MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS - *P* is Powered Windshield Shade (MCD) and Happy Anniversary

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few 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, we are up to the letter P now!

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER P

Powered Windshield Shade:

There is a line of powered window shades made by :    MCD Innovations   You can get either the solo shade, or a dual shade configuration with a day/night design of two layers.  We only wanted the solo shade in the heavy room darkening vinyl.  

It has always bugged me to see rumpled curtains drawn across the front of lovely sleek stylish motorhome. See what I mean, in the windshield of our rig?  And that is after hanging there a while.  They are worse when first unstrapped from being pulled back while driving.  See these wrinkly fabric curtains? 

We got ahold of a mis-ordered one from King's Campers in Wausau. It was in their clearance section because it was too wide for the person who ordered it. Our rig is called a "wide body" compared to many other motorhomes.  This MCD was being close-out priced at $85.00.  Regular price is $395.00 not including installation. We snapped it up! 

The first steps were to remove the old curtains and tracks.  Also we had to remove my slide out laptop desk, as it had to be relocated backward a few inches for the final drop area of the powered shade. We set it aside for a bit until we were done with the shade installation.

Next was to install the clips that hold the powered shade into place...  we had a great recessed area between the cabinets and the padded vinyl windshield surround on the inside.   When the shade is in it's fully UP position, you don't even see it. 

There... all snapped up into place.  

Next step is to run the power wire down the side post (hiding it behind the padding) to hook up to a hot line under the dash. Then he had to drill out a hole in the dash and mount a DPDT toggle switch.  This is just a momentary switch to power the shade either up or down by pushing on it.  It is a center OFF and momentary in either direction for the up and down wires.  We chose to install this kind of switch, so it will not to be left "on" where it will burn out the motor.  I was nervous about Steve drilling into the plastic dash, but it went well and he fished the wires down, around and into place. 

After a test--- it worked GREAT! 

We used the online directions to set the lowest and highest settings and the increments in between using the "learning mode" with a tiny pin that you use at the motor up in the corner of the roller. It was awkward reaching up in the corner of the window, over the steering wheel and the dash.  We finally got it all set up the way we wanted it. 

We repositioned the desk unit so the shade could drop fully down to the dash, by moving it about 2 inches towards the seat and over to the left a tiny bit so Steve could see out the lower portion of the side mirror.  My passenger seat is adjustable so it really didn't change the distance between my seat and the desk.  

My laptop with a GPS dongle, my tablet and my phone all sit inside of here.

 It all rolls out on a little tray when in use.

The shade can come down all of the way:

or just part way to use as a long sun-visor:

This is much nicer instead of the two small fold down visors that come standard on the rig.  How often does the sun go down and it just happens be positioned between those two small visors?  Then you have to lean over to drive--- at least until the sun either sets, or you turn a corner and drive in a different direction? LOL 

Soooo step one is done.  

The big MCD shade is in place and it functions. 

Now for the side windows---- 

I didn't want to have to pull those wrinkly curtains 

out even part-way to cover the side windows. 

I tore them OUT!   

Steveio thought:  What about installing regular room darkening window shades on each side window?   Off we went to town and picked up two heavy room darkening Levelor window blinds, 46 inches long. On sale, $10.00 each. 

We mounted in the hardware and hung the rollers.  It was a tight fit, and we had to remove the two curtain stuffing boxes on each side of the cockpit seats to install the rollers.  We don't need to stuff a curtain in them anymore, but we did have to reinstall those boxes because there were light fixtures mounted on them for the livingroom area.  If we took them off, the wall underneath was ugly and you could see those mounting holes.  

See? The curtains used to stuff between the white wall piece and the black window frame.  Now the side roller shades fit back into that same spaces. 

The front brackets of the roller shades butt up pretty close to the main cross large powered shade. It was a tight fit! But we wanted them as close as we could get.

Snugged up tight out of the way on each side of the motorhome.

Once the roller shades were up, I took a pic.  It's kinda showing a lot of light coming in the tiny gap between the side and front shades.  But it was a strange picture taking situation, with the dark interior the camera kept focusing on the light coming in the slits.  It really is very close, not a huge gap letting in light.  This was really dark inside, so I turned on the inside lights to snap the pic. 

The left side and right side:

P.S. ON EDIT

since those upper pics were taken, 

we cut down the tv cabinet, 

and made it flush

the other cabinets. 

We moved a flat screen tv to a bracket on the side wall instead.

No more "head banger cabinet" over the driver's seat. 

So the final result from the exterior is just what we were looking for.

