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2Rad4U's avatar
2Rad4U
Explorer III
Jun 03, 2007

Cool Mods - Thread restored 10/18/2012

My daughter was getting a little warm in her bunk during our last camping trip, so I decided to put her a fan in to keep the air flowing.

I had been wanting to add a 12-volt fan to the main living area anyway, so I decided to tackle both jobs today. A trip to Wal-Mart for two fans($8.48 each) and we're halfway there.

She picked the spot, and I got to work -



I picked up the power from her overhead light. All I have left is to install a short piece of wire cover and I'm done -



I added one in the main area -



I dropped by Lowe's and found this cool soap dispenser. I also just installed these Pop-a-Toothbrush holders -



I added a sopa dispenser to the kitchen area as well. I also installed a Pop-a-Napkin under the radio -



Here's an easy mod. I found this over the door towel rack at Walmart and it works great -

  • opnspaces's avatar
    opnspaces
    Navigator II
    Dec 24, 2023

    I'm 6'5" tall (195cm).  When I bought my trailer back in 2005 I had to look for a bit to find a model that allowed me to walk around indoors without having to duck. My 2005 Jayco fit that bill almost perfectly with the exception of a light over the dinette. That light has a spike on the end of it and that spike manages to catch me on the top of the head from time to time. Finally after 18 years of head banging I went on Amazon and found a replacement.

    Below is the light with the spike over the dinette.

    And below is my new LED light. I can now move around in my trailer without having to remember to duck to avoid the spike.

    Link  to the light on Amazon.

     

  • cdberry72's avatar
    cdberry72
    Explorer
    May 12, 2023
    I've come across some glow stuff that has been a perfect energy saver for my dry camping, cutting down on my need for the solar load and the amp draw. Stuff is amazing and lasts all night to keep the trailer lit for finding in the dark. No need to switch on the LED exteriors any more. Found it while I was poking around Amazon for some stuff for cutting energy consumption. No kidding, the stuff glows all night!
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW728N74?ref=myi_title_dp
  • deadticket8's avatar
    deadticket8
    Explorer
    Mar 10, 2023
    I saw a nice mod, do not remember where but hoping. It was a sliding or rolling shelf that ran across the dinette slideout near the window. It could be slid(rolled?) out to near edge of table and used for counterspace. It was actually in a horseshoe dinette. The poster did not describe hardware used. I thought it was very useful!
  • Yellerledbetty's avatar
    Yellerledbetty
    Explorer
    May 30, 2021
    Hi All,

    Have a 2014 OutdoorsRV BlackRock Travel Trailer (external link to images below) and I am looking to remove the 'shirt ward' from above the rear 'Standard Double Bed' and expand the 'Combo OHD Bunk w/ pads' to allow for both our young-ish kids to sleep up there. I have the carpentry skills to DIY this but looking for some thoughts.

    Ideally I'd like to retain the hinged OHD feature - bunk currently hinges between OHD storage and lay-flat bunk - but expand that storage and sleeping capacity by moving the plane of that hinge to (approximately) the front face of the 'pantry' so it would fold flat for a full-sized bunk (same dimensions s the queen below it) while providing some additional volume to the OHD feature.

    I don't anticipate a big issue with removing the 'shirt ward' and would really only have to ensure I secure framing to whatever 'studs' would be further out along that pantry wall at the toe of the bed and similarly in the shared wall of the bathroom along the right side of the sleeping area. I dont expect that I would need to install 'vertical supports' for the portion of the expanded bunk - the length spanning between the pantry and bathroom walls if I build it w/ sufficiently robust dimensional lumber.

    Perhaps the removal of the 'shirt ward' could also facilitate the simultaneous use of the single-bunk being + OHD feature byway of having a removable door (or secured-open) that one of the kids could crawl through and use w/o having to un-pin the vertical divider and flatten it out.

