Mods to RVs

[Dunner]

Some of you may have already seen this. My feet got cold while sitting at my dinette at night, so I re-directed the wasted heat, aimed at the base of the passenger's seat, to blow towards the bottom of my dinette. I found 2" round vents at Lowe's and shortened the run that went to the seat back by ~3'. I had everything but the T and vents at home. The black parts are vacuum cleaner hose adapters and the reducer at the big end of the T is a tuna can with a carefully cut hole. I used 4 strips of plywood to strengthen the area around the holes. Must not tip the maid next week.

[ctpres]

Love to see a thinking mans work. A Tuna can! Outstanding.

[Dunner]

What the hey, it fit perfect. So did the vacuum hose adapters. Doesn't everybody save small containers to put small nuts and bolts? I have a troll under my work bench that grabs everything I drop.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/i-ha...et-149268.html

[Ramblin]

Originally Posted by Dunner

What the hey, it fit perfect. So did the vacuum hose adapters. Doesn't everybody save small containers to put small nuts and bolts? I have a troll under my work bench that grabs everything I drop.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f258/i-ha...et-149268.html

Now the DW is going to complain that your feet smell like tuna for some reason.

[Dunner]

Don't have a DW and DD (Dumb Dog) just looks at me funny.

[LadyFitz...]

Originally Posted by Ramblin

Now the DW is going to complain that your feet smell like tuna for some reason.

Don't give me straight lines like that!

[okmunky]

Watch out Dunner! Sadie won't like you much if cats keep following you home. Or will she?

[Dunner]

Uuhhh... Noooooh.... She know the word: Kitty Kat(had type that quietly)

[LadyFitz...]

Dunner has to feed Sadie somehow.

[Dunner]

When my neighbor had a bunch of feral cats living in his trees, I used to scare them away by shooting at a bucket with a BB pistol that was so slow (weak) you could watch the BBs fly. Sadie would find the BBs and bring them BBs into the house.

Hope she like my mod.

[ctpres]

Decided that fireplace a necessary addition for our travel pleasure. Major problem was only suitable place was under TV and with five inch deep wall and less than five more inches to moving slide, meant fireplace had to be less than nine inches deep. Power no problem as there is already a GFI outlet below TV.
I just centered FP on TV and raised high enough to accommodate a return air below. Option I decided against was to put return air vent in bathroom (other side of wall) which would help keep it warm and improve looks of main area (this only works well if bathroom door open most of the time - airflow under closed door may not be adequate. Now that almost done I regret that decision.
I knew that there were wires in the wall so I cut small hole first to verify where wires were. Internal wall bracing complicated the hole cutting. I added 2x2’s on inside vertical sides for FP mounting and support. Straight side and top cuts not real important, just bottom needs to be straight and level.
FP mounting depth was six inches with overall depth of 6.75 inches. With five inch wall, I needed to add some one inch wood trim to fill the space. Used layered 1x2 and 1/4x2 oak which worked out to one inch. If your hole is 6.75 or more deep - then trim provided with FP will do the job and make this a much quicker project.
Return air hole included area where AC outlet was so I just moved outlet inside wall just for FP. Did some research of return air register size and determined it needed to be at least as big as intake. I decided on larger 14x4 grille. Note: grilles are duct/hole dimensions not dimensions of grille. A 14x4 grille ends up being closer to 16x6. I opted for white and painted it black to match FP. There are some really nice vents available.
FP manual had no installation instructions, but since it is a zero clearance box you only need to allow enough space for the return airflow to top of FP box.
Wall at top of FP hole was a bit wavy. So rather than fit mantle (1x4 oak) to curves I used angle iron to mount mantle on wall and that straightened out the paneling. If you use the same FP - be sure to leave space between top of FP and mantle. Provided FP trim needs about one inch vertical space to drop down on hooks.
Not spending any time discussing wood trim part of project, as each installation, woodworking equipment available and owners preference will vary greatly. If anyone really interested, I will answer any questions.
Very happy with FP. Even comes with a remote control and built-in setting display/readout behind glass. Flames and heat are independent, so you can have flame on and no heat even in the summer. Display times out a few seconds after changes made with remote or main panel buttons. Only weird thing is the temp thermostat starts at 99 degrees, decreases in six big jumps (F or C) and stops at 71. Flame has five intensity settings and a “effect” mode that varies flame intensity. Also has a down light to show off FP interior. All lights are LED. Once you get settings you like and use remote to turn off, it will remember the last setting. If main power button used or power to RV lost you must turn on with main power button and the last memory setting is lost. Remote works great as long as main power not interrupted. For the money, it looks good, is sexy, makes very little noise and works great.
Bought it here:
http://store.rvtape.com/products/25-26-tec-flame-flat-front-electric-fireplace.aspx
Price $190.00 with free shipping. 26" Tec Flame Flat Front Electric Fireplace
Model: TT-FRPL-EF0526. One year wty per manual and two year printed on point of sale sticker on glass front. If wty difference important - resolve before purchasing.
Any questions?
P.S. FP’s this thin ( less than nine inches ) are very rare. I looked a long time. Promised someone I would post in a week. Grille not here yet so will post picture of it when I finish it,

[Dogpatch]

Looks nice! Good job!

[ctpres]

As promised - here it is. One thing I forgot to mention. During a test fit I pushed FP all the way in so it was touching back/bathroom wall, there was some vibration and objectionable noise. Pulled it out maybe 1/8 inch and noise went away. Also, finally had a chance to test our electric heat system and fireplace. All 2,500 watts of heat - kickspace, convection and fireplace heaters ran at the same time with no problem on our thirty amp service.
Kickspace heater
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f120/damon-mods-106125-3.html#post1005147
Post # 38 39 and 49
Convection heater
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f59/mods-to-rvs-110686-20.html#post1153373
Post 268

Now we can be warm!

[ctpres]

When RV slightly off level side to side, the bathroom door swings to ½ open blocking hall. Time for a magnetic door holder. Lowes $7.00, eBay China direct $3.00 and my junk box alarm magnet and big screw $0.00 Time ten minutes. Remove existing spring door stop and cut to length. Turn screw into spring and grind or file head flat to increase magnetic surface contact area, Locate touch point on wall for door stop and drill 3/8” hole for press fit alarm magnet. Push magnet into hole and DONE! Works great and with door open only a small dot is visible on wall. Depending on how heavy your door is - you may need to try several magnets or just go with the heavy duty Lowes version.