Community Forums

Rendon · 03-07-2014, 07:34 AM

I have a 2004 Itasca Sunrise. I can't figure out how to remove the bedroom tv. It is built in and I can see a metal bracket around the tv. I do not see any screws around or under the built in. How do I remove it so I can replace it with a flat screen? I watched a video on different mounting brackets and it looks like the BELLO 7440 is the one to go with. I'm thinking about a 22-26" tv for the bedroom.

CJBROWN · 03-07-2014, 04:48 PM

Hey, nice coach.

Just remove the panel from the underside of the cabinet - you'll find access to the hold-down strap fasteners for the TV. A few screws and it'll drop down, easy peasy.

We wanna see pics...I may do the same thing. Certainly the front - those old tube TV's are boat anchors!

Rendon · 03-07-2014, 09:19 PM

Ok I did see screws in the underneath of the built in. I will work on that and post some pics. The tv in the front has the white frame around it. I brought my 43" TV hoping to hang it from that built in! What was I thinking!!!! I've seen the set up in other RV's. It just has to be sturdy enough. The Bello 7440 will hold up to 50lbs. I'm thinking my 43" may weigh about that much. I will let you know how I make out!

billyb · 03-09-2014, 11:09 AM

I just removed my front TV and I hope your rear TV is not near as hard to get out as mine. I've never seen a TV mounted so sturdily in all my life. I think a third of the weight to the motorhome is the steel contraption across the front to hold a heavy TV.

Rendon · 03-14-2014, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyb

I just removed my front TV and I hope your rear TV is not near as hard to get out as mine. I've never seen a TV mounted so sturdily in all my life. I think a third of the weight to the motorhome is the steel contraption across the front to hold a heavy TV.

Hello there, well I removed both tvs without difficulty! My friend removed the front tv in about ten minutes if that. I walked outside and came back in and it was down! Now I just have to figure out how to mount my flat screen. I have a 43" currently sitting on my dash!!! Anyone have any suggestions? There is a heavy duty bar in the built in and my friend said he thought there was a mount you can buy that would attach to this bar. I have never seen such a mount. I need one that extends and swivels from side to side.

Rendon · 03-14-2014, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJBROWN

Hey, nice coach.

Just remove the panel from the underside of the cabinet - you'll find access to the hold-down strap fasteners for the TV. A few screws and it'll drop down, easy peasy.

We wanna see pics...I may do the same thing. Certainly the front - those old tube TV's are boat anchors!

Hi Chris, sorry I didn't take pic's of the removal of the tv's but it was quite easy. My friend removed them for me and had no problems. I think the hardest part was carrying the front tv out the door! I need to find a way to mount my 43" tv that is currently sitting on my dash!

CJBROWN · 03-14-2014, 09:57 PM

Well that's encouraging. Can't wait to do mine.
For the bedroom, I saw someone mount a flat-screen to a flip-up door so you have the storage behind. Thought that was a good idea.

for the front I'm going to try and do away with the lower shell. I just don't know if there's steel framing down there, I'm hoping not. Then mount a 32 up high so it just hangs down a few inches. Will certainly clean things up in the front. And get rid of that head-banger the way they built it.

A 43 is a big set. My nieghbor has one mounted like that in front and it's fine. I think generally when they're that big they tend to fix them there rather than a swivel or movable mount. It's going to be hard to keep it stowed if it's a moveable one. Just a though.

Anyway, yeah, look for mounts, there's a ton of choices for them. I think that's half the battle on the replacment.

Also, I'm curious what people are doing for supporting content - smart TV? Blue-ray Player, PC connected? All the new TV's have a tuner, so I won't need my digital tuner I got for free when public broadcast went to digital.

Do you guys have the entertainment center surround sound option? I do and am wondering how I'll connect all those speakers to a TV. Maybe I'm going to need a blue-ray too. And I have a 300watt inverter built up there so we'll be able to use the whole setup dry camping. I think a LED flat-screen uses about half the power of the old 26" CRT.

Rendon · 03-14-2014, 10:32 PM

Yea I know my tv is a bit big!!! But I'm spoiled! When I come up with something I'll let you know. You're right about a permanent fixture, which would be ok since I don't really need to get in either cabinet up top. I currently am parked on my lot in MS and have cable so everything is in the cabinet behind the glass door and works great with the remote. When I travel I'll probably just use my digital antenna. My first trip in my new to me RV coming from PA to MS was awesome! Not so much once i got situated on my lot. One plumbing problem after another but I think I got everything worked out except for my hot water heater has been dripping water onto my pad. I have someone coming out Monday to look at it. I also had a problem with my shower caulking. I had a guy in PA caulk it for me and it didn't hold so I had a guy here in MS caulk it again however it wasn't the best caulk job and it didn't hold. So I'm now in the process of tearing it all out and gonna do it myself! Everyone is very quick to help, however, they don't really care how things look as long as they work! Well, being my first RV I want it to be right and look right! I caused myself extra work by allowing others to do things for me. I'm learning!

