you?  He removed the tv and the cabinet. He cut it down from the top edges to make it the same size as the other cabinets across the front of the rig.  A fellow Safari-owner had an extra smoked plexiglass door for us to cover up the existing hole.

 No More ''Head Banger'' !!

We bought a lighter weight flat screen tv we hung from a bracket over on the side of the living area instead for better viewing than in the original position.

That leaves us with the dilemma of how to view the backup camera, since we removed the monitor source from overhead.  Steve rerouted the cable down from the top cavity along the padded covered windshield side post.  He found this great little LED monitor that runs off DC power from Amazon for $50.  Easy peasy!

 We positioned it between the two dash consoles.

We can swivel it for either the driver or passenger to view it.  

I seem to use it more from the passenger seat
to check on the Tracker being towed behind

Basket by the Door:

This may seem kinda lame, but how many of us have shoes piled up the door?  And dog leashes. And tie out ropes. And moccasins for Steve to wear inside when he drives.  Well, there have been a few times we have accidently tripped over them and almost fell down the stair well!  Also if you want to sit at the table and shove back the chair a bit, the legs end up knocking over the shoes or sticking inside of them and crooked seating etc.  So we keep a little basket by the door as a catch-all.  It is much safer and easy to pick up all at once for vacuuming underneath. And saves us from a broken neck. 

Batteries:
Before I even start talking about our battery set-up, please take the time to understand most battery systems on RVs by reading these two posts. They really helped us understand when we first started going to multiple battery banks and solar power setup.

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

The 12 volt Side of Life Part 2

Our motorhome has four deep cycle 6 volt batteries hooked in series and in parallel to make a 12 volt system with 220 amp hours each.  This powers the camping portion ''coach'' part of the system.  We also have two larger 12 volt batteries for the driving portion powering the engine and headlights etc. known as the ''chassis'' part of the system. 

We check them monthly for electrolyte level, and only add distilled water.  Twice a year we do a massive overcharge process called ''equalization'' to knock off the sulfate buildup on the plates. Our batteries usually last about 5-6 years and the current set is going on 8 years in February.  Holding on well, so we will see how they go for another year or so? 

Here is how they look and Steve keeps them cleaned up and makes sure there isn't any corrosion buildup on the posts. The whole drawer pulls out (with a bit of ooomph) and he can access most of the area for checking levels.  Some people put on devices to water the cells when they cannot reach the back caps. 

 A while back Steve decided that we should get six batteries for the coach area, when we added more solar to the roof (5 panels at 100 watts each)  So he made this handy dandy rack for back in the engine compartment to move the two driving (chassis) batteries back there.  But...  we never did.  We found we have more than enough power with the four for the coach, so we never used the rack. Yet.

 Here is how our four 6 volt batteries are hooked up....

and how they could be IF we went to six of them. 

We refer to this diagram of our own set up for when we change out the batteries.  Be extra careful to be sure you label each wire and put each wire back correctly. And take photos of your original setup with a cell phone.  One crossed wire can goof up your whole electrical system!  There are sometimes extra small wires that also go on the posts along with the main cables. Be sure you put each wire back exactly as it was or you will be pulling your hair out with problems.

