OUTLAW Mods and Easy Fixes

[Vicap]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Saw a 2012 3611 that had:
Microwave under the cooktop.

Anyone know, are these owner mods or ?

Here: Lakewood, NJ - Used Class A - Gas - 2012 Thor Outlaw For sale in Lakewood, NJ - RVs.com

We couldn't live with the white upholstery, but I bet someone likes it

I had a micro/convection oven under the cooktop in the Beast - factory installed.

[BpK9Miami]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Saw a 2012 3611 that had:

Attachment 61083

Attachment 61084

A folding shelf under the main TV and...


Attachment 61085
Microwave under the cooktop.

Anyone know, are these owner mods or ?

Here: Lakewood, NJ - Used Class A - Gas - 2012 Thor Outlaw For sale in Lakewood, NJ - RVs.com

We couldn't live with the white upholstery, but I bet someone likes it

The first Outlaw I ever looked at, 2008 3612, had a factory installed optional fold out stand / table under the TV. But it was flush with the wall as an inset. My buddy David had the same thing on his. Great as a small printer table. By the time I started seriously looking for my rig it is was no longer an option apparently.

[Scarab0088]

Thanks Vi and Mack!

Good to know.

Vi,

I just saw the Beast's consignment ad on MHSRV...pics look GREAT!

Are you trading to a new RV or leaving the road?

Best luck

[f15epilot]

Fun Mod: Railings for the Patio Deck

I did the patio deck (draw bridge) mod at Talladega about three years ago. It took about 30-min; cost about $50 (mostly for the stainless steel load-bearing chain); and really made for a fun 'observation' post for Talladega and Daytona.

That 'fun' deck presented a new problem: how to access the deck from the ground without hauling around a ladder? After looking at multiple (and expensive) semi-portable steps with railings, I came across the Westin Truck-Pal ladder. It is made for a pickup truck tailgate, but will mount to the side of our Outlaw ramp just as well. It folds up and out of the way, so no loss of space and nothing to drag out and connect.

That deck also made a great place for the 4-legged RV captains to roam, except they on occasion jumped off. I tried to convince two Damon Outlaw dealers to sell me the new party-deck railings, but was told that the legacy unit's rear door lacked sufficient strength; for liability reasons, they did not endorse the patio mod nor would they sell the railings (and if they did, the price was significant). PLUS, I needed the railings to have an access door on the side where the steps were located. Solution? PVC.

At Daytona Bike Week (where Home Depot is around the corner), I cut up 8 sections of 1-1/4" PVC pipe, which slides nicely into 1 1/2" for the door. That pipe, a bunch of 90s and T's, two "PLUS" fittings for the sliding door, plastic fence, and bungie balls...and a little elbow effort over several beers and two hours produced the pet security fence with sliding entrance.

Now...the RV captains and I can enjoy the races...in security.

[f15epilot]

We go to Key West (NAS Key West) twice every year. In Sept, we stay in the full hook-up area; in October, the 'dry camp' on Trumbo Point. Last year, our two neighbors to the rear both had wind turbines. Since the winds in Oct/Nov/Dec in the Keys are nearly constant at 10 - 15mph (and gusts to 30 quite often), these little babies were humming along...24hrs a day. I had my trusty Harbor Freight 45-watt solar arrays (two of them) out to minimize generator runs. Since the HF arrays are 24V pannels, that means the max Current (I) = Watts / volts = 90 / 24 = 3.75amps...minus loss in the controller... Which explains why on the sunniest of days, I only measured a a bit over 2amps of current 'charge' to the coach batteries via my Fluke meter. Worse, the generators have to be shut off at 11pm (or if you are going 'out' and will not be back by 11pm, the generator must be shut off before you leave). Hence, I quickly found the solar only slightly shortened the generator run required to charge the batteries for the night (or the next morning). Meanwhile, my wind turbine neighbors rarely ran their generators.

