BernieD
Well-known member
We had a number of "issues" over the winter; our backup monitor stopped working on the way home from the Christmas/New Year rally in Tucson, our front TV started developing lines across the screen and I connected with a couple of stationary objects maneuvering around a campground. Luckily, extended warranty and RV insurance covered most of the bill. We dropped off the coach in early April to have all this work done, but it took over a month to get in a replacement bay door. By the time it came in, Marlene was in line for surgery so we had no push to have everything done. The coach finally was ready last week but with our heat I tried waiting for an early morning pick up time since I would have to tow the toad back (Marlene won't be able to drive yet for a while) and finally took it home this morning.
The shop (Kiss RV in Peoria) did an excellent job on the body work and painting. Coach looks like new, can't tell old from new.
The backup monitor was a major problem. There was no OEM replacement available that could be connected. One that we tried did not have a wiring schematic and everyone was afraid of frying the motherboard. I finally got a suggestion on another forum about using a flat screen portable 7" LCD TV as a monitor, an Axion 8701 available at Best Buy or Amazon for $100. It was small, but has a larger screen than the replaced monitor, fit over the hole from the old monitor without much intrusion and was about 1/3rd the cost of the non-usable OEM monitor. It was a direct plug to plug connection, the major issue (easily solved) being to wire the 12v power.
Finally, there was the TV and all of the related issues; installing, wiring, connections with home entertainment and VCR and moving the digital converter from the antenna input to the rear TV which is still analog. The old TV was a standard, flat screen, 23" CRT sitting inside a big box above the dashboard between 2 cabinets. Of course the lower right corner was a head catcher. A new CRT was not considered and I looked for the largest LCD HDTV that would fit. With help from Kiss TV, we determined that a 32" Samsung would fit the space between the cabinets with minimal modifications. The shop installed the TV from a top mounted hinge so that the TV swings up to access a new, large storage compartment, which he carpeted and finished. We have DirecTV, but not an HD satellite antenna but the crankup antenna does a great job of bringing in the local stations in HD. The shop also relocated the digital converter to the bedroom to provide local TV programming also.
I forgot to bring my camera with to take pictures and it is too hot to go back now. Maybe during the next couple of mornings it will be cool enough to go to the lot and take some pictures to post.
The shop (Kiss RV in Peoria) did an excellent job on the body work and painting. Coach looks like new, can't tell old from new.
The backup monitor was a major problem. There was no OEM replacement available that could be connected. One that we tried did not have a wiring schematic and everyone was afraid of frying the motherboard. I finally got a suggestion on another forum about using a flat screen portable 7" LCD TV as a monitor, an Axion 8701 available at Best Buy or Amazon for $100. It was small, but has a larger screen than the replaced monitor, fit over the hole from the old monitor without much intrusion and was about 1/3rd the cost of the non-usable OEM monitor. It was a direct plug to plug connection, the major issue (easily solved) being to wire the 12v power.
Finally, there was the TV and all of the related issues; installing, wiring, connections with home entertainment and VCR and moving the digital converter from the antenna input to the rear TV which is still analog. The old TV was a standard, flat screen, 23" CRT sitting inside a big box above the dashboard between 2 cabinets. Of course the lower right corner was a head catcher. A new CRT was not considered and I looked for the largest LCD HDTV that would fit. With help from Kiss TV, we determined that a 32" Samsung would fit the space between the cabinets with minimal modifications. The shop installed the TV from a top mounted hinge so that the TV swings up to access a new, large storage compartment, which he carpeted and finished. We have DirecTV, but not an HD satellite antenna but the crankup antenna does a great job of bringing in the local stations in HD. The shop also relocated the digital converter to the bedroom to provide local TV programming also.
I forgot to bring my camera with to take pictures and it is too hot to go back now. Maybe during the next couple of mornings it will be cool enough to go to the lot and take some pictures to post.
:'( :