That is it for the three B's on tonight's blog. 

~~~~~~~~

This morning Steve got a nice call from the local Fastenal store in Brillion. Yay! He had ordered a reverse thread screw for his obsolete Craftsman radial mitre saw.  So we hopped in the car to go get it, and he dropped me off at my favorite thrift shop, Hidden Treasures in Brillion.  

I found some treasures! 

 A stained glass candle holder for 75% off. 

 It was only 75 cents! 

Stocked up on Christmas cards, wrapping paper and also more of my silver plated dinner forks for the tools I make and sell.  Now add in a circular knitting needle and a tupperware lettuce keeper WITH the spike inside. (my other one is missing it)  So for only $14.40 I got a whole bag of treasures. 

Steve left after lunch to go help his brother Pete on his new house. Pete's painters had been there to spray the primer and base coat.  Then Steve and a few of Pete's friends and stepson got out all the tools and painted the chosen colors in the rooms. They spent the afternoon and got about halfway done. He said he is going back tomorrow to help finish up. Tonight his shoulders are sore and he is not a fan of painting, but it is nice that he can help out his brother on his dream home. 


While he was gone, I finished up putting away more of the Christmas decorations. I got the village taken down and packed away. I was able to reload the china hutch with my pretty Arcopal dishes. They are nothing more than a cheap type of Corelle made in France. They were carried by Walmart about 30 years ago,  and I bought three sets of 4 place settings each.  So I had 12 place settings.  Over the years, some have broken here and there. I was down to about 9 settings, give or take. I have searched many thrift shops and never found any. The Replacements.com site has them for outrageous prices like they were fine china or something! 

Luckily a few weeks ago I saw sets of 11 more place settings on Ebay being sold by a charity shelter in Colorado. They were teaching people how to photograph, list, sell, pack and ship donated items.  I snapped up all 11 settings so now I have MORE than enough for any family gathering.  I can keep 8 settings in the china hutch and 12 more or so in the kitchen.  And now if one breaks, I won't have a heart attack! 

I also started putting together some blocks on my newest quilt.  The fabric is from Moda called Kansas Troubles.  The pattern is called Log Cabin.  I put together 8 blocks in a row and attached two rows together. I am going to like this one a lot.. it's for ME as a cuddly quilt to have on the livingroom couch for chilly winter evenings. 

Wind chills forcast tonight of 25-30 below... brrrrrr  I do not mind the snow, but this sub zero cold stuff is not fun.  We have the furnace cut down at night to 50 in the house and have an electric mattress pad on the bed to keep us snuggly warm.  And a quilt on top, of course!

Well, time to wrap this up,

 tomorrow will be more B items 

of Motorhome Modifications! 

Motorhome Modifications- BACKUP CAMERA and BATTERIES

To get through the long boring winter, I am going through our Motorhome Modifications from A to Z...   to help make my blog interesting to the RVers who follow me, and not have it only chock full of my fiber items I am working on.   These are items we have done over the last 5 years to our Safari Serengeti motorhome.


The next mod group coming on deck starts with the B's.

First we have Backup Camera!

Our Safari motorhome came with a backup camera already installed in a cute little bumped out part of the back fiberglass cap.  The camera can be accessed through a trap door panel inside a back cabinet over the bed. From time to time we had to remove the panel and clean the inside surface of the plexiglass. Finally one time, Steve realized he could wiggle the plexiglass when cleaning it, plus it was yellowing and showing scratches.... so he removed it completely, got a cut disk of real glass, and ran a bead of silicone around the edge and replaced it.  No more dust and dirt getting in there.

One time a fly got in there, it was like a massive horror movie of the HUGE fly that ate the garage behind us!!!  hahahahahaha

When the camera is activated by flicking a switch in cockpit, it shows through our television screen over the front driver's seat.   It is very helpful when seeing behind the rig when maneuvering around in parking lots or gas stations, because usually little cars scoot around behind you if you are backing up, (when the Tracker Toad is not hooked up)   or if someone tries to steal the space right behind you, not giving you any room to get out again.  arggghhhhh   It's also helpful to me when backing into campsites if Steve is not along outside guiding me.  I like it better than the small add-on dash top models we see in cars.



Even when we replaced the old television sets with new digital/analog ones, the camera connections still worked on the new tv, but just show everything in reverse.  Our new tv does not have a "reverse" mode like some do.   I don't care that the view is flip flopped, just when I see ANY movement back there, I stop and check it out.

When we drive down the highway, it gives us a clear view of the Tracker Toad behind us.  It's called a "Toad" in RV terms... get it? Towed? Toad?  LOL   We tie a white rag to the steering wheel at top dead center so we can see the rag move when turning corners, thus knowing the wheels are tracking properly and turning too.

