RV Mods

RV Accessories

RV Solar and Lithium Set Up

2 Life Blue 200 Lithium Amp hr batteries (400 amp hours)
5 Zamp Solar Panels 170 Watt each (850 w)
1 Magnum MS 2812 Magnum Pure Sine Inverter (We left our smaller 1k inverter to give us more flexibility and only use this inverter to run the high power hungry items such as microwave, coffee pot, instant pot, etc.)
1 Victron Blue Charge Controller with Remote
1 Victron 150/85 SunRunner Solar Charge Controller
Various other things for install including wiring, lugs, breakers, combiner box, etc..

HDMI Splitter Replacement

The HDMI splitter closet in Tiffin rigs is notoriously a mess! Wiring all over the place and it looks like a nest of tangled wires. There is a cooling fan to keep the HDMI splitters cool but it can't really do that when there is hardly any air flow. To top it all off, the splitters that were used in our 2015 36LA would overheat and shut down making our Apple TV cut in and out from wherever you were watching.

For those of you who don't know. (Skip this paragraph if you do) Most rigs have a tech closet where the DVD player, satellite system and maybe the sound system are stored. The signal from your 1 DVD player is then sent to the other TVs in your RV by way of an HDMI Splitter. The HDMI signal comes out of your player and then gets converted to a Cat 5/6 ethernet cable (like the one that may carry your internet signal). This ethernet cable is much easier to run and can run over longer distances carrying your signal than an extremely long HDMI cable. Finally, the CAT 5/6 cable carrying your DVD signal gets converted back to an HDMI cable and into your TV.

We decided long ago that we don't use the DVD player and satellite system so out those came and we use our Apple TV to send video out to our 4 TVs.

side note... We have NEVER had more than two TVs in most of the places we've lived. Maybe a small one in our kitchen for news and weather and then a larger one in our sticks and bricks home for the family. When we purchased this RV we were SHOCKED that it had 4 TVs! Three of which we can see from sitting in one spot of the couch. Not our style, but we haven't gotten up the nerve to remove the TV over the drive area yet. We tend to use only the main TV and the one outdoor.

In the end, I got rid of one of the HDMI splitters in the closet, cleaned up the mess of wires and installed another cooling fan to help circulate the air and keep our new splitter happy! APPLE TV ALL AROUND!

What do we do with the other HDMI inputs? Well... I continue to do some training and support in educational technology. We have a passion for preserving photos and we have scanned hundred of photos for several clients. I have a computer hooked up to the main TV and use that as a monitor. The other HDMI input is for my Nintendo Switch. Right now Animal Crossing is my favorite. On the front TV, I've installed a VCR to DVD burner to help out family, friends and clients change over their old VCR tapes.

Here is a link to the HDMI Splitter that we purchased.

I wish that I had taken before photos... It was a MESS!!

Tech Cabinet

Sorry for the dark picture. I just rearranged our tech cabinet to include a printer. For those of you looking for a great printer that is small enough to work in the most compact of places check out the HP LaserJet Pro M15w Wireless Laser Printer (W2G51A)

This is a monochrome laser printer that is super small. I have changed the cabinet around even a bit more to allow the printer to be used wirelessly while the cabinet is closed. Michelle can print while driving down the road. lol

In our tech closet:

Arlo security hub
Hue lighting hub
1 of our Sonos speakers
our LAN controller
and below the cabinet is our PC (I use many different machines and platforms for tech training including Mac, PC, iPhone, Android, iPad and Chromebook, which happens to be my go to device for quick startup and everything Google)

Swivel/Tilt TV Mount

We are pretty big baseball fans - Go Tigers! We love getting the fire pit going and watching a little baseball in the late summer evenings when we are in Michigan. BUT those afternoon games when the sun is reflecting off the screens makes it hard to watch baseball and we don't want to sit inside on a nice summer day. We've tried to hang towels over the TV door, a sheet, we've moved the patio furniture and the glare gets the best of the game. I decided to invest in a TV mount that tilts and swivels.. It took a relatively short time to install and it was thin enough that I didn't have to modify the cabinet at all. I just reinforced the mount behind the cabinet, which happens to be under our sink. Now to get the baseball season started.

Suburban SF-42Q

Well... This all started back in New Mexico. We woke to very cold temps down in the 30's with no heat and it was no fun. As you may or may not know, the electric heat pump works well until the temperature gets down below about 40ºF. Our furnace would consistently quit about 32ºF and we became quite frustrated because we would wake to some very cold noses and didn't want to get out of bed.

