Mods/Upgrades while waiting out social distancing . Please share yours.

rcuomo

DenisP- thanks. Should have been more specific, first trip of 2020. Our original reservation at a county park was cancelled in April. Fortunately NYS opened the state parks on the 1st so our reservation in Montauk wasn’t cancelled!

DenisP

@rcuomo Good luck on your first of the season. After receiving my second cancellation yesterday from Mass DOR, it looks like state camping in Massachusetts is unlikely as they restructure for Covid 19 precautions. Maine is still under 14 day quarantine for “outastaters”, NH is for instate residents only.... We cancelled our epic trip for the early fall which we would have visited the last 12 states of the lower 48 in our 400. Just have to wait and see if any thing opens up within our comfort range in the new normal.

[Deleted User]

I didn't go crazy with mine, just a few simple things that will help our lives...

Trash can near the kitchen will be more practical than besides the toilet.



Camp chairs hold in place while travelling.




Maxxair cover for rainy days, spare tire cover to protect from sun damages and poop tube carrier to keep the storage bay clean and smelling good!

rh5555

We discovered the hard way that Pahaque visors are incompatible with rain or wind.  In the rain, they absorb enough water to get heavy and collapse under their own weight; in the wind they flop around and break their fiberglass poles.  Do not expect any sympathy from the Teardrop Shop or Pahaque - they are not interested.

We modified the support system by adding 2 half-inch grommets in the tie-down loop, and using a pair of tarp support telescoping poles to make the edge of the visor stable in both wind and rain.  (We normally stake the guy lines down, but that was a little difficult on my concrete driveway)!

If you're looking for replacement poles, these folks have a superior product and sell replacement ferrules that fit the existing poles better (less sloppy) than the original equipment.

DenisP

@rh5555 I love your grommet solution. 
I had watched a YouTube with a Pahaque visor/awning for an RPod which had support poles which attached at the outer edge and terminated on the lower keder rail.  Since watching the youtube it has been on my future to do list.  Thanks for the mod.

ChrisFix

This isn't a full blown 'mod', but thought this might be a good place to share the particulars. 
Added a 2" latex topper to my new T@B 400 in preparation for our first outing to the mountains of NC next week.
Already have one of these on a bed in our house and know how comfortable it is. I ordered the Queen size and cut the width down by 3". The length is standard Queen and fits perfectly. Really like the one piece surface it provides, as well as the additional support and comfort. Latex is a great sleeping surface and this topper pairs very well with the factory cushions and froli system.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UYG9WBS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

dutsmiller

Added switches for the TV and Radio.  I'd bought the materials prior to taking exact electrical measurements and wanted to share some interesting information that may have caused me to skip half the project had I taken them before purchasing.

The TV seems very frugal when in standby.  When you first plug it in, there is a 0.15-0.20amp draw but after 5-10 seconds, it settles down to 0.01amp.  I questioned whether or not to put a switch on it but since I had everything there, i just went ahead with it.

The Radio was more interesting.  When you first plug it in (or switch the battery disconnect), the power drain settles down to a 0.2-0.25 amp draw.  When you turn it on it spikes up to varying levels depending on use of DVD, speakers, etc. which is expected.  However, what I didn't expect, was that when I turned the power off, it settled down to a 0.08amp draw. (1/3 of what it used when it was initially powered).  I repeated this test several times with the same results.  It could be that had I never powered the unit on/off, it would have eventually reached the lower power state, admittedly I never waited very long to find out.  I'd be curios for someone else to test to see if they get similar results.  Maybe for those who rarely use the radio, they could save 0.15amps just by powering it on/off after the throwing the battery disconnect switch.

Marceline

Makes no sense that the clamshell fridge has a black front, so I covered it in Reflectix. 

rh5555

@dutsmiller - interesting observation about the radio power.  I, too, installed a switch for the radio based on the observed 0.22A current draw.  I didn't try turning the radio on and off again.  When I do that, the current drops to 0.09A - similar to your observation.  You've hit on something quite important.  Users should cycle the power on their radios after (re)connecting the batteries to save a considerable drain.

ColleenD2

My brother built us these awesome  custom boxes for the front but he didn’t drill any holes and he didn’t give me anyway to attach it. Can anyone give me advice on the best way to do this? We aren’t handy but I can go to a store. I was initially thinking of 2 or 4 u-bolts per box from the inside and the stick out parts would be on the outside/underside and maybe rubber washers to keep water from coming in. I really have no idea so any help would be appreciated.  Our first trip is planned for the week after Fourth of July but we are dewinterizing and doing maintenance this weekend. Thanks!

DenisP

@ColleenD2 very cool boxes indeed. I am sure others will weight in as there are more than one way to attach them. I would drill holes and attach with stainless steel bolts, washers and elastic stop nuts or lock washers and regular nuts. 

pthomas745

@DenisP @ColleenD2, I have roughly the same boxes.  They were attached exactly how DenisP described.  Just measure out the position of the screws before you drill, so you don't wind up putting a hole in the box directly above a hole in the platform. 

ontheroad

@ColleenD2 ...hubby and I can't commit to drilling thru our plano boxes so we're still strapping them with some strapping..someday we'll bolt them..

