August 2017 – Full Time RV Living Blog

During August, our second month in the new 5th wheel, we continued to make tweaks, took a trip to San Antonio where we stayed at Traveler’s World RV Resort (shown in the picture above), and made a couple of repairs…..

Too much light in here – Home made blackout curtains

Our RV came with faux wood venetian blinds in the dining and living room areas and pleated pull-down shades everywhere else. The pleated blinds are ok, but do tend to allow light in to the bedroom, particularly when the sun rises in the morning. This was a problem for Amber, as it caused her to wake up early.

We purchased fabric which closely matches the rest of the décor in the RV, also blackout fabric and set about making simple curtain panels. Self-adhesive Velcro strips were used to attach the panels to the window valences, making the bedroom and other areas much darker.

Making blackout curtains

Keyless entry – RV Lock

We have seen several full time RVers on YouTube change out their regular RV door locks for the RV Lock keyless entry system and liked the idea of having one ourselves. As well as the convenience, RV Locks also provide improved security.

I stumbled across a good discount coupon code and decided to buy. The model we purchased was the RV Lock V4.0 with integrated keypad.

Installation was quick and easy, 6 screws held the old lock and strike plate in place, similarly 6 screws were also used to secure the RV Lock V4.0. There is also an electrical connection inside between the front and rear body of the lock.

Finally a key code was programmed for the lock and the key fob remote programmed. We are enjoying using the lock, the only improvement I could suggest would be to supply it with two key fob remotes.

RV Lock V4.0 Installation

Hanging out – Self adhesive hooks

In our previous blog we solved some storage issue with various baskets, we now focused on increasing storage with hooks for dish towels, keys, fly swatter, duster and other things. I didn’t want to buy the cheap looking plastic type, but I did find stainless steel ones online which look much better. So far we have them at the ends of the kitchen island and by the entrance. I have a few left, which I’ll find homes for over time.

Stainless steel self-adhesive hooks on the end of the kitchen island

Desk too cramped – Sliding shelf added

The desk in my office was cramped with my monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse all on one level. The mouse was also too high up and uncomfortable to use.

I remembered that I had parts of an old computer desk left over from when we moved out of the house, the drop bracket sliders would be perfect to hold a sliding shelf for the keyboard and mouse.

I found a melamine shelf at Home Depot which closely matches the wood in our RV, was exactly the right size and only cost around $5.

I am very happy with the results after installation, this is how the desk should have been from the beginning.

Desk before and after addition of a shelf

I can’t get no – Stereo separation

Our RV has a Jensen three zone stereo system. Zones A and B are inside speakers and zone C is the outside speakers.

The way the interior speakers were wired up made no sense to me, if I sat on a recliner facing the TV I had zone A to my left and zone be to my right. In other words I had a left and right speaker to my left and a left and right speaker to my right which gave no stereo separation at all.

I set about removing the Jensen unit and rewiring the speaker connections. It was quite simple to do as the speaker wires are connected to the Jensen unit wires with wire nuts, I just had to unscrew the nuts, separate the wires and re-assign the connections. I now have two left speakers to my left and two right speakers to my right.

Removing the Jensen unit to reassign the speaker connections

Too hot in the office – A/C ducting re-visited

Last month I discussed the tweaks I did to the A/C units and ducting which greatly improved the cooling inside our RV. The office, however, did not seem to benefit much and was noticeably warmer than the rest of the RV.

The duct on the left should be connected to the main duct at the top

One day Amber told me that she could feel cold air blowing into the wall cabinets which are located close to the office A/C vent. I knew there must be something wrong.

I removed the vent cover and vent mounting, pushed the flexible ductwork to one side, and noticed that the other end was not connected to the main duct way up in the ceiling.

I could only just reach up to the ceiling duct, shorter or thicker arms would not have been able to do it, but I needed a way to hold the duct connection up there while I used A/C tape to give it a good seal. I used RV putty tape around the metal duct fitting to achieve this.

Once taped up and the vent reassembled, the vent now blows cold and the office temperature remains close to that of the rest of the RV now.

Bathroom door woes – warranty claim

Damaged MDF at the top of the bathroom door

As the heading says really! The sliding door between the bathroom and the bedroom keeps falling off. It appears that the screws holding the runners to the door were tightened too much at the factory, splitting the MDF (of which the door is made). The screws have backed out several times because there is almost nothing for them to grip into now. I know I could fix this with resin or JB Weld, but I don’t think I should have to. A claim for a new door has been submitted.

Stop by again to see what September brings…

Nick