things I am thinking of adding..

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
We all have things that we have done to our units and things we are thinking of doing.
Heres my list

Things done
120 volt meter permenently installed
12 volt meter from Harbour Freight

things I wish to do

amp meter to measure amps out of the batteries
surge protector, permently installed
house type water pressure regular then a high pressure food grade hose that is 30ft long (25 feet is always 5 feet to short) to be installed behind the docking staion
change around the docking station to put the phone and TV inputs above the water inlets
What are your upgrades??
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
All good ideas Rand, would you put the hose on some kind of retractable reel? I have considered moving the water fill below the jacks and moving the 110v weather tight box to outside on the side of the rig......I still need to rig up the catalytic to the propane, when I fix the gas line I tore up with the flat I will T into it.............
 

ct0218

Well-known member
Seems we think alike. I have the 12V and 120V meters installed, and I keep a Fluke amp meter in the rig. I haven't had any major problems with the water connections above phone and cable, etc., but I have to be careful. I have a household pressure regulator at the faucet after a 2 ft section of hose, then quick connects at the regulator and on the other end at the water filter. The filter is mounted in the docking station, and connected with the water system with another very short section of hose. Convenient, and hookup is easy. I have an autoformer hooked up in the basement. The CG it stays in for now has some low power problems, and this setup prevents theft of a $550 investment. The bathroom lighting was inadequate according to Gail, so I had to add a fixture to keep her happy. The recessed lights looked nice, but were of little actual use where they were mountd over the lavatory. I added mid-ship bright turn indicators on both sides (where the side marker light was mounted). I had fun running the extra wire for that. I looked for LED indicators, but couldn't find what I wanted at the time. I replaced the stereo receiver with a much more powerful A/V receiver unit, and have the sat. and dvd running thru it. Added the window awning to match the main awning, and it helps a lot. All i have left on my first list is a surge protector. Still checking on those. Gail just requested some type of slideout system in the cabinet on the right side of the entertainment center. She uses that as an additional pantry since we lost the pantry with the 12 cu ft side by side fridge. Not sure if that was a good idea or not, but Gail likes the larger fridge. Before we head out to AK next year I'll probably change to a pair of 6V batteries. My 12V was almost dry when I checked it a month after we purchased the Mt. Rushmore, so it is not in good shape.
 

davebennington

Senior Member
You all have some of the same ideas as my wife and myself. I have installed a flip up counter for the wife, a rear view camera for the both of us (so I don't back over her), I got tired of lifting the battreries out to check them so I build a new slideout battery box (makes checking them alot easier) install a wall between the storage compartment and the furnance to keep the heat where it belongs.

Dave
 

ct0218

Well-known member
Dave, that is something I forgot to mention. I bought a battery fill system from CW, no need to pull the batteries out and check the acid level. Just squeeze the bulb until its firm. I have a weekly reminder on the computer to top them off. And, I have a wall between the furnace and storage area. The only opening was for the two ducts to feed the front, and I sealed around those. I can't imagine putting one in after afterwards! Tight.
 

ChopperBill

Well-known member
ct0218 said:
Dave, that is something I forgot to mention. I bought a battery fill system from CW, no need to pull the batteries out and check the acid level. Just squeeze the bulb until its firm. I have a weekly reminder on the computer to top them off. And, I have a wall between the furnace and storage area. The only opening was for the two ducts to feed the front, and I sealed around those. I can't imagine putting one in after afterwards! Tight.

Wow! If you have to check your batteries weekly you may have a charging problem. Are they really low or is it just your maintenance drill? I check mine about 4 times a year and rarely do they need any water.
 

davebennington

Senior Member
ChopperBill,
I don't check them weekly I just check them on a regular schedule The slide system makes for and easy access to check and/or change them out.

ct0218,
Yes, the wall was a bear to install would not want to do again.
 

sailorand

Past British Columbia Chapter Leader
Uncle Rog, I had not thought about the reel for the hose.. hmmm...
Clark I have 4 6 volt golf cart batteries and I went 5 days in Quartzsite this year. It was cold there and we used the furnace quite a bit. We put in a Cat heater to help after that.
I will put in 2 floresent lights also. one in the LR and one over the kitchen sink. DW neads more light for her sewing as see uses the sink area for her cutting area.
 