The reason for being concerned if the wheels are turning is important.   When towing, we need to leave the Tracker ignition key in the ON position so the steering wheel doesn't lock up... and if it accidentally gets left in the OFF position and locks, you can ruin your tires, alignment or possibly even start the toad on fire by dragging the tires down the highway with locked steering!

When we first take off, the camera is on and we check for the rag after the first corner to be sure it's moving around and flips back upright again.  With a dark interior, the white rag really helps us see the steering wheel.

Steve doesn't leave the camera on all the time when he drives, he just flicks it on from time to time to check it. I am usually the one checking it more than he is.  (worry wort)  

The camera switch activates our inverter each time you turn it on, which in turn can draw on the alternator, so Steve doesn't like to leave it on all the time.  (we had replaced 2 alternators already over the first few years before we started leaving the inverter OFF when driving)   We used to keep the inverter on to not only power the camera and the tv, but also at that time my laptop and router too.  Since then we bought DC power cords for those things so we don't normally need the inverter on anymore.

When I drive it, I still leave it on all the time. 
Replacing another alternator is worth the peace of mind for me.






Next up is BATTERIES!

When we bought our rig, it had four brand new 12 volt Interstate coach batteries included in the sale of the rig.  (and 2 chassis batteries for the engine)   That was over five years ago.  One went to heck in the first year, and we had to remove it from the group.  Then two of them were not holding charge as well as they had by the next year.  One of those started bulging out on the case.  We were finally down to one decent battery.  ACK!   Also at that time, our original equipment solar panel installed by Safari was really overcharging the system, and it had NO solar controller anywhere on the system.  It was only an 85 watt panel, but we realized it was boiling out our batteries and causing them to deteriorate.

We added a solar controller to the line, and learned a lot about solar in the process.  At that time we planned an upgrade of more panels as soon as we could afford them--- more on that later when I get to the S modifications ....  We invested in four brand new six volt batteries deep cycle instead of 12 volt ones ... right before our trip to Florida.

We found the best price to be the Werker batteries at Batteries Plus in Green Bay.  Paid $87 each, but that was in 2009.

Caution: there is a difference between true "deep cycle" and what they call "marine" or "dual purpose" batteries.  Do a little research and find out more before getting the wrong ones.

At that time, we really wanted to get Trojan T105 batteries, but we could not afford them right before vacation, nor did any place in Wisconsin even have them in the middle of winter.  They are commonly used in golf carts, and of course in winter, there aren't too many golf cart repair shops even open. LOL We even tried calling a few golf courses, hoping to buy some they might have in stock, but nope, nothing doing in the middle of February.


Here are some helpful diagrams I found when using 2 or 4 of the six volt batteries.

 

 

It doesn't take much to make an RVer's heart warm than a new bank of batteries! 

So pretty, huh?

The frustrating part was when we got home with the batteries, the pull out drawer had grooves for the 12 volt size batteries, and the 6 volt batteries are a tad bit wider.  So on a winter day in February, Steve re-vamped the drawer base with treated lumber to raise them up a bit, and set them into place with screwed in wooden brackets to prevent slipping and sliding.  To top it off he also strapped all around the six batteries to keep them secure. There.. we were "Good To Go" for our trip with all new batteries!

Steve regularly checks the levels of the battery with a hygrometer, and only uses distilled water to top them off.  Our Heart Interface Inverter has a high level cycle called "equalization" to burn the buildup of sulfates off the plates, and he does that on a regular schedule too.  These batteries are holding a charge and operating correctly now.  A year after the new batteries, we added a lot more solar, and a much larger controller, so the system is now effectively powering up our rig for all our boondocking needs.

Someday in the future we will upgrade to Trojans T105's and probably go to six of them.   Steve made a study shelf/bracket to move the two driving batteries into the engine compartment, so there will be more room in the drawer for six Trojans.  But for now, the four Werker batteries are doing just fine.



On a fiber note, last night I was sitting and knitting, getting a lot more socks done and stocked up for my online stores.   I was watching my new favorite show....  called "Revenge" on ABC.  This year's lineup of evening television viewing has not been of any interest to me at all, but this one show is getting good.  I have enjoyed Emily VanCamp's acting since her days on Everwood, and then on Brothers & Sisters, so I have been making a point of watching this one show.   It's either that or PBS, or the old reruns on MEtv like Cheers, Taxi and M*A*S*H.