I replaced the regulator on the propane and thought that that was it because it had some gunk built up and desperately needed to be changed. That was an easy fix until the temperatures dipped and our heat would quit right around 32ºF.

After watching some YouTube videos, I thought it best to do a furnace tune up because our problem seems to be either the sail switch or the burner in the furnace. I also switched out the igniter and the heat sensor for good measure as well. New gasket and put it all back together.

Here's to hoping that when the temps dip down to the low 30's again that our furnace will keep us warm and allow us to get out of bed without icicles dangling from our noses.

Here are some products and gear that rock our RV world!

Items that we use most every day!

Dawn Powerwash

Dishwashing while Boondocking can be a stress when trying to conserve water. The new Dawn Powerwash has become a regular part of our everyday! Spray it on, wipe it down and rinse it off. No filling up the sink, no saving sink water to use in the toilet or trying to find that spot outside. Try it in your RV!

Bamboozle

Dishes! What dish do we use in the RV? Bamboozle! Totally sustainable dish-ware that is easy to clean, extremely lightweight and stylish!! We have the curve dinnerware in graphite and we get comments all of the time. Made from, you guessed it... Bamboo! Dishwasher safe! (I wish we had a dishwasher) The only bad... *Not for the microwave.

Magma Nesting Pans

Our Magma Nesting Pan set works perfectly for us. We got the 10 piece set and added the wok and extra lid. We probably wouldn't get the 10 piece set if we did it again but they all fit in 1 drawer! ONE!

Waxed Paper Sheets

We shared a 2 pack purchase of these waxed paper sheets with Michelle's father and they are so useful! Whip one out to make a sandwich, cover our food while warming in the microwave, grab a quick snack, wrap a burrito or sandwich. Saves on dishes and way cheaper and less wasteful than paper plates. Sams Club Members Mark Link

Blackstone Griddle

Our daughter got me one of the best Father's Day gifts! A Blackstone Griddle. We use it almost daily. It's great for breakfast, sure, but stir fry veggies, rice, and Philly Cheese Steaks are some of our favorites. Oooh... Shrimp!!!

Weber Q

What's not to love about our Weber Q? I've had many grills over the years. Some better, many worse, but the best part about Weber is that I can locate replacement parts easily. Just visit your local Ace Hardware or some big box stores. You'll keep your Weber going for years!

Single Burner Weber Q at Ace

Weber Q Grill Cart at Ace

Sodastream

Our sodastream is used almost daily! (Just in tonic alone - lol) We are both originally from Michigan where the bottle deposit is 10¢ per can/bottle. While on the road we felt so guilty not being able to find recycling centers or traveling from state to state and not being able to return cans and bottles to get our money back. Sodastream to the rescue. It has paid for itself (in our case) We LOVE the Pink Grapefruit and Diet Ginger Ale!

Mobile RV Water Softener

Before our water softener, the dishes would be spotty and the shower was hard to clean. Not anymore! This is easy to maintain with 2 container of salt (26 oz. size) and a little bit of time. I don't remember where we purchased this but glad we did. Here is the Amazon link to our unit.

Garmin RV 770

We use our Gramin RV 770 to help with our travels but in truth Michelle navigates with the use a truckers atlas, RV Trip Wizard on her iPad and I use Google Maps and the now outdated Kenwood DNX570TR in trip computer mode. (It shows direction, speed, elevation and more)

The Kenwood is on our list to be replaced. We would like an Apple CarPlay compatible receiver.

Lectric Bikes

Our Lectric Bikes have been wonderful. They fold up and store in a 40L bin in the back of our Honda CRV. Just pull them out, unfold and ride. 30-50 mile range with plenty of get up and go. We are most comfortable with the speeds up to 20 mph. Some have chosen to unlock the ebikes to a class 3 ebike and get up to 29mph. Looking to upgrade the seat for long trips but that is the only complaint. Well built and comes with everything like headlight, taillight, rear rack, battery, and bell.

Slide Out Spice Rack

We installed a slide out spice rack from Vertical Spice . This was a great addition to our 2015 which didn't have any slide out racks in our cupboards like a lot of newer rigs do these days. After seeing this and installing the one that we purchased, which is a little on the pricey side, I would create one myself if the need arises in the future. All you need is a couple of drawer slides and a few pieces of wood to make a tray and some molding to keep everything on the drawer from spilling off the sides.

Hue Lights

Our Philips Hue lighting is very important to us. Even though our rig has LED lighting throughout there are just too many lights and not the warm 2600k lighting that we were looking for in the evenings. We can also go Disco and love the Hue strips that we put in the front of the rig. They are set to blue now but we change them according to the holiday.