When I got home, I did a lot of research, mostly on sailboat forums. Our sailboat friends have used these jewels for years. And like their gasoline counterparts, wind generators can be bought for as little as a $100 or upwards of $2K. I settled on a 400-watt Air-X Land (now the Air-30), which I found second-hand for under $300. At Daytona, with winds running 10 - 20mph, I was seeing 2 to 4.5amps, respectively. The Air-X comes with a built-in controller, so I need only connect the output wires to my coach batteries (I used the terminals in the garrage). It shuts itself off versus needing a 'dump load' when the batteries hit full charge (or a BIG wind gust hits). My neighbors in the Keys had a D400 (very pricey, but efficient in low winds); and a Coleman (made by Sunforce) which was less efficient, but less price. My Air-X is roughly the same as the latter.

I have a 12V Silentwind turbine (which uses hand-laid, carbon fiber blades) and a matched Hybrid-1000 controller on the way from Portugal. Those carbon fiber 'blue' blades are WAY more quiet than the 'standard' turbine blades (check the sailing forums; some people will not berth next to 'black-blade' turbines due to the noise...which is not insignificant in high winds). A bouns, the hybrid controller has solar input terminals for those HF pannels for when the wind isn't blowing.

Both turbines mount to schedule 40, 1 1/2" aluminum pipe, which I secured to the rear door latch bars via band clamps. Power runs via AWG10 'boat wire' thru the lower air vent to the controller box (with meters for charge, volts for the AIR-X) or Hybrid controller (Silentwind) which both tie to the battery posts in the garage. Can't wait to put this all to the test in June at Barber Museum and the AMA races.

I feel almost as green as Kermit, now!

[focker]

I love the idea of wind power, hadn't even thought of it before this! I have been working towards doing solar but this may indeed be a better way to go.

[Scarab0088]

What is that (see photo)?

Looks like an awning edge mount...please share details

[f15epilot]

Good catch. Yes, that is an awning rail. I bought a Carefree (I think) "Add a Room" kit from a shop out west. It arrived missing one of the side sections, which would not have fit, anyway (too short; it is made for a 'standard' 6-foot-6" tall toy hauler ramp/door). The top, however, fits quite well. I use two tie-down straps to hold it down (anchor them to the draw-bridge/chain connectors). The nice part is that I can drop the awning end, leaving it attached at the top, and it covers the opening (can leave the ramp down). Or, I can remove the end poles and tie downs, close the ramp, and let the awning hang down for quick setup the next day.

I trimmed down a piece of vinyl 1 x 4 trim; attached that to a butt-plate and made it to match the depth of the side fairings. I put it in place of the useless drip rail (why is it there, anyway?), and created a flat surface from edge to edge for the awning rail. Here's a pic of last year at Talladega...where I'll be again next week!!!

[f15epilot]

OK...to go with the wind turbines, I needed a 'permanent' inverter, something my rig did not have when I bought it (second owner). I'd been 'making do' with a modified square wave inverter in the garage with extension cords for over a year. Then I found this WFCO WF-5100 inverter with remote on eBay (of course). That was the easy part ($250-delivered). Then how to hard-wire? There are a LOT of articles on that topic (on here and other forums), all warning that because RV power panels are not connected between common and ground, to hard-wire an inverter you need this, that, both, or can't do it at all . I finally found one that made sense: just think of your RV power system as a long extension cord. The ground-tie either occurs where you plug it in (the power box for shore power) or inside the generator when it powers up. That answered the not-so-hard question.

Now where to put it since I have not having seen a factory version for the '07 Outlaw? With a 'blank' slate, I noted that there was a 'blank' panel above the circuit breaker panel. I pulled out the three drawers and had ample room to work in what is a very 'open' area. The inverter is NOT small...and weighs about 30lbs. It is now attached to the side wall that makes the refrigerator box with the display facing up/forward so I can see it with the top drawer pulled all the way out. I ran #4 welding cable to the main batteries, which was easy since there is a very small, hidden access bay behind the plastic wheel well trim (that is where the other wires all pass out below the drawers). Just remove the screws that hold the forward end of the wheel well cover and you can reach inside. That bay is uncovered on the inner side, so the wires just come out and can be secured to the other wires...and it's a short run to the coach batteries. I put a battery disconnect/100amp fuse between positive lead/terminal.