ColleenD2

Is there a way to avoid drilling into the T@B platform? That makes me nervous.

VictoriaP

ColleenD2 said:

Is there a way to avoid drilling into the T@B platform? That makes me nervous.

Colleen, I bolted my ActionPackers to the platform through the existing platform holes using two bolts per bin with oversized rubber and metal fender washers both inside the bin and beneath the platform. I drilled only the bins, not the platform.

As my bins are likely lighter than yours and are very lightly filled, I’d suggest you use at least four bolts per bin and locking nuts, plus following any others recs provided by people here. (Because I’m definitely not an engineer!)

Marceline

ColleenD2 said:

Is there a way to avoid drilling into the T@B platform? That makes me nervous.

Aren't there already holes in the platform?

ColleenD2

yes, there are holes, big holes. Lol. So I took Victoria’s advice and got some Fender Washers. Hopefully that will do that trick. 

Denny16

Fender washers will work nicely.  Most of the pressure will be lateral, so go with 3/8ths bolts to better take any shear force from a fast 🛑 stop.
cheers

DougH

Currently finishing up a fridge drawer modeled after the one @GeoMars did a couple years ago.

1. Top left (pic 1) is after the dealership yanked out the Norcold 3-way that went kaput, they capped the propane line and sealed the front and side vents.  I've got an ancient Dometic in there from my last few trips, but it wasn't that efficient (not Danfoss compressor).  And (gasp) I had to bend over to get stuff out of the fridge.  Unacceptable!
2. Here (pic 2) I've framed the old fridge area for drawer slides, opened back up the right vent, put in a blocking plate and a better fan, run the power into a thermostatic relay.  12V DC has been run to two switches on far right of pic tucked out of the way behind screen door... one to turn off the power to fan and thermostat board, and the other for the new fridge.
3. The top shelf of the new setup is a slide out cutting board and prep area. I couldn't find a real 3/4" butcher block that wide (24") and that deep (16") so just used a 3/4" slab of baltic birch
4. Next drawer down on Blum undermounts is the ICECO 20.  Air intake is right rear and right front of drawer.  Exhaust is sealed and goes out side of drawer to the area in pic 2 and then out through the exhaust fan when needed. The ICECO has a separate freezer and fridge and can be controlled (turned on/off, setpoints for both sides) or monitored from the car via Bluetooth.
5. Below the fridge is another 6" drawer for more storage. Likely will be for food and espresso prep stuff.
6. And the bottom flip out is stock except the face was re-routered to match the drawers above.  I used an amber shellac and lots of sanding, but there's a faint charcoal / peach / whitewash color tone to the other cabinets that I haven't quite been able to match yet. The amber shellac color adds more of a pure honey yellow tone to the birch. I may end up refinishing the other cabinets with a diluted amber to get them all to match.

Now I just need to add three tiny child locks to keep the soft close drawers locked in place when on the road.

Denny16

A nice job, it came out grand looking and better functionality.
cheers

VictoriaP

@DougH Looks terrific! Perhaps drop a line to nuCamp to find out what they used to finish the original cabinetry? The color stayed fairly consistent through 2019, so I’d imagine whatever product they used is still on the market. I’d be interested to know myself.

DougH

@Denny16 @VictoriaP Thanks, I was following in someone else's footsteps:

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/6556/replaced-norcold-3-way-with-efficient-ac-dc-electric-fridge/p1

It sure is nice though to have weeks to gradually do projects, what with campgrounds only just now starting to open back up.

jkjenn

Looks great, Doug!

DougH

As @VictoriaP suggested, I sent a request to tech @ nüCamp to get the shellac / stain color, or make sure I can order a small can from my dealer. What I used was a little light / little too yellow.  Easy enough to re-sand fronts and apply what they send me.  Or just wait until the right side gets dirty or ages so it matches better...

I'll share whatever they tell me.

VictoriaP

DougH said:

As @VictoriaP suggested, I sent a request to tech @ nüCamp to get the shellac / stain color, or make sure I can order a small can from my dealer. What I used was a little light / little too yellow.  Easy enough to re-sand fronts and apply what they send me.  Or just wait until the right side gets dirty so it matches better...

I'll share whatever they tell me.

Even with the slight mismatch, it looks GOOD. Can’t express how insanely jealous I am, this is just too far beyond my DIY skills to contemplate.

DougH

VictoriaP said:
Can’t express how insanely jealous I am, this is just too far beyond my DIY skills to contemplate.

In my case there's no DIY skills; just a few hand tools (sadly no table saw or any of those neat jigs to make life simple). But we can all try and copy what we see real craftspersons do on YouTube. I had to watch a dozen vids (some more than once) on installing the weird Blum undermount drawer slides, before trying it. I have no idea how anybody ever did anything before YT came along.

ChrisFix

@DougH
" I have no idea how anybody ever did anything before YT came along."
Isn't that the truth!!

ScottG

I know I should be working on changing the Alde glycol, but woodworking is just so much more fun than maintenance...

Once in camp, certain "essential" items tend to take up permanent residence on the already cramped counter. To help tame the chaos, I installed a vertical shelving unit to keep this stuff organized and out of the way.

Denny16

Very nicely done.
cheers

Sharon_is_SAM

Nice work Scott!