The hue lights pull less power from our system than the regular lighting in the RV which is better while we are boondocking.

We can also customize a lighting schedule for home or while we are away from the RV.

Arlo and Wyze

We have an Arlo camera that we put out to catch video of the critters as they wander by. It alerts us when we are out when deliveries arrive.

Our Wyze cameras stay in the RV so that we can monitor electric and temperature while we are away from the RV and on the occasion that our dog has to stay in the RV. Wyze cameras have an amazing price point and are extremely easy to use and set up.

Apps, Subscriptions, Sites

*app links are for iOS - most are listed for Android users as well

AllTrails (hiking and biking)
Amazon (we've used Amazon Lockers throughout our travels)
Boondockers Welcome (subscription)
Boondocking app
Campendium
FreeRoam
FMCA
Gas Buddy
Google Maps (mentioned above)
Harvest Hosts (subscription click for referral)
Map Satellite View (for gas pumps, parking, entry/exit points, parks, Boondocking sites and more) Google Earth for more detail or apple maps, etc.
MyRadar
Park Adviser
Passport America (subscription - pays for itself in no time)
Recreation.gov
RV Parky
RV Trip Wizard (mentioned above)
State Park Apps by State such as AZStateParks
TrailLink (hiking and biking)
TruckMap
Waze (for traffic and road hazzards only - not directions)
WeatherBug
Windy (we use this a lot when boondocking)

Ready Pasta

Not quite an app or an accessory but if you like pasta for a quick meal, especially if you are boondocking or trying to conserve water, then this pasta is for you!

We don't eat pasta often. (Kunio isn't a fan) But when we do this past is quick, easy and you don't have to boil a big pot of water! Or figure out what to do with that big pot of water when you are done with making pasta.

Have you tried this 60 second in the microwave pasta? What do you think?

Joule Sous Vide

Although this is certainly not used daily or maybe even weekly it is a cooking tool that we love to use.

Cooking a protein to the perfect temp and then finishing on the grill just before eating helps to open up counter space for those big meals.

For instance... when we have company, we can put our steaks in the sous vide (with herbs, seasoning, etc..), bring them up to our favorite medium rare temp. and then hold the steaks at that temp until we can finish them on the grill. All the prep work for the steaks were done hours before and we can concentrate on the other parts of the meal. The steaks only need to be finished as they are already seasoned with fresh herbs, salt, pepper, etc..

Ribs, steaks, chicken and fish always come out perfectly every time and we have time to enjoy company because all of the work is already done.

Acuva Water Purification

Installed August 8, 2020 and we love it so far!!

We often times found ourselves enjoying state park campgrounds, boondocking and small out of the way county parks last winter. Because of this, we didn't pull out the water softener to fill our fresh water tank. We did filter the water going in with the common Camco Tastepure water filter. We did sanitize the fresh water tank in early March while we were in an RV park with city water hook up but from October - March is quite a long time. Our fresh water tank was in use most every day and most people say that bacteria growth is unlikely with this much activity but we felt that with some of the potable water supply we encountered was questionable to us.

For these reasons we installed an ECO NX-SILVER UV-LED WATER PURIFIER WITH SMART FAUCET

The UV sterilization system leaves our water free from microbial pathogens such as bacteria, protozoa, and viruses and does this at extremely low energy usage. (The unit is activated only with water flow) We purchased some additional pex line to run over to the ice maker in our refrigerator!

The UV-LED should last us 10+ years of use in our RV with a simple replacement of an inline pre-filter (around $20) for every 1000 gallons of use (We hooked this filter up just inside the door to the under sink area so it is easily replaceable)

Jensen CAR10

We grew more and more frustrated with the installed Kenwood Navigation system and stereo receiver. The outdated Garmin Truck/RV GPS navigation system was so out of date and extremely clunky when compared with our Garmin 770 that we only used the head unit for music. But even the Bluetooth connection and direct connect with our iPhones became useless. Taking a phone call was a no go... Not to mention the extreme cost that it would take to upgrade the nav system. It had to go.

I pulled out the Kenwood unit and installed the Jensen CAR10 with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The unit has a whopping 10" touchscreen that is easy to see and use. Google Maps, Apple Music, text alerts, and more!

The install was pretty easy but if you want a truly simple exchange, get a double din unit that has a Kenwood harness. Splicing and soldering a few wires weren't too hard just time consuming.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse