Replacing Old TV

[mabynack]

I have a 15 year old Everest FW with an old style TV. I'm thinking about replacing the TV and DVD player with a flat screen and Blue Ray. The TV is currently mounted in a large opening in a cabinet.

The question is, has anyone done this replacement before? I'm trying to figure out the best way to physically support the TV. I would like to put it in the same spot, but I will need to build some time of frame to support it. It needs to be fairly sturdy to support a 60-100 pound TV as I bounce down the road.

Pictures of how you did it would be very helpful.

[mabynack]

Thanks. I was looking at my rig last night trying to see if there's another place to mount the TV and I can't see any other options. I have an Everest. The TV is about 25 inches and it's in a recess over the fireplace. I'm going to be limited to something that's a similar size to the old one. I'm concerned about the appearance of any modifications and the structural limitations of the existing cabinet.

[wa8yxm]

I did a short and simple mod but plan on doing more later (I like the one with teh DVD/CD storage racks behind the TV, in fact a variation on that is my plan)

I removed the wood trim and measured the opening
I found a Flat Screen the precise same width at a pawn shop, no remote (Turns out I almsot had a remote for it, all but one function, and the full remote cost me 10 bucks on E-bay)

I then removed the old super heavy CRT job (NOTE This is a 2 man job on my RV) and put the flat up and measured..(Temp mount) removed it and then knocked the bottom out of the compartment. Cut the sides so the bottom now lays FLAT instead of slanted. re-attached the bottom (did a bit of other work to make it look good)

I no longer bang head
There is room BELOW the TV for other electronic devices (They will get there, ,,, eventually) and room behind for storage, I need to rig a hinged door however Do not know if I'll use gas shocks or what on the door, I want it to fold UP.

I covered the remaining gap with some black "Gorilla" tape (Chosen for color and finish. From wehre I'm sitting, Watching the TV as I type. Looks like it was that way from teh factory.> Oh, I also cut down and re-installed the wood trim.

[tenbear]

Here is a link to a post I made several years ago when I replaced my old CRT TV with a new LED TV.

Hope it helps.

Link

[westend]

The articulating screen wall mounts are very good. I bought one that has tilt. That may be a concern or not, depending on location.

[mabynack]

Big Katuna wrote:
Shop by size, too. A 32" inch tv can have side speakers, bottom speakers or speakers in the rear; all of which change the height and width by inches. There are also some that have very little trim around the screen.

Shop online and look under specs to determine outside dimensions.

Thanks. I plan on taking my tape measure to the local base exchange and measuring carefully before I buy.

There's not a lot of material around the edge of the cabinet to mount anything to, so mounting it to the top or bottom of the cabinet is a good suggestion.

[Big_Katuna]

Shop by size, too. A 32" inch tv can have side speakers, bottom speakers or speakers in the rear; all of which change the height and width by inches. There are also some that have very little trim around the screen.

Shop online and look under specs to determine outside dimensions.

[MrWizard]

Your new tv will weight about 1/4 of the old one
It will not come any where close to what you think
A 60" tv which will not fit in the old space only weights about 40#
Maybe less

[Johno02]

Many people use a wall mount of some type, for various reasons. In my limited experience,(3 installs so far), I like to use the mounting stand that comes with the TB to support the weight (20 or less pounds) on the cabinet floor, and then stabilize it with a strap or whatever. On all three of the ones I have installed, the base leg extended in front of the actual tv, which keeps it from falling forward in normal use. to solve this problem, I just took a saw and cut off the front part of the base, then drilled a couple of holes toward the back and screwed the base to the cabinet floor. A little foam padding to keep it steady, and its done.

[mabynack]

BB_TX - That's exactly what I was looking for. I plan on mounting a sound bar under the TV and needed some way to mount the TV. Your modification looks very sturdy and will work well for what I'm doing.

I appreciate your help.

[djousma]

SoundGuy wrote:

mabynack wrote:
It needs to be fairly sturdy to support a 60-100 pound TV as I bounce down the road.

Good grief, how large a TV are you planning on?! :E Modern flat screen TVs are far lighter than their CRT predecssors ... out of curiosity I just weighed a 32" LCD TV I have here in the house and including the stand it measured 21.4 lbs.

The biggest issue wont be the weight, but more of properly installing a bracket if you intend on "hanging" the TV. There isn't a lot to anchor to, so finding stud, etc is the biggest chore. If you plan on just setting it in the location, then if it were me, I'd pull it out, and lay it flat on the bed while travelling.

[BB_TX]

I replaced my old TV several years ago with a Samsung 32" LED TV. Don't remember the weight, but not very heavy. The new TV is quite a bit wider than the old one. But they are so thin, mounting them outside the cabinet is no problem. Easiest way is to just install a piece of plywood in the cabinet opening and get a wall mount to attach the TV to the plywood. I went a bit overboard on mine, but you can see how well the thin TVs mount outside the cabinet.

Before



The opening



Cabinet insert I made



Insert installed



Complete



I did put a narrow shelf under it for additional support and use velcro strips (not visible in this pic) to secure it while traveling. The velcro strips are attached behind the TV and I can pull them out and stretch them across the TV.

[mabynack]

DutchmenSport wrote:
We just purchased a 32 inch LG flat screen for a replacement for the original television that came with the camper when new. The new television can't more than 10 pounds (if that much).

Our original was mounted into a rack that lifted up and down from the top of a floor cabinet. I removed it and put a flat hook mount (removable) on the back of the television, and mounted the wall part on the frame that moves up and down.

Now, we can remove the television completely and lay it on the bed when traveling so it won't bounce so much. It just hooks on the frame and done! (plug it in of course). It's so light weight, it's extremely easy to move around. I feel lot better with it not bouncing around at the end of a 35 foot trailer!

We ended up getting a sound bar for it too. I couldn't tap into the original sound system - radio, so just got a sound bar. WORKS FABULOUS!

What's even nicer, the television can easily be lifted off and taken outside if we want to, brought in the house in the winter if we want to, or easily move it around.

It's the best of all worlds now.

My plan is to replace the surround sound with a sound bar. I priced a replacement for the receiver with the integrated surround sound and blu ray and it was ridiculous. I'm just going to use the sound bar and a blu ray player. The total cost of the swap will be less than $500.

[DutchmenSport]

We just purchased a 32 inch LG flat screen for a replacement for the original television that came with the camper when new. The new television can't more than 10 pounds (if that much).

Our original was mounted into a rack that lifted up and down from the top of a floor cabinet. I removed it and put a flat hook mount (removable) on the back of the television, and mounted the wall part on the frame that moves up and down.

Now, we can remove the television completely and lay it on the bed when traveling so it won't bounce so much. It just hooks on the frame and done! (plug it in of course). It's so light weight, it's extremely easy to move around. I feel lot better with it not bouncing around at the end of a 35 foot trailer!

We ended up getting a sound bar for it too. I couldn't tap into the original sound system - radio, so just got a sound bar. WORKS FABULOUS!

What's even nicer, the television can easily be lifted off and taken outside if we want to, brought in the house in the winter if we want to, or easily move it around.

It's the best of all worlds now.

[mabynack]

SoundGuy wrote:

mabynack wrote:
It needs to be fairly sturdy to support a 60-100 pound TV as I bounce down the road.

Good grief, how large a TV are you planning on?! :E Modern flat screen TVs are far lighter than their CRT predecssors ... out of curiosity I just weighed a 32" LCD TV I have here in the house and including the stand it measured 21.4 lbs.

Mine is going to be a about 32 inches. I knew the were lighter than the older ones, but I didn't realize there was that big a difference.