modifications

Enhancements and repairs to our coach.

Mirror head replacement

Back in 2022 a truck clipped the driver-side mirror on our motorhome, smashing the mirror glass. I replaced the mirror glass, which made the mirror usable again, but unfortunately the motor that allows adjusting the position would only work three of the four directions, so I’d have to manually push the mirror if it drifted out of position (which seemed to happen regularly).

We were going to get it replaced when doing the annual service, but the pandemic supply chain issues made the part unavailable at the time.

It wasn’t a super urgent issue, so we put it on the back burner, but it continued to annoy us. Eventually after much research I determined that one could buy a replacement head for the mirror, which (in theory) could be easily plug-and-play replaced. The part is manufactured by Valvac, and the part number is 719853, “Euromax-XL Replacement Head w/Camera, Lighted, Left Side, Chrome”.

I purchased this part:

Mirror box

The new mirror head:

New mirror head

New mirror head

It looked like an easy job, but we were about to be in Red Bay, so I got a mobile tech to look at replacing it for me. Good thing I didn’t try it myself, as it was too hard for that tech; he couldn’t fish the wires out of the mirror arm.

So later while at Thousand Trails Orlando I got a local RV tech, Charles Sutton of CS Mobile RV Repair LLC, to have a go at it. He also had lots of difficulty with it, but eventually managed it (and was very generous in not charging extra for it, too; I’d highly recommend him for any RV services!).

Here’s the old head removed:

Old head removed

He had to remove a bunch of excess insulation in the generator compartment to access the wires to get enough slack to reach the plugs:

Removed insulation to access bolts

Finally able to reach the plugs:

Wires

The replaced mirror head:

Replaced mirror head

So nice to have that working again. And if we ever need to replace it again, it should be a much easier job next time.

Compact garbage bin fits next to toilet

There isn’t a lot of room in the rear and mid bathrooms of our coach, so we looked for a compact garbage bin that would fit next to the toilet.

We found one on Amazon (but it isn’t available there anymore; there are similar ones if you search):

Garbage bin

It has a handle to remove the inner bin:

Garbage bin

And a built-in toilet brush:

Garbage bin

A compact solution for a small space.

Using magnets to hold a cupboard door out of the way

Under the galley/kitchen sink in our coach is a cupboard with a large pull-out drawer, where amongst other things we store our garbage bag, held open with clips. (We used to use a couple of bins there, but a single large bag is more convenient).

That’s all very good, but the right-hand cupboard door swings wide, and gets in the way when standing in front of the dishwasher (to the right of this cupboard):

Cupboard doors and drawer

To solve that, I added a magnet to the drawer, held on by a Command Strip:

Magnet held on by Command Strip

An opposite polarity magnet is stuck on to the cupboard door by a glue dot (I originally used a glue dot for both, but it didn’t stay stuck to the wood of the drawer):

Magnet held on by glue dot

The two magnets are positioned so that they join to hold the door against the drawer:

Magnets joined to hold the door

Much better:

Door held against the drawer

I also have another magnet further back on the drawer:

Another magnet further back

Which holds the door in place when the drawer is fully extended:

Drawer fully extended

A small thing, but a nice improvement.

Using a sewer tote tank and macerator pump to dump waste tanks from the back of our truck again

I previously posted about using a sewer tote and macerator pump to empty our waste tanks. Here’s another example of doing this, with a variation to cope with parking in front of our coach.

I dumped when our gray and black waste tanks reached 50%; we could have been conservative and made it the week with that space, but it was nice not to need to do so:

50% gray and black tanks

The wet bay, with the power for the macerator hooked up, along with the sewer pipe:

Wet bay

The macerator pump, hooked up to a sewer hose and a garden hose dedicated to this purpose:

Macerator pump

When parked in front of the coach, it’s a bit longer to get from the wet bay to the truck:

Hoses

The hose into the tote in the back of the (pollen-y) truck:

Hose into tote

Filling the tote:

Filling tote

8% gray and 13% black after the first dump; I fully emptied them the day before we departed, which took another two dumps (with the liquids added after the first dump):

8% gray and 13% black after first dump

Dumping from the truck at the dump station:

Dumping at dump station

The tote in the back of the truck while dumping:

Tote in the back of the truck while dumping

It’s nice to have this option when we don’t have a sewer hookup.

Loose mudguard above rear wheels

I noticed that a mudguard panel above the driver-side rear wheels was loose, falling down onto the tire. Not ideal. It looked like it was only held up by one bolt, buried in foam insulation, which had come loose. So I reattached it. I also got some more bolts to better attach it, though I haven’t bothered to do that yet, since that one bolt seems sufficient. But I’ll keep an eye on it.

Mudguard above rear wheel

Bolt

Bolt

Override Tecma macerating toilet controller with this one weird trick

Last year I posted about replacing the controller in our Tecma macerating toilet. I concluded the post saying that it failed again even after replacing the controller, and I suspected the pump might be the fault.

