Our Ride's Projects

[Talons]

RV Projects
Well, when we bought 1997 Dolphin 535 (she is 36 feet long) we had NO INTENTIONS of doing ANY projects to her.
With 3 boys, 2 adults and a dog, we figured she was big enough to do the job for us. We have split twin beds in the rear, which is good for two of the boys. The overall idea at the time of purchase was the two bigger boys in the back, the smaller one on the dinette converted to a bed and my wife and I on the pull-out sofa bed. (Might want to get a coffee!)

Project One: Sofa Replacement
Okay, the problem with this was: We had a Jack-Knife sofa bed, not the pull out kind. So, for the first 10 months we had the ‘Fish’ we used an air mattress on the floor in the dining area at night for the two adults. This left the jack-knife open for the oldest boy (13 now) and the two rear beds available for the two little ones (six and three now). The best laid plans never work out the way you think they will so we ended up with no ‘defined’ sleeping arrangements and we have been shuffling around just plunking down wherever we want to. The only exception to this is that the only people that fit in the converted dinette set are the two little ones. And even then, only one of them can sleep there comfortably because they each ‘push’, as in ‘push the other one off the bed’ when they are sleeping.
So, one of the primary objectives when we first bought the coach was to replace the Jack-Knife (a pretty disgusting cloth floral pattern, really) with a leather (oh yeah, we like leather… Easier to CLEAN with 3 boys!) pull out sleeper sofa, preferably in the queen size range. After doing some research we figured out that since we have only 65 inches for the sofa to go in, we were not going to get a queen size sofa UNLESS we spent about $2,000 or more. We did find some. They look pretty nice. They have a blow up mattress that is supposed to inflate in seconds, etc. The overall problem with this idea was cost. The secondary problem was that we could not find one we really, really liked.
So, we scoured Craig’s and eBay for months. Mind you we were having some other ‘trouble’ with some other items as well in coach, remember she was 11+ years old when we bought her. But, these were regulated to the ‘rear burner’ until we could get the sofa thing settled. It just worked out that way, actually as the other things were things we wanted to get repaired as well. One day, I find a 68” sofa on Craig’s list that looks like it will work. I set up a time to go meet with the guy and take my tape measure. I re-measured the space for the sofa. 67.5 inches is the MAX space between the forward slide wall (just behind the driver’s seat) and the forward dinette bench. I measured his sofa. I can only say “Thankfully it didn’t fit” because it was HIDEOUS! But, it was a Queen-Size sleeper and it was by far too big for the space we had in the coach.
We were about to leave when he said, “Well, I have this other one, if you want to look at it, but its leather.” I said “Lead the way!” OMG! It looked like it was in very bad shape. It was covered in dust and disassembled and just looked terrible. But, we moved things around and I found all the pieces. It was 65” long… PERFECT SIZE! Was one size down from the queen (I think that is Full, but I am a guy and I don’t know bed sizes), which was not ideal, but I felt like it would work anyway. It looked like it was not going to do the job from an aesthetics stand point, but as I pointed out to my wife since the coach was pretty much a neutral interior base of browns, tans and earth tones that what looked like ‘flaming burgundy’ would probably look pretty good. Add to that the dinette cushions were included and I was thinking it was too good to be true. The guy said it would clean up very nice as it was a nice setup. Then we talked about price. $350 with installation INCLUDED! SOLD! Yes, I would have to ‘cut’ the cushions to fit, but I didn’t think that would be that bad. It wasn’t. It took me two nights, but it was not bad. So, with the matching cushions, it looks like it is supposed to be there. Sofa and dinette cushions are all done in burgundy leather, which is not as ‘flaming’ as it looked in the warehouse covered in dust. They cleaned them all up before installation and they did a terrific job not damaging anything inside our coach.
When we got the coach home with the new sofa, I slept in it to try it out. I was not leveled so it was not that great. But, ever since, I have been very happy with the upgrade. When sleeping on it after leveling, it is just fine!
We still don’t have it ‘etched in concrete’ who sleeps where, but at least we have definitively, 5 sleeping locations that do not require reconfiguring an air mattress right in the main walkway. It is much nicer now!

