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Ivylog's avatar
Ivylog
Explorer III
Jan 24, 2017

DIY install of a LED TV.

Helped my brother remove the boat anchor crt TV from his MH. Went to Sams and found a marked down 39" Vizio smart TV for $172 which would fit between the cabinets on either side of the box for the old one. The new one had feet at either end of the screen so pivoting from the bottom to get to the new storage area looked promising.

Removed the two legs and bought two 2" strap hinges that with some wooden shims to make them fit tightly would serve as the pivots to lay the TV down... was able to use the same screws to hold them that held the feet in. Fastened the other ends to the alum cross brace at the bottom of the box and put a 10lb snap catch at the top to hold the TV closed/upright.

Will post pictures later.
One of the two feet that the TV sits on.


Was able to use the hole at the end of hinge and had to drill one hole in the center of the hinge for the second screw than used to hold the foot in.


Used part of the strap that held the crt boat anchor in to hold the TV level when open. Need to buy some plastic storage boxes of the correct size for the new storage area that is 18" deep and 30" wide.


Was able to use the wooden frame from around the face of the box to fill in the hole at the top.
Class A
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Jan 28, 2017
    When on shore power and watching TV the source of power is not an issue. Most of the time when I'm off grid, I'm on sat Tv as over the air does not work. I have never seen a sat receiver that works on 12V so having a TV that works on 12v is not going to help much plus I have never seen a big LED TV that has a 12V power converter... has a 12V input. I would not limit my choices of big TVs to those that work on 12v IF you can find one.

    Now that I have a home refer with its own power system I keep my sat DVR and TV powered by it so it will record shows and not go through it's 10 minutes powering up cycle.

    *I tried that on a small TV that required 16V... it would play the sound but not the picture so make sure it is 12V.
  • jspringator's avatar
    jspringator
    Explorer
    Jan 28, 2017
    It doesn't look like it is useful for you, but amazon has several adapters that up the DC voltage so the TVs work. I use this 32 inch Samsung with adapter.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TWFHCLE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TWFHCLE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    This adapter from 12 to 19 volts. I had to get them to ship me additional ends.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCNDST2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCNDST2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • D_E_Bishop's avatar
    D_E_Bishop
    Explorer
    Aug 25, 2018
    I think that the strap hinge idea is brilliant. To support your thought that the TV is not going to open, I have the bedroom TV on a articulating arm and tight enough at the pivot points that I did not put a catch on it at all.

    My cabinets up front are steel, covered with a molded plastic bezel, I really want to cut about 6" off the bottom and build an matching oak bezel. It is simple to do but very messy, cutting the heavy gauge steel would require the use of my 4.5" angle grinder.

    The only problem I have run into has been with the angle of viewing in the bedroom. I had to shim the base of the mount so that the TV points down quite a bit. I made some temporary sliding cabinet doors to fill the hole behind the bedroom TV and it has ended up being my wiping rag storage. Too high for the DW to get into.

    Great sawdust making.

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