Survey of CRT TV to LCD replacements

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I got this done a while back but just getting around to posting the final pictures. My motor home is the Itasca Horizon 40AD. I used the MorRyde TV bracket. This bracket has a locking mechanism for travel mode. You simple pull on the strap to release. Its a little pricey but extremely well made and very stable.  Now we have lots of room inside for DW's yarn, printers etc.
I used some cherry wood to build a door front to take up the excess space which gave room to the Directv box, DVD Player and router. I felt pretty lucky to find a handle at ACE hardware that almost perfectly matched the handles from Winnebago (its only slightly shorter).  I'm also attaching a few during the construction phase although I have to admit that once I start working I'm not real good about taking a break to photograph the steps.
 

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John - I have to confess your web site was a major influence on how I approached this project.  ;D
 
I just wrapped up a refresh of the front overhead entertainment system in my '93 Itasca Suncruiser.  It's fairly basic, but I think it's a good start.

During my research phase of the project, I went back and forth as to if I should do a DC-powered TV or a 110V and if I should do a stand-alone DVD or BluRay or a combo DVD-TV unit, and if I went with a stand-alone player, if that player should also be the stereo/radio/CD-player/Bluetooth sound system.  In the end, I wound up with an AC/DC 24" TV-DVD from Axess ($160 from Amazon) and a Magnadyne RV5090 ($125 from Amazon).

Getting the old CRT TV out was easy.  We were driving down the road and it just fell out.  It nearly killed one of our dogs -- he had been lying in the exact spot not five minutes before -- and caused a bit of a code brown moment for me.  I have no idea if it worked before because I never bothered to try to turn it on, but it went into the dumpster after that.  I also chucked the VCR that was up there.  With the TV gone, I had a gaping hole over the cockpit and I had a few different ideas.  At first, I wanted to mount the TV on an arm above the "rear" seat at the dinette, but I was concerned about anchoring in to the wall and the shower was on the other side, so putting a plate there wasn't going to be easy.  In the end, I decided to mount the TV over the hole.  After pulling off the trim around the cavity, I screwed in wood supports from the back side to make a mounting surface that was flush with the front of the cabinetry.  Having access to the area under the front cap was important to me so I can check for water intrusion and to get to the wiring, so I mounted a VESA mounting arm to a bit of 3/4" plywood and then used some aluminium clips screwed to the plywood and the mounting surface so that the whole TV mount system could be lifted off to gain access.  The articulating arm allows me to get in to the cabinets and gives me the ability to change the angle of the TV.

For sound, I connected the headphone jack from the TV to the rear aux-in port on the Magnadyne.  I had a problem with the speakers, though, since the original TV's output was mono and the split to go to the left and right speakers is somewhere in the ceiling.  I ran a new pair of wires to the right speaker through the cabinets and this brings me to my next point:  Wire colors.  I've build a couple automotive wiring harnesses in my time, and I've worked with trailers and car audio and all sorts of stuff.  I've always been able to trace wires so easily because I, and the manufacturers before me, choose a different color wire for each function.  Injector Bank 1 +12V is purple-green, IAT signal is red-yellow, running lights are brown, etc etc etc.  Some genius at Winnebago decided that was just far too much work so everything in the house 12V system is either green or purple.  Bar none, the dumbest thing they could do, and a real PITA when you're trying to add things or troubleshoot.

Anyway....  Once that was sorted out, I built a box out of 1/2" plywood which I mounted inside the smoked-glass-door cabinet above the passenger seat and then mounted the Magnadyne in there.  I pulled 12V power from the 12V outlet that was installed in the ceiling above the cockpit by tapping in to the purple and green wires (green's ground in that case, btw), and hardwired the radio but put in a 12V outlet in the old TV compartment for the new TV.

