Upgrades/Repairs Thread - Big Blue - 2001 Monaco Signature

[Biljol]

JJTL

So looks like In your pics that the battery’s are no-longer in the battery compartment at least my battery compartment is the last one on the pass side.

You have a 40+ I have a 40 is the internal batteries pics of that compartment or another one if it’s another what’s in the compartment that my battery are in?

[engine103]

I used these guys for my Bose repair. My CD cassette was stuck inside and the cover for the led display was missing. Quick turn around and very happy with repairs.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202949061728

[Timaz]

Originally Posted by Biljol

A lot of those items are or have been on our list. We have completed a bunch so far we have a 2000 exe.

I am wondering about the engine venting that was posted we find the bed is extremely warm after a trip and have also had the ac breakers trip I never thought about venting the compartment.

Could you send some pics with the stand offs?

Adding you your list on mine is

Inverter/charger upgrade to psw

Lithium battery upgrades

More solar

New toilet with porcelain base

Replace the front wrap around curtains with shades.

We almost have the floor and new cabinets in but some life stuff happened and delayed the finishing.

We also had the captian and co captain chairs reupholstered

I have a thread with the floor replacement but I need to post more picks of how far we have gotten.

The battery stuff is my weakness.

SORRY I'm behind on this. The engine "lid" I'm referring to is the back engine access door. Big one. Not the inside of the coach. I have posted a picture of one of the standoffs installed.

[JJTL]

Originally Posted by Biljol

Was debating the front screen idea but did not like the seating options. We did a rising tv from the cabinets we installed for our two workstations on the dinning side of the coach. Need to get it cleaned up to take some pics.

Look for a thread called removing tile.

Found the thread, thanks. We do have the heated floors under the tile so that complicates things quite a bit. We love the tile, but have 1 or 2 with very minor hairlines. The carpet is in amazing shape, and after 20 years no one as ever removed the plastic protective cover that snaps in place. So carpet is like new. Floors will be a future project one day though, thanks for the info.

[JJTL]

Originally Posted by Timaz

The Seelevel is pretty easy. If you do it like I and others on here have done, you strip off the stock gage strips and put the seelevel strips in their place and then use one of the stock routed wires to the gage from the tank strips. The directions are good and there is a couple Youtube videos. I just didn't have the room in my coach for a TV lift behind one of the couches so I went with a high end projector TV (BenQ) and a good roll up screen. Every night is movie night.

OK great to hear on the Seelevel, sounds like might just be the upgrade we need. On the list to investigate further! Drop down TV might be on the list for phase 2

[JJTL]

Originally Posted by Biljol

JJTL

So looks like In your pics that the battery’s are no-longer in the battery compartment at least my battery compartment is the last one on the pass side.

You have a 40+ I have a 40 is the internal batteries pics of that compartment or another one if it’s another what’s in the compartment that my battery are in?

Hi Biljol, good eye. Our original battery location was on the passenger side compartment directly behind the tag axle. However, the battery bank size was increased significantly and so they were moved to one of the small pass through compartments. Second one in front of the drive axle, see attached picture. (click on it to zoom in).



This was all done by the previous owner, so we had no say in it. Not sure if the new location is better or worse for weight distribution. As far as accessing the batteries, they are on a massive slide out tray, so that has improved immensely. Old compartment has not really be re-utilized, so something we have to look at.

[JJTL]

Originally Posted by engine103

I used these guys for my Bose repair. My CD cassette was stuck inside and the cover for the led display was missing. Quick turn around and very happy with repairs.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202949061728

Awesome! Will check it out. Thanks! Same as us, our CD cartridge is stuck in there. Display also doesn't seem to be working. We have other means of radio, the primary use case for the Bose will be TV surround sound. That still works and I have an idea to get a digital signal sent to it. We shall see how that turns out.

Josh

[Timaz]

Originally Posted by JJTL

Thanks for the kind words Tim! As it is a family coach, it has so far been used every day since we've had it .

We are just at the beginning of the rabbit hole for air leaks. The air bags have been replaced, so those are good. I hear air leaking from the front after shut down, and we loose pressure quickly from the front tank. Looking underneath, I see the aux pump for the air leveling in that area as well. I am sure that could likely be the cause or related cause. About as far as we have gotten. I also understand the Signature has an inflating door seal, yet another thing I have to investigate.

Thanks for the feedback on the Connect 2.0. Being Canadian our data options are both significantly more limited and more expensive. None of our carriers really have pay as you go options, and none really work with any of these antennas. Not like in the US where you can pop in an AT&T or Verizon SIM. I believe the Connect has decent reviews, but is not perfect. However, the Winegard Freedom data that is pay as you go and works in both the US and Canada is a significant draw for us and how we use the rig. If anyone has any other ideas though, I am certainly open to them.

The engine cover I was referring to, is actually the outside rear door. The pistons are dead and we have a rubber weather stripping that is starting to peel away. Thankfully for us, our interior engine hatch is both solid and seals very well.

