So I finally took delivery of my Salem 27RKSS this week, and have a few things needed to get it ready for our trip next weekend.
I've been reading about mounting TV's, and it all seems pretty straight forward. Find the sticker, check for backer, and mount.
My main question, is this one is set up for a 42" TV in the living room, and I will mount a smaller one in the bedroom. I have not attempted to peek inside of the walls to see what kind of backer is actually used in my trailer (I've heard anything from 1/4" to 2" thickness). Is there a standard for a weight I should be trying to stay under? I will be going LCD to help with that aspect, but mounting a 19" TV is quite a bit different then a 42" if we are talking about 1/4" thick walls.
Do I just trust the manufacturer and mount away? Should I install my own backer board (not even sure how you would even get 'into' the walls to do this), or should I consider mounting an external backer to the actual studs in the walls? I just don't want to mess something up in my new camper!
As long as I'm asking - whats the general rule for traveling? TV's removed? I was planning on getting locking mounts - but would like to leave the TV mounted if possible.
Thanks for you help, and here's a picture! By the way, when did they do away with the whole model number/length correlation? My old camper was a 24RB (and actually 24 feet). This one I thought was 3 feet longer... boy was I wrong. Its actually 12 feet longer and now won't fit in my designated parking spot I had.
I've been reading about mounting TV's, and it all seems pretty straight forward. Find the sticker, check for backer, and mount.
My main question, is this one is set up for a 42" TV in the living room, and I will mount a smaller one in the bedroom. I have not attempted to peek inside of the walls to see what kind of backer is actually used in my trailer (I've heard anything from 1/4" to 2" thickness). Is there a standard for a weight I should be trying to stay under? I will be going LCD to help with that aspect, but mounting a 19" TV is quite a bit different then a 42" if we are talking about 1/4" thick walls.
Do I just trust the manufacturer and mount away? Should I install my own backer board (not even sure how you would even get 'into' the walls to do this), or should I consider mounting an external backer to the actual studs in the walls? I just don't want to mess something up in my new camper!
As long as I'm asking - whats the general rule for traveling? TV's removed? I was planning on getting locking mounts - but would like to leave the TV mounted if possible.
Thanks for you help, and here's a picture! By the way, when did they do away with the whole model number/length correlation? My old camper was a 24RB (and actually 24 feet). This one I thought was 3 feet longer... boy was I wrong. Its actually 12 feet longer and now won't fit in my designated parking spot I had.
In my previous camper, I mounted the bar style mount on the wall. I could not find any "studs" to mount, so I used a large glob of Liquid Nails behind this board, and then used my air gun and ran several small needle size nails to hold it in place while the glue dried. Then, it was just a matter of attaching the bar to the board with some good wood screws.
I chose this mount so it the television could easily be removed and laid on the bed during transport.
When we got our current trailer, I took the bar off and of course the television went into the new camper. Because there was a label in the bed room, I simply tapped on the wall to make sure there was a good backing behind it. Actually, knowing where I thought the bar should be mounted, I then took a hammer and a finishing nail and partly nailed the finishing nail into the wall to be sure there was indeed backing behind the wall paneling. When I found the edges of the backer board, I felt comfortable to mount the bar with just plain old wood screws.
And again, when we are in transport, we simply lift the television off and lay it on the bed. It takes about 30 seconds to plug it back in and attach the antenna wire.
First trailer with the bar:
Back of television with the hooks that go over the bar. We never clamped it down. It always just hung, so it would remove easy.
When we got the current camper, I removed the bar and the television and put it in the bedroom. Again, we remove it when in transit:
We have a television in the living room and after about a year it started behaving badly. We couldn't keep a signal (antenna) and it drove us nuts. We eventually got a new television to replace it. The old television went into our bedroom in our house and it's worked perfectly fine ever since.
I finally figured out why we had so much trouble with it after about a year in the camper. All the bouncing (being at the end of the trailer), caused the coax wire attached to the television, to literally break the connection where the coax wire connects to the television. It wasn't the plastic holding it in place, it was the bouncing and slight movement of the plastic that broke something in the connection. If I wiggled it, the signal could come in and then would go out again.
In the bed room, it's mounted to the wall (same bar) but it doesn't flake-in-and-out with the signal any more, because the wire never moves. It's worked great in the bedroom of the house since it doesn't bounce the connection around any more.
Meanwhile, we got another television for the living room, and I ended up putting another bar (quick disconnect) on the lift for the television with the hooks permanently attached to the television. When we travel, we remove this one too and lay it on the bed. Lower the cabinet and it's worked perfectly fine ever since. (4 years now).
Because we never travel with the televisions actually attached to the wall, we never have to worry about the weight on the wall either. The wall will hold the weight, it's the bouncing that will destroy everything.
I chose this mount so it the television could easily be removed and laid on the bed during transport.
When we got our current trailer, I took the bar off and of course the television went into the new camper. Because there was a label in the bed room, I simply tapped on the wall to make sure there was a good backing behind it. Actually, knowing where I thought the bar should be mounted, I then took a hammer and a finishing nail and partly nailed the finishing nail into the wall to be sure there was indeed backing behind the wall paneling. When I found the edges of the backer board, I felt comfortable to mount the bar with just plain old wood screws.
And again, when we are in transport, we simply lift the television off and lay it on the bed. It takes about 30 seconds to plug it back in and attach the antenna wire.
First trailer with the bar:
Back of television with the hooks that go over the bar. We never clamped it down. It always just hung, so it would remove easy.
When we got the current camper, I removed the bar and the television and put it in the bedroom. Again, we remove it when in transit:
We have a television in the living room and after about a year it started behaving badly. We couldn't keep a signal (antenna) and it drove us nuts. We eventually got a new television to replace it. The old television went into our bedroom in our house and it's worked perfectly fine ever since.
I finally figured out why we had so much trouble with it after about a year in the camper. All the bouncing (being at the end of the trailer), caused the coax wire attached to the television, to literally break the connection where the coax wire connects to the television. It wasn't the plastic holding it in place, it was the bouncing and slight movement of the plastic that broke something in the connection. If I wiggled it, the signal could come in and then would go out again.
In the bed room, it's mounted to the wall (same bar) but it doesn't flake-in-and-out with the signal any more, because the wire never moves. It's worked great in the bedroom of the house since it doesn't bounce the connection around any more.
Meanwhile, we got another television for the living room, and I ended up putting another bar (quick disconnect) on the lift for the television with the hooks permanently attached to the television. When we travel, we remove this one too and lay it on the bed. Lower the cabinet and it's worked perfectly fine ever since. (4 years now).
Because we never travel with the televisions actually attached to the wall, we never have to worry about the weight on the wall either. The wall will hold the weight, it's the bouncing that will destroy everything.
