Motorhome Audio Visual Cabinet Modifications

A Couple Smart A/V Cabinet Mods 
 from www.damonrapozo.com

Vent Me! 

Here are a couple of really smart quick modifications shared at Damon Rapozo's website to consider making to the AV cabinets, living room and bedroom, if your satellite receiver sits on top of the stack (living room) or by itself (bedroom).

Remove the AV cabinet door and black fascia surround all your components. 

Cut out the area of black fascia above the satellite receiver. 

If you are looking at the fascia you have a hole cut for your receiver, simply follow the two existing vertical cuts on each side and go straight up through the top edge.

This creates a vent for the hot air in the top of the AV cabinet to escape.

Next router off the top back horizontal corner of the cabinet door, stay in an inch or two on the ends so you cannot see the cut when viewing the sides of the cabinet door.

By doing this you create a gap between the cabinet door and AV cabinet frame when the door is closed. 

If done properly this section of the cabinet door being removed is not visible when the door is closed.

This gap combined with the section of fascia removed allows the hot air to escape, or if the fan is running it acts as a cold air return. 

 www.damonrapozo.com


*Sherry's Note: Premier RV of Oregon is a great service center for modifications such as this. www.premierrvservices.com

Motorhome Lug Nuts Maintenance

Lug Nuts--we may not think of those first when we think coach maintenance... Nonetheless, the reminder below is valuable (as shared many years ago by Brian Keys, a former Country Coach employee and motorhome expert).

Nothing Worse Than Loose Lug Nuts

Lug nuts should be checked periodically to ensure they are tight. On the rear duals, this will require loosening the outer lug nuts one at a time to check that the inner nut is secure before retightening the outer nut and moving on to the next one. 

Lug nuts generally don't come loose if they have been tightened correctly the first time, and it is here that the following advice is valuable for both your coach and tow vehicle...Use a torque wrench. 

How many times have you seen lug nuts tightened without a torque wrench? More often than not probably, but this practice applies uneven pressure to the brake drum or disc that is sandwiched between your wheel and the hub.  You probably won't notice this as much on the coach as you will on the tow car where a pulsing brake pedal is a sure sign of a warped disc. The advice does hold true, however, in both cases.

Now go check those lug nuts!

 

Is it OK to leave my Motorcoach Inverter On?

JOHN DAVIS of JDRV Services addresses a Motorcoach Owner's Question:

Is it OK to leave my inverter on all the time?

A: Yes you may, BUT, let's talk about what an inverter does and why. An inverter uses a transformer system to create an alternating current sine wave in order to operate 120 volt appliances.

So... if you are inverting 120 volts from 12 volt batteries guess how long it will take for them to go dead. “Not long" (it will vary depending on the age and quantity of batteries you have). Try to think about your inverter this way and see if it helps:  It’s 3 am and you just pulled in to that RV Park. It's raining like the dickens outside and it’s too late to run your gen set. Yet you would like a cup of hot cocoa and some TV to wind down after a long day’s drive. Well you're in luck. You have an inverter to run the TV, VCR, satellite, microwave, or coffee pot, no problem. BUT, remember you need to put this power that you are taking out tonight back in in the morning.

Plug in or run the gen set for a minimum 1 hour for every 4 hours you used the inverter last night. This will help to make sure you never have a dead battery due to inverter use. Now for those full timers who hate to reset your clocks every time you unplug to move; if you are full timers and are plugged in more than not, leave your inverter on, it won’t hurt a thing. In fact it is a good thing because it will monitor your batteries and help them last longer provided you maintain the water level. But that is a subject for a later bulletin, (let's leave it at; check battery water level every 30 days).Don’t be afraid of your inverter use. Enjoy it...you paid for it

--John Davis, JDRV INC of LaPine OR