Works like a champ, however, I need some sort of solution around RF interference from the fluorescent lights.  I'm guessing that I'm on the same circuit as the lights and they cause the screen to flicker something fierce.  Long term, I'm going to replace the bulbs (and probably the 80s-tastic fixtures) with something LED, but for now I just turn the lights off.  There's no need for an inverter and I don't need to run the generator or be plugged in to watch TV or DVDs.  Plus I have an HDMI cable coiled up behind the TV that I can use to connect to my laptop.  To finish it up, I'm going to cut off the extraneous bracketry that extends above the TV and I'm going to cut up the trim that I pulled off of the TV cavity and re-attach it to the mounting plywood to finish out the look a bit.  (ignore that wire hanging down, I left my worklight up there by accident before I took the picture)

(apparently, my photo is too big for the forum to handle, and I can't hotlink it, so:  http://putrescence.org/piwigo/_data/i/upload/2017/01/22/20170122103409-16d4815e-me.jpg)

20170122103409-16d4815e-me.jpg
 
wae said:
...Getting the old CRT TV out was easy.  We were driving down the road and it just fell out.  ...
That's really unusual, generally the challenge is trying to decipher how Winnie installed the TV and then pull it out. I've never ever heard of one falling out on its own. Any idea why this happened?
 
John Canfield said:
That's really unusual, generally the challenge is trying to decipher how Winnie installed the TV and then pull it out. I've never ever heard of one falling out on its own. Any idea why this happened?

There is a possibility that the TV that was in the coach when I bought it was not the TV that Itasca/Winnebago installed in it back in late 1992, however, it certainly had that vintage feel about it.  Inside the TV hole, there was a metal bracket that was bolted to the metal support behind the upper cabinetry.  The TV sat on that bracket and was held down to it by a nylon strap with a plastic side release buckle.  There was a slight interference fit between the exterior of the TV and the trim around it, but it wasn't a real tight fit.  My suspicion is that the nylon strap loosened and stretched over time until it was just enough to bounce out.

The good news is that it sounds like they've found a better way to mount things sometime in the last 24 years!  Of course, they may have gone a little overboard if it's that difficult...
 
Finally done with the replacement. As a teaser here is the before and after picture.
I removed the cable switch box as we do not need a TV in the bedroom. Also because the new TV is a digital one I removed the converter. Added a SensarPro on the outside of the cabinet. To do that I removed the phone jack and moved the power outlet over to the phone-jack hole (after enlarging it a bit.) Next I mounted the SensarPro in the open space from the power outlet and got the required 12 volts via the available 12 volt power socket (just split the cable). I can now look at the numbers on the SensarPro for the OTA (Over The Air) signal while I turn the antenna.

I used a lot of ideas and instructions from John Canfield for removal and building the cabinet with sturdy material. Also used the same bracket that sgkane has, the MORryde TV1-025H locking bracket. This bracket is very sturdy and locks the TV in place for transport. On top of the TV I added some felt pads to dampen the up and down movement.

The new TV is a VIZIO D-series 32” Class Smart TV - D32x-D1 1080p. We added a Vizio soundbar for a better sound. You can use the TV remote to control the volume.

In a next post (soon) I will go in more detail and have some additional pictures.

NOTE:
We had some discussion about the size of the TV as it has some gaps below and on each side. We decided that it would be ok to live with that. I might fill that up maybe later but for now it's acceptable. The sound bar fills up the space below a little too.


 

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That's quite nice, good job!  I forgot your floorplan had the same TV layout as the AD model. You saved yourself a bunch of weight getting rid of the glass monster (and you gained HiDef.)
 
John Canfield said:
That's quite nice, good job!  I forgot your floorplan had the same TV layout as the AD model. You saved yourself a bunch of weight getting rid of the glass monster (and you gained HiDef.)
Thanks John, I'm very happy with the result, thanks to your write up!
 
Some more pictures; (see description for each picture) This should be self explanatory and if not please ask.

All cables are rerouted under the bottom plate and are now behind the finished side walls.

The King dish on top of the coach does not support current technology so I do not use it anymore. I also removed the switch box (to switch between satellite/Antenna/DVD etc.) and the digital converter. We now have Dish and I take a Wally receiver from home and connect that via HDMI to my TV. The portable dish is hooked up to the Wally via the existing cable and hook up in the electric compartment. (I chose a Winegard Pathway X2)

Options to watch TV:
Satellite: Switch TV to HDMI-1
Over the Air: Switch TV to Antenna
Cable TV: Switch SensarPro from Antenna to Cable
DVD/Blue-Ray: Switch TV to HDMI-2 (Replaced the Sony Video/DVD player)
Watch on TV 2.... Nope will be removed.

Note:
My reason to choose the Winegard Pathway X2 was: Easy setup with automatic satellite finding, support of East and West arc for placement flexibility and it will power the Antenna via the coax. I did not care much for the second TV option.
 