Josh

Air leaks: In the front and back of the coach underneath you will find a 6 air valve manifold. (See picture of front, Rear set is over Diff) There are a couple of threads here on how to reseal them. (Easy, just clean and replace three O-rings each) Before you start searching everywhere else. Buy a electronic leak detector. Soap and water you have to see. Underside of a coach is dark and a pain. The leak detector is fast. There is a thread on here about one and I'm so glad I bought one. I would never had found a couple. Here is what I have. https://www.amazon.com/ALLOSUN-Ultra...s%2C209&sr=8-7

[AnotherMike]

Originally Posted by JJTL

The current To Do List as it stands today. Ever changing and in no particular order:

To Repair:
- Bose system control unit
- Engine cover door seal and pistons
- Water tank filling while on city connection (pump or valve?)
- Leaky bath faucet
- Leaky exterior faucet
- Chassis air leaks (let the games begin!)
- Windshield wipers (erratic speed control)
- Co-pilot seat heat
- Water system expansion tank
- Generator “Out” dash light
- Salesmen switch solenoids
- Air leveling system and aux pump
- ABS light on

To Upgrade:
- Digital TV antenna
- Upgrade TVs and entire entertainment system
- Install Winegard Connect 2.0 Wifi/LTE
- Upgrade dash radio system and integrate GPS/Backup Camera/TripTek (Halo9?)
- Outdoor basement TV
- Add side marker lights/Turn signals
- Upgrade exterior lighting to LED
- Upgrade interior pot lights to LED
- New tank monitoring system
- USB outlets/ports

The one thing that always works on an RV is the owner...

Mike

[JJTL]

Originally Posted by Timaz

Air leaks: In the front and back of the coach underneath you will find a 6 air valve manifold. (See picture of front, Rear set is over Diff) There are a couple of threads here on how to reseal them. (Easy, just clean and replace three O-rings each) Before you start searching everywhere else. Buy a electronic leak detector. Soap and water you have to see. Underside of a coach is dark and a pain. The leak detector is fast. There is a thread on here about one and I'm so glad I bought one. I would never had found a couple. Here is what I have. https://www.amazon.com/ALLOSUN-Ultra...s%2C209&sr=8-7

Great tip on the air leak detector, seems like it will be worth it's wait in gold for sure! Will get one ordered. Thanks for the info on the air manifolds, we will start there and I will do a search for some relevant threads. Always great to know a good place to get started, fixing the air leaks is high on the list.

Originally Posted by AnotherMike

The one thing that always works on an RV is the owner...

[Timaz]

[QUOTE=JJTL;5228363]Great tip on the air leak detector, seems like it will be worth it's wait in gold for sure! Will get one ordered. Thanks for the info on the air manifolds, we will start there and I will do a search for some relevant threads. Always great to know a good place to get started, fixing the air leaks is high on the list.

Yes, those valves being resealed fix my ride height, the coach staying level and a pull to one side driving. A couple valves had the frame twisting (not airing the bags correctly) so the coach would pull. I also had a "smart weight" done with escapees, that's how I figured out the bags were not being aired correctly. I had too much weight on passenger front and driver back wheels. When I did the valves at a friends house the drive home was like a new coach!

As I said before I had HWH level controller fixed also. This was after I had resealed the valves. HWH has a good trouble shooting guide on there website for the air leveling system. Mine is located in the front lower passenger side compartment ceiling behind an access door. Find it first and verify which one you have before you look it up. Also you might have more valves in the back with your coach having 10 bags...I don't know.

[JJTL]

Progress continues today on the wood work for the TV upgrade project. Our plan is to build wood cabinet doors that sit inside the opening of the existing wood frame TV boxes. This will leave them flush with the outside front edge of the cabinets. The doors will be made of 3/4" finished plywood, that matches the thickness of the existing cabinet frame. The doors will then be hinged from the top using a continuous piano hinge, and piston type struts will support them on either side. The doors will lock using friction hinges at the bottom edge, and an internal frame will be built on the inside edge to support the doors. Much will become clear in future pictures... I hope .

The TVs will flush mount to the the doors, which will allow access to storage behind them. There will also be a Bose sound bar in the bedroom attached to the new door. In the front, our plan is to reuse the current Bose Lifestyle 30 system. I have purchased a converter box that will allow me to convert the optical audio output from the TV to the digital coax input connection on the Bose system. This is the only digital input on the Bose, but hey at least there is one.



Today we built the doors and pre-attached the hinges. The doors have also been stained to match the cherry wood colour of Big Blue. A few coats of clear have gone on, and we should be good to mount them tomorrow.

Josh

[JJTL]

Today we focused on the bedroom TV and managed to get it pretty much wrapped up. Just waiting for Amazon to deliver some piston support struts to be installed on each side.

Started out installing some internal frame support pieces on either side. The door closes against these, sitting flush with the front of the cabinet.



Then we mounted up the door to the existing cabinet, using a piano hinge at the top. We had already drilled the mounting holes for the TV and sound bar. Also we drilled some access holes for the cables to pass through. Pretty happy with how close our stain colour turned out to be, always stuck with the handful of options available. You can also see in the pictures the friction door latches we installed along the bottom edge.



Next up we mounted the Bose sound bar. This set the height of the TV and we purposefully set it to hang over the bottom edge of the door slightly, to hide the door gap.



Last but not least, the TV is mounted up.



It's always great to see a plan come together. This is something we have been designing/planning for some time. Only thing left to do back here is install the support struts. Next up is the front TV. Still waiting for a few parts we need from Amazon (including the TV), so may be a few days yet.

If anyone is interested, the TV we used for the bedroom is a TCL 32" 1080p Smart TV: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07KD9SGH2/...v_ov_lig_dp_it
Great price, great reviews, great features, and nice to still get a 32" TV in 1080p resolution.

Josh

[Timaz]

Looks great! I put a 32" in my bedroom also on an extension/adjustable mount. I'm not that good with wood work and I'm full time.