Project Two: Leveling Jacks
Okay, so after leveling the coach and sitting there for a few hours the driver’s side rear was just ‘bumping down’. Every now and again you hear and feel a ‘pfft’ sound. When I went to check the jacks, there it was… Red fluid. Crap! So, I started thinking I would need a new jack. I didn’t know they sold them individually. So, I was looking at sets. WOW! I had no idea how much they are! So, then I thought, “I bet it is just an O-ring and that can be replaced”. Yes, it can. As a matter of fact that _IS_ what you are supposed to do too. But, the procedure for doing so, which I looked up online and found for my jacks, is not for the novice, nor amateur handy man. Nope. That one is for a professional who has a blow-torch and knows without a doubt that he knows what he is doing. Ugh! So, I decided to take it into LazyDays for a new jack. When we got there, you won’t believe it, but there was another Dolphin owner with a 1998 535. His interior was blue, and he had the rear queen size bed, but other than that and his personal modifications, it was the same coach as we had. Only he had many problems with his. And each one he had overcome by himself, mostly. He asked what I was here for and I told him. He said: “Well, you can spend the $1,000 on that jack if you want to, but when I got my Dolphin I had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM right from the factory. And I fixed it!”
Okay, he had my attention. He explained to me that what I thought was the problem, a leaking O ring was more than likely the problem. But, instead of replacing the jack (because LazyDays is not going to rebuild the jack, it is just quicker to replace it), I might want to try brake fluid in the leveling reservoir. He said it would make the O ring slightly expand and as a matter of fact give new life to the ring. But, don’t ‘overdo it’. I was low on fluid in that system anyway. I didn’t know that either until I checked it. So, I put in the amount he said to and filled the rest with the fluid you are supposed to use. In my case, I believe it is transmission fluid. I can’t remember right now. He said it would take a few times, but eventually the problem would just ‘go away’. So, I jacked the coach up and down a few times to get the fluid all mixed up. Next camping trip, PERFECT! I didn’t have to readjust the levelers once because of leaking. Because I didn’t get it right the first time? Yes, but not because of slippage! I checked the leaking jack for new fluid and there is not any. If that guy is reading this, THANK YOU!

Project Three: Air Conditioners
For some reason the front A/C went out. When I say that I mean it would not turn on the compressor for some reason. I had the 4 button A/C thermostat control system. This thing was nice in that it would switch between the front and rear A/Cs for you based on temperature. When it was replaced with the 5 button system that feature is no longer something that it does. BUT, you can't find 4 button control boxes for the air conditioners anymore either. So, we upgraded to the 5 button one. This was AFTER I was able to get one new 4 button control box and then I thought the brand new one went out too. Our unit is only 30 amps. So, that means we can't run both A/Cs at the same time unless under generator. So, the older control system was designed to circumvent this limitation by allowing you to actualy have both units 'armed', but then the thermostat would determine which one to run based on the temp inside the coach. So, there are two temp probes in the unit. One mid coach and one rear. The new system just works like any ordinary thermostat by turning the A/Cs on and off based on temperature, but NOT switching the cooler one off first. Confused? If so, I am not writing it correctly. But, I am kind of in a hurry. Sorry.
Anyway, we had the units checked out. We were told we have a MAJOR short in our unit and that the front A/C needs to be replaced. Well, after taking the RV to a shop that didn't do ANYTHING on it for about 3 weeks, I got fed up and took it over to Camper's World next to LazyDays. We don't live too far from there. They told us that the front A/C was 'done'. Dometic said the unit is sealed and since it used the older freon we couldn't recharge it anyway, but there was a port for that. Anyway, we plunked down the money for 2 new A/C units. Both of them, since the rear one was so old. When it was all done, they worked perfectly and there was no short in the coach. I bought an AMP meter and I checked all of the wiring myself so I could be sure while monitoring the AMPs and voltages being used on the A/Cs. Were we done with the A/Cs? I would say, YES, we are done with the A/Cs. But, there is still a problem while we run the generator and run BOTH units. But, more on that in a following project.