To test this, I rearranged the wires, so the power wire to the toilet and the pump wire could be reached at the back of the toilet without having to dismount it again. Conveniently, they both have the same style plug, so it is possible to connect the pump directly to the power supply, bypassing the controller, so it runs continuously — obviously only briefly, before disconnecting again. That was enough to get the pump moving again. It has been working flawlessly since then. But if it were to ever stop again, I can easily repeat that process.

Toilet

Toilet

Toilet wires

Peeking behind the wet bay

As previously mentioned, I had my wet bay modified to integrate the water filters and water softener, plus add valves and connections so I could regenerate and backflush the softener without having to remove it. Very handy. But it wasn’t hooked up quite right, so I pulled apart the wet bay to investigate. I determined that the pipes were reversed from how I wanted them, but the good news is that I was able to flip the water softener around (so the input and output were reversed), and change the labels on the valves and connectors, and now the system works properly. Yay!

Anyway, I thought I’d share some pictures of the complex hoses back there:

Pipes

Pipes

Pipes

Pipes

Fascinating stuff.

Clock in bathroom

A very minor modification this time: we added a battery-powered clock on the wall in our bathroom. It is an atomic clock, that can set the time automatically, and has convenient time zone support, useful for us as we travel around the country. Plus it shows the temperature and humidity, useful for the bathroom, and reminds us which day it is, handy when we’re still waking up:

Clock

It is attached with Command picture hanging strips, that has two velcro-like pieces that can be pulled apart easily, so I can change the batteries. Nice and convenient.

Power steering fluid leak repair, engine bracket replacements, underside of coach

I need to get better at checking the fluids of our coach.

We heard some weird noises coming from around the front wheels while driving, and couldn’t figure out what was causing it for a while. Since we were heading towards Red Bay at the time, I contacted Bay Diesel and made an appointment for them to investigate.

We eventually guessed that it was related to power steering. When I looked in the power steering reservoir in the engine compartment, it was completely dry:

Empty power steering reservoir

Oops.

I refilled it with Dexron III (as required) and kept an eye on it; sure enough, the level dropped during drives:

Dexron III

When we arrived at Bay Diesel, they wasted no time lifting up the coach:

Coach on lift

They found and repaired the power steering leak, from a hose under the rig:

Power steering leak

They also inspected the entire underside of the coach, with special attention on the engine, and found cracked clutch and tensioner brackets; common issues with this vintage of coach:

Cracked bracket

Cracked bracket

So they replaced them with better, stronger brackets. Here’s a comparison of old and new brackets:

Old and new brackets

Rebuilding the clutch assembly:

Rebuilding the clutch assembly

They also lubed the various lube points:

Lubing

A nice thing about Bay Diesel is that they were happy for owners to hang out in the shop. I wandered around under our coach and took lots of photos. Here are a bunch of pictures, starting at the front and working my way backwards:

Front with the generator partially out:

Front with generator partially out

Entry step:

Entry step

Entry step

Entry step

From in front of the front wheels:

From in front of front wheels

Independent front suspension:

Independent front suspension

Independent front suspension

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer:

Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer

Back of the generator:

Back of generator

A small void behind a front mudguard, with a junction box for the ground effect light strip:

A small void behind a front mudguard

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust:

Behind the front wheels, with air horns and generator exhaust

Under the basement storage bays:

Under basement storage bays

Under the wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust:

Under wet bay, with hot and cold low point drains, Aqua-Hot coolant overflow, and Aqua-Hot exhaust

Under the wet bay, with my sewer outlet and the fresh water drain:

Under wet bay, with sewer outlet and fresh water drain

Rear wheels and engine area:

Rear wheels and engine area

A couple of techs inspecting the engine:

A couple of techs inspecting the engine

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak:

Oil pan, with a non-concerning minor leak

Oil pan

The engine:

Engine

Engine

Allison transmission:

Allison transmission

Allison transmission

Allison transmission

Drive shaft; this piece was removed when our coach was towed back in 2023:

Transmission linkage

Other side of the transmission:

Other side of transmission

More engine bits:

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

More engine bits

Side radiator gearbox and fan:

Radiator gearbox

Radiator gearbox and fan

More engine bits

Rear of the engine:

Rear of engine

Finally, the rear of the coach:

Rear of coach

Fascinating!

Polished and replaced exhaust tips

While in Red Bay wet got Steve Brooks, aka School Bus Steve to do a few repairs for us. He’s so-named as he uses an old school bus for his mobile RV service:

School Bus Steve

One minor fix was to polish the exhaust tips of our generator and Aqua-Hot system.

He was able to polish the generator exhaust nicely:

Generator exhaust tip

But the Aqua-Hot one was beyond hope (see it on the ground), so he replaced it:

Aqua-Hot exhaust tip

Much nicer!