Handy Hints, Gadgets, Products & Gizmos

[GizmosMom]

Another member suggested a new forum section with new products but it doesn't look like it will be feasible. So I thought I would post this here under General RVing Issues. If enough people post (even if you have mentioned it before in another post) we can keep it near the top?

Do you have a handy hint, a new product or an old product that makes your RVing or Camping much better?

(Sorry, no commercial advertising allowed)

I'll start:

Someone in the Camping Van posted a reference to using a Super-Chamois to wipe down their shower. I have been using an icky old thick sponge and I like the chamois idea so much more.

Now I want to hear what works for you

[JimBollman]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

JimBollman wrote:
I have used one that ones run off 2 D cells for several years now. I find that if you slide a thin piece of plastic into the battery contacts to turn it off when you turn the frig off the batteries are good for a whole season, got two years out of the last set. Not worth all the hassle wiring in a fan for the cost of 2 D cells every year or so.

It does help.

All what hassle? It took less than 10 minutes to hook up my wired double fan to the light power source in my Norcold. No hassles with remembering to slip little plastic things into the battery contacts either. :B

Dutch

Sorry, I should have mentioned My frig does not have a light so I would have to feed power in from somewhere outside.

I did mount 3 fans on the coils outside the frig to help in the cooling. They are connected to a temperature switch so the fans are disabled when the coils are cool (frig off). I added a switch in series so I can turn them off when I really don't need them (cool days/evening). I have it setup so I can run on one or all 3, depending on need and how much I'm trying to conserve battery.

Jim...

[popeye59]

My fan was scavenged out of an uninterpretable power supply that was being thrown out at work. You can get them at any place that sells computer components. Took me about 10 minutes to install mine but it took longer than I first anticipated as I soldered it in.

[Dutch_12078]

JimBollman wrote:
I have used one that ones run off 2 D cells for several years now. I find that if you slide a thin piece of plastic into the battery contacts to turn it off when you turn the frig off the batteries are good for a whole season, got two years out of the last set. Not worth all the hassle wiring in a fan for the cost of 2 D cells every year or so.

It does help.

All what hassle? It took less than 10 minutes to hook up my wired double fan to the light power source in my Norcold. No hassles with remembering to slip little plastic things into the battery contacts either. :B

Dutch

[JimBollman]

I have used one that ones run off 2 D cells for several years now. I find that if you slide a thin piece of plastic into the battery contacts to turn it off when you turn the frig off the batteries are good for a whole season, got two years out of the last set. Not worth all the hassle wiring in a fan for the cost of 2 D cells every year or so.

It does help.

I did one more thing to help circulation, my wife is always cramming to much in the frig so the air could not circulate, I cut the top and bottom out of a couple of plastic bottles and keep one on each shelf as a spacer so there is a path for the air.

Jim...

[Gnarly]

Our fridge fan is not as nice as the double one pictured above,but it is only about 3" square,moves a lot of air with very little power draw,and cost $6.95 delivered,from eBay.

~Gnarly

[paulb4333]

It seems that there's always something to do under the coach or under the toad...and it's tough to slide under there.

After scraping around in the dirt, gravel and cement, I finally came up with a way that makes working under there MUCH easier. I got a 1/4" sheet of melamine, the shiny white coated stuff at Home Depot or Lowes and cut a strip to the size of my biggest compartment.
You wouldn't believe how easy it is to slide under now as the melamine is slick.It weighs almost nothing and fits in the bottom of the compartment so really takes no space.

Wish I had thought of this earlier. Would have saved some scrapes, ruined shirts and lots of aggravation.

Paul

[tvman44]

Got mine from a place that sells computer parts, pd about 4 or 5 dollars. They do run on 12 Vdc.

[jagco]

Where can these fans be purchased? I assume they run on 12vdc.

Edit: Referring to the pnes with the cord running down the wall. I can see where the ones from the original post can be purchased.

[popeye59]

Same here. As long as the fridge is turned on, the fan runs. I've thought about adding a switch inside to be able to turn off the fan while keeping the fridge on while boondocking but haven't done that and now I've converted all the lights to LED's so that will help.

[Dutch_12078]

purdum wrote:
How is the power switched on to the fan. Is it a switch you have remember to turn off.

My similar fan setup runs continuously when the fridge is powered on. Switching to "Storage" mode turns it off. My dual fan is mounted directly on the fins, and does a good job of keeping them frost free, as well as maintaining a more uniform temp throughout the fridge.

[purdum]

How is the power switched on to the fan. Is it a switch you have remember to turn off.

[tvman44]

I installed this inside our fridge 2 years ago.

Inside Fan

[popeye59]

I at first tried to double side tape the fan to the wall inside the fridge but it couldn't draw air. I placed it in the drip tray with some of the double sided tape to hold it up. This set up works very well for us and now with all lights replaced with LED's I'm not worried about the extra battery draw from it.

[Jeanne_M]

I too agree with the 'inside' fan for the refrigerator. We've since had the problem fixed that was causing our refrigerator to run on the warmer side...but by putting a fan on the inside, it truly helped the fridge stay cooler until we could get it fixed. That fan saved a bunch of our food!

Even tho the fridge has been repaired, I still keep the fan going. And I even keep a spare just in case. FYI..those batteries last a long time, believe it or not! But hooking up an electric fan sounds like the way to go! Thanks for the idea!

[knock]

Here's another idea that I have yet to implement. Tightly mount an approximately 18" long piece of cord (thin but strong) to the ceiling of the RV right over where your head is when you are in the cab-over bed. Slip your laptop's screen between the ceiling and cord so it rests at the hinge of the screen and keyboard. The keyboard will hang down vertically so you can access it as you lay flat on your back looking up at the screen.

Some laptops, especially the mini's even have enough hinge resistance to allow you to close up the laptop when you are ready to close your eyes.

This simple idea came to me while using my laptop in bed, and was inspired by an invention by one of my college prof's. It is called the Unidesk; an "upside down desk" which uses similar strapping to allow books to be held in place. Giving credit, his name was Dr. Richard Stapleton and here is his website. http://richardstapleton.com/unidesk.htm

This idea or some sort of different mounting method would also work great with an iPad or Kindle or other tablet computer with a touch screen.