With no Packer Game this weekend, I think we will have to find some projects to work on.....

Motorhome shocks, backup camera, and fridge prop

Well... update (kinda sorta) on the motorhome shocks.   If you read my other post from Sunday:

Crazy Customer Service when trying to order motorhome parts

you will see that we have been trying to spend some money and get some shocks since May 5.  Today is the 18th.   The not-so-helpful sales guy at the other end of the phone finally promised that his supplier would have the shocks to him by Mon or Tues and then he would ship them on to us toot sweet.  

Welllllll  I wanna go camping this weekend!  

It's already Tuesday, so I figured a call to double check might help.   After being on hold while the same sales guy (by the name of Dan)  he had to call his supplier to double check my order again, he finally came back to me and *said* that the shocks were shipped from his supplier yesterday and would be there at his place today.  And then he in turn would ship them to me overnight to my house and they should arrive by tomorrow.  

WE WILL SEE.  

(and now, watch, I am tempting the Monkey Motorhome Gods by saying they won't be the right ones?!?) 

These Bilstein shocks run in the $120-140 range a piece, and this place has them on a special for $75.75 each with free shipping.   The other guys on the Safari list said it was a good place to buy from.  hmmmmmm?

Now, being the *Cover My Bases* kinda gal, I decided to call a few truck supply places in Green Bay to see what they can do for us, in the event that the shocks do arrive tomorrow and are wrong.    Batting ZERO.... one place suggested their books show a cross reference to a Monroe gas-filled shock for $38 each.  I don't think that is a match??  They said we could bring in our shock and physically match it up, so I think we will send Steveio to work tomorrow with a shock in the car trunk, and he can run over on his lunch hour if need be.

I guess we will see what shows up tomorrow with UPS?  Otherwise I might make Steveio put the old ones back on just so we can go camping.  LOL  One is ok, the other isn't holding firm even after taking it off and adjusting it.   The rig rides fine, we just hear a loose rattly sound when going over some bumps.

If the shocks come, and fit and are good, then I will praise the company and we will order some rear shocks too.  The rears could probably use replacement too, as one seems to have some oil seepage.  Steve is going to have to torch them off because even with 2 weeks of daily squirts of anti-rust spray on them, nothing is budging on the nuts.   The front ones came off easy, so that was half the battle right there.


On to the next thing... our backup camera.    It is housed in a little extruded bump on the rear top cap, with a scratchy plexiglass cover over the opening.  It had yellowed over the years, and really needed to be changed.  Steveio put in a nice piece of strong safety glass, and sealed it in from the inside (accessible from a cabinet in the bedroom)   He used some leftover black butyl tape from when we replaced our window last summer.

 It was a quick repair, but made a big difference on the view~! 

I like using the backup camera when I am doing the driving, especially to keep track of what vehicles are around me.  It's always some stupid little car that is tailgating me and who will inadvertently whip around my right side as I am trying to make a wide turn!  They never seem to see my turn signals either.  At least then then I can prevent damaging my side of my rig because they are impatient or too dumb to know that motorhomes need a wider turn and don't *bend* in the middle.   It happens so often that we learn to drive very defensively and keep track of all motorists around us, even in the rear.



Speaking of the back of the motorhome,  did you see our white tigers? They are right below the camera on the back of the rig.   Jameson was over and doing a little nature walk with his Granfaddah Pfun last weekend.

I have mentioned it before, but the Safari murals are hand painted and airbrushed on individually each personally by the Dame family out in Oregon.  And each one is different and interesting.   Here is a website with more information:   http://www.arcatapet.net/travel/murals.cfm

I am not a tiger fanatic, but it came that way to us, and it's kinda cool.   Often they hide a small animal somewhere on the mural, here is out little mouse.  Makes a great conversation starter in a campground! 

So after Jameson checked out our tigers, he finished his little walk around our yard....  the grape vines are just starting to bud out with tiny leaves, and the lilacs behind are all in full bloom.

The other day on the RVnet forum,   www.rvnet.com , someone was asking about ordering a fancy replacement lever device for keeping their RV fridge door propped open when not in use.   I mentioned we used folded up dishtowels.  I happened to snap a pic this morning when I was in the motorhome taking the photos of the television, so here is a handy RV Hint for the Day:  

  

Well, the sun is shining here, and the sweet baby Chelsea is here for the afternoon.  Might take her out on a nature walk around the yard too.  Never too young to start them enjoying the woods????

.