ct0218

Well-known member
My converter is the 9100 series I believe, and does not have the built in charging regulator that the new series has. While I'm not boiling away a lot of water, there is some loss and it takes a couple of squeezes every week. A weekly schedule makes it easy to remember. I think it is overcharging some, but it might also be due to the battery condition after that water shortage early on. Just haven't had time to analyze it yet since I'm around the fifth wheel very little, and Gail is of no help in that area. Since it is immobile for the time being it is not important, just trying to nurse it along as long as I can, and by next spring I'll be replacing it with the dual setup.
 

ct0218

Well-known member
I have one, but it doesn't work. It appears that one of the pins on the converter is recessed and apparently not making contact. I would have to disconnect and remove it, take the cover off, and try to repair that pin. Seems like there was 3 pin connectors on the plug. Just haven't had time to crawl in there and attempt it. I am in Tallahassee for another day, but I have to leave early afternoon Wednesday for a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. Not sure how much time I'll have to devote to it. Priorities, you know. As a side note, my incoming 50 amp service connects to a box next to the converter, and it has 2 reset buttons on top. I often trip one of those 120V legs, never any breakers in the panel. Anyone know the purpose of the resets? Maybe I have an unbalanced load, but tripping out the reset a couple of times a week is getting old.
 

ct0218

Well-known member
Still can't get that little Charge Wizard to work, tried everything but no light. Also, The box with the resets is a generator overcurrent protector. I'm not using a generator so I bypassed that and it seems to help with the voltage drop. The wire gauge dropped a lot going from the incoming service to the breakers and back to the wire going to the 120V service panel. That drop in wire gauge could have significantly increased the resistance, and some of my problems. Time will tell. I may have bought a bad Charge Wizard, not sure. I guess the only way to know is to buy another one!
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Clark,

You may get some grief from Camping World on replacing the Charge Wizard but perhaps Progressive Dynamics will swap it for you. I just read on their site that the converter carries a 2 year warranty. Maybe they can swap it all out :)

Jim
 

katkens

Founding Illinios Chapter Leader-retired
ct0218 said:
Still can't get that little Charge Wizard to work, tried everything but no light. Also, The box with the resets is a generator overcurrent protector. I'm not using a generator so I bypassed that and it seems to help with the voltage drop. The wire gauge dropped a lot going from the incoming service to the breakers and back to the wire going to the 120V service panel. That drop in wire gauge could have significantly increased the resistance, and some of my problems. Time will tell. I may have bought a bad Charge Wizard, not sure. I guess the only way to know is to buy another one!
Maybe take a hammer to that Charge Wizard, only kidding.:) I'm sure your the only one I have heard of that had a Wizard that was bad after purchase, not saying not possible. Maybe a prong bent on the male side? They are the best money spent for battery care, hope you find the problem. Ken
 

Uncle Rog

Well-known member
Weather Station

Howdy, when out in the sage brush it is nice to know what the weather is going to do. I invested in a clock / thermometer / barometer at HD for 30$. It has a remote sensor to track outside temps. I thought it was kind of a novelty item. In Nov it predicted rain / wind in Death Valley. We put up chairs,tables etc, pretty much packed up. In the morning it was windy and rainy.......some people had their stuff blown away and / or soaked..
I don't think I will hard mount the units but I will always have a ubit on the rig now.......UR
 

ziggy

Retired Oregon HOC
I was wondering if one of those things would be worthwhile. We have a remote temp. sensor at home and were going to put one on the trailer, but maybe the weather station would be better.

I was also thinking we should put on some kind of surge protector, especially since we'll both be using computers from time to time to work while we travel. We can't afford one of the $800 models right now. Would one of the ones that goes between the CG power station and the trailer do for now until we can do one of the permanent mount ones?
 

nhunter

Well-known member
I saw a dandy at Wally world for $90cdn. Had 24 tracking and made a 5 day estimate, wind speed, temp.
 
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