CJBROWN · 03-15-2014, 08:22 AM

Well, yes, after awhile you'll get so you don't want anybody messin' with your stuff. LOL.

For the caulking, I assume you're dealing with the seam between the pan and sides/enclosure. After 10 years mine seems to be a little dirty, maybe time to re-do it. Consider using 3M blue masking tape top and bottom, leaving open the area you're doing to caulk. Now you can slather it in there and smooth with your finger or a popsicle stick (but wider, for caulk) and now when you remove the tape you have a nice clean line.

Make sure you're using pure silicone caulk - the 50-year stuff. And get the seam clean before application. Prepsol seems to work well for that kind of stuff - not paint thinner! It will leave a greasy film and your caulk won't stick. Laquer thinner and acetone will work but can be very harsh on fiberglass resin. Prepsol won't hurt anything.

We use that stuff (pure silicone adhesive sealant) to glue glass aquariums together. Once setup it's extremely strong.

billyb · 03-15-2014, 08:28 AM

If tHe sHower wall comes down inside tHe pan, then you're not supposed to caulk it down so let the moisture that condenses on the back side of the wall drip down into the pan. At leAst thAt's whAt I hAve been told

Rendon · 03-15-2014, 12:26 PM

Thank you both for those tips. I was told not to use silicone caulk. I bought a tube from an RV store called ProFlexRV. Using the blue tape is an awesome idea seeing as how I can't caulk for crap! And yes the walls do sit down in the pan but it had been caulked prior to me buying it. That makes sense though. How big is the lip on the pan supposed to be? The two short walls are can be pushed in, they are not solid like the long wall. I was told to try to put some caulk in behind the wall to secure it. Any comments on that?

Bumps · 03-15-2014, 12:32 PM

If Rendon is still working on that bedroom TV removal: We found a couple of bolts (attached to that metal strap that wraps the front of the TV) under the front shelf of the TV in the EXTREME forward left and right corners. They were tucked so tightly into the corners of the underside of that shelf that they were easy to miss. Once removed, the TV was a cinch to pull out the rest of the way. \ken

Rendon · 03-15-2014, 12:51 PM

Yes thank you I got both of them down! The only problem I had was the outlet in the built in isn't working, don't know why, so I ran a power strip up thru the shelf and plugged it in at my vanity.

CJBROWN · 03-17-2014, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rendon

Thank you both for those tips. I was told not to use silicone caulk. I bought a tube from an RV store called ProFlexRV. Using the blue tape is an awesome idea seeing as how I can't caulk for crap! And yes the walls do sit down in the pan but it had been caulked prior to me buying it. That makes sense though. How big is the lip on the pan supposed to be? The two short walls are can be pushed in, they are not solid like the long wall. I was told to try to put some caulk in behind the wall to secure it. Any comments on that?

Silicone sealant is the norm. The only thing I can think of from that advice you got is they were thinking of urethane caulk but that's way over-kill for a sealing job. 3M 5200 is a urethane and you can get it at a marine supply, probly at home depot too. 4200 is the fast-cure. It's just way over the top for sealing a shower. And yes, the shower walls were sealed to the tub on the winnebagos.

There should not be any condensation on the outside walls on a shower stall for a 5 minute RV shower. The only thing I can think of here is if you're living in it, long showers daily with hot water and cold outside temps. If this is the case you have other bigger issues with moisture and condensation. Still, if there's sufficient overlap you should not need to seal the pan to the walls, it's not like a bath tub you're going to fill up, and splash is unlikely either.

Anyway, you just want pure silicone adhesive sealant - the 50-year stuff at home depot or other hardware store. The main thing is to get all of the old stuff out of there and get it really clean so the new sealant will stick.

Now, back to TV's.

My unit came with the surround sound entertainment center. It has a standard DVD play and VHS which has gone the way of the dinosaur, so I thought it might make sense to replace it with a blue ray player that uses less power. LED TV's use about 95watts I think, so total power consumption from the stock stuff should be able to be cut in half. That would be nice for dry camping. I'm just wondering how to connect my 5 speakers and sub to the TV. Perhaps I still need some kind of surround sound processor.

TV's are also equipped with a tuner now, so I can dump my digital tuner. And many have an internet browser built in as well as wifi. I'm just trying to figure out the best way to set this up for a variety of media options.

I still have the dish receiver thingy on the roof and have never used it, wondering why I need to keep it. Maybe one day I'll get a dish network account eh?