Project Four: New LCD TV(s)
Well, since the government decided to change over to digital TV transmission signals and our TVs in the RV are analog we needed to have a plan in place for this. We were going to just use what we had and put in place the analog to digital converter boxes. I got everything I needed for this and tested it out. It worked. During this testing process, I found a few cables that weren't crimped very well and made a note of that.
Now, I could have just used the digital boxes. But, there were a few 'issues' with them. First, they were very SLOW to tune in all the channels. Second, EACH TV location needed to have a box OR both TVs would have to watch the SAME channel. Three, you now needed two remotes to operate one television. I elected to replace the rear TV (13") with a 19" or 22" LCD TV. This has a built in digital tuner and simply had to be connected up to the second (rear) TV cable. This works pretty well, but I was unhappy with the little shelf where the TV sat because the boys play Xbox in the back of the coach. So, I ran a new cable from the jack above the shelf to the dresser between the beds in the rear of the RV. It works GREAT! And since that is where the rear TV sits when we camp, it is perfect! The TV is not the best, but hey, it is a flat screen LCD capable of 1080i.
The front TV was left for another day. But, that day came about 2 weeks ago since we were heading over to Fort Wilderness at Disney. So, my wife and I decided we needed to have the front TV working BEFORE we made that trip. Now, having a deadline was a good thing. So, we finally got the TV purchased and decided where it was going to go and what we were going to do. Since we had looked at a lot of TV conversions for the front overhead bin, we decided to forgo that because NOTHING out there made us happy. Instead we decided to leave that TV, but FIX the cables running to it, so that it WORKS. AND we put a new 32" LCD Flat Screen in the middle section of the coach on the buffet near the dinette. The problem with this was the cable routing. We didn't want to see anything. So, I ran the cable from the buffet over the slide, through the decorative piece above the driver and then forward and through a hole that I drilled into the overhead compartment. I then routed the new cable to the TV electronics cabinet over the passenger's side overhead bin. Now, since my cable is white I used homemade cable guides made out of nails and tie wraps instead of the ones that are premanufactured costing $2.98 EACH... WOW! Mine are not as pretty, but they work and they are almost never seen. Unless you specifically look for them, you don't notice. Could it be a little better? Yes. While doing this, the Antenna was up. I tested everything. I even hooked back up the VCR. My TV combo switch is for Two TVs and a VCR. It has Antenna/Cable/Aux inputs for the TVs and Antenna/Cable for the VCR. So, I ended up wiring it so that each 'output' switch goes to a TV, instead of 2 TVs and a VCR, but the inputs go where they are supposed to so that the VCR is one of those outputs. I end up only being able to see the VCR on 2 of the TVs, but I have CABLE/ANTENNA on all 3. The front TV is only good if you are watching the VCR or hooked to CABLE, but hey that keeps the little ones entertained while they are in bed before they fall asleep. So, it works.
Getting back to the antenna that was left up. Well, I got in a hurry and ended up leaving it up while moving the RV to the front of the house. In order to do that, I have to drive around the block. I hit a tree. I do have the Orange Diamond thing to warn me and it was out on the antenna crank, but it should have been over the driver's seat. Yep, the antenna took it. So, I took down the parts that got damaged (no, I was not happy) and was thankful that the roof was not damaged at all!
When we drove home from Fort Wilderness (where all three TVs worked PERFECTLY!), I stopped at Camping World and bought another antenna. Now, anyone who tells you need to replace your old antenna with a new one is lying to you. The old ones receive the new digital signals just fine. Why? Because they are actually broadcasting the new signals over the old frequencies, just using less of them and utilizing more bandwidth by digitizing the actual data. It is more complicated, but in essence they changed the signal, not the transmission mechanism. Anyway, the TV system all works and my wife and I are very happy with the results.

Project Five: 30 to 50 AMP Conversion
Okay, this is not an immediate thing that I am plannig on doing, but my initial investigation shows me that my RV, when running the generator CAN run both A/Cs just fine (well is supposed to be able to anyway). So, after looking into some things, I realized that the system was basically 'tricking' the RV into believing it had 50 AMPS coming from the generator. So, if I can mimic this, I can 'trick' it into believing it is running on the generator when it is running on shore power. Oh yes, it is doable. There are several examples on the internet. It is not something to do with a light heart though. And I want it to be 100% safe. So, this upgrade will cost me some $ for a transfer switch and a new 20AMP/30AMP break switch.
Basically what I want to do is cut the feed line from the generator. Put in place there a 50 AMP transfer switch. The generator (2 120V circuits one at 30 amps and one at 20amps) and a 50 AMP plug will both be inputs into the transfer switch. the output of the switch will wire into the old system EXACTLY as the generator used to. What it did was split the rear A/C off to run on the 20 AMP circuit coming out of the generator. So, if I can hookup to 50 AMPs, the system will think I am running off of the generator even though I am not. But, if I am, it will work just as it does now.
The beauty of this is that if I go to a 30 AMP campground, I still have the Complete 30 AMP system still in tact. And if I go to a 50 AMP, then I can plug in like I have a complete 50 AMP conversion with no trouble whatsoever. There are a few details I am leaving out, but in essence I know what I want to do here. What I want to be able to do is: RUN BOTH ACs in the SUMMERTIME IN FLORIDA! Even with both 13,500 BTU units going, we will need shade. But, with out the shade, we won't be able to stay in the RV during the day. But, then, are you not supposed to be doing other things while camping anyway?