The inverter has three-prong 15amp plug for its pass-through 120V; and three-wires for the output. I cut off the three-prong, and wired the common and ground of both the output and input to the common and ground bars in the power panel (there are several empty holes for that). I then fed the OUTPUT of the 15A circuit breaker to the input "Hot/Black" for the 120 pass-through on the inverter. The hot output of the inverter then feeds the outlet circuit in the RV (the wire I removed from the Circuit Breaker). Finally, I cut a small square in that blank wood panel (it's thin, 1/8" plywood) and mounted the inverter remote control (simple on/off with LED). I connected everything up and...works like a champ.

A note on the 2007 outlet C/B's. There is a 15A for the GFIs, and a 15A for the 'other' outlets (and one for the microwave outlet inside the cabinet). I always wondered why some outlets were labeled...that is why. But if you want your TV, and DVD, etc., to work, you need to energize the non-GFI branch with your inverter. Like your RV's control box, when you are on shore power and the Generator comes on-line, the control box switches over to generator power; when the gen shuts off, the box switches to shore power. With the inverter hard-wired in, when there is 120V coming into the RV (generator or shore power), it passes that 120V through; when the 120V goes off, it switches to inverter power (pure sine wave) in 10ms or less...and that doesn't even make my TV or DVD or computer burp!

The whole install took two and a half hours...and that was time WELL spent. The 1000watts (continuous) is enough for one small appliance and all the electronics (no microwave or A/Cs)...and the VERY large area below the drawers has sufficient air volume/flow for cooling. This is one of the BEST mods I've done.

[Scarab0088]

Great mods, f15epilot!

Thanks for sharing!

[Vicap]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

Thanks Vi and Mack!

Good to know.

Vi,

I just saw the Beast's consignment ad on MHSRV...pics look GREAT!

Are you trading to a new RV or leaving the road?

Best luck

I bought a 23SAG Attitude which I'll be living in during my winter volunteer stints in State and National Parks...7 months in Desert National Wildlife Refuge near Vegas for winter 2014 - 2015. Will be summering at my Little Cabin outside Fairbanks.

I bought a toyhauler so I can move the furniture in the back and put up my sewing machines - same as the garage in the Beast. I like having the latitude to do what I want where I want, rather than having tables and chairs bolted down where others think I should do things. AND, not being a fulltimer anymore means not needing as much space.

Here is the current configuration I'm driving now to Alaska...I haven't seen another setup like this the entire 4500 miles since I left central TX!

[focker]

For anyone that wants to do an oil & filter change on the Onan Generator I cranked out a little video today to show how easy it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=butk...ature=youtu.be

[DGShaffer]

Just changed mine last weekend. I had a filter rot through with salt collecting around the rubber seal so be sure to keep an eye on them as well. Assuming you live and travel on salted raods.

The Onan guy told me to avoid synthetic oil on these because of the vertical crank shafts. He said the seals would leak over time

[focker]

When I started thinking about doing the oil change I was on the fence about using synthetic but nosing around here and a few other forums I read plenty of post where people regularly use synthetic without issue. Just to be sure l stopped by our local Cummins dealer in W. Sacramento and a tech there told me that synthetic is fine in them so I went ahead.
I don't know what to think after what you heard because I do know that over the years a handful of motorcycle forum members have said they had seals leak after going synthetic so that could be accurate information.
I don't think there should be any lubrication concerns based on the configuration of the crankshaft because there are a ton of different motor configurations for motorcycle and I have never had an oil based failure on any of mine (I have had a LOT of motos over the years and currently own 5) with the 30+ years of running synthetic in all of them. I think I will head back over to Cummins and go a little deeper on questions to see what they say. Good to have this heads up from you for a deeper look to help people make the right choice.