    Thanks for any tips or links you might have!
    I hope the link to the images works - I have not had luck in posting links via the upload-tool noted by another member.

    https://www.rangitschbrosrv.com/inventory-slideshow/index.php?id=856&rv_title=2014+OUTDOORS+RV+BLACK+ROCK+17B

    Regards,

    Bri@n
  • TerryLowe's avatar
    TerryLowe
    Explorer
    May 16, 2021
    Houston Remodeler wrote:
    Our 2015 Starcraft TT came with the factory 6 gallon hot water heater (HWH) with the usual "feels like 9 gallons" claim. Y'all know the drill; No washing dishes while showering, Quick showers, spacing the showers to let the HWH make more hot water.... I shopped for factory made RV gas fired on demand HWH and found they run about $1200 and had to be professionally installed. I am too cheap thrifty to spend two grand for hot water.

    Then I had another McGyver moment - why not add our existing Ecco Temp 5 On demand hot water heater to the TT to have endless hot water?

    The new install works excellently. Last weekend we hosted 12 people showering (they are in tents) with no want for hot water all weekend. They did have to bring their own towels.

    What we did-

    1- Install a diverter tee to the stock incoming cold water supply pipe just before the stock HWH. This tee sends the cold water supply either to the on demand or to the stock heater, making the mod reversible.
    2- Installed another (regular) tee just after the diverter tee to bring the water back from the on demand. Since the diverter tee will not allow backflow, the second tee doesn't need to be special.
    3- Ran pex from the tees to the on demand heater at the rear of the TT, which hangs on the outside ladder, keeping the heater a few inches away from the trailer siding.
    4- At the ends of the pipes outside are self shut off, brass, hose style quick connect fittings. These fittings also act as valves, preventing backflow, pipe drainage, and makes the mod reversible.
    5- We made jumper hoses from the quick connect fittings to and from the on demand.
    6- The on demand uses a typical 20 pound LP (high pressure) tank which also serves our outdoor fire pit. The TT has low pressure LP so we can't use the TT gas to run the on demand.
    7- To keep the wind from blowing out the flame* on the on demand and add a rain shield, I installed a typical galvanized, off the shelf from home depot, 4x10" rectangle to 4" round galvanized duct, topped with a class B roof cap. These caps are designed to prevent pilot blow out. Our weekend was very windy and we had zero problems.
    8- Dis-assembly is as simple as the quick connects for the 2 water hoses and the LP to the portable tank. We toss the whole thing in the rear storage compartment on the same corner.
    9- To keep the fittings on the outside / underside of the TT clean, there is a short jumper hose which replaces the on demand while the TT is in transport or storage. It loops around the nearby bumper to keep it from sagging or pinching.

    Counting the heater itself, we spent $286

    The on demand is excellent at bringing hose water up to a much higher temperature and acts as a pre-heater to the stock HWH. The factory HWH is excellent at topping off the temperature to nearly scalding, which is how I like my showers. Use of cold water was necessary as we had endless, more-than-hot-enough water to take showers as long and as many as needed. There were times when people were in line using the shower one after another. We washed dishes at the same time. Everyone was happy.

    *The Ecco Temp LP HWH's are battery powered, self igniting flame when they sense water flowing. However, when its windy, the flame can be blown out, shutting down the water heating but not the water flow. To restart the flame, either the water needs to be stopped and re-started OR the unit turned off and back on by means of the rocker switch on the bottom of the HWH. Thus the attention to wind is important as you're in the shower nekkid when the unit is running. This usually is a really bad time for the HWH to stop working. The addition of the HVAC adapter and the B vent cap eliminated the fear of the flame being blown out.


    Good idea! Is it still working for you?
  • deltabravo's avatar
    deltabravo
    Nomad
    Feb 22, 2021
    fabiusgabriello wrote:
    corrugated hose in mobile systems, which serves to remove hot exhaust air outside an RV through a window or openings in the wall.


    Those portable A/C units are sort of useless for an RV application. For all the hot exhaust air that's blown out of the RV, an equal amount of hot outside air needs to be drawn in from the outside.

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