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Pulled out the 80lb CRT RV and installed a 7Lb 32" Samsung LED TV and a "SMART" LG Surround Sound/Blu-Ray system. Rear speakers are wireless. 10" woofer is mounted in old TV cavity.  Sounds quite awesome really!
Bedroom unit also got upgraded with a 32" "SMART" Toshiba  LED TV. I added a small shelf below cabinet to hold the Sony Blu-Ray and a Digital Alarm Clock.
 

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Looks quite nice, it was very satisfying when I got rid of both of our glass monsters. I noticed your thermostat is located in what seems to be an odd place - does your HVAC work okay?
 
Hi John
We have two thermostats
- One for the bedroom area (for AC and Electric heat Bedroom bath area)
- The main unit is in the front living area of the RV (controls front AC/electric heat and Floor Furnace)

Included our floor plan for reference
We have the 4-door Refrigerator and the red circle is for our Daughter's "Travel Lift Chair"

Other mods besides TV upgrades include:
Koni Shocks, Safe-T-Plus Steering Stabilizer, Ultra Trac Sway Bar for Rear Axle, PressurePro TPMS, Panasonic Blue-Tooth in-dash (DEH-X6800BT) and four 6" Alpine Speakers, hardwired power conditioner/surge suppressor, Kenwood outdoor entertainment system, LED lighting (cool bulbs), Bluetooth OBDII engine analyzer, the "Flag Buddy" flagpole system, and Hella Headlight upgrade.
For the awning/patio area, rigged an awning roller LED lighting hanger system that also supports the top half of a 16' "Harbor Freight" Mesh Tarp Sunscreen.  Added a Little Giant 17' ladder and rack on the back. Great ladder system for RV owners!!
A Garman RV 7" GPS is next  (I keep hearing from Mrs. Clause... my frustrated navigator). 

Anyone have any cool upgrades they have done?
 

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Very interesting, I like the floorplan - it's basically a variation of our 40AD. If you go to the link in my signature, there's maybe a couple of dozen upgrades I've done since our Horizon was brand new.
 
There have been several TV conversions posted and I read every one of 'em several times. The turning point for us was a really bad squeak in the original 70# TV mounting that had to be fixed no matter what and after I got into that, I decided to put a new LCD digital TV in place of the old Sony. We looked and looked and decided that the largest would be a 32" version and a more compact install would be a 26" version. I also really wanted to get rid of the "head banger"... that's what I called the old TV since it was so tall, it was 10" or so lower than the cabinets on either side and stuck out several inches.

So, I got the old TV out finally... the secret being to take the 8 screws holding the plastic trim in place out, then the four screws holding the wood trim out (inside the cabinets on either side) and then the metal frame for the tv is accessible. Remove the 5/16" bolts from either side and undo the wires and get two people and tote the monster to the garage. Then we built foam core board mock ups of the large lcd and a smaller lcd. We decided on the small lcd because we could make the whole thing kinda "get out of the way", 5" higher and about 5" forward and still use the original trim board as well as the plastic trim after some mods.

We picked a Sanyo 26" LCD. Consumer Reports gave it a decent rating and it was the lowest price 26" at Wally World.

The hardest part was cutting the metal and then re-attaching the metal base and getting the trim to look acceptable. I attached some photos that will illustrate the whole ordeal.


If you have questions, let me know. thanks, Gary.

PS: I would guess that we took out about 100# of stuff
This is years later but I have a 2005 Voyage with basically the same setup. How did you cut down the wood trim and the plastic cover?
 
Ran into some difficulty getting the old TV out of my 2007 Winnebago Voyage 35L. I basically had to shoe horn the thing out using a 12 inch dry wall taping knife. See picture. The bottom of the frame has a lip and we just could get it over the lip by about an 1/4 of an inch. I tilted the top back as fas as possible and placed the dry wall knife under one edge and pushed up on the top metal frame support with the top of the old TV. Once I got one end out, I gradually wiggled it out inch by inch. Amazingly, I didn't damage the TV and didn't need to cut the metal frame. Apparently, these models are in demand by video gamers like my son and worth several hundred bucks. It seems like the plastic cover of the TV had distorted over time...expanded enough to be a pain getting out of the metal frame. Not sure but very happy it's out! Thanks John Canfield for your PM message!
 

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