Factory Visit - Upgrades

[CSX4350]

I am working on dates to go to Camp Newmar in July, and also working on a punch list for things to fix. I was thinking about doing some upgrading on a few things while I was there.
My exterior and interior are eclipse. One thing that never registered with me when I bought it was this *&^% white carpet! After two trips of 3 weeks total I've already had to clean the carpets. The white carpet HAS to go. Anybody have any idea how much of a PITA and how much they would charge to either swap the carpet for a darker color, or replace with tile?
I want to replace my inverter with a true sine inverter, is this something that I can do with my limited knowledge or should I leave it to Newmar?
Is it possible to upgrade to power blinds/shades?
I swear there was something else, but my old-timers is flaring up again...

[CSX4350]

I am working on dates to go to Camp Newmar in July, and also working on a punch list for things to fix. I was thinking about doing some upgrading on a few things while I was there.
My exterior and interior are eclipse. One thing that never registered with me when I bought it was this *&^% white carpet! After two trips of 3 weeks total I've already had to clean the carpets. The white carpet HAS to go. Anybody have any idea how much of a PITA and how much they would charge to either swap the carpet for a darker color, or replace with tile?
I want to replace my inverter with a true sine inverter, is this something that I can do with my limited knowledge or should I leave it to Newmar?
Is it possible to upgrade to power blinds/shades?
I swear there was something else, but my old-timers is flaring up again...

["007"]

If you call Newmar and give them your coach #number explain what you want done they will give price.
They do work at a reduced rate Jan-March of each year.

[RVDude]

If you go to camp Newmar in roughly the Jan-Mar timeframe the labor rate for these extras drops to (I think about) $60/hr and parts are on way discount too.

They may not allow extras during peak warranty season (Summer).

You should be able to swap the inverter fairly easily yourseelf, but possibly reprogramming the e-plex master control gizmo (if that is on the MA) will be tough. Otherwise straight forward if you are comfortable with big 12v wires and 120v wiring. For safety disconnect the 12v cables at the battery to the inverter first and turn the entire coach to store. Newmar's parts markup - even in the winter specials timeframe - is astronomical so buying the inverter yourself may be cheaper and then see if Newmar will install it.

Power blinds I have been told no - way to expensive to retro - like double the original $10k option price. Switch wiring, lambrequin re-fitting, etc. etc.

Replace carpet should be easy, tile may not.

But ask! They well tell you like it is... And do superb work!

[CSX4350]

I guess I will have to call and try to get there in March. I really wanted to get it done while I was going to be in that area, but oh well it's just an extra trip, 400 gallons of diesel and 2600 miles into the heart of winter cold, ice & snow. I gew up in the tropics, I hate cold, ice & snow!!!

The other thing I was wanting to do was plumb the hydro-hot into the engine pre-heat so I could also harness the engine heat to help heat the HH to keep the coach warm while driving in the cold. Can they do this?

[RVDude]

What you are asking with the HH is already there. It's called the MotorAide feature and the engine coolant is always running through the HH by the engine coolant pump while the engine is running. So, you do get the engine heating the HH for free. Just turn on the coach heat when you are driving like you normally would when parked.

Note that MotorAide alone is not enough if you are driving in single digit temps or less, the MotorAide just can't heat the HH fast enough and the HH low-temp control shuts down the HH heat exchangers until the MotorAide catches back up. You'll need to turn the burner on when driving in those temps.

You can add a pump to the HH to "reverse" this flow and pre heat the engine from the HH instead of using electric block heater. Everything is in place on the HH except the pump and the parts are about $350 from HH.

[CSX4350]

Jeff, I was told by Paul (Jetsmania) that I have the motoraid right after I bought the coach, but I have never been able to get it to work. I can turn on the HH and absolutely nothing happens unless I also turn on the burner. It can be 50 degrees outside and I get zero heat from the furnace.
I have seen a valve on what appears to be a water hose in the engine compartment, is there a shut off for the motoraid back there? It is very close to where the dipstick tube melted & blew out last month. I can't reach the valve from the rear but I might be able to reach it by crawling under the coach.

[Lug_Nut]

John, Paul is right. (Hmmmm..."John Paul." Sounds like we're talking about the Pope) Anyway, he's right, your coach should already be outfitted with HH motoraid. I can't address the valve you are talking about, but if nobody jumps in, I can check a MA later today.

Peter

[JavaJelly]

Motoraide should be on there. It is set-up so the engine coolant runs to the HH unit vs. the HH fluid running to the engine. I know this well as it was the source of a coolant leak.

I asked about replacing the carpet in the back bedroom alone and the Newmar tech told me $5k. My jaw hit the floor. I didn't get it quoted so maybe he was wrong. But, it was mostly labor getting the slides out to put the carpet back down.

If you do decide to replace the carpet I would just switch to tile. I got that priced at about $5k. Really wish I would have got that option at purchase.

By the way, when I told this forum about the upgrades I was considering they all just told me to get another coach. Or chastised me for not doing more research before buying. Apparently John, they are in a better mood now.

Labor is $65/hour until March 31st. The policy is still no non-warranty work April - October. That may change if there is capacity.

[Route 66]

DUNCAN gets great reviews from folks that have work done there.

They do Newmar work, and you don't have to go in the winter.

[JavaJelly]

Dirk is right. I haven't used them but, when I was looking into upgrades the feedback on Duncan was unanimously positive. Prices are generally better too.

[rebelsbeach]

Scotty, it was well documented and debated that the economical thing to do would be to tear your own coach apart and do the upgrades you questioned.... Certainly cheaper monetarily.

What many of us said was that, rather than go through all those upgrades and still have a DSDP, why not move into a MADP which already has the upgrades....

I worried that you were adding a lot of extra value to a DSDP which wasn't normally available, and then when you went to trade it you'd not get the credit for those adds...

[Ecker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Route 66:
DUNCAN gets great reviews from folks that have work done there.

They do Newmar work, and you don't have to go in the winter. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Dirk - Duncan Systems was split in a buy out and the new link for Repair portion is
http://63.131.12.217/

Duncan

[JavaJelly]

I was adding options that were already available on the '07 DSDP - Dishwasher and tile throughout. I can show you the order sheet. The cost to retroactively add those, less than $10,000, was only a couple of thousand more than if I had gotten them at time of purchase.

The extra window is even an extra on the MADP or the Essex. Painting the dish is less than $100.

Much cheaper than the $200k between increased price to a MADP and depreciation on my current coach.

I did want to go to a residential fridge only because of my frustration at the current Norcold. But, Newmar found the problem and we should be good. Also, it looked like I was going to have to replace the batteries but, turned out the inverter was set wrong and they were fine.

I was also just curious to see if it could be done.