No more wrinkly fabric curtains! 

~~~~~~~~

Lazy Sunday morning.  We made a leisurely breakfast and hung around the house doing a few little projects today.  This afternoon was still sunny but cold, so we took a walk for a couple miles with the dogs.  Most of the snow is melted again, but more is due tonight or tomorrow. They said maybe "flurries" so who knows?  The dogs enjoyed the outing, and we got some fresh air.  So glad I can walk a couple miles again, compared to January and February when I was down and out with pneumonia. 

The dogs were happy with Daylight Savings Time, because it meant that they got their food an hour EARLIER than usual.....  for some stupid reason I was thinking they would be fed an hour later. But no, that is in the fall when we "fall back" an hour.   

And I would like to close this off with a loving

  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY 

to my Mom and Lyle down in Florida!  

She said they celebrated with a day at the beach with a picnic lunch. 

Awwwww! 

It was one year ago today they said their vows to each other on the little dock on the pond in their backyard.  How adorable!  They are enjoying their senior years together and keep busy with the church, helping with the food pantry, and getting out and about and having some fun!

They are planning a road trip up to see us in early May,

so we are excited to see them again.  

Yapping online each day in our little facebook messenger chat is fun,

but it's good to see them in person soon! 

MOTORHOME MODIFICATION- Our new powered windshield shade

Last weekend, fellow Safari owners, Mel and Paula stopped to see us on their way north.  They had just bought and installed a nifty item, a powered windshield shade.   They had bought it on a special deal from King's Campers in Wausau as leftover overstock.  They said there was ONE more left, so we called and got it held for us.

They are made by :    MCD Innovations   You can get either the solo shade, or a dual shade with a day/night design of two layers.  We only wanted the solo shade in the heavy room darkening vinyl.

It has always bugged me to see rumpled curtains drawn across the front of lovely sleek stylish motorhome. See what I mean, in the windshield of our rig?  And that is after hanging there a while.  They are worse when first unstrapped from being pulled back while driving.

Our last motorhome, a Coachmen, had a nice pleated shade that held it's shape, and I had considered ordering one in the future for our Safari.  But the cost was about $300 to have one custom made and shipped.   The alternative like Mel and Paula's was being close-out priced at $85.

The first steps were to remove the old curtains and tracks.  Also we had to remove my slide out laptop desk, as it had to be relocated forward a few inches for the final drop area of the powered shade.

Next was to install the clips that hold the powered shade into place...  we had a great recessed area between the cabinets and the padded vinyl windshield surround on the inside.   When the shade is in it's fully UP position, you don't even see it. 

There... all snapped up into place.  

Next step is to drill out a hole in the dash and mount a DPDT toggle switch.  This is just a momentary switch to power the shade either up or down by pushing on it.  It is a center OFF and momentary in either direction for the up and down wires.  We chose to install this kind of switch, so it will not to be left on where it will burn out the motor.   I was nervous about Steve drilling into the plastic dash, but it went well and he fished the wires down, around and into place. 

After a test--- it worked GREAT! 

We repositioned the desk unit so the shade could drop fully down to the dash, by moving it about 2 inches forward and reinstalling it.  My seat is adjustable so it really didn't change the distance between my seat and the desk.  My laptop sits inside of here and it rolls out on a little tray when in use.

The shade can come down all of the way, or just part way as a long sun-visor instead of the two small ones that come standard on the rig.  How often does the sun go down between those small visors and you have to lean over to drive or see something till the sun either sets, or you turn a corner and drive in a different direction? LOL 

Soooo step one is done.  Now for the side windows----   

Mel and Paula had chosen to put up flexible fold up window blind units that can stow away when not in use.   But Steveio thought:  What about regular room darkening window shades on each side window?   Off we went to town and picked up two heavy room darkening Levelor window blinds, 46 inchs long. 

We mounted in the hardware and hung the rollers.  It was a tight fit, and we had to remove the two boxes on each side of the cockpit seats to install the rollers.  We had to reinstall those boxes because there were light fixtures mounted on them for the livingroom area.  Once that was done, I took a pic.  It's kinda showing a lot of light coming in the tiny gap between the side and front shades.  But it was a strange picture taking situation, with the dark interior the camera kept focusing on the light coming in the slits.  It really is very close, not a huge gap letting in light.  This was really dark inside, so I turned on the inside lights to snap the pic. 

The left side and right side

So the final result from the exterior is just what we were looking for:

My next blog will be the new power outlets Steveio is installing next to our kitchen table area.  (Mel and Paula did this too)   Steve is putting in a 120 Vac outlet for running items off the inverter.  He is also installing a 12volt outlet in that area, mid coach, for plugging in our tire pressure monitor base.  We are adding four more sensors for the toad (tow Tracker vehicle) and by moving the 12 volt base back further, we may eliminate the need for a repeater.   We will see.   Plus having the new outlets located there will allow us to use the computer at the table or in the recliner chair without stretching power cords all over. 

Does anyone wanna buy a set of windshield curtains?

.