FordmanNJ's Build /mod thread

[FordmanNJ]

Hello GDRVOG!

I had a pretty busy weekend and not much time to get up to the trailer. There are days in which I wish my trailer was closer or at home. I could have done a few things here and there without the loss of time. However such is life. But this morning I had a few hours to spare. I went up to the trailer to make a final check on things before next weekend since this is when we will be opening the trailer for the 2019 camping season. I was able to make a check the unit inside and out. It was in the expected condition I was looking for. No issues. My uncle joined my trip to the storage lot since he had not seen the new trailer in person. He really liked the layout.

I went about replacing the drain plug with a drain off hose for the water heater. It would be nice to replace the decals inside of the WH that were removed from a few of the water drains of the tank. However, this way it is a bit more convenient to drain off since I had an extension tube for my old water heater in which I forgot to grab when we traded in the old unit. I used a 1/2 inch NPT NSF 61 Nylon 6-6 nipple, 1/2" F NIP X 16 inch faucet line and 1/2 inch 1/4 turn ball valve with the original plug on the end for good measure. This piece drops far enough away from the trailer to drain without damaging anything on or around the heater itself. The plastic nipple creates a location in which there are no metal reactions between the Aluminum and another metal like brass or copper. Those would create a corrosive condition causing the tank (most likely) to fail around the thread port. Enough science more camping LOL.





Also I got to test the propane monitors. The unit seems pretty functional now. It might have required some time to establish the connection between the monitor and the sensors. When I first got into the trailer, I pushed the button and it read just like that. So I's a little more hopeful the system will work and hopefully work well.

The start of the camping season for us is next weekend. Hoping for a simple dewinterizing experience and quick camping set up. Next up is getting my propane extension line rebuilt for use with my grill.

[315RLTSinPA]

You say plastic nipple. I hope it's not the gray plastic. It needs to be nylon. Plastic will get soft when it gets hot and the pressure will blow the nipple out. Ask me how I know?

[FordmanNJ]

You say plastic nipple. I hope it's not the gray plastic. It needs to be nylon. Plastic will get soft when it gets hot and the pressure will blow the nipple out. Ask me how I know?

I have a feeling there is a good story that revolves around this?

It is Grey in color but that's it. It is a Nylon 6-6. It is rated up to 230 degrees F and down to -5 degrees F. Working Pressure is 200 PSI. NSF 61 drinking water safe too. I had to buy them in a 5/pk. When I purchasing the parts I knew I had to get Nylon because I found a few threads on the subject for water heaters in RVs and in general. So I researched the items that had a proper ratings. I have a feeling if this part fails, I might have bigger problems like the tank taking off through the wall of the RV. Anyway, I have gone ahead and clarified the part in question to a more specific specification for the general viewing public. Thank you for the questioning of the piece itself.

[315RLTSinPA]

Yeah, when I first did this mod about 10 years ago, I used a plastic nipple. Heard a loud pop and water running. Good thing I was right there. The water heater was on electric. I got it turned off before all the water drained out or it would've burned out the electric element. I still keep a new nylon drain plug in the toolbox, just in case.

[FordmanNJ]

Yeah, when I first did this mod about 10 years ago, I used a plastic nipple. Heard a loud pop and water running. Good thing I was right there. The water heater was on electric. I got it turned off before all the water drained out or it would've burned out the electric element. I still keep a new nylon drain plug in the toolbox, just in case.

That sounds like a stroke of crappy luck and good fortune of being in the right spot at the time. Lesson learned.

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[FordmanNJ]

I got my propane extension line cut down and crimped today. I had a 20 foot pol to 1/4 NPT line but never worked out with the old trailer. However I found an adapter to connect the BBQ to this gas line. So I went to a local welding supply and they made a 2 foot pigtail for the Pol side and added a 1/4 NPT male.The other side got a 1/4"Female NPT. So all I need to add a QD with on off. This is on order with Amazon. Total cost to have the line cut, crimped,and the ends I needed was 10 bucks which I couldn't beat. Now I will have an extended gas connection for the BBQ using rear gas coupler. Now the question is do I join the Blackstone cult. The Coleman Road trip has been a solid unit since we got it in 2011.

I added pictures to further explain what I had done.

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[FordmanNJ]

First trip out this weekend. I got to use all the new goodies. I made my comments in the levelmate pro thread. I had some connection issues. Don't know what to make of it until some further testing. However, the drain valve worked perfect for the requirement. I got to use the propane extension for the grill. I purchased an adapter for the Coleman grill. Now I can use on board gas instead of lugging another tank with me. the propane monitors worked perfect. I wanted to see how well they were doing both phone and small display. No issues.

Next weekend I am trying to make another camping weekend so I can sanitize the water system. Spring cleaning of the trailer. I want to remove some dead weight in the pass thru. Giving the tanks a good flushing. I ran out of time this weekend while camping. I also want to make my way around the trailer for some basic owner's maintenance like seal checks, lubing rails, spot caulking any thing that needs it. Otherwise first weekend de-winterizing was pretty successful. We didn't have on site water just electric. I was able to flush the lines out at water fill station since no one was there at the time. It took all of 10 minutes if that. I still detect some A/F smell but not as strong as it was before.