Project Six: Leaning
Well, she is an older coach and as such, she has the same condition you find on a lot of older Dolphins (and others) ... She leans to the right side. It is the suspension. You can see it. I am not sure if the rear spring is effected at all because it is more heavy duty and I do have a tag axle, but the front one is very 'tired'. So, here I am looking for suggestions as to what to do. I just want to be able to go down the road and not have to fight the lean with my body. Like my chair is leaning to the passenger side and I am leaning back to the left to just become straight. Now, I know about the crowned roads, etc. But, when she is parked she definitely leans and that is what I want to eliminate or at least reduce. I would also like to do this for as little money as possible.

Project Seven: Generator
Okay, now the A/Cs are SUPPOSED run on the generator and they do. And everything looks, sounds and is fine... for about 10 to 20 minutes. Then the generator cycles off. no breakers are tripped or nothing. It just stops sending voltage. Then after about 5 minutes it turns back on again. Then, after about 5 minutes of AC compressor time (with both of them running) the generator cycles off the power again. I have no idea what this is. Someone told me it was a voltage regulator. The generator has 65 hours on it. But, it is really less than that because sometimes the hobbs meter was running while the generator really was not.
I have a few more things to work on, but there is nothing there that inhibits our ability to accomplish and outing!
And really, that is the MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT RVing...
GOING!
It has been fun to reminisce about our experience with our RV so far and in the future I hope to also add information from our trips, but for now, I am still incredibly taken with our 1997 Class A Dolphin 535 Motorhome.
Talons

[Alleyman]

Hey Talons... you got tooooo much time on your hands to be doing all that remodeling!!! LOL Just kiddding, sounds like you are getting it where you can enjoy it more. have fun. Alleyman (Nebraska) Go Huskers!!

[Talons]

Actually since we have had her for almost two years I figure I don't work on her as much as some other people.

Talons

[Theberrys]

Talons

Don't stop now you gotter on the run. Owning a Motor Home for us anyway has been several hobbies. We have done some of the same projects as you. Once I realized, there is no just owning the coach, I have filled many hours repairing and upgrading. Sure beats hanging out in pool halls and spending the grocery money on beer.

If you do need to replace the Genny Voltage Regulator here is the best place I found for our Generac 6.5KW parts https://www.partsfortechs.com/asapcart/. There was also a self healing fuse in ours that went bad. Replacing the two parts wasn't a hard job, finding the parts at a reasonable price was the chore.

Good Luck and don't loose your wrench, you'll need it.

Dick

[KenneyG]

Hi Talons We also have a 1997 National Dolphin and have the same AC problem, could you email us some websites about the 30 to 50 conversion and any info that you have. Thanks much, The Goforths Email: kencathyg@embarqmail.com

[Talons]

Originally Posted by KenneyG

Hi Talons, We also have 1997 Dolphin and have the save AC problems, could you email us same websites and any info you have about the 30 to 50 conversion. Thanks Much, The Goforths Email: kencathyg@embarqmail.com

I am very sorry for not replying sooner.

Here is the first one. It is NOT cheap and NOT the way I would go about it.
http://www.bobhatch.com/electricStuff/30to50amp.htm

Here is another idea.
http://www.psrv.net/Psbroc59.pdf

And then there is a completely different idea where you get the best of all worlds. But that too, is not that inexpensive. The document for that one, I cannot find.
But, it is a derivative of:
http://www.wolfswords.com/motorhome/50_amp.html

With mine I intend to put a 50 AMP automatic transfer switch that the 50 AMP cord and the generator both run into. The output from this will run to the current transfer switch as is. That is, it will believe that it is ALWAYS running on Generator power. As such, you can run both A/C units with no problem.

As an added benefit, you can also still use the old 30 AMP plug DIRECTLY if you are in a camp ground that only has 30 AMP service.

Basically, if you are on Generator power you get both A/Cs.
If you use the 50 AMP cord, you would get both A/Cs because the factory install of the electrical system does not know the difference.
If you use the 30 AMP cord, you would get what you have today (or at least what I have today).

Talons