[FordmanNJ]

At the trailer today for a few minutes. After adjusting the Levelmate Pro and a few other things, I decided to tackle the relocation of the wire from the display to the EMS. I originally had the wire on the outside of the wall. I didn't like it. So I fished the wall which is pretty easy to do on this model. 13/32 drill bit did the trick behind the display box. So now it looks cleaner in the closet.

I'm thinking about adding a voltage display in the area of the command panel so I keep an eye on the 12 volt side of the rig. This is another mod for down the road.

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[FordmanNJ]

Hello GDRVOG!

After the last camping trip and now a future long distance trip for us to the Outer Banks, a TV was installed into the bedroom when cable is available to us. Total cost was very reasonable since I used a gift card to make all purchases. Here we go...

Parts used to make this mod happen

ONN Small Tilting TV Wall Mount for 13-32 inch TVs



Insignia 32inch 720P LED HDTV



I picked the mount since it was inexpensive and was flat wall mounting. The TV was picked due to its weight and simple. It is a very little 9 pounds. The mount can handle up to 25 pounds but I thought about the mass of the TV while in travel. Also I didn't opt for a smart TV. Most of the time we do not have cable hook up. A smart TV would also tax any campground Wifi or hot spot if used. This TV was light and had a regular old fashioned remote control. Reviews said the sound was OK but picture was good. If anything I could down load some videos or something and play them through the USB input.

Seriously the hard part of this project was both locating the stud to mount the wall bracket on to the wall. The width of the space was 36 inches from frame of the door to the wardrobe. The stud turned out to be 16 inches from the frame of the wardrobe. A high tech device known as the knuckle was used to detect the stud which helped out. Instead of using the lag screws in the TV mount kit I used 3 #10 X 1 1/2 inch self boring wood screws I have in my spare parts box. Luckily there were a few extra washers in there to distribute the weight of screw going in to the wood and wall plus give it a little extra space so it would not find its way into the bathroom cabinet. My father being a joker, he went into the bathroom cabinet to check the wall. He proceeded to say stop your going though the wall! I knew the screws shouldn't be long enough but I stopped just in case. I walked turned into the bathroom only for my father to be having a good chuckle. Yeah the help was a comedian. The TV side of the bracket was even simpler as the M4 screws that came with the mount worked perfectly with the TV's VESA mounting holes.

The next hardest part was cable management. The power cord on this LED TV is physically attached to the TV from the bottom. The cable input comes off the bottom as well. Other ports for component are bottom and the rest of the inputs such as HDMI are on the side. The power cord is about 6 feet long. In the picture, the power outlet is above the TV on the ceiling. So is the cable jack for the TV. From the previous trailer, I carried over a couple of the cable wires which I made from extra quad shielded cable leftover from a cabling project at home. These too were about 6 feet long. So after debating what to do, my father said just keep it on the long side in case you need to dismount off the wall or something of that nature. I saw the logic in that. I proceeded connect the cable to the TV while he held it up for me before mounting it on the wall. I wound up coiling the wires a couple of times around the mount and it worked out perfect for connection at the ceiling. Then I noticed another issue with the way the TV was mounted to the wall. A simple fix was performed using a couple of sections of the Styrofoam from the TV packaging and a couple of pieces of command strips to the back of the TV. These 2 pieces of foam provide extra support between the wall and the TV making it less likely to move and bounce around. We gave it a good shake and it was much more sturdier too. Unfortunately, I didn't have my generator with me so I was not able to give it a power up and test but I think it will be good.

Here is the result.





It is off-centered to the right facing the TV. This is due to the stud. The "TV mounting" sticker was to the left of the stud on my trailer. I made the TV about the same height as the top of the door as well with the mount pitched down towards the bed. My thoughts were to try to keep it tall enough so I didn't hit it when walking by. That is my side of the bedroom in the trailer.

Enjoy everyone. I hope this helps the next person looking to install a bedroom TV. Hopefully I gave you some helpful advice or suggestions for your project if you come across this build thread.

[FordmanNJ]

Hello GDRVOG!

Not much to report as everything has been well smooth with the trailer. I finally found a more permanent home for the Levelmate Pro. The final location is in the front overhead storage along the driver's side wall. Since the experimenting of places to put it, I have gotten the best results in that spot.

The reservations about the LP monitors were put to rest. They work great. I love the fact I can check it from my phone with ease.

The bedroom TV gets used and all parties in the front bedroom agree it was good idea to install one there.

There is was an engineering request put in by the wife during our weekend trips over July. She asked if I could fix the faucet in the kitchen so it's cold water in the front and hot was in the back. A simple flip of the hoses did the trick. However, the SS braided line colors do not match the supply line colors. A bit of colored E tape will handled that for future needs. Also I learned my wife keeps a ton of stuff under the sink and yet it's organized.

The first long trip has been a success. The new trailer did well with a trip to the Outer Banks, NC. All the upgrades we did to the trailer and having the ease of set up made it that much better. There a few more trips planned for the rest of the year. We are planning another long weekend trip for later this year. It will be the latest we have camped in the year outside of Florida. (We did a 2 week stay at Fort Wilderness in 2014. My wife and daughter flew in and out due to school. I drove down and back. I came back around mid November and I winterized down there.) We usually close up by 31st of October. Winterized and all. So we will see how that goes. Need to get those reservations in and the work time off on the calendar.

I do not know what the next upgrades to the trailer will be... We got this sucker pretty well set up and you know, it is